Ground Down

Chapter 65

She was going to kill Jiashang Hanuk. Slowly, painfully, and maybe she'd even allow herself to get off on it. She'd combine those two sayings warriors slung around when they pissed each other off, tear the flesh off his damn bones and feed it to the next wolves she'd be able to find outside Arkadia because the damn fence and watch towers and electric lights scared off anything and everything. But she'd manage. God knew she had the rage to manage. 

Two kinds of politicians existed in the Council chamber, those that received attention because the quality of their contributions came like a mean sucker punch every time they opened their mouths, and those who received attention because they would not for the life of them shut the fuck up. Hanuk belonged to the second kind. Loudly. And even though his contributions had the general level of wit of a mouthy pre-schooler, they still got the fuck under her skin like tiny little needles worming their way in and jabbing and jabbing their way up in between the dermis and the hypodermis and she could've clawed her own flesh off at the mere thought. 

Clarke picked up her pace, one hand on her belly, trying not to trip over her own feet in between not seeing them under the curve of her stomach, Arkadia's linoleum floors squeaking under her shoes, Ishii and Firouzeh in front of her, and Kane's steps catching up behind her. They formed and angry line of politicians who did not listen to each other calling for the one in front of them to stop, her chasing the Heads of Hydration and Filtration, Kane chasing her, her mother chasing Kane, Hannah Green chasing her mother. 

Which meant that as long as she could just remain ahead of Kane, she'd be safe from her mother and Hannah and having to return to the council chamber for another meeting and actively try not to murder Hanuk, but, damn, that man had long legs. And she didn't. She could taste her own lungs. 

"Clarke!" Kane repeated. 

Nope. Clarke pushed her hips. She didn't have the mental space to talk about Raven and why she still hadn't told her mother or about the baby or about politics right then, not to him, at least. He belonged to the first kind of politician. The kind who tore the floor away under your feet when they opened their mouth. As did Hannah Green. 

Having spent the better part of two days listening to them dismantle each other in the Council Chamber while her mother wrangled the rest of them and Hanuk got within hair's width of getting Clarke to hurl herself over the table and go feral on him, she had learnt that she had underestimated Hannah. And she'd kinda gained a generous helping of a feeling she didn't really want to call fear but that tasted a lot like just that towards Kane. Not the time. She needed to talk to the head of Filtration. And Hydration. Preferably before anybody else got their hands on them. 

"Marcus!" her mother's voice came from somewhere behind her and Kane ignored her just the same as Clarke had ignored him. 

His steps picked up a worrying bit of speed and Clarke started jogging. 

"Firouzeh!" she called. "Ishii, wait up!" 

They did not. Of course they did not, why would they, none of them set that example, and they both moved stiffly like they had been lit by lightning recently. At that rate, the whole lot of them would end up chasing each other all round Arkadia like they meant to play that drunk game where you got in a row with your hands on each other's shoulders and paraded around singing and cheering loudly. Just without the fun. If she'd had the air, Clarke would have cursed under her breath. 

To set the example. Somewhere inside, trying to breathe while running and presently not being great at either because that also involved trying not to land flat on her ass or face or else, she realised that, to set an example, somebody would have to break the tradition. On a larger scale, that meant much more rigid traditions than recently established situations of a group of people chasing each other, which would likely hurt a lot more, but the sentiment counted. Clarke stopped dead in her tracks, had to splay her arms out to either side to catch her own momentum, paddling in the air until the floor did not look like it wanted to come closer anymore, she exhaled, and Kane smacked into her back with a badly suppressed groan.