Raven and I abruptly pulled away from each other as the sound of a door opening filled the space. It was the first noise we had heard from the outside since we had been put in here.
A group waltzed in, headed by a single guard followed by three other people. By the looks of it, these people were a family, consisting of mom, dad and daughter. The family was carrying trays of something and wore warm smiles.
"Welcome, friends!" the man of the group greeted. It was almost as if they weren't currently holding us prisoner. "If it's true you survived the Red Sun, then you need a drink."
He stopped in front of Clarke and held out the tray toward her, the cheesy smile still on his face.
Through narrow eyes , I watched as Clarke smile at him before taking a glass of whatever they were serving...ever the diplomat.
Jordan, who looked absolutely enthralled with the girl stepped forward and accepted the glass she was handing out.
"Someone's got a crush." I muttered under my breath, earning a small laugh from Raven.
"That's amazing." Jordan praised as he chugged back the drink. "What is it?"
The girl smiled. "We call it--"
"Delilah." her mother chastised, seemingly not as comfortable with our presence as her daughter was.
The girl-Delilah- rolled her eyes as she smiled. "Relax, mother. I don't think they're going to steal your recipe."
Jordan gave her a quick grin as she looked back to him, finishing her explanation. "We call it Jo Juice after Josephine Prime. Hallowed be her name."
Delilah's parents and the guards repeated the phrase in union, cause a slight sense of uneasiness to rush through me. Similar looks of unease were shared amongst the rest of our group.
"Uh, can I ask?" Clarke started, taking a small step forward. "It's probably none of our business, but what's a prime?"
Delilah wore a small smile as she looked around at the group of us, noting the looks of confusion that all of us wore. "Sanctum was colonized by a team from Earth made up of four families--the Primes. Their blood rules us still."
As if on cue, the main doors to the tavern burst open, and a group came marching in. "Make way for the Primes!"
The leader from earlier, and a woman, were flanked by a group of guards as they entered. Delilah and her family instantly dropped into deep bows as the couple approached.
"Which one's the pilot?" the leader demanded, seemingly getting straight to the point.
"That one." The woman who had arrived with our group-Kaylee- announced. Her finger was pointed at Raven. "There."
Instinctively, I stood up and positioned myself in front of Raven as the guards began marching toward us.
"Stop." the leader ordered, causing his men to freeze in their tracks. "Did I say to take her?"
The guard instantly dipped their heads in submission. "No, sir. Sorry, sir."
I turned to Raven, giving her a slightly concerned look as Clarke stepped forward. What could they possibly need with Raven?
"Look. If this is about what happened on the mothership, your people stole our transport and then boarded us by force." Clarke explained. "My people were just defending themselves."
"Lies." Kaylee argued. "She wasn't there. We hurt no one."
"You still stole our ship." I shot back, earning a stern glare from the leader.
When he was sure I wasn't going to interrupt any further, he looked back to Clarke. "What's your name?"
"Clarke Griffin. What's yours?"
It wasn't the leader who answered, but instead the woman who had walked in alongside him. "He is Russell Lightbourne, seventh of his line, saviour of Sanctum and you will bow before him."
Lightbourne. It was the name that the family had on their uniforms in the picture in the shrine room. They must have been one of the original families, the primes-whatever that meant.
"I don't think so." Clarke declared, refusing to bow to a leader who had not allegiance to.
The woman pursed her lips in anger as Russell gave her a gentle smile. "My wife's a stickler for protocol, but she knows you can't observe customs that you're unaware of."
Nor customs we don't care to believe in...
"You have questions, understandably." Russell acknowledged. "And we'll get to them all, but first, we need your transport ship to be flown into Sanctum. You can land in one of the lower fields."
"Why?"Abby inquired. "What's out there?"
Clarke gave her mom a quick look as Russell's wife answered the question. "There are worst things out there than eclipse-induced psychosis. All of them are outside the shield and the worst of them would love to get their hands on the weapons Kaylee says are on your ship."
Them.
There were more forms of human life on this planet?
"Why are we asking for permission?" Kaylee snapped. "My family is on that ship."
Russell turned to her, a poignant look on his face. "Which is why you'll be on the team sent to retrieve them."
That clearly wasn't what Kaylee wanted, because her face soon fell in nervousness.
"What?" Russell challenged. "Now you're afraid to leave the shield?"
"I told you, we were late for shelter when we saw that ship. Either we took it or we suffered the Red Sun."
As Kaylee continued to try and claim her innocence, Clarke moved toward her mother, seemingly catching something in her demeanour.
I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but soon enough Clarke's eyes widened and she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "What?" she demanded in shock. "You woke her?"
All eyes turned to the mother-daughter duo. Abby tried to soothe Clarke, who simply regained her composure. "Never mind." she whispered, clearly hatching a plan. "Raven will fly the ship, but we're going too."
"Maybe we should let Raven decide for herself." I argued, angered by the fact that Clarke was once again commanding all of us.
Raven nodded from next to me. "I didn't realize you were giving orders again, Clarke."
"Fine." Russell agreed, ignoring our small domestic. "Choose your most disposable people. It's time to go."
Clarke nodded, already making her way toward the exit. Before she could get very far, she was stopped by Russell. "You don't seem very disposable."
"None of us are." she argued. "But my child is out there, so I'm going to get her."
So that's what Abby knew that had Clarke so upset.
"Please. We have things to discuss." Russell begged. "Are you the leader of your people, or not?"
"She is." Bellamy interrupted. "She can speak for us."
Raven scoffed next to me as I rolled my eyes. Maybe what Murphy said to me during the Red Sun was right. There seemed to be a King and a Queen amongst us and no matter what they might have done, they were always on the throne.
"Good." Russell muttered. "You can escort your team to the steps. The rest of you will remain here, well-cared-for till we can decide what to do with you."
As Russell and his guards turned to leave, Bellamy addressed the group of us. "Raven, Avery, let's go." he beckoned, causing me to let out a quick sigh. Another day another adventure.
"Octavia." I muttered, knowing Bellamy wasn't going to invite her. "Let's go."
The younger Blake sibling glared at her brother as she followed after Raven and I out of the tavern. Bellamy remained behind for a moment, likely tying up loose ends with those we were leaving behind.
"You don't have to keep doing that." Octavia declared as the three of us followed Russell's group toward the stairs.
"Do what?" I wondered, not bothering to turn around.
She grabbed a hold of my arm, harshly causing me to halt. I looked to Octavia for a quick moment before giving Raven a small nod, letting her know we would catch up.
"I can handle Bellamy." Octavia snapped, her eyes dark as she watched me. "You don't have to get in the middle of it."
I pulled my arm from her grasp, biting down on the inside of my cheek. It was hard to believe that she had once been my best friend in the entire world, she seemed nothing like that girl anymore.
Not that I was the exact same girl I had been when we met in the Skybox all those years ago, but she was a shell of who she once had been, almost nothing recognizable within her anymore.
"I'm not getting in the middle of it." I assured, my eyes catching on Bellamy as he made his way out of the tavern and toward us. "But we don't have time for your back and forth right now."
She clenched her jaw, very well knowing I was right.
"What's going on?" Bellamy wondered, arriving next to us with Clarke by his side. I could tell by the way he looked at Octavia he automatically assumed she had done something wrong.
"Nothing." I answered, finally breaking the stare-down Octavia and I were in. "Just catching up."
It was a blatant lie, and Bellamy surely knew it, but he didn't press any further. "Right. Let's get going then."
Clarke gave me a tentative smile as I looked over at her. It was evident that she still was unsure of where we stood. I wasn't ready to give her a definite answer.
With a small grunt, Octavia turned and stomped away from us, making her way toward the stairs.
Bellamy watched me, giving me a small nod as I turned to follow after her. This was going to be a fun trek...that was for sure.
"Be safe out there." Clarke ordered once we reached the staircase. Her eyes shifted between Bellamy and I, clear uncertainty within them.
"We'll bring Madi back." I promised, knowing that was the main root of concern.
Clarke gave me a small nod before looking to Bellamy briefly. "Look out for each other."
"We always do." I muttered, earning a quick glare from Bellamy as I turned toward the stairs. "See you later, Clarke."
I was halfway down the stairs by the time Bellamy caught up to me. "You don't need to be so harsh, Ave." he declared, falling into step with me as we followed the others.
Glancing over at him, I let out a small laugh. "You mean harsh like the way you're treating Octavia?" I wondered.
He sighed, glancing toward where his sister was walking ahead of us. "That's different."
"Is it?"
"Avery-" He grabbed a hold of my arm, causing the two of us to stop. "I know you're upset with Clarke, and you have every right to be. But I don't want to fight with you. You can't blame me for being able to forgive her."
"And you can't blame me for not being able to." I fired back. "This isn't the first time Clarke betrayed me Bellamy, and who knows if it will be the last."
His face softened ever so slightly and he gave me a small nod. "I know."
After a moment of silence, I let out a deep breath. "You're right." I finally agreed. "I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you."
"You can talk to me." he reminded. "Don't bottle up your feelings."
I gave him a small smile as I leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "And that's why I love you."
"Let's go!" Octavia yelled from further down the stairs. "We don't have all day!"
Bellamy and I pulled away, him rolling his eyes at his sister as I let out a small laugh. "She's right. We need to get to Madi."
Nodding, Bellamy placed a hand on my back, guiding me forward to join the rest of the group.
Once we joined them, we continued on toward the shield, making our way through the fields that we had travelled to get here in the first place.
"Wouldn't suck to have a weapon." Octavia muttered as we walked on.
"He told us, only the guards carry weapons." Bellamy fired back, hostility in his tone.
I gave him a stern look. "Just stop reacting to her." I instructed. "We're trying to make an alliance with them, repeatedly casting out one of our own isn't going to make the best impression."
Bellamy glanced over and gave me a small nod of understanding as the group of us can to a stop in front of the shield.
"Hold up." Kaylee instructed. "There are things and people in these woods that want us dead. You fall behind. You will be."
"Well, that's encouraging." I mumbled under my breath as Kaylee turned to one of the guards, giving him a small nod.
He pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it upward. Pulling the trigger, some sort of flare seemed to be fired upward, crashing into an invisible shield at the top.
The shield seemed to ripple, lighting up as it slowly began to fade away all around us.
"Woah." Raven breathed in awe. "It's a dome."
Eventually, the currents of energy faded and the dome faded away, the light on the tower turning from red to blue.
"Okay." I muttered, following after the group. "Let's do this."