(Clarke's POV)
The second she opened her eyes, dread filled her. Today was the day she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to close her eyes and pretend she was still passed out, but it was too late, Nia had seen her.
"Don't bother Clarke. You can't sleep forever."
The Queen's back was turned to her and she was fiddling with something.
"You said you wanted to use me to send a message to the Commander, how?"
Clarke spoke, desperately stalling for time, and Nia chuckled.
"I have some loyal spies who know every inch of the Commander's palace better than she knows it herself. The room we are in right now is actually in between the walls that are adjacent to Lexa's bedroom. She has no clue of it's existence. Any sound that is made in here echoes in fascinating ways. This way, when you scream, she will be able to hear it clear as day but she will never be able to pinpoint where it is coming from."
Clarke felt like she was going to be sick.
Nia turned around, a twisted grin spread across her face. "Shall we begin?"
Clarke struggled to move but found that she was tied down to the bed. Straps secured her arms, legs, neck, and stomach, making it impossible for her to move more than a few inches. Her heart began to beat faster and faster in terror as she watched Nia approach her, a dagger held in one hand. She stopped when she reached Clarke's side.
"This isn't just any ordinary blade, you see, that wouldn't be any fun at all. It has been dipped in a solution that is used to heighten your pain receptors, which means that any pain you feel will be at least ten times worse than normal."
She stepped closer and Clarke's eyes widened in horror. She bit down on her lip. She would not scream, she refused to give Nia that satisfaction. The Queen placed the tip of the knife at the top of Clarke's bicep and slowly traced a line down her arm. Sharp pain shot up and down the cut and her arm throbbed like it had it's own heartbeat but Clarke remained still. Nia moved to Clarke's shoulder and began to draw patterns all over it, sometimes overlapping cuts she had already made. Tears blossomed in her eyes and spilled down her checks but Clarke just bit down harder on her lips. Don't give in, don't give in. Nia certainly was right about the pain. Clarke was used to getting cut but this hurt far worse than the deepest wound she had ever received. She knew only the surface of her skin was injured but it felt like Nia had just sawed her arm in half. When the Queen was finished with her shoulder she moved to the other side of Clarke, repeating everything she had done, but this time on her opposite arm. She must have cut deeper this time because Clarke couldn't stop a gasp from escaping her mouth. Nia smirked but didn't seem pleased.
"You are tougher than I thought, Clarke."
She moved away from Clarke's side and wandered over to a part of the room where Clarke couldn't see.
"I guess we'll just have to make things a little more... intense."
When she moved back over to Clarke's side the blade was red, like Nia had just been holding it in fire. This time, when she touched the knife to Clarke's skin, she couldn't hold it in. Her flesh sizzled like meat on a grill and an unbearable pain tore though her. She tried to stop it, but she couldn't. The scream seemed to build on it's on and it forced it's way out of her mouth. Once released it was impossible to contain. She screamed and screamed until her throat burned and she fainted from the excruciating pain.
(Lexa's POV)
By the time Lexa and Octavia had readied the horses and gathered supplies, Roan had been able to get up and come meet them. He was still weak but he assured Lexa the pain was going away. They had wasted no time in hurrying towards the gates. It was as they approached the entrance to Polis that they encountered some trouble. The guards jumped down from their posts to meet the group trying to leave.
"Let us through," Lexa ordered. "We have urgent business we need to attend to."
The guards made no move to obey her.
"Heda, there is a bad storm brewing and we cannot let you go. You must stay here and wait it out."
Lexa impatiently sighed, "I have ridden in bad weather before, it does not phase me."
The guards shared a look before turning back to her. "This is different. This one is worse than other storms. We've just received a report from Oromis who rode in here an hour ago. He said he had to ride faster than the wind to be ahead of it."
Lexa clenched her fists in frustration. They couldn't afford to waste time!
Roan stepped forward. "Let me go Heda. I have nothing to loose and besides, I know my mother better than anyone. I'll see how far I can ride before I hit the storm. If I haven't found her by morning I'll return and we can go back out together."
Lexa frowned, clearly not satisfied but knowing she had to be. They sometimes got horrific storms and if one was coming then it was best for her to stay here.
"Very well. Thank you Roan."
Roan nodded and the guards let him pass. Lexa watched him gallop off into the distance before turning to Octavia.
"I am going to go back to my room for awhile and I would advise you to do the same. Try to stay away from the clan leaders until I am able to talk to them."
Octavia shook her head in agreement.
"We'll find her Lexa, don't worry. It's Clarke we are talking about, she won't give into anything."
Lexa smiled sadly and tried to find comfort in Octavia's words. She knew the poor girl was just as worried as she was. They walked back to her home together and then parted ways. Octavia told her that she would be happy to put the horses away and Lexa was more than happy to let her do it. She said goodbye to Octavia and then headed straight to her room. She knew she needed to tell Arya about the change of plans and come up with something to explain to the leaders, but she just needed a moment. She fell back onto her bed, not even bothering to take off her boots. She stretched her back and closed her eyes, praying that Roan would be able to find Clarke. She didn't know how long she lay there, but she finally decided that she needed to get up and do something. She had just opened her eyes when she heard the scream. At first she thought she had imagined it, she was tired and stressed after all. But then it came again, louder and more shrill. Bolting upright she looked around. The sound seemed to be coming from her right, but when she moved in that direction it seemed to move until it sounded like it was coming from the left side of the room. The cries grew more frantic and Lexa's heart beat faster and faster with each passing second. She desperately paced around the room, trying to find where the screams were coming from.
"Please...stop..."
Lexa froze dead in her tracks. She could recognize that voice anywhere. Clarke. A new wave of adrenaline shot through her and she ran from her room. She sprinted up and down the halls, trying to detect where the noise was coming from. The farther from her room she got the quieter the screams became, but when she was in her room it sounded like they were coming from all directions.
"Clarke!" Lexa yelled, spinning in circles in the middle of the room. Where the hell is she? "Clarke!!" Each cry tore through her like a cold blade. And then, just as fast as it had started, it stopped. Lexa collapsed to her knees. She was breathing fast, too fast, but she couldn't slow it down. Stars materialized in front her eyes right before everything went black.
When she came to she was back lying on her bed. Her travel garments had been removed, leaving her with minimal clothing on. Octavia was gently wiping her forehead with a wet cloth. She tried to sit up but hands were placed on her shoulders, pushing her back down.
"Clarke?"
"Shhhh, it's okay. Roan went to find her remember?"
Octavia's voice was soothing.
"No." Lexa gasped. "You don't understand. I came back to my room and she... she was in pain and screaming..."
Octavia gave her a concerned look.
"Lexa you are just really stressed out right now. When we found you, you were passed out on the floor with a fever. I think you might have been hallucinating."
"No! I wasn't hallucinating. I know what I heard..."
She trailed off as she met Octavia's eyes.
"I think you need to close your eyes and rest for a bit. I'll stay here and watch over you."
"But... the meeting...the leaders."
"Arya's got it all under control. Just lie still now."
Octavia's voice was so calm that Lexa couldn't help but listen to her. She closed her eyes just as she was instructed to do. Maybe I was just hallucinating. But as she drifted off back into sleep the memory of those screams filled her mind and Lexa knew that they were real.
(Octavia's POV)
She had heard Lexa screaming Clarke's name when she had been walking down the hall to go to her own room. By the time she had run to Lexa's room, the Commander had passed out. Her skin was flushed and her head was burning up. Octavia had quickly found Arya and the two of them had lifted Lexa into bed and tried to settle her fever. Once they had things under control, Arya had told Octavia what had happened.
"She will be okay, don't worry. This isn't uncommon. She sometimes has really bad panic attacks when she is very stressed. It used to happen quite frequently when she was younger but then she found a way to control it. It started to happen again when Costia...when everything with Costia happened. After that though I thought they had stopped. She hasn't had one until now."
"She was screaming Clarke's name."
Arya nodded sadly, "The fever she gets often causes her to hallucinate."
They sat in silence for a little while longer. Eventually Arya stood up.
"Keep a cool cloth on her forehead and when she wakes up tell her to go back to sleep. She needs lost of rest when this happens. I'm going to go and sort things out with the clan leaders."
Arya left and Octavia stayed beside Lexa for another few hours until she had awoken. Convincing Lexa to go back to sleep had been easier than she thought, but now Octavia was sitting in silence again. She hated not being able to do anything. She hated having to sit there and pretend to be okay when her best friend was in danger. Needing something to do, Octavia quickly sprinted back to her room to grab the radio they had brought with them. She retuned to her chair beside Lexa and hit the call button. It had become Octavia's responsibility to keep in touch with her brother and Raven back at the camp, and she was grateful for it. She missed them more than anything.
"Octavia! What's up?"
Raven's cheery voice came through the radio. Octavia paused for a second, debating on what and how much to tell them.
"I'm just in my room...again. It's the second day of the meeting and I think things are going okay." Octavia decided that a little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone. She didn't need Bellamy and Raven and everyone else back at camp worrying. It wouldn't do anyone any good. "Why do you sound so happy? How is everything in Camp Jaha?"
"Everyone here is good, Bellamy and I have been able to come up with enough "jobs" for everyone to do to keep them occupied but ... Bellamy stop! I'm trying to talk to Octavia."
Raven giggled and Octavia couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.
"I'm sorry, Bellamy is being distracting."
"You're the distracting one. Maybe if you put on a shirt then..."
The radio went silent and Octavia sat there, too stunned to do anything. Had Bellamy really just implied that...
"Again, sorry about that, he's gone now. Please pretend you didn't hear anything your brother just said... Anyways, as I was saying, everyone is getting pretty restless despite everything Bellamy and I have been getting them to do. We haven't had much contact with the people inside Mount Weather but they are getting just as restless. When will a decision be made? When are you guys coming back?"
Octavia took a second to compose herself before answering.
"Um, I'm not entirely sure, but soon though. Everyone is getting impatient here too. We'll be back the second a decision has been reached. Just keep holding on, I know you guys are doing a great job keeping everyone settled." She paused for another moment; she couldn't let her voice reveal anything. "Well I should probably go. I think Clarke and I are being summoned. I'll let you know what's happening the second I find anything out."
"Okay. Roger that. Talk to you later."
She let go of the button and she found herself sitting in silence once again. Talking to Raven had definitely helped; it helped just to hear her voice. Octavia leaned back in her chair, trying to keep her thoughts on what was happening back at Camp Jaha and not what was currently happening in Polis. She tried to imagine what Monty and Jasper and Harper were doing right about now. A faint moan shook her out of her thoughts. She glanced over to see if it had been Lexa who had made the noise, but it wasn't. The Commander was peacefully sound asleep. Deciding she must have just imagined it, Octavia went to lean back. But it sounded again, and this time she knew it wasn't Lexa. It was so faint that had she not been sitting in silence she probably would have missed it. The whimpering continued but Octavia couldn't tell where it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from all over the room.
"Lexa..."
Octavia's heart dropped and she nearly stopped breathing. It was absolutely, without a doubt, Clarke.
Hello again! I'm sorry for the late update, life is very busy and time just seems to fly by. Thank you for all your votes and comments and please let me know what you think of this chapter, good or bad. I hope you enjoy :D