I wasn't sure how long we'd sat there in silence. There was nothing Roan could say to fix this, and nothing I could say that would change anyone's minds. "It's time!" Clarke called. Roan stood up, and I watched him leave.
I remembered what Emori had said before, "better him than us." She didn't seem like the sort of person to do any big sweeping gestures to save the world. But, who could blame her. The world hadn't done anything for her. Now here it was again, dealing her another shitty hand. Just because Emori didn't want to save the world, didn't mean she wasn't worth saving.
I jogged downstairs. I could hear Murphy shouting before I even got to the launch bay. "Stop!" I called. Everyone turned to look at me. "Don't touch her. I'll do it." No one said anything. I held out my arm. "Test me, not her."
"Maia, I'm not going to do that," Clarke said calmly.
"If you're so sure it's going to work, then test me!" I shouted. I backed into the main room and glanced around. My eyes landed on the syringe of bone marrow, ready to go. I made a dash for it, but Miller was just as fast as me. He grabbed my arms and pulled me back. "Let me do this!"
"I can't." I barely had time to register what was happening, as he stabbed me in the neck with the sedative meant for Emori. My muscles went limp first, and then I blacked out.
★ ★ ★ ★
When I woke up, I was in the office again. "Wow, I'm really fucking tired of this room." Miller glanced over at me. I tried to sit up and realized I was handcuffed to the table behind me. "You have got to be kidding me."
He moved toward me. "Yeah, we don't need these anymore, it's too late." He unlocked the cuffs and I sat up slowly.
"I don't understand, Miller. You of all people?" I shook my head. "You were in Mount Weather, they used you same as they used me. How could you do that to someone else?"
"What they did to us in Mount Weather was to save the lives of a few hundred," he said. "We were trying to save the lives of thousands. And this wasn't only for our people. It was for everyone. I would think you would understand sacrifice after all this time."
"I do," I said angrily. "And I was willing to sacrifice myself. That's more than the rest of you can say."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Miller said. "It's over."
"It worked?" I asked surprised.
He let out a long sigh. "We'll never know. I guess your stunt inspired Clarke. She injected herself instead of Emori. Abby freaked out and destroyed the radiation chamber. No more tests."
I let out a breath that was half sigh of relief, and half a sputter of disbelief. No one was dead right this moment, but now we were in an even worse position. "I'm going downstairs," I told him.
Before I could head for the door, he grabbed my arm. "Maia, listen. I didn't want to kill Emori, okay? But I couldn't lose you. You're the closest thing I have to a sister. And I like taking orders from you a hell of a lot more than I like taking orders from Clarke."
I gave him a soft smile and pulled him into a hug. "I love you, but for future reference, if I'm shouting it's probably an order. I'd die for you all. If it ever comes to that again, let me do it."
★ ★ ★ ★
We were returning to the mainland. Kane radioed from Polis. They'd found a bunker, for once Jaha's crazy conspiracies paid off. 1,200 people were going to survive praimfaya.
I packed everything I could fit in two and a half backpacks. How I was going to carry two and a half backpacks through Polis was beyond me. But that was a problem for another day. I was not leaving all these clothes behind. And in my defense, I planned on sharing them with Raven and Harper.
Roan shook his head as I lugged the bags to the boat. I tossed them onboard and then hopped back onto land to say my goodbyes to Raven. She was staying behind with Murphy and Emori to pack up the rest of the tech. "I could stay here," I offered.
"No, you definitely need to get back to Polis with your man candy." She wiggled her eyebrows as Roan walked by.
I covered her mouth with my hand. "Raven, oh my god. It's not like that. We're friends." She shook me off.
"Does he know that? Because..." she tapped the bandage on my chest covering the healing scar. "I'm just saying. Bellamy could've come here, but he didn't. None of us knew for sure if we'd see each other again. He chose to run after Octavia instead of staying with you."
"She's his sister, I don't blame him-"
"Maia, she's made it very clear she isn't forgiving him any time soon." Raven put both her hands on my shoulders. "You have put up with so much for him, and he can't even give you the time of day when the world is about to end? You deserve better."
"I'll always come in second place to Octavia," I stated. It was something I'd always known and had demonstrated in graphic detail when he'd turned me in on the Ark. I'd learned to live with it. "And with Roan, I'd always come in second place to Azgeda." I paused. "Not that this is a relationship that is going anywhere."
She rolled her eyes. "Maybe, but maybe not. You've said it: we're all grounders now. Who says you can't be one of them?"
I shook my head. "Can we talk about this after the world ends?" She sighed but gave me a hug. "I'll see you in a few days."
Emori and Murphy were standing by the boat, helping load up the last few things. "You know what would make living in a bunker super cool? If you made a casserole for our own personal housewarming party," I whispered.
Murphy laughed. "I'm on it, but only if you get some moonshine from Jasper and Monty."
"Oh, obviously. What kind of housewarming party doesn't have moonshine?" I grinned.
Emori touched my arm lightly. Her face was serious. "I heard that you tried to volunteer for me. I just wanted to say thanks."
"Who were we to force someone into something we wouldn't do it ourselves?" I shrugged. "It was the right thing to do. Or try to do at least."
"If you ever need us to back you on something, we'll do it," she said. "Between you and Clarke, I'd trust you to make the right decision." She gave me an awkward one-armed hug, but the sentiment was genuine.
Emori and Murphy started to turn away, but I grabbed Murphy's arm. "Hey, watch out for Raven okay? I'm worried about her."
"Yeah, of course. Abby left a seizure kit, we'll make sure Raven makes it to Polis in one piece." I squeezed his arm and then let him get back to work.
Miller helped me onto the boat. "Has the queen said her goodbyes and given her final orders to all her subjects?"
I smacked him in the chest. "Shut up, Miller."
He smirked. "We were waiting on you, let's go."
I leaned on the rail of the boat as we pulled away from the dock. "Damn it, I never got to go in the pool."
★ ★ ★ ★
Once we hit land, we loaded everything into the truck and headed for Polis. It was a long ride, and I ended up dozing off on my pile of clothes-stuffed backpacks. I woke up when the truck came to a halt.
I shoved the bags out and then jumped to the ground next to me. Clarke started to stand up, but Abby grabbed her arm. "Can I talk to you for a second?" She looked at me for a moment, like she was about to bring me in on the secret. Then she glanced at Roan who was by my side. "We'll be right behind you," she told me.
I frowned as I walked around the side of the truck. I stopped at the driver's window and stood on my tiptoes to look into the window. "See you later, Miller. Try not to miss me too much." He grunted. "You can pretend you're super tough all you want, but I know." Jackson laughed quietly in the passenger seat. Miller gave me an embarrassed look. I stepped away, taking the hint.
I walked toward the tunnel with Roan, while Miller and Jackson started unloading the truck. "I hope Jaha doesn't think he's in charge just because he found the bunker. He better not do room assignments, I'm not letting him pick my home for the foreseeable future. Been there, done that." Roan raised an eyebrow. "Listen, I'm picky, okay?"
"Trust me, I'll scope it out and find the best spot. We'll be neighbors. It'll be great. Like that show Friends. You ever see that?" I shook my head. "Of course you haven't. Maybe the bunker has dvds."
Kane stepped forward from the trees. He held up a hand for Miller and Jackson to pause. Roan and I exchanged confused looks. "Where's the guard?" I asked.
"In Arkadia gathering the rest of our people," he told me. He looked to Roan, "Listen-"
"Roan, wait!" Clarke called from behind us. We stopped in our tracks, not sure where to look. Behind Kane, several Trikru warriors appeared. Roan drew his sword.
"There doesn't have to be any violence-" Kane started. Before anyone could move, arrows flew from the trees taking the Trikru warriors out. I dropped to the ground, on instinct. I'd barely had the chance to register what had happened before Azgeda warriors descended.
I whipped around, watching, as my friends were pushed to the ground and bound by Azgeda. I glanced up at Roan, who looked nearly as confused as I felt. "Welcome back to Polis, my king." We both turned to see Echo standing on the treeline. She walked toward us.
I was still on the ground; afraid I'd get tackled the moment I stood up. Echo offered me a hand. I took it and let her pull me up to my feet. "They had orders not to shoot you, but good reflexes." She stepped back and headed toward the tunnels. "Let's move."
★ ★ ★ ★
In the tunnels we were separated from the rest of my friends. They were taken somewhere, presumably the single cell room they called a dungeon. I followed Echo and Roan into the tower. None of the Azgeda warriors questioned me. I'd earned their King's respect, and apparently Echo's too. I guess that was enough for them.
"Bring me Wanheda!" Roan called, earning a disapproving look from Echo. He turned back to her. "Explain."
"Skaikru allied with Trikru to take the temple, they gave up the tower to do it," Echo told him. "Strategically that made no sense, so I moved our army to the temple doors. Good thing I did."
"You did good, Echo," Roan told her. Echo looked pleased for a millisecond before the doors opened and Clarke was brought in. "Leave us," he said, waving Echo away.
Roan pulled the gag out of Clarke's mouth. "How long have you known?"
"I just found out," she insisted. So that was what Abby had wanted to tell her. No wonder she hadn't told me too.
Roan cut Clarke free. I leaned against the table. "We've got the leverage here," I noted. "Azgeda has the temple surrounded. No one gets into that bunker without a fight. We call a meeting talk it out? Indra has to see there's room enough to share."
"I'm sure your Chancellor tried that before letting them assassinate me," Roan muttered.
"Kane was trying to save your life," Clarke protested.
"Mine maybe, but what about my people's?" I gave him a look. "Fine, we try it your way first. But, I'm holding your people."
"Kane needs to be at that meeting," Clarke said. "He's the Chancellor."
Roan motioned toward me. "Maia is his second. She'll do." Clarke and I shared slightly panicked looks. "Besides, if anyone can convince mortal enemies to live together for five years, it'll be the two of you." He walked toward the door. "I'll call the meeting."
"I've had a week of training," I whispered.
Clarke put her hand on my shoulder. "Being a leader is 80% natural talent, you've got that."
I shook my head. "It's the other 20% I'm worried about."