Lexas POV
Anya stepped forward when I entered the throne room. She held out her arm and I grasped it in a sign of respect.
"Heda." She said. "I have much to report."
"Let us sit then." I motioned towards the table and she sat opposite me. "What do you have to report?"
"Heda, a strange object has landed in Trikru land. It appears to be from space."
"Space?" I asked, twirling my favourite dagger on the table.
"Sha (yes) Heda. There are many new people. We estimate around one-hundred. They do not seem to know we are here, nor how to survive. I have left scouts to observe them."
"Is there a clear leader?" I wanted to speak to these space people.
"Not yet, though we have identified a few that seem higher up in rank than the others. One of them has just left their camp, we suspect to find water. She travels with five others."
"Have you sent scouts after them?"
"Sha (yes). They will report back tomorrow. Until then, maybe you should consider speaking with these skai (sky) people."
I nodded and stood again.
"Thank you Anya, you may go now." She stood, grapsed my forearm for a moment, and then departed. I walked across the large room to the balcony. Standing at the edge, I looked down into the throng of people below. They milled around at the market, buying, selling and talking. I noticed a certain spot that people avoided that was stained a dark colour. That must be the space that people landed when I kicked them off the balcony.
"Heda."
I turned to see Titus standing in the middle of the throne room. He nodded respectfully at me as I approached.
"Titus." I greeted him.
"Heda, I'm worried about this news about skai (sky) people. News had spread through Polis and the rumours are growing more obscene."
"I will make an announcement to the clans about these people once I have more information." I told him. "It will take a few days. We do not know much about them."
"What about speaking with their leader?"
"I am working on it Titus." I snapped. "Do you expect me to capture their leader to talk to them? To make this faster?"
"No Heda."
"Good. Their leader will speak with me willingly, and I will make an announcement when I am ready."
Titus bowed his head and retreated quickly. The door closed with a thud behind him. I sighed and sat down on my throne. So much had happened in the last day, and soon the people of Polis would demand answers from me. Perhaps I should call a meeting of the clans.
*
Clarkes POV
Everyone had stopped walking when I collapsed against a tree. My head was whirling too fast for me to stand, so Wells helped me to sit down.
"What's wrong with her?" Monty whispered to Wells.
"She's in shock." He explained.
I just sat there, tears streaming down my face. The realisation that is was my mum's fault that my dad was dead caused fractures across my heart. I understood now why Wells had let me believe that it was him. So I wouldn't hate my mum.
"Wells." I whispered.
"Yeah?" He sat next to me. The others walked a slight distance away to give us some privacy.
"I'm so sorry." My voice broke. "I thought it was you, I'm so sorry."
"I let you think that." He murmered, pulling me closer. I lay my head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I couldn't let you hate Abby, she loves you too much."
I didn't respond, I had nothing else to say. Instead, I lay there and cried for a while. Wells stayed with me as the sun slowly set, making the trees glow slightly orange. Just before the last rays of sun disappeared, Finn came back.
"Hey, we set up camp just through those trees." He said quietly, trying not to disturb me. I had stopped crying by this time and was leaning against Wells with my eyes closed. "Is she asleep?"
"I think so." Wells responded. "I can carry her."
"Okay." Finn said, and I could hear him take a few steps back.
"It's...okay." I said slowly. "I can walk."
"Oh, I thought you were asleep." Wells said.
"I'll walk." I said, and opened my eyes. Finn stared down at me and shrugged. He stuck out a hand and I reached up to take it. He helped me up and then let my hand go. I wobbled slightly when I tried to walk and Wells' hand shot out to steady me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." I steadied myself and then ran my fingers through my hair. It was knotty and plastered to my face from all the crying.
Wells stayed close by my side as I slowly made my way through the trees after Finn. Somone had lit a fire in the middle of a tiny clearing and attempted to make beds out of a thin layer of moss. Jasped smiled at me as I sat down on one of the beds.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"No, but I will be." I told him.
"Let's just go to sleep already." Octavia complained from across the fire. "I want to find water already."
As she suggested, everyone who wasn't on a bed found one and lay down. Monty spread out the fire a bit more so it would burn down quicker. One by one, we all fell asleep.
I woke when it was still dark, it looked like the midde of the night. Raising my head, I saw that all the beds were filled but one. Finn was gone. Panicked, I jumped up and went over to his bed. There was a clear trail of footprints leading away from it, so I followed them.
They led around a huge boulder and when I turned the corner, I could see Finn. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he was okay. We didn't know what was on earth and he could have been hurt. I watched him for a minute but he didn't seem to be doing anything in particular.
"Hey princess." He said quietly without looking behind him. I approached and stood next to him.
"How did you know it was me?"
"I guessed you would be the only one to care enough to come after me."
"Hmm." I studied the forest. "What are you doing?"
"Couldn't sleep." He said, turning towards me. "What about you?"
"I'm not sure, something just woke me up."
Finn nodded but didn't say anything else. We stood together for a few minutes in silence.
All of a sudden, I saw blue dots form in the corner of my eye. I turned my head and then gasped. Finn followed my gaze and his mouth dropped open. More blue dots began to appear all around us. They glowed gently against the trees, and then they lit up.
They were butterflies. Butterflies that glowed a beautiful blue.
Butterflies appeared everywhere - on trees, bushes, floating in the air. I spun gently, taking in the beautiful sight.
"Isn't it amazing." Finn whispered and I nodded. A butterfly landed on my shoulder and I went still so I wouldn't distub it. Finn laughed and my eys flicked up to meet his.
"What?" I mouthed.
"You have a butterfly on your head." He smiled, and then a butterfly landed on his nose. Unable to hold it in, I burst out laughing. The few butterflies on me flew away in surprise but I didn't mind. Finn laughed with me, rubbing his nose.
The butterflies settled again after a minute, landing near us again.
"We should probably go to bed." I said.
"Is that an invitation princess?" Finn raised his eyebrows. I smacked his arm.
"You wish!"
We headed back to the camp and lay back down on our beds. Finn met my eyes across the dead fire, and I slipped off to sleep still looking at him.