Walking through the gates of the Grounder village brought no more comfort than standing outside them did. It was obvious we were unwanted here, judging by the loud yelling of the members of the village.

I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying, but I could tell it wasn't friendly.

My eyes wandered the groups of people, the gut wrenching realization that my brother had killed their friends, their parents, their children, came creeping into my mind. I felt like I was going to be sick as tears prickled at my eyes.

A hand was placed on my lower back as someone leaned into me, "You okay?" Bellamy whispered, his eyes searching mine.

I gave him a tight smile and a nod, "Yeah," I responded, "Just overwhelmed."

Bellamy was in the midst of responding when one of the villagers stepped forwards, stopping the group of us in our tracks. It was a man, and he was angry. He began speaking in Trigedasleng. The only word I could pick out was "Skai Kru", which I assuming was us.

The man finished speaking and Gustus quickly responded, again in Trigedasleng, his voice more demanding. The man, however, seemed to ignore whatever Gustus said as he continued.

It was at this point that Bellamy pulled me closer to him, clearly afraid of what this man, and possibly the others were going to do to us. With no weapons, we were basically defenceless.

Suddenly, Gustus took a large step forward, not wasting anytime in delivering a punch to the man's face, which sent him to the ground. I felt myself cringe as he continued hitting the man, quickly drawing blood.

I cast my eyes to the ground, growing uneasy as the scene continued to unfold. Clarke was clearly uncomfortable with it as well as she rushed towards the Commander, begging her to stop it so we would not be blamed.

It became evident that the Commander decided to listen to her as she gave Gustus an order which caused him to stop. She then turned to face us and the rest of the villagers, "The Sky People march with us now. Anyone who tries to stop that will pay with their life."

My eyes widened slightly at her threat, finding it somewhat severe. However, it seemed that no one was willing to challenge it, as when I looked around at the villagers, they all remained silent, watching their Commander with respect.

When Lexa was sure no one was going to argue with her proclamation, she turned and began advancing further into the village. Bellamy and I shared a look as the rest of us began to follow her.

He gave a slight shake of his head as we began to move, "Warm welcome." he muttered.

---

The time had come, it was time to say goodbye to my brother. The group of us, along with the villagers and the Commander and her people stood gather around. In front of us was my brother's wrapped body, along with those he had killed.

I stared straight ahead, tears slowly rolling from my eyes as the Commander spoke, her words quickly being translated for us by Lincoln. Her speech spoke word of "cleansing the pain of the past". I listened to her words, but I knew that nothing would cleanse the pain I was feeling. I also knew that the pain my brother had caused the village would not be so easily forgotten.

The woman beside the Commander, Indra was her name, handed a lit torch to Lexa, who took it into her grasp before pausing. She looked at the pile of bodies before glancing back to us. Silently, she held the torch out, speaking once it was in front of a certain blonde, "Clarke".

Mumbles began fluttering through the crowd as Clarke stepped forward, taking the torch into her hand. I bit down on my lip as I watched her, my emotions starting to get the better of me. Bellamy seemed to notice my agitated state as he reached down and took my hand into his.

As Clarke stepped up onto the platform and held the torch close to the bodies, I could feel myself becoming evermore flustered. Clarke said a few words in Trigedasleng, ones I have learned mean "Your fight is over". After the words were off of her lips, she touched the torch to Finn's body, causing it to ignite.

It was now that I felt like I was going to be sick. I pulled my hand from Bellamy's grasp as I began pushing through the crowd. I was forced to hold my hand to my mouth as I pushed through people, afraid I might lose whatever food I had in my stomach.

I could feel people watching me as I struggled to break from the crowd, I could also hear Bellamy and Octavia quietly arguing over which one of them was going to follow me.

As I reached the outskirts of the village, I collapsed against one of the houses as the smell of burning flesh assaulted my nostrils. I resisted the urge to gag. Instead, I let out a mangled sob.

It was neither Bellamy or Octavia who came after me, surprisingly it was Raven. She didn't say anything to me at first, just stood over top of me, watching me with tears in her own eyes.

"I know what you're feeling." She finally said, taking a seat beside me, "And I agree. They killed him, and now we're here pretending like nothing is wrong, like we can trust them."

I brought my knees to my chest as I looked over at her with a shake of my head, "I know this alliance is what will get our friends out of Mount Weather...but I can't get on board with Clarke treating them like part of the group. These Grounders are not our friends."

Raven nodded, her face stained with tears as she pulled me into a hug, "It's hard, but I guess for now all we can do is put on a fake smile and go along with this." She whispered.

---

After mine and Raven's conversation, we decided to rejoin the group. The ceremony with the bodies was finished. Whatever was left of my brother was gone now. I no longer felt sad, numbness was all that consumed me as we all headed inside one of the buildings to have a feast. However, eating was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

As we walked through a small corridor leading to what would be the dining room, I felt a hand take hold of mine. I looked up from my feet to see Bellamy. He didn't look at me, just held onto my hand. A sense of comfort instantly came over me, just having him close eased some of the pain.

I stood next to Bellamy at the table, Kane immediately to my left. We weren't to be seated yet. instead we stood as Kane presented the Commander with a bottle of liquid that our people drank at "special occasions". Anger bubbled within me at the mention of this being a special occasion, to me, this was my brother's funeral, not an occasion that called for a celebratory toast.

I held my tongue, watching with dark eyes as the Commander thanked Kane. She then turned to Clarke, proposing that they drink together. My eyes flickered towards Clarke, who smiled at Lexa with a nod.

I bit down on my cheek, trying to hold in my emotions. Bellamy noticed my discomfort as he looked down at me, giving me a reassuring look when I met his eyes. My anger subsided only slightly with his gaze. Thousands of emotions flooded my body as Clarke took one of the chalice from Lexa, Gustus taking the other one, probably to ensure it was safe to drink before his Commander took a sip.

I watched as he raised the cup to his lips, taking a sip before lowering it. His eyes stayed locked with Clarke's as he handed the cup back to Lexa. She took it with a small nod, holding it in her hand as she spoke, "Tonight we celebrate our newfound peace. Tomorrow, we plan our war. To those we've lost," she toasted, raising the chalice slightly, "and to those we shall soon find."

I shifted as a way to displace some of the frustration I was feeling as Lexa and Clarke began raising the cups to their lips. They were seconds away from taking a sip when Gustus collapsed onto the table, sputtering and groaning.

We all jumped back in surprise, my eyes going wide as I watched him wither in pain. Bellamy pulled me close as Gustus stumbled back against one of the walsl, muttering the word "poison" through laboured breaths. Bellamy pulled me along with him as he moved to knock the cup out of stunned Clarke's hand.

The Grounders instantly reacted, some tending to Gustus as the others pulled weapons, some even pushed the table so there was no longer a barrier between us. Bellamy shoved me into the grasp of Marcus Kane as he rushed to the front of the crowd, holding back a frantic Clarke who pleaded with Lexa, begging her to see that it was not us who did this.

Indra ordered something in Trigedasleng, which resulted in Grounders marching over to search us. Clarke continued to plead with Lexa as we were searched. I let out a small grunt as a Grounder took a hold of me, pulling me from Kane's grasp and shoving his hands into my jacket. I resisted the urge to put up a fight, knowing that it would only make things worse for all of us.

The minute he plunged his hand into one of my coat pockets, he paused. Fumbling around with something before pulling a small vile from within my pocket. I felt my heart drop. It wasn't mine, I didn't even know exactly what it was. Judging by the way he examined it, I had a feeling it was some kind of poison.

"Heda," he called, pulling her attention away from Clarke. He held up the vial, saying something else in Trigedasleng.

"That isn't mine!" I exclaimed, fear consuming me. Everyone was watching me now, causing me to feel like I was going to be sick, "Please, I swear it's not mine."

Clarke looked from me and then to Lexa, she didn't say anything, but I could tell she was begging Lexa to believe me.

It did not seem that luck was not on our side today as Lexa's face clouded over with anger, "No Sky person leaves this room!"

hey guys! hope you enjoyed this chapter :) looks like some trouble for our girl aves

-maddy xoxo