Chapter 35: Ch. 35 – Settling Down in the Castle

The trip to Troit took another four days, but that was more due to a snowstorm that blew in on our third day and we stopped until it died down. I created several large stone structures where everyone and the horses could shelter and stay warm. My small group got the benefit of having me inside with them because I slowly took control of the temperature as I practiced a new spell, Wind Domain.

Despite the obvious advantages that Wind Domain had over Earth Domain, I had not attempted to train it because it was a far more advanced form of spell, requiring both high mana and high control to achieve it. Earth was densely packed together which made my energy easy to infuse throughout it and why when I lost my connection with the ground when Lexa kicked my legs out from under me, I could not attack her until I hit the dirt. I could still control something that I had made like my stone staff, or the metal I could make if it had been present, but using any new spell needed contact with the Earth.

The fact that I could conjure flames, even if it was due to my affinity, meant that I had the basic level of control that the spell required. Combine that with all of the constant practice of my Earth powers which had made my mana nearly double that of Lexa's, I had everything that I needed to start learning the spell.

While I understood the concept that air was made up of millions and millions of molecules, science was not too advanced where my powers originated from. Instead, I had to send pulses of my mana outside of my body, much like a sonar. With practice, I would be able to maintain the Domain constantly, but managing the range was the key. A small, enclosed place like the hut was easier than doing it out in the open where the real wind would be fighting me, but again, the solution was practice.

Of course, the others knew that I had been doing something, but no one asked any questions. Other than the snow, the trip was quiet and easy. I talked with Nia again as we rode into the city, and she pointed out different locations. Her castle, as she called it, was in the ruins of the Detroit Institute of Arts which was surprising, considering that the Azgeda was known as the most brutal and bloodthirsty of all of the Clans. The painted walls were cared for as best they could and only the smaller rooms, which would have been used for small exhibits, had been remodeled into bedrooms, lounges, and even a library.

Nia granted us a small suite on the first floor near the garden with three bedrooms and a small lounge that connected them all. Although the master bedroom was obviously meant for me, I forced Clarke and Finn to take it while I bunked in one of the double bedrooms with Bellamy, which left Byrne alone in her own room. I was not going to risk drawing Raven's ire by spending a 'year' sleeping in the same room as another woman, even if it was in separate beds.

"Is everything to your liking, Octavia?" Nia asked as she escorted me out to the garden where I would set up my 'clinic'.

"Yes, the rooms are very nice, and the artwork is beautiful. I would hate for you to come and visit Arkadia. Even Kane's personal set of rooms is half the size of what you have given to us, so it would be insulting what we can offer for you to stay in," I replied with a chuckle.

"You're new to these lands so it is understandable that you can only offer a little. I'm sure after you finish your time here, you'll build up your city quickly... What is it that you need from us making this to your needs?" she asked as we stopped in the garden.

"Sunlight assists my healing, so I'll need a place for each patient to lay and a place for myself because it is not the same as my other abilities and tires out my body. If possible, I would like to create a small building and have Clarke diagnose everyone that I see. She'll be able to make everything more efficient for me, but she will need a translator. Oh, and I'll need to make fireplaces to keep things warm. I can handle making and filling the chimneys, but I will need firewood to burn," I explained.

"That will be simple to arrange. I'll allot you this section to set up your clinic; how much time will you need to prepare?" she asked, motioning to the empty section of the garden that was along the edge where my suite was.

"If you can grant me the day, I'll make sure that your people will have a comfortable place to rest while I work my way through everyone. Hopefully, after I have finished my time here, you will be able to repurpose the building for something nice. Clarke is also a very talented artist, so I can ask her to create some murals inside if you'd like to keep the theme going from your castle."

"That would be nice. I'll have someone deliver her some paper, so she can show me some of her ideas," Nia agreed. "I'll have my advisors come by tomorrow and inspect your building so that they can have a better understanding of what you can create, but I am sure that they will take a week or two to decide how to utilize your ability. Is there anything else that I can do to make your time here more enjoyable?"

"If you are offering, I'd appreciate someone to spar against. Like my time with Trikru, I'll use my powers sparingly and more to make up for my lack of experience. Spending my days healing people and sleeping off the effects of using that power means that I won't be sleeping most nights."

"I thought you desired a peaceful life."

I chuckled, "We both know there is a difference between wanting peace and truly having it and having the strength to protect it is key. I can practice my other abilities alone, but I also enjoy being able to exercise my body. Plus, I don't know if Raven would appreciate it if I became fat and lazy during my time here and a year away from her could change things between us."

"I requested that she come along with you, but Kane insisted that she was needed for Heda's project in Polis."

"While she is a brilliant engineer and mechanic, we both know why she was not permitted to follow me, even if Kane was the one arguing against it," I sighed.

"Do you trust Lexa?"

"I trust that she doesn't want me as an enemy, but I also trust that she'll lose no sleep if she must remove me from the equation. I'm just doing what I think is best for my friends and, powerful as I may be with my abilities, that doesn't mean I'm foolish enough to think that I can take on the entire Coalition without losing all of them in the process."

"Well, I have sent Echo out on a mission to collect someone, but when she returns, I'll have her spar with you in the evenings. It shouldn't take more than a few days unless he is determined to be stubborn. There are others who could do it, but she is one of my best warriors and one of the few who would not complain giving up her evenings for your instruction."

"I thank you then," I replied with a slight bow.

"I'll leave you to your task and have someone fetch your people, so that they will know where you'll be working most days," Nia said before she walked back inside.

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I let out a sigh of relief after she was gone and activated my Wind Domain to make a thin barrier against the biting cold as I rubbed my arms, trying to warm up. My jacket was not enough for the winter weather, and while Nia might be used to it, I certainly was not as a native Texan, even if I was living as Octavia now. I formed a ball of fire between my hands and used it to warm up my hands while I walked to the area that I was given to make my clinic.

Letting the fire dissipate, I got started on making the walls. Thankfully, I had more than enough practice at this, so I had already made a simple structure when the rest of my group made their way outside. They gathered inside the small building while I heated things up with a large, white fireball.

"No offense, but it was nicer inside," Finn chuckled as he warmed his hands by the fire.

"If I have to suffer the cold, so do you," I replied with a smirk. "Don't worry. Nia is going to have some people deliver firewood, so once I get the room warmed up, I'll make a few chimneys and it won't be such a problem anymore."

"How did things go with her?" Clarke asked.

"Well enough, I've got the day to finish the clinic which should be enough time to really make this place nice. Once we start having people come in, I'll have you sort through them and figure out what I need to focus on for healing. Byrne, I just want you to focus on security, not that I'm expecting problems. That will leave you two to manage the fireplaces and anything else that Clarke will need because I want her to be in charge of everything, here at least."

"Oh? You're giving up some control?" Bellamy asked with a chuckle.

"Meh... It's only because I can save some energy if I don't have to think. I'll be back to bossing you around in no time, big brother," I teased back.

Bellamy could only shake his head with a wry smile.

"On a lighter note, the queen did approve my idea to decorate the walls with some murals, so she wants some ideas from you, Clarke. I figured that it would give you a fun way to pass the time between patients when things start to slow down."

"Is there really a point?" she asked.

I shrugged, "Aside from making it look like we actually want to be here, not really. I just thought you might like having some kind of escape while we're here. I mean, we are living in what's left of the Detroit Institute of Arts. It seems like an artist's dream."

"Yeah, well... it's not that easy to relax here," she retorted.

"All the more reason to do it when you can, and that goes for all of you. We're going to be here awhile and, not only will it stress yourselves out, but it will also draw more of Nia's suspicion if we don't 'settle' in. There is a lot more on the line than just our lives and that kind of stress can break a person if you don't remember to breathe."

Byrne smiled with surprise and nodded her head in approval, but it lost any real value to me because I knew she only thought of me as sixteen-year-old Octavia Blake with strange powers. We were probably the same age, if I was not a few years older in my past life, and I knew far more of what was going on than she did. I should be the voice of reason since I was leading this little group.

"You'll see what I mean soon enough. I'm going to start working on making this less of an eye sore, so have fun entertaining yourselves," I added as I released the fire spell then put in my headphone. "Byrne, you're to handle anyone except Nia that comes up. If you need me for anything, you can come to me; I just won't be focusing on what's around me."

"Yes, ma'am," she agreed.

Shaking my head, I walked out of the simple structure without another word. I spent the rest of the day changing the plain building into something that had a flair of gothic architecture with eastern dragons that looked to be coiled around the corners. The heads even released smoke as I had incorporated them into the chimneys. On the inside, there were four fireplaces in each of the corners while the center had been turned into a seating area with several rows of benches. My treatment area was back out in the snow, but I used walls to break as much of the wind as I could and then borrowed an ancient technique used by the Romans, though with some alterations.

There was a stone deck, flush with the building, but I had also made a large depression underneath. Once the wood started being delivered, I tossed the extra down in the hole. My hope was that when I lit the fire, it would work like hypocaust, and heat the air from below, but only time would tell if my idea would pay off.

The next week or so was busy because my clinic was officially opened. There were over a hundred people that Nia had arranged to be in the city that needed my help. Clarke and Tabar, the healer turned translator that I had met before, were constantly moving the first three days as they sorted through all of the symptoms of the patients and who needed treatment first. I spent more time healing people or asleep than I did talking with any of my group, so they finally began to understand the wisdom of my words.

Unlike them, I already had a method to distract myself from the daily stresses with my music and my powers to practice. Clarke was obviously the first to cave to my advice and started spending her evenings drawing up ideas for artwork. Bellamy and Finn were shockingly becoming friends over cards and drinks while Byrne started using the small library. Whether they wanted to or not, they began to settle down and adjust to living in Queen Nia's territory.

The day after Echo returned, a new face appeared on the 'castle' grounds and, despite the hooded cloak that he was wearing, I still recognized Prince Roan. In the show, he should have been banished from Azgeda lands, and it was when he captured Clarke, or Wanheda, that he made his first appearance. It was just another sign that things had changed significantly because of my actions, and I could only wonder what his presence would mean for our plans...

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