Chapter 40: Ch. 40 – The Countdown Starts

I stormed outside and headed for the clinic. There was little more that I could do now other than set off the 'Bellamy Explosion' that I had been saving to help with the believability of this ploy, but I was regretting my decision to use him in such a way. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself here and I had seen him smile more these days than our time in the dropship. It was all about to come crashing down around us, so I could only hope that I could protect everyone this time.

"Later... without so many ears," I said as Bellamy walked up before, I could even reach the small building.

"That bad?"

I just gave him a look before I ducked into the clinic, not answering. There were only a few patients today, and they all had some kind of minor illnesses, so it was easy for me to heal them. I might have only needed a short nap, but now that I finally knew Raven was okay, I slept for half of the day. When I woke up though, I was facing an unpleasant conversation.

"Anymore for the day?" I asked as I walked back inside the clinic.

"No, Natfaya. The weather has been keeping too many from moving from the surrounding villages, so it was only those that live here in the city that we had for you," Tabar replied.

"Then my group and I will retire early for the evening. If something comes in, we are in the first suite on the left if you enter the castle through the closest doors," I explained.

"Thank you, Natfaya," he replied with a slight bow.

I nodded my head at him and then led my group back to the castle. When we reached the suite, I headed straight for the liquor and poured several glasses. I picked them up and transferred them to the main table that we ate at.

"That's not a good sign," Finn remarked, taking one of the cups.

"Kane hasn't seen Raven in days. Nia says that her spies are reporting that she is in a cell under the tower and that Lexa is building up her defenses in Polis. I think she's betrayed us," I said, stunning everyone.

"But I thought that you two were working together," Finn said angrily, first to recover from my news.

"Yeah, so did I," I replied, sipping on my drink.

"The training accident..." Bellamy started.

"It wasn't an accident, I just said that so you and Raven wouldn't do anything crazy while we were in Polis. She was reminding me which of us was stronger because she doesn't trust Nia."

"That stuff she said in your room after you woke up…" Finn started to ask.

"True to my knowledge, but also a threat. Grounders don't play fair," I replied darkly then finished my drink. "There was a reason why she wasn't allowed to come with us."

Finn slammed his glass down on the table and stormed off for a few feet while Clarke gave me a questioning look. I did my best to keep my face neutral with a slight hint anger as I switched out my glass for one that was filled. I had already told her that I would have to act like something was wrong, so she needed to play along just like I was.

"Why would she turn on us when we haven't done anything but what you were asked to do?" Byrne asked.

"Aside from Lexa's and Nia's history, I'm the only person who can possibly match her strength. She was able to copy my Earth powers, and I've been able to copy her speed. It's only a matter of time before I become a serious threat," I replied.

"This is exactly what I was trying to warn you about! You can't trust the Grounders!" Bellamy snapped.

"What else could I have done?!?" I yelled, slamming my glass on the table. "You know what we are facing! We don't have the strength to fight back! Even Nia's army can wipe us all out, let alone the combined army of the Twelve Clan. I'm just trying to keep all of us alive! I may have these crazy powers, but it doesn't mean that I can take on the world by myself!"

Bellamy sighed and turned away from the table.

"Byrne, I want you to get a bag ready. I'm going to ask Queen Nia for permission to send you back to Polis to rendezvous with Kane and find out exactly what's going on with our people. He may not have information on Raven, but if something happened while we were gone, that might explain why Lexa has turned on us," I said, calmer.

"My orders are to stay and protect you," Byrne argued.

"No, your orders were to treat mine like Kane's. Nia won't let Bellamy go because he's my brother, Clarke is likely to end up in a similar situation as Raven with her closeness to me, so that leaves Finn as the only alternative, and his relationship with Raven is only second to mine which means he's bound to do something and make the situation more complicated. You're the only person that can go," I explained.

She sighed, realizing the logic in my words, and nodded her head.

"Good. If Nia doesn't send her own rider with you, then you'll likely give me his report in front of her; make sure that he understands that."

"I understand," she agreed.

"Thank you," I replied then looked over at Finn.

As much as I wanted to tell him that Raven was safe, I could not. I needed both him and Bellamy to react like this to help sell the believability of this ploy. Nia was not easy to fool, so I needed whatever help I could get when I was still making stupid mistakes.

I walked up behind Finn and said softly, "I'll do whatever I can to make sure that she's safe, you have my word, but there are more lives on the line than just hers. We have to do this carefully, or things will get a lot worse."

Finn turned around and looked at me before he nodded. I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a weak smile.

"I'll be back later. I need to see what I can arrange with Nia," I said to the whole group.

I did not wait for anyone to reply and headed out the door. There was a familiar servant that lit the candles in the hallway, but that did not surprise me.

Instead, I headed over to him and asked, "When your current duties are done, could you carry a message to Echo?"

"Yes, Natfaya," he replied.

"I would like to talk to her when she is available in the back garden where we used to spar. There is no rush for you or her since I'll be out there all night."

He nodded.

"Thank you," I said before I headed out of the castle through the side doors that led towards my clinic.

I really did not want to be around anyone right now, but Echo would be able to tell me if her plan had a chance. If it did not, it might be better cut our loses and sneak out of the Ice Nation. The war would be unavoidable at that point, so I would just be risking the lives of my friends by staying.

I took the long way to the sparring ring that I had used numerous times, trying to clear my mind with little success. When I reached it, I created several stone pillars as I moved to the center of the area. One nice thing about all of the sparring and use of my powers had taught me was that exercise was a great way to get rid of pent-up stress.

I conjured a bright red fireball between my hands then tried to compress it from the size of a basketball to the size of a baseball. Just like with my Earth powers, the more I squeezed my mana together, the stronger the spell would become. As the fireball grew smaller, the color started to change and became a deep blue color and by that time that I felt more of mana was being used to contain, rather than compact.

With a thrust of my hands, the fireball shot out and hit one of the pillars. It released a small boom as it impacted and flames exploded out in every direction. I reached out with my power, collecting the shattered flames, and turned them into a streak of red fire that I whipped against the pillar until it started to melt. I sent the flames upwards with a flick of my wrist, allowing them to dissipate safely, then hunched over with my hands on my knees, breathing hard.

"I guess I'm lucky that you never used your fire in our sparring sessions," Echo remarked as she walked down the stairs to the ring.

"Yeah, my flames will burn anything unless I am actively controlling them or I trust the person, so I couldn't use them with you," I replied, straightening up.

"You did well this morning," she said softly when she drew close, "especially the second time that your flames appeared."

"That's because it was a real reaction. Even if Raven is safe, that doesn't mean the rest of my people here are."

Echo placed a hand on my chest then slid it up slowly to cup my cheek as she said, "It may not be as hopeless as I had feared. Ontari reported about our evening, and I just had to explain that you preferred women, but it was the flames turning white when I touched you that seemed to have had the most effect. Though… that means that we can't stop playing these parts."

She finished her statement with her lips just inches away from mine, so it was easy to know what I needed to do. I leaned forward and kissed her passionately, closing what little distance there was between us. When I broke our kiss, I wrapped my arms around her waist and laid my forehead on her shoulder.

"Maybe you are better at this than I thought," Echo said as she stroked my hair.

"Shut up… I'm pretending that you're Raven and your voice ruins it," I grumbled.

Echo chuckled, "Is it a Skaikru thing to not have multiple partners? It may be common through the general populous, but those with power and strength often have multiple lovers."

"Our population was strictly controlled while we were in space, or I would never have been a criminal, but it's also an Old World value that our people carried on."

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"Mmm… no wonder it burned."

I smirked, debating whether or not to sucker punch her in the stomach, then settled on retorting, "You are just trying to get into my pants at this point."

"I won't deny that I would enjoy a few moments of pleasure, especially if you know how to copy Lexa's speed," she chuckled, still holding me in her arms.

"So… you can only last a few moments; what a shame," I teased before I picked up my head and kissed her again.

"I would be careful teasing me too much, or I might stop playing nice," she threatened.

"You've been playing nice?" I taunted.

She moved to grab me like she had last night, but I was ready for her this time. Channeling my mana, I easily dodged her hand and slipped behind her. I grabbed her from behind, placing one hand on her neck while my other slid down her stomach, stopping short of her core.

"You're not the only one who can play dirty, but I have no intention of finishing anything," I whispered in her ear. "So, is this enough for the voyeurs watching us in the castle, or am I truly going to have to torture you?"

Without warning, she twisted in my grip with her elbow raised to deliver a strike across my temple. I laughed because I could easily dodge it with my speed increased and smacked her butt as I slipped behind her again.

"Too slow," I taunted with another laugh.

"You are infuriating," she growled.

I dashed to her front before she could react and put a hand on the side of her face, saying, "You'll get over it."

"You're worse than Lexa," she sighed before she kissed me.

I ran my fingers through her hair as we kissed, imagining she was Raven for a moment, then pushed her back with a smile and said, "Come on, I need to ask a favor."

Echo groaned which made me chuckle, and I led her towards my clinic. I sent a wave of white flames throughout the clinic to warm everything up then filled the space with my Wind Domain. I sat down in one of the chairs, and I could see the annoyance in her eyes which made me smile with victory since she had left me in a similar state last night.

"I'd really like to punch that smile off your face," Echo remarked.

"Payback for yesterday," I retorted.

"What do you need?"

"I'd like to send Byrne back to Polis to get a detailed report on what is happening. It would be standard practice for our people to send someone to check in with Kane, and I picked her because she doesn't have a strong connection to me or Raven. I figured that she would be the safest and raise the least amount of flags with Nia. How should I approach the subject with her?"

Echo sighed and walked over to one of the stone cots then sat down, "It will be simple. She'll call for you in the morning before you return to the wall because Lexa has called for a summit of the leaders of every clan to meet on the fourteenth of February and you've been asked to come along as well, as a figure head of Skaikru, and you can ask her after that."

"She's announcing Praimfaya," I remarked.

"Most likely," she agreed.

I sighed, rubbing my face. Without the ability to go to space, there was no way to recreate Becca's original Nightblood serum, so we could only drill for bone marrow in Lexa, but we could not use that method to save everyone. There was only room for two thousand people between the three shelters, so hundreds of thousands of people would be killed by the Death Wave. Once everything was announced, even if the Coalition did not crumble, the people that would be left behind would riot.

"Three more months," I sighed.

"You'll finally get your day off," she teased, but there was little humor in her words.

I stood up and walked over to her then said softly, "Thank you for helping us, Ash. I know that there weren't a lot of other options that you could make, but I'm glad to have you on our side."

She gave me a complicated look and replied, "It's been a long time since I've gone by that name. It doesn't even sound right anymore."

"I understand that better than you'd think," I sighed. "So, are we spending the night together, or are you going to sneak out in a few hours?"

She smirked, "We'll have plenty of chances over the next few weeks before we head to Polis. I've been reassigned to Roan while you work on the wall."

"Oh?"

"I told you, you were very believable in Nia's chambers. With Lexa betraying you and Raven seemingly out of the picture, I've been told to make sure that you come to our side since Roan isn't to your tastes."

I chuckled, "Maybe I should send Finn with Byrne. He's bound to tell Raven something while Clarke and Bellamy will give me a chance to explain about your identity before they run off and tell her."

"Don't push your luck with Nia. Byrne isn't that close to you, so she'll allow her to leave, but anyone else will raise her suspicions."

"It was a joke… mostly. Lexa said that she would tell her about you, so I should be able to tell her everything once things are settled and not be in too much trouble."

"I can talk to her as well if you are that worried," she said.

"No thanks… I'm pretty sure you'd tell her that we did do something just to get back at me," I retorted.

Echo smirked, "I would."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to one of the chairs while I pulled out my headphones. "I'm going to meditate, but I'll be 'watching' if anyone approaches, so try to keep your clothes on this time unless we really need it."

In the morning when breakfast was delivered to our suite, it also came with a message that Nia would like to see me. I left them to eat and headed for the chambers that Echo had brought me to yesterday morning. After knocking, I walked into the room and found the same people inside. I bowed slightly towards Nia then let my eyes linger on Echo for a moment before I turned my attention back to Nia.

"Octavia, the Heda has called for a summit of the Thirteen Clan leaders, and you have also been asked to attend as part of the Skaikru's delegation. You'll travel with my delegation in three weeks to attend, but until then, I want you to focus your efforts on building the wall around Troit," Nia explained.

I clenched my jaw at the mention of Lexa's title, but otherwise kept a neutral face then replied, "As you command, your majesty. May I be so bold as to ask a favor of you?"

"Speak."

"I would like to send one of my group, Major Byrne, back to Polis to meet with Kane. Something has obviously happened between Heda and my people, and our city is in the heart of Trikru territory. I owe you and your people a debt that cannot be easily repaid, but I can't abandon my people either. I need to know if this is a personal attack against me, or if my people have done something to draw her ire, and that's not something that can be sent in a letter."

Nia nodded her head and agreed, "I am sending out one of my messengers out at midday; you can send her along with him."

"Thank you, your majesty. Is there anything else that I can do for you?" I asked with another small bow.

"Just be ready to ride out at midday to return to the walls."

"I will be."

Nia dismissed me with a wave, and I bowed yet again then headed out of the room. I made my way back to our suite where the others were still sitting at the table finishing their food. I smiled weakly back at them as everyone turned to look at me and then sat down next to Bellamy.

"Nia is sending a messenger back to Polis, so you will accompany the rider when the rest of us leave to return to the wall, Byrne," I said as I grabbed a bowl of porridge. "All of us will be returning to Polis in three weeks because Lexa has called a summit of the Thirteen Clans. I need to know if her actions are against me, or Skaikru as a whole. If it's Skaikru, then it's just a matter of me working for her for a more extended period of time."

"And if this is against you?" Finn asked.

I sighed, unable to tell him the truth, and said, "Then Raven is already compromised, possibly dead, and I have to worry about the rest of us. Lexa's actions have already told me that she doesn't trust me, so I need to know if I am walking into an ambush if I re-enter Polis. Her powers are perfect for assassination even if I can sense her."

Finn looked angry, and I could not blame him with the lies that I was having to tell. Bellamy also looked upset, but knowing him, he was more concerned about me rather than Raven or Finn. Clarke's and Byrne's expressions were complicated, but for different reasons, I was sure. My mood was ruined, so I pushed away my food and left the table for one of the couches.

I kept telling myself that I only had three more weeks of these heavy, constant lies, but that did little to ease my heart when I could see how upset my friends were, and it was bound to get worse once the 'relationship' between Echo and I came up. Praimfaya was so close, yet there was still plenty of time for everything to fall apart, and Nia was the one who could rally the Coalition against us. Even if I did not like it, I could not stop until everyone was safe.

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