she's just a kid || the 100

32 || titus

CLARKE AND LEXA SET OFF FOR ARKADIA AT FIRST LIGHT, TAKING QUEEN NIA'S BODY WITH THEM. I stayed in Polis and trained with the novitiates.

They returned two days later with news. Pike had beaten Kane in the election and he claimed that Skaikru rejected the Coalition. Lexa had declared 'Jus no drein jus daun' which I found inspiring. Jus drein jus daun was always the way of the Grounders but Lexa has the confidence to stray from tradition.

It had been a week since they returned. I had kept training with the novitiates and learning new things. I had been sparring with Aden quite frequently, due to the fact that Titus believed we were the two best matched as warriors. Aden and I had become closer friends as well, despite the fact he was twice my age. He had a good heart, and if it came down to me and him in the end, I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to kill him.

Carl Emerson, one of the soldiers from Mount Weather who somehow survived, was delivered to Clarke as a gift from King Roan. Since he was a gift to her, Lexa gave Clarke the honor of deciding his fate. Clarke decided to kill him which wasn't surprising to me. She wanted vengeance for the lives lost in the destruction of Mount Weather.

Emerson's execution was scheduled for that night. Many important people had gathered in the throne room. Emerson was bound to a pole, awaiting his death. Lexa entered the room, accompanied by her guards and Titus.

"We come together tonight, as we have countless times before, to watch a man die," Lexa announced. She didn't seem happy with Clarke's decision to kill Emerson. "Wanheda." Lexa unsheathed one of her blades and handed it to one of her guards to give to Clarke. "Vengeance is yours."

Clarke walked up to Emerson, the knife still in the guard's hand, waiting to be grabbed by Clarke. 

"No," Clarke declared. A chorus of gasps sounded around the room. Whispers were heard amongst the small crowd that was gathered. 

"I don't know if your death would bring me peace," Clarke spoke to Emerson. "I just know I don't deserve it."

My eyebrows rose in shock. Clarke was full of surprises.

"This man must die," Titus objected, walking up to Clarke. "If Skaikru will not take his life, then Heda will!" He said angrily, pointing at the Commander.

"Heda will speak for herself," Lexa was quick to snap back. "Enough, Titus."

"What is this?" Emerson demanded.

"I wouldn't be killing you for what you've done. I'd be killing you for what I've done," Clarke replied. "I give this man his life. Jus no drein jus daun." 

This angered Emerson. He screamed, causing more whispers and gossip to be spread around the room.

"Silence!" Lexa ordered loudly, causing the room to fall quieter. "The crimes of the Mountain cannot be answered by one man," She silenced the whispers. "Wanheda knows this. Her actions show us a promise for a new future! A world in which violence does not always answer violence. A world in which our children can flourish without the shadow of death."

I was inspired by Lexa's speech. I aspired to be as good as her one day. Both as a warrior and a person.

"This prisoner is banished from my lands. He will live. But he will live with the ghosts of those he has lost. Haunted until the end of his days by the knowledge that he is the last of his kind," Lexa finished her speech.

Clarke took a step closer to the Mountain Man, coming face-to-face with him. "May you live forever."

Wow. Clarke was good.