KING, the hundred

forty-two: just as guilty

"what you gon' do when there's blood in the water?"

blood // water by grandson

Finn's body burned the following morning in TonDC.

Lexa handed Clarke the torch to light the funeral pyre as a show of solidarity. At least, that's what Avery thought it was.

As their friends' body burned along with the people he killed, Avery, Bellamy, Octavia, Lincoln, and Raven stood behind Clarke among the others from the Ark. Avery couldn't help but let a few tears drip down her face. Her hand slipped subtly into Bellamy's.

This was goodbye.

It only took a few hours for everything to go to shit yet again.

They held a memorial lunch in the middle of the day. Or maybe it was a celebration of their alliance. Avery didn't quite know. As much as Abby and Marcus were growing to respect her, they didn't really care to let her in on the political decisions being made.

The biggest surprise to Avery was when Marcus Kane pulled a flask of Avery's moonshine out of his pack and presented it to the Commander as a gift.

"Please accept this gift, Commander." Marcus began. Avery and Bellamy sat on the other side of Clarke, who was seated in the middle of the table. They'd already established that Marcus and Clarke would be their diplomats. "We drink this at special occasions, I believe this qualifies."

Avery had to hold back a snort during his explanation, but quickly returned to a cold expression. No matter how civil she was pretending to be, they were only here to get their people out of the Mountain. Avery needed to keep reminding herself of that.

"Thank you," The commander said, accepting the flask. "Marcus of the Sky People."

"You're welcome," Marcus responded. "Lexa... kom Trikru." Avery figured he'd butchered the pronunciation, but his attempt was good enough for the Commander to look impressed at his diplomacy. "Just... uh, don't drink too much of it."

Lexa nodded at Marcus before turning to face Clarke again. Avery made note of that. There was something about their interactions which made her uneasy. Like the Commander had taken a liking to the blonde.

"Clarke," Lexa started. "Let us drink together."

Clarke still seemed ridiculously out of it, but accepted the drink nonetheless. Lexa poured a bit of moonshine into each cup. Avery knew it wasn't the time, but she could've really gone for some of it. She'd made it, she knew it was good.

"Heda," The Commander's advisor - Gustus - interrupted. "Allow me." He then picked up the cup and drank from it before the Commander could. Avery figured that was probably a good precaution. Death-by-poison wasn't exactly honorable, and it would be really easy to do at a lunch like the one they were attending.

The Commander raised her cup and began to speak. Avery and Bellamy listened intently.

"Tonight we celebrate our newfound peace." She said, sending a specific nod in Avery's direction. "Tomorrow, we plan our war." She raised her glass at Clarke. "To those we've lost." Avery thought poison would have been fitting. "And to those we shall soon find."

The Commander and the princess raised their cups together, bringing the moonshine closer to their lips in acknowledgement of their treaty. But before they could, Gustus collapsed on top of the table, gasping and retching. It was clear that he couldn't breathe.

Avery froze.

For once, this wasn't her.

Nevertheless, all eyes snapped to her except for Bellamy's, who quickly knocked the cup out of Clarke's hands. He also managed to get Clarke and Avery behind him, shielding them both with his body from the grounders.