Our People (the Third Book of the Her Weakness series)

Chapter 60

Lexa's POV

The others (minus Clarke) go to clean themselves of the pieces of the two people Raven blew up. Apparently there is a warm spring nearby. Perhaps I will go there later with Clarke. After we get the information from our captive.

I stand still in front of them, staring coldly down into their eyes. They shift uncomfortably on the ground, trying to avoid my gaze. I take off the mask they were wearing to disguise their face. As soon as their mouth is free, they spit at me. I easily dodge it, scowling at them. I take it the rest of the way off, noticing that it is a bald man who is many years older than I am.

"What clan are you from?" I ask. He stays silent, so I kick him in the stomach right where Clarke did earlier. He gasps for breath, trying to move his hands. "What clan are you from?"

"It does not matter." He grunts out, still panting.

"Why not? Most are proud of being from their clans." I inquire.

"Because clans mean nothing now. There have always been twelve, but now we welcome the Skai Kru with open arms. There used to be a sense of loyalty that binds a clan together, but now you control everything." He spits at my feet, deliberately missing.

"We welcome Skai Kru because they have proven to be great and powerful allies. I would prefer for them to be with us to bring about peace than to be against them and have thousands killed fighting an unnecessary war." I say coldly. "My Coalition makes the world a safer place where we can thrive and live, not just survive."

The man rolls his eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Clarke asks.

I notice with satisfaction that he seems scared of her almost as much as he is scared of me. "That is none of your business, Skai Girl."

She crouches so she is face to face with him. "You know, I'm what you call a Healer. I know how to help with wounds, but I also know how to make them worse. I can torture you for weeks and not let you die, even if you beg to. I can break every bone in your body, or cut you a thousand times and still not have you die. I can easily make you wish you had never been born. So tell us what we want to know, and maybe you won't suffer even more."

I have to purse my lips to keep from smiling too much at Clarke's words. She is absolutely terrifying. It is impressive.

The man nods his head rapidly. "Okay, okay. Fine. We are the Noukru."

I frown at that. "The banished ones have formed a clan?"

"Not all of us have been banished by you or a clan leader. Many of us heard of the Noukru and ran away to join it. We try to bring about the world our previous lives lived in."

"The world of chaos and death?" I question.

"The world where clans meant everything. The world where family meant something." He rambles on, but I do not listen. It is clearly an insane man's rambling.

Clarke laces her hand with mine, and I look at her. Both of our hands have crusted blood still on them, but we ignore that. She gives me a small smile meant to encourage me, which I appreciate. I hear the man stop talking and scoff. I turn back to him, raising an eyebrow.

"No wonder they are the thirteenth clan now. You are with their leader."

I am prepared to knock some of his teeth out, but Clarke squeezes my hand, silently telling me to wait.

"It's true that we're dating. However, that's not the only reason my people have become part of Lexa's Coalition. You know what else I've done, besides lead my people? Along with Lexa, I  rescued my people from the Maunon. I led the Coalition's army when Lexa was kidnapped, and got her back. I stormed the Ice Queen's castle and Lexa and I killed her. Now tell me again that it's only because I'm dating Lexa that we became the thirteenth clan."

He stays silent and I smirk proudly, kissing Clarke's cheek and not caring that we still are covered in his comrades. "You worded that very well."

"Mochof (thank you)." She gives me a genuine smile (the one that makes me melt) and then turns back to him, her expression serious again. "So why are you here? You've told us your mission is to bring about the chaos of before the Coalition, but that doesn't explain why you're here."

"Clarke." I say quietly after quickly putting the pieces together in my head. "They came after me because it is my Coalition. It is still young and shaky. The clans all follow me, but some wish it was not in place. If I am killed, it is more than likely that the Coalition will break apart and fail. They came here to assassinate me."

There is a new fire in Clarke's eyes, yet they are so cold as she glares at him that it makes me shiver. "If they try that again I won't stop until every last one of them is dead." She growls.

The man looks even more terrified and squirms again.

"We should let him go." I suggest. They both look at me like I am insane. "Let him tell the others just how easily we killed his friends, and how we know who they are now."

"Please, they will kill me if they know I have you information!" He pleads.

"And I will kill you if I ever see you again. The other clans will not take you in, especially if I give you the mark."

He pales, but does not try to talk.

"What mark?" Clarke asks.

"It is a mark of a coward, a murderer, or a rapist. Someone unfit to live in our clans' society. Only the Heda is allowed to make the mark, and it is recognizable by all." I pull out my dagger and carve the mark onto his forehead. I cut the ropes binding him and hand him his mace, which he takes, evidently surprised. "Try anything and die in vain. Now go."

That was an interesting chapter... Next, they'll have to clean the two blown up people off of them. Thank you for reading and your lovely comments! Stay awesome!