DISCORDIA

[ 45 ] two commanders

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       TWO COMMANDERS

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       "SO YOU ARE THE ONE who burnt three hundred of my warriors alive." The Commander lifted her dark eyes to finally gaze upon them, then they flicked towards Clarke first.

       "You're the one who sent them there to kill us," Clarke replied bravely.

       "And you..." The Commander raised her knife point towards Jinny. "Are the fake commander."

       Jinny frowned, for once, stunned into silence because she had no idea what was happening anymore. If the Commander had known all along that she was a fake, why did she want to meet with her? Why not ask to meet with Abby instead, who held the real authority?

       "I thought you said she liked to talk?" the Grounder leader leaned her head to the side in Raulf's direction.

       Raulf. What was he even doing here? Who was he? Why was he standing by the Commander's side, dressed in the same clothes as her? The questions burned in her mind, desperate to find the answers that she silently sought. But Jinny knew herself to be clever, so she held her tongue for the moment until she could gather more information to compute a logical solution.

       "She was whenever I saw her," Raulf replied casually.

       "Lid em in," the woman commanded to the tall man that had greeted them outside the tent. Despite it being a foreign language to Jinny, she now understood what Octavia had meant when she tried to explain it. She could clearly hear the words sound as 'lead them in'.

       The man stepped through similar curtains that were behind the Commander's throne. Clarke glanced towards Jinny in trepidation, but she in turn held her gaze on Raulf and the Commander fastidiously. There was no other explanation; the boy was a spy.

       After a moment, the hulking Grounder returned with a hostage. Jinny's eyes widened when she recognised the black uniform of the Ark's Guard that the man adorned, exactly the same as hers with the embellished star on the shoulder that only she and one other in their ranks wore. The thin woven sack over his head was quickly torn away to reveal Shumway's bruised and bloodied face. It was obvious on sight that he had been tortured and beaten.

       "Dad!" Jinny cried out when she saw him, taking a step forwards before halting when the Grounder drew a knife to her father's throat. She glared heatedly at them, clenching her teeth until the muscle in her jaw twitched visibly. Taking a deep breath, she turned her blazing gaze upon the Commander. Her voice was low and dangerous when she spoke. "Let him go."

       "She finally talks," the Commander noted with amusement, before waving her hand in the air. The imposing Grounder forced Shumway to his knees beside the throne but the blade moved back to its sheath. "He told us everything about you, that you're no one. You stole the title to take command of the first ship, and that you're actually a criminal who killed hundreds of innocent lives."

       Jinny glanced briefly at Shumway, his face veiled as was his wont. She knew that he said all that to spare her of responsibility, but Jinny knew it to be true too. Instead, she smirked at the Commander and did what she did best. "When a nameless man steals the crown from a king, does it make him any less of a king when the people bow to him? Titles and things are merely possessions to be taken, and I will take back what is mine."

       Raulf looked away in an effort to hide his smile, but the Commander's face remained smooth and impassive as she stuck the knife in her hand through the arm of the throne. It stood upright, tip embedded into the thick carven wood without wavering.