Into The Woods- Bellamy Blake

Chapter 38

The next morning, Ember had woken up fully rested. She was surprised to see the sun rising up in the sky, realizing she had slept more than a few hours. After the night's previous events, Lexa had sent Ember to check on people in the city to make sure everything was running okay. She did that easily, and then went to her room and passed out in exhaustion.

It was the first time in months that she had slept more than a few hours, and wasn't sure what to do. She decided to do what she always did when she woke up; and went for a run. One Grounder went with her, the personal guard that Lexa had assigned her for her own safety, at least until Ice Nation was dealt with. She figured that Lexa was with Clarke, since she didn't wake up Ember that morning for training. "Did the Commander stop by at all?" She asked the man who ran beside her. She tried not to be upset that he came on her run with her, since she knew she could out run him if she wanted to, she knew knew that that wasn't what Lexa wanted.

The man shook his head, but then noticed that Ember wasn't looking at him. "No. From what I'm aware she's been with Wanheda all morning."

Ember continued to run, but shifted to run back towards Polis. They returned to the city quickly, and Ember ran to where Clarke was staying. Lexa and Clarke both turned to look at her, and Ember stood tall, looking between the two. Clarke's eyes drifted down to the brand on her arm, as Lexa stared at her. "Sorry I didn't come to training today." Lexa told her.

Shrugging casually, Ember crossed her arms. "Doesn't matter." She told Lexa. "When are we meeting with the thirteen clans?" She asked, before adding, "Will I be at your side, or an ambassador for the 13th clan?"

"We were just about to head there, and you'll be at my side, Clarke will be the ambassador." She turned to Clarke, Ember feeling instantly awkward as she sensed the tension between the two.

~~~

"Ambassadors of the coalition, today we honor our covenant. The clan that stands against one of us stands against us all." Lexa said, looking over the 13 ambassadors.

"Bring in the accused." Ember told the two men that stood by the door. Ember breathed calmly as two men brought in Queen Nia, the Ice Queen. She glared instantly at Ember, clearly recognizing her and remembering all of her failed assassins. She was pushed to her knees in front of Lexa, and Ember calmly said, "Queen Nia of Azgeda has confessed to the destruction of Mount Weather, resulting in the death of 49 members of Skaikru." She turned to Clarke, staying composed. "Wanheda, what say you?"

Ambassadors slowly turned to Clarke, as she said, "Skaikru demands justice."

"Ice Nation does not answer to this girl." Nia said instant, looking over her shoulder to Clarke.

"Silence." Ember demanded, Nia turning back to look at her quickly. "The punishment for your crime is death." The ambassadors started whispering to each other, and Ember waited for them to be quiet again. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"I need no defense." Nia replied. "You two do. Today is judgement day. I call for a vote of no confidence, for both the Commander, and her second."

"Take this queen to meet her fate." Titus said, seeing that Ember had frozen, not understanding what she meant, but knew it wasn't good as she glanced back at Lexa.

"Not so fast." The ambassador from Podakru said, standing up. "Commander no more."

Two more ambassadors stood up, both saying, "Commander no longer." They didn't say Ember, but she figured she was included too. After all, Ember hadn't fully proved herself to them yet.