ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ 𝐹𝒶𝓁𝓁 ↠ ᴏʀʙɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ [1]

☆ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ꜰᴏᴜʀ

A/N: Wow! You all are freaking amazing, I am so beyond grateful for hitting 12.5k reads! Thank you all! 

Twenty-Four - I Knew I Smelled A Rat

Days pass without any new information from Lexa or from the clans about my suggestion for a peace meeting. But, thankfully, Arthur hasn't left me alone long enough to think about if the clans had attacked my friends yet.

Well we haven't heard the cheers of victory yet, have we?

But they could all very well be dead. Bellamy. Octavia. Jasper. Monty.

"Leigh."

I glance upward from my book towards Arthur who is resting in a chair by the fire. He had been in that chair every night since the afternoon Titus spoke to us. He knows Titus is my greatest fear, the one who causes me to freeze up, to become immobile. And he hasn't left my side, ensuring my protection.

"Yes, Seda?" I ask, closing my book and sitting up against the bedframe.

"You've been staring at the same page for over ten minutes now?" Arthur releases a sigh, "Is it really that well written that you have to read it over and over again?"

"I wasn't aware," I explain, slightly embarrassed that he noticed my vacant state.

Arthur sits up from his slouched position in the armchair, placing the blade he has been polishing down on the ground. "Would you like to talk about it?" he asks.

"Nothing," I reply too quickly, returning back to my book.

"Leigh..." Arthur challenges. He fully knows that something is wrong or something is on my mind; he always does.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Yes, something is bothering me," I answer, annoyed that he could read me so easily.

When I had first arrived at Polis, only a few days prior I had killed the Azgeda murderer, I tried to master my duel-sword technique. But at the young age of nine, the blades were too weighted for me to carry one in each hand. But I  had tried anyways.

I had been practicing alone during one night, as I normally did, when Arthur approached me. Even though my wrists were aching, I was on a mission to prove to him that he hadn't made a mistake taking me in. I tucked the swords behind my back, crossing them  into an 'x', and bowed my head.

"Seda," I had spoken in a strained voice, hiding the searing pain in my body.

"What's wrong?" he asked abruptly.