Chapter Text
The chill air of early fall greeted Clarke as she stepped out of the makeshift medical clinic where she attended to the village people. She was running late, the rebels’ meeting was about to start, but she got held back by a sick child today.
Malnutrition. Not much she could do about it in there that would help that child, other than try and give her some food for the night. Clarke knew she would be of way better use working with the rebels, fighting the system that let that child starve in the first place.
She walked through the busy roads wrapped around her scarf, trying to not draw much attention to herself. Evenings were the best time of day to have the rebels meet, since it was the time in which most of the village folks left their work to go back home. Nothing better to hide illegal activities than to blend in with the crowd.
"Sorry I’m late,” Clarke told her friend Raven as she walked into the rebels’ headquarters, “I got held back at the clinic.” She explained, taking off her coat and hanging it in a corner.
The room was already bustling with people, way more than they usually got. Their movement was getting bigger by the day, as more and more people joined in the fight. It made Clarke’s chest burst in excitement. They might actually be able to do it. They might have a real chance of bringing down the tyranny the royal family has been imposing over the village people for centuries now.
It all depended on their plan working.
Clarke moved quickly to the front, ahead of the crowd, where there was a sketch board with some important pointers for the plan. The board could quickly be burned down or hidden in case any castle authority came around. They couldn’t take any chances.
Octavia was already there with one of the castle’s guards who was on their side, Lincoln. They stopped talking as soon as they saw her. Clarke gave a court nod in Octavia’s direction for her to go on and introduce her. The leader of the rebels, Clarke Griffin.
She’d never wanted to be a leader to her people, never liked the responsibility that came along with it. She didn’t plan on it, it just sort of happened.
When she first joined, everybody already knew who she was as her father had been a very active member with the cause. They recognized and were grateful for his work, and for his sacrifice. They moved her up to be a member of the small circle of people who made the most important decisions and took the biggest risks.
Clarke worked hard. She couldn’t afford to let her father’s death be in vain. She was passionate, abandoned any possible life she could’ve had outside of the rebellion and dedicated her life only to helping people and to the movement. And her colleagues noticed it, the fire she had in her. The willingness to sacrifice everything for the cause, her tendency of taking leadership when necessary.
So they put her up front.
She tried to fight it at first, but ended up giving in. Duty called and Clarke saw so much misery every day in the village and at that god forsaken clinic where she worked, day and night when necessary, that she just couldn’t afford to look away and deny her post.
And that was how she ended up there, in front of all those people who looked at her as a beacon of hope. She couldn’t fail them.
“Greetings everyone!” She said, acknowledging people’s cheers as she stopped next to the board.
With a raised hand, she thanked them for the recognition and made a silent order for them to let her speak.
“So,” she continued as the crowd’s noise finally died down, “we have a plan. A plan that will finally allow us to take the power from the royalty and back to the people, where it belongs.” Clarke spoke in a very serious tone, as her message was very important and needed to be delivered. “As you all may already know, the princess, Alexandria, is looking for a husband and, whomever that may be, is to become the future king of Polis beside her. Our plan is to have that husband be one of our men, so that we will have someone on the inside.” Clarke continued, hearing the murmurs of the people, some in agreement and some in doubt. “We already have a candidate. Finn here has offered himself to try and win the heart of our princess.” She said, pointing to the greasy haired man to her left.
Clarke wasn’t very fond of the man herself, she wasn’t so sure if she trusted him to get the job done, but she trusted her team and they had chosen him.
Under the sound of some applause and chit chatting, Finn walked up to the front. Throwing his hair back, he smiled confidently as he stood next to Clarke. His strongest trait was definitely his self-confidence, it was what had made Clarke fall for his charm once in what felt like a lifetime ago, but now she just felt annoyed by it.
“The first ball, where the princess will start to meet her candidates to take her hand in marriage, will be taking place at the royal palace by the end of the week. It will be her first formal introduction to society.” Clarke continued to explain the plan to the attendees. “We will be there. We already have a few of our rebels infiltrated in the castle,” She said, pointing to Lincoln, “and we will have a few more by the end of the week. This is step one of our plan, to introduce Finn and to make sure he catches the princess’ attention.”
It was a rather simple first step, one that Clarke was almost sure couldn’t go wrong, but she could never take anything for granted.
Their biggest obstacle was the fact that princess Alexandria was a mystery to most of the population. She barely ever showed up to any event, never stepped foot outside the castle, even the staff that worked at the living headquarters of the royal palace could not confidently say they knew her. But Clarke had her ways and, since Finn had been chosen, she would have to make it work.
She would be there at the ball and she would make sure everything went according to plan. Getting in wouldn’t be hard for her, considering she was the daughter of the royal family’s most trusted doctor, Abigail Griffin. It was the other rebels she had to worry about.
“Lincoln,” Clarke called out after dismissing the meeting for everyone except the rebellion’s most trusted inner circle. “I’d say you’re the closest man we have to the princess today. What are your optics on the plan?” She asked.
Lincoln was shy. He’d been part of the cause for a shorter period of time than everyone else there. The fact that he barely stepped foot out of the castle made it more difficult for him to attend the meetings, but being the princess’ personal security guard made him a very valuable source of information.
Clarke didn’t trust him at first, but Octavia convinced her eventually. He was a great spy and seemed to really believe that change was necessary. His own family had been suffering under the current regime for years.
“Well… I think we should work a bit on Finn’s attitude.” Lincoln offered and everybody else in the room seemed to agree except for Finn himself. Of course he would take it personally. “It’s just that I think the princess is not so keen on men who are too self confident.” He explained with a shrug.
“What, you want me to pretend to be insecure?” Finn argued, but Clarke felt it would be better to stop him right there.
“You will do whatever is best for our plan to work, understood?” She demanded and he just nodded. “Is everything else ready for phase one?” Clarke then turned to her other colleagues to make sure everyone was on board.
“Yep, I’ll be a security guard with Lincoln here.” Octavia proudly pointed out, “and we’ve managed to get Raven, Jasper and Monty a place as the palace’s buffet staff for the ball.”
“I’ll be serving more than just good looks there.” Raven told them with a wink.
“We’ll be the eyes and the ears for Finn to have everything he needs.” Octavia assured her and Clarke was so glad to have her. She was efficient and never let her down.
Her whole team, actually. She’d be lost without them. The knowledge that they had everything under control had her breathing a little easier.
“Terrific.” She replied with a smile.
“How about you? Have you found a way into the castle?” Jasper asked curiously.
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Clarke replied, unconcerned, “I’ll be a guest at the ball.”
//
“That was the last one of the day.” Gustus told her after he dismissed the man with a rotting open wound on his leg after they treated it.
“Great, we finished early today.” Clarke replied with a sense of a job well done.
Days like those were a rarity lately. They usually had a long line of sick people at the clinic’s door way before they opened up in the morning. It took them all day to get to all of the patients.
The most serious cases, of course, could still find Clarke at her own home when she wasn’t at the clinic, as she’d always made clear for the village people. But those were harder to happen. Usually when people got to a point of needing urgent care, it was already too late for them anyways, so they chose to just die at home with their loved ones. A sad reality, but a reality they were trying to change.
A knock at the door took away the relieved smiles of having a chance to go home early that day and put back on their serious, professional faces.
“Dr. Griffin…” Clarke heard Gustus say as he answered the door and she already knew she wouldn’t like what was about to come. “What an honor.” He said, not exactly sounding sincere.
“Thank you my dear,” Abby said, looking away from the man at the door and inside the room to find her daughter, resting against the stretcher where she attended to the patients. “Would you mind if I just had a word with Clarke for a minute?” She asked and Gustus looked unsure of what to do.
“Don’t you think you should be asking me if I wanted to have a word with you?” Clarke spit out without so much as looking in her mother’s direction, making it clear that she was unwelcome there.
“Uh, I’m going outside to get some more herbs.” Gustus said to nobody in particular, excusing himself out of the room and closing the door behind him.
“Clarke, can you just hear me out for a moment?” Abby pleaded, stepping closer to her daughter, but not close enough so not to scare her away.
“I don’t want to hear anything from you, not today, not ever, understand?” The blonde spoke harshly, standing up straight to stand her ground. Her mother looked sad and beaten up, she almost felt sorry for the woman, until she remembered what she’d done.
“You can’t shut me out forever.” Abby talked in a calm and understanding tone, but Clarke didn’t want to hear it.
“Watch me.”
“You have to know I was just doing what I thought was the best for you. For our family.” The older woman explained and that pushed Clarke over the edge.
“By getting my father killed?” The blonde was almost screaming then. How did her mother dare think what she did was best for their family? She tore them apart, Jake Griffin died because of her, it was all her fault.
“You know I never meant for that to happen!” Abby screamed back, her eyes shining with the tears that were about to fall, but she took a step back and breathed in deeply. “Look, Clarke, I didn’t come here to fight, I want to help you. I can get you work inside the castle if you want.” Her voice came out lower and controlled then. “You can come live with me in the upper village.”
The offer only let Clarke know that her mother never really knew her at all. Clarke could’ve been working at the inner walls around the castle if she wanted to, being the daughter of a doctor and an engineer. She worked at the village because she knew she could help them. She didn’t care about living a privileged life where no one could see the poverty that made their lives so comfortable.
Her father was just like her, and Abby never got him either. If she did, she would’ve understood why he was working with the rebels in the first place.
“Did you know?” Clarke asked with a shaky voice, her own tears pooling around her eyes at the thought of her father. “Did you know they would kill him when you reported him to the castle?”
Abby seemed taken aback by the question. Offended, even. But Clarke needed to know.
“Of course I didn’t.” The older woman made sure to sound as sincere as she’d ever done.
“Would you still have done it if you knew they would kill him?” Clarke insisted, because deep down she’d always known the answer. “You would, wouldn’t you?”
Her mother was silent then, and the silence was already enough to confirm it to Clarke, but Abby tried explaining herself.
“Clarke, you have no idea what the rebels are capable of!” The older woman pleaded.
“Well, now I know what you are capable of.” Clarke made sure that every word she said came out like daggers to her mother’s heart. “Get out, I don’t ever want to see you again.”
//
With a last glance in the mirror, Clarke admired the beautiful dress Marcus Kane’s mother had lent her for the ball. It was blue as the night sky and it matched Clarke’s eyes. Her hair fell in beautiful golden curls down her shoulders. She almost didn’t recognize herself.
Marcus, just like Clarke, had been raised in a privileged family, in the upper village, inside the inner walls around the castle. But also like Clarke, he chose to leave that life behind him to fight for equal rights for everyone.
That was how he’d met Clarke’s father, many years ago. In the rebellion.
His mother still lived in her small, but comfortable chateau in the noble part of the village, where she’d worked as a seamstress her whole life. She was thrilled to have Clarke wear one of the dresses she’d made so long ago that never had a chance to be worn.
“Thank you so much for the dress, Mrs Kane, it’s beautiful!” Clarke thanked the old woman once again, as she left for the carriage Marcus had arranged for her to be taken to the ball.
Finn was supposed to get there from another house in the upper village, with some other allies from the rebellion. Meanwhile, all of the other rebels that were going to be working at the ball that night were already at their posts, working inside the castle.
It meant Clarke was going to arrive alone. It made her nervous, but she felt ready.
After the carriage stopped in front of the palace’s entrance, Clarke took a deep breath and stepped out. Everything was going according to plan and it would all work out. She was optimistic about it.
The first known face she saw after stepping into the enormous room where the ball was taking place was Octavia, standing at her post next to the female restroom in her security guard vest.
“Hey, how’s everything going?” Clarke tried to look like she was fixing her dress near the wall, getting as close as possible to the smaller woman.
“Wow, Clarke, you look hot!” Octavia had her eyes wide admiring her friend’s dress, not even trying to pretend they didn’t know each other.
“Shut up.” Clarke joked. She felt her cheeks warming up at the compliment. She wasn’t used to being seen as pretty, only as useful, and it felt like a welcome change.
“Hello girls,” Lincoln approached carefully, doing a better job at pretending he was just checking on the security of the palace as he looked around when talking to them. “The princess is feeling pretty anxious, I have a feeling it’ll be hard to win her over tonight. Are you guys sure Finn is the right one for the job?” He asked, even though he knew pretty well it was way too late to make any changes to the plan.
“It was either him or Jasper over there.” Octavia said, pointing to the boy at the bar currently trying to balance crystal glasses on his face.
“I guess our options were limited…” Lincoln gave in with a worried look on his face.
“Tell me about it.” Clarke sighed, remembering that she was supposed to look for Finn in there and make sure he didn’t fuck things up. “We’ll keep in touch, alright? Good luck tonight!”
“You too.” Both security guards replied as Clarke moved away.
She had just laid eyes on Finn, walking confidently around greeting everyone at the party in a very nice black tuxedo and sporting fine posture, when the music was interrupted. All heads turned to the top of the stairway in the center of the room where the princess stood. Next to her, there was a mean-faced woman in a suit who looked like a personal assistant to her, giving some last minute tips.
The princess looked stunning, no wonder everyone stopped to look at her. Clarke herself couldn’t seem to look away as she stepped down the stairs into the salon. Her dress was golden and it shined like the sun, her hair was an intricate pattern of braids and curls falling down her back. She almost didn’t look human.
Clarke was amazed. She’d never seen the princess up close. Hell, she’d never even bothered to take a look at her from afar. Only maybe when they were both children. But now… She couldn’t deny the woman was incredibly beautiful.
Unfortunately, her state of admiration for the princess took away Clarke’s opportunity to talk to Finn. When she looked back at the man, he was already busy entertaining the queen and, to her surprise, it looked like he was doing a good job at it. The older woman swooned at him so easily it gave Clarke hope that he actually had a good chance of doing the same with the princess. Or so she hoped.
The princess didn’t look to be as easily impressionable as her mother though. Her face was harsh and serious, her jawline seemed to be tense at all times. She sneaked her way around the crowd, not paying any of her other suitors much attention when they tried to speak with her. She looked bored by them, like all she wanted to do was get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
“Hey there, pretty lady! What can I get you?” Clarke jumped when she heard the familiar voice behind her. When she turned, Raven was behind the counter at the enormous bar that took up a whole wall from the salon, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Raven…” Clarke sounded a little out of it, still shaken by the surprise. She’d been so busy paying attention to the princess she barely noticed how close she’d gotten to the bar.
“See something you like over there?” Raven asked with a smirk as Clarke turned her head back to try and find the princess again, but she was nowhere to be found.
“No, I-” the blonde looked back to her friend with a blush, “I was just trying to find Finn.” She said, not exactly sure why her first instinct was to lie about who she was really searching for in the crowd. Raven was actually her friend, someone she knew she could always trust and, somehow, the other woman knew she wasn’t being completely honest. So she found it best to change the subject. “How are things going? Everything under control?”
“For now, yes.” Raven told her while pouring amber liquid into a glass and pushing it towards Clarke. “Here you go.”
Whiskey. Clarke’s go to drink, a simple shot of whiskey to help make all her troubles go away. Raven knew her well.
“Thanks.” She said, raising her glass before taking a sip. “Have you been able to talk to Finn yet? I haven’t gotten the chance.”
“He showed up here a few minutes ago. Was feeling confident as usual.” Raven shrugged. She didn’t like talking about Finn, especially not with Clarke. Not after he cheated on her with the blonde, without Clarke’s knowledge that they were even dating, of course. But that was thankfully already in the past and Raven and Clarke had found a way to grow closer to each other after everything.
“Do you think he can do it?” Clarke asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “You really believe he could win over the princess?”
"I don't know, man..." Raven sighed, looking pensive while she toyed with the lid of a bottle that rested over the counter. Her eyes seemed focused on something else behind Clarke. "But I guess we’re about to find out.” The brunette said then, pointing with her head in the same direction she'd been looking.
Clarke turned back to find Finn talking with the princess with the same charm and manual gestures he’d been using with the queen earlier. It didn’t look to be working quite the same way, though.
The princess didn’t seem very impressed, if the expression of boredom she was showing Finn was any indication. Clarke sighed. Finn definitely did have his charm in his favor, but he could be a bit much sometimes. Besides, a beautiful woman like that would not be easily wooed by just any man, not when she could get anyone she wanted. Clarke and the other rebels would have to help him out as much as they could.
“I don’t think it’s going too well for us…” Raven whispered discreetly from behind the bar as she prepared a drink for a guest at the other end of the counter.
“We’re going to have to do something.” Clarke lamented, turning her body back to face the bar, with both elbows over the counter. She tried to formulate a quick plan on how they could get Finn on the princess’ good side, but her thoughts were shortly interrupted.
“Shit, she’s coming this way.” Raven spoke between her teeth and Clarke didn’t have to ask to know exactly who she was talking about.
“Give me your strongest drink, please.” A stern and commanding, yet very pleasant voice came out of the princess’ mouth, followed by a long sigh.
She sounded tired. Looked exhausted too, and her choice of drink only made it more clear that things weren’t going so well for her. Clarke took that as the exact opportunity she'd been looking for to get something out of her.
“That bad, huh?” The blonde asked the princess in a friendly way, only sparring her a side eyed glance and a half smile.
“Excuse me?” Lexa asked, a little on the defensive, but not unwelcoming to the comment.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to meddle,” Clarke continued confidently. Finn wasn’t the only one who could muster a charming personality, even if, in Clarke’s case, it was all just an act, “it just looks like your search for a husband isn’t going that well.” She said, taking a sip from her drink.
The princess was then distracted by the drink she ordered being placed in front of her by Raven. She seemed curious about Clarke though, searching her face for a moment as if she was deciding whether or not to engage.
“Well, I wouldn’t say this is the easiest night of my life.” Alexandria said finally and Clarke took that as a win. If Finn didn’t manage to break her, maybe Clarke could find a way to get under her skin and somehow induce her into picking him.
All she had to do was gain her trust.
“Men are pretty hard to deal with, indeed. They’re not the smartest of beings.” She said and the slight upturn on the corners of the brunette’s mouth at it made Clarke want to pat herself on the back. “Cheers.” Clarke said, raising her glass up and waiting for the princess to do the same, before downing her drink in one gulp.
Princess Alexandria did the same, taking down her strong drink like a pro.
“I have to go back now.” She sighed, making it look like she’d actually rather stay there with Clarke. “It was nice meeting you…”
“Clarke.” The blonde said then, offering a hand for the princess to shake. “Clarke Griffin.” Only later she came to realize that maybe giving away her real name wasn’t the smartest idea, but it was too late.
“I’ll see you around, Clarke Griffin.” The princess shook Clarke’s hand and she had to admit it was very pleasing the way the brunette pronounced her name.
Raven’s scoff tore Clarke’s eyes away from the princess’ back as she watched her leave.
“What?” She asked Raven, who was rolling her eyes at the blonde.
“Nothing. It’s just really irritating how charming you can be.” Raven said, sounding annoyed, as she went back to cleaning glasses and tending to the guests that came to the bar.
Clarke just smiled and shook her head at her friend’s comment, not really sure how to feel about it. She turned around, resting her back on the bar counter to observe the princess for a few more minutes as she went around the salon talking to everyone who approached her, but never approaching people out of her own will.
She was definitely hard to get to, but not impossible at all.
//
It was almost midnight when all of the rebels that had been to the ball reunited back at the headquarters. Clarke couldn’t help but smile to herself at how cute they all looked in their little uniforms.
“So, what’s the takeaway from tonight?” Marcus had arrived at the ball as a guest after Clarke, but, since he was a known member in the upper society, he’d been busy entertaining the rich folks present there.
At least it served as a good source of information on the current situation at that different part of the village. And, according to Marcus, they still had no idea the rebellion was organizing and meeting up again.
“I think it’s safe to say that Clarke was more successful at getting the princess’ attention than Finn was.” Raven said with a shrug, not offering any further explanations to her comment.
“What?” Octavia’s eyebrows shot up at it.
“Look, she is really hard to talk to, okay?” Finn came to his own defense. “I tried all my charming techniques with her and she didn’t care for any of it!” He looked a little desperate with his arms open and a confused expression on his face. Guess he wasn’t really used to his charms not working on a woman. Clarke had to fight back a laugh that she almost let out at his expense.
“We only have one more chance to get to her. The second ball is the last one they throw in order for the princess to get to know all her suitors. After that she has to make her choice.” Marcus explained. He looked worried, so Clarke decided it was time to intervene and let everyone know she had it under control.
“She’ll choose Finn, I’ll make sure of it.” She said, confidently.
“How?” Octavia asked in disbelief.
“I’ll infiltrate myself into the castle.” Clarke said simply.
It wouldn’t be hard, really. She knew someone who could help her out with that. Unfortunately it was the last person on earth she wanted to see, but desperate times asked for desperate measures.
Without even looking at the time, Clarke found herself moving through the streets of the village, taking a path she hadn’t used in years, but knew so well.
With a deep breath, she prepared herself and knocked at the door of the house she hadn’t been to since before her father died.
“Clarke?” Her mother looked almost frightened at the view, while she clutched onto her sleep robe. “What are you doing here so late at night?”
“I’m here to take up on your offer.” She went straight to the point. “I want a job inside the castle.”