Welcome Bellarke Shippers. This is a story I have been working on so far, and I have almost half of the story complete. This is about Clarke, Princess of Arkia. I hope you like this AU! Please, let me know what you think in the comments!

"I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything, no I can't close my eyes without you in my dreams." ~I See You (Luke Bryan)

Clarke POV:

Long ago, we were one.

There was one civilization, and one people. We lived in harmony and peace, but that was before the civil war.

Those who favored strength over knowledge wanted control, and vice versa.

It was long thought out before war was declared. The positives and negatives were both considered, but in the end there seemed to be no possible solution. The war lasted for three years, until our whole civilization broke apart. We were broken into the Grounders and the Arkians.

The Grounders were those who favored strength. They tended to be big, unintelligent brutes.

The Arkians were those who were small, weak, intelligents.

At least that is what history has told us.

I am Clarke Griffin, Princess of the Arkians. When the Grounders left, we became a civil, advanced society. My father Jake, the King, has long ruled with grace and poise, as well as his father before him, and so forth.

It has been 100 years since the civil war, and a new problem has arose.

I am an only child.

Ever since the war, it has been decided that only a son may take the place of the throne. My mother was lucky she was able to have one child, and so now I have four months before I turn 18, and I have to find a suitor.

Great.

In one month I will have a ball, where I will meet all the 'eligible' men. No one dared to even ask what I wanted. Or if I even wanted a husband. I know that many girls in Arkia would die to be in my position, but honestly I would rather take a bullet to my head.

I didn't want to get married. I wanted to travel to the ocean, I wanted to paint my days away, or play the piano, even just read as many books as I could. I wanted to experience life. I didn't want this on my shoulders.

I sighed and looked down at my perfectly painted toes. Blue to match my eyes. I moved away from the window of my bedroom and to my closet. I threw on a pair of black running pants and a tank top. I put my hair back in a ponytail, and quietly exited my room.

I padded quietly down the white hallway and heard a quiet mumbling in the dining room.

I pressed my ear against the thick metal door. Everything was hand activated, with the most technological advanced system to protect us. From what, I wasn't sure, but I had a good idea.

Grounders.

I knew my father had been receiving letters from them for quite some time, but I could never get my hands on one. I had a feeling my father burned them in the fireplace after reading them.

I couldn't hear a word they were saying. I furrowed my brows and pushed myself off the door. I moved down the hallway and took a sharp turn to the left, where hidden just ever so slightly under a table was the entrance to the attic. I knew I wasn't supposed to go up there. As a princess however, there were only so many things I could do to rebel.

I slid under the table and pushed open the square entrance. I crawled in, and kicked the door shut. I crawled up, and continued to army crawl around before I found the opening that was over the dining room. It was like a porthole that looked down into the room. I crawled over to it and rested my elbows on the edge of it as I peered down into the dining room.

I saw my father and mother in a deep discussion.

"Abigail it is something we need to consider." My father said leaning against the back of his chair. I saw a paper in front of him. I squinted hard at it, but it was near impossible to read from where I was. It must have been another letter from the Grounders.

"Are you serious Jake? Imagine how Clarke would react. A Grounder?" My mother said. Me? A Grounder?

"This could be the first step Abigail. Clarke has a duty as Princess. Even if I don't like it either, there couldn't be any harm in this now could there?" he said boring his eyes into hers. I didn't like the sound of this at all. They seemed to be in a silent debate for a while before my mother sighed.

"You get to tell her." she said in defeat.

I quickly crawled down the tunnel and rolled out of the entrance before I got caught. I shut the door and brushed myself off.

Hell. This was not helping matters.

I turned down the main hallway and quickly walked in front of the dining room door which quickly opened.

"Good morning sweetie." my mother said with the sickest of smiles.

"Good morning." I said standing stiff. I knew that once I walked into that room, I was going to hear something I didn't want to hear. My mom moved over and gestured for me to enter. I took a deep breath and walked slowly over to where my father was sitting at the head of the table. The pieces of paper still on the table. This concerned me on many different levels.

"Good morning Princess." my father said. I hated when people called me Princess. It made me feel awkward.

"Good morning." I said still standing.

"Sit down. We need to talk." he said looking up to meet my eyes. His blue eyes mirroring mine. I knew he was nervous, maybe even more nervous to say what he had to say, than I was to hear it.

I slid out my chair, and I could hear the scraping of the wood on the floor. I slowly sat down on the cushioned chair. I looked down at my plate and felt my jaw clench. I could tell that he and my mother were watching me as if I was a basket case. One of the juveniles who ended up in the box.

"Sweetheart-"

"What is going on?" I demanded, interrupting my father. He looked at me with raised eyebrows. I bit my lip and looked up at him, I felt like a small child. I was a small child. I had no reasoning for being here. There was no sane reason for me to have to hear whatever was about to come out of his mouth.

"Princess," my father began. "I have been receiving letters from the Grounder Royalty." he strained to get out. No shit I thought to myself, but I had to act surprised. I didn't need my parents getting suspicious.

"About what?" I asked.

"Word still travels, and it has reached their attention of your needing of a suitor." my father says slowly.

Oh fuck.

Images of Grounders danced in my head, as I pictured them at my ball.

"They're coming here?" I breathed out, unable to grasp the concept.

"They will be sending a few of their greatest heroes, one of them, the Grounder Prince." he said looking down at his plate. Now I understood clearly. They wanted me to pick the Grounder Prince, so our union could slowly start to drift together.

"I don't want them here." I said staring at him.

"Sweetheart," my mother begins.

"No." I interrupt.

"I still get to choose a suitor and I guarantee you, it will not be a Grounder. Especially not the Grounder Prince." I yell. I remember as I am speaking that I do have a voice. I am a Princess, not a prisoner. I get a say.

"You have a duty to these people Clarke." my father raises his voice.

"I also have a duty to myself." I snap back. He bangs his fist against the dining room table.

"Damn it Clarke." he yells. I stand up, practically shoving the chair behind me as I do so.

"I'm out." I said and walked out of the room, ignoring the deadly silence that seems to have everyone at the throat. I hear the quiet swish of the electronic doors shut behind me as I walk out, it is not at all the amount of drama I wish it had.

I walk back to my room and look in the mirror, this was ridiculous. It wasn't even nine in the morning yet, and my future had already been boxed with a big bow and shipped off.

I hear my phone buzz on my counter and see that it is a message from one of my best friends Harper. I slide it open and read that we are going out today. She says she has a surprise for me. I roll my eyes. She always has a surprise for me, whether I like it or not.

I decide to change before I leave. I slip on a pair of jeans and a black v-neck short sleeved shirt. I leave my short blonde hair down, and finish getting ready. I slide my phone into the back pocket of my jeans which have gold sequins on them. I slide on a pair of black converse shoes, and then slip out of my room.

I quietly make my way down to the back entrance, where I sneak out, and run. I run to the woods, and away from all this advanced technology, and the idea of leading people. After running for a good couple minutes I slow my run to a jog, and then to a walk. I follow the familiar trail that my friends and I have had for years, it's a place for us to get away.

There are only a handful of us, considering I don't get out much. Everyday I wake up, have breakfast with my parents, then I have my private classes until lunch, and then I have classes again until around three. After that I have piano, and then painting. After that it's dinner time, and then I spend the rest of my night reading. I have read almost every book in the royal library.

Our castle is a bit different from the ones that were built hundreds of years ago before our ancestors. It is like a big box. It is white with a few chrome details, as everything is around here.

The whole place is crawling with people who want to be the most technologically forward. They want the whitest, the fastest, the plainest thing they can get their hands on.

The sidewalks are cement, and the roads don't ever fade.

Our vehicles are those that don't use fossil fuels, we got rid of those decades ago.

The streets are lined with perfect houses, that seem miniscule compared to the castle. Even though they are the standard size for a family of four.

There are no animals, people say they are linked with nature, which is apparently linked to stupidity. I have read about all sorts of animals, from dolphins to horses to tigers.

They all seem intelligent to me.

I think about this as I walk farther and farther away from our civilization, and into the woods. As I go deeper and deeper into the forested area, I think about why there are no animals in what seems to be a twenty mile radius, it is probably because of something that we put in the woods.

We probably scared them all off.

What bastards we are.

I finally slow down to a shuffle when I hear voices. I strain my ears and listen for not what they're saying, but who's saying it. There seem to be two female voices, and three male voices. I smile, I can tell exactly who they are. I step into the clear where I find my best friends.

There is Harper, with long auburn hair which I envy. Long hair is an anomaly around here.

Then there is Maya, with tan skin, and dark short hair.

Then there were our boys, Wells, Jasper, and Monty.

Wells was dark skinned, his family was very close to mine.

Jasper and Monty were best of friends. Jasper had dark unruly hair and a crooked nose. Monty had a touch of Asian in his genes, as his small dark eyes smiled at me.

"There's the Princess." Harper said and they all gave me a hug as I rolled my eyes.

"What are we doing?" I asked, they all had bags and a buzz seemed to be thriving around them. They all looked around each other with grins.

"We're gonna take an old truck and drive to the ocean." Wells said finally. I gasped.

The ocean was bordering on Grounder territory. Where we lived, the days were warm and the nights were cool. We got a few seasons, but they came and went quickly. Grounders lived far south, where the days and nights were hot, and they barely saw any change in the seasons. They had different vegetation and landscapes on their territory.

"Are you crazy?" I breathed out. We would either end up dead or imprisoned on either side by the end of the night. Prisoned on the Grounder side for trespassing, and imprisoned on the Arkian side for betrayal.

"Come on Princess. It'll be fun!" Jasper said.

"He's right, and let's be real how much fun are you gonna be able to have in four months?" Maya piped up.

"You know you want to." Monty said nudging his shoulder with mine.

"What do you say sunshine?" Wells said looking at me, using the nickname that he's had for me ever since day one. I sighed and looked at all their hopeful faces.

"Oh come on Clarke." Harper said growing annoyed, and that's what got me. When she used my real name it made me softer, it reminded me that I was a person. I had a say, and an opinion on what I could do with my life and my time.

"What's the plan?" I asked and they all cheered.

"Put this on." Wells said handing me a black mask. I took it from him and looked at him with question written all over my face.

"It's something deep sea fisherman use. They use it to keep the salt water away from their mouth and nose." he said.

"Why do I need it?" I asked as I slipped it over my head. It covered the bottom half of my face completely, only leaving my eyes and forehead open.

"To hide your identity." Monty said.

"Now for your hair." Harper said pulling it up into a bun, while Jasper shoved a black baseball hat on my head.

"Perfect." Maya said smiling. I rolled my eyes, this was not where I thought my day was going to be going.

"What about you guys?" I asked, and they all pulled similar items out of their bags. Of course. "How are we getting there again?" I asked.

"Jasper will be driving us." Monty said and they all continued down the path, where an old beat up truck was resting.

"What the hell?" I asked confused.

"It was my dads, before we switched over to solar energy." Jasper said.

"We have enough gas to make us around the world and back considering no one uses it anymore." Wells said smiling. I stood there, I knew my duty was to go back, and not to get in that truck. I knew I wasn't supposed to be breaking law, I mean I was one of the leaders. I should be enforcing them, not breaking them. I sighed.

"Oh fine. But I get to ride in the bed." I said climbing up into the bed of the truck and sitting down. They all cheered and threw the rest of their bags in the trunk with me. They all climbed into the front of the truck, and I layed on my back and rested my head on one of the bags. I looked up and the perfectly clear sky.

If anything happens, I'll just say I was kidnapped.

I hear Jasper start the engine, and before I know it, we've started the trek south to where the Grounder territory is. I wonder how they even know where it is, or what we'll do when we reach it. I don't care anymore.

Today is for me.

I watch the clouds change from miniscule, to large puffs. The breeze picks up, and the sun beats down on my skin. I begin to regret wearing my jeans today, as I start to feel sweat join at the back of my neck. I close my eyes, and as I sway back and forth in the bed of the truck, I fall asleep.

When I wake up I feel hot. Too hot. I sit up and see we're still driving. I groan, this suicide mission is already killing me.

I dig around in the bags until I find a bottle full of water. I drink a bit of it and relax a little. I look around and feel myself panic a bit. We are surrounded by plants that I have never seen before.

They are of different species, heights, widths, and colors. I don't think I have ever seen so many different plants in one location before. I crawl over to the edge of the truck where I peer over to find we have long left cement roads, and are now on a gravel road.

I look up and swivel my head left and right before sitting back down and accepting that we are approaching Grounder territory, and quickly. I pound on the window on the back of the truck and they open a little portion of it that slides open.

"Yes Princess?" Monty asks me with a winning smile.

"When will we arrive in Grounder territory?" I ask. I cringe at the sound of my own voice, I sound like my father.

"Approximately twenty minutes, and then we'll ride the territory line to the ocean from there." Jasper answers me from the drivers seat. I breathe, at least we won't be going into the territory exactly. I sit back in the bed and watch the world around me change.

I watch until Harper knocks on the window, and gestures to me that we have reached the territory line. I sit up and watch as Jasper slows the vehicle, and we roll close to the line where I turn and see a barbwire fence.

I didn't know if it was to keep us in or out, and which side wanted us where.

Jasper turned the truck and we followed the barbwire fence. We edged along it, all of us having our eyes peeled to the forest on the other side. I could hear bird calls, and rustling in the brush.

I wanted to jump out and run in, I wanted to figure out what was there. That was what I did. I figured things out. People, places, paintings, music. All of it was here to discover what it had, and what it really meant.

I thought I saw a flash of dark hair as we drove along, long dark hair. I wanted to jump out and start yelling for them to come out. But I knew if I did, we would all be dead. We continued to drive along the road when suddenly Jasper came to a halt.

We all jerked around and looked to see Jasper had stopped because there was a baby deer in our path. It was bleeding and cut up really bad, it probably tried to get through the fence. Jasper began to drive around it when I jumped out of the truck and to the baby deer.

It had big brown eyes, and the softest ears. I reached out, and when I reached the surface of it's fur, my hand was instantly coated in blood. I felt my heart sink as the little animal cried out. I reached for my shirt and pulled it off, I had a tank top underneath my shirt, so I didn't mind sharing mine with the little deer. I gently patted the cuts until the deer stopped moaning.

"Okay little guy, it's gonna be okay." I whispered, realizing I still had the mask on my face.

"You know, if you're gonna save that deer, a shirt isn't going to help much."

"Wells, it's not like you have a better-" I began to address the voice. When I turned to discover the voice didn't belong to Wells. There was a stranger, who was also masked. All I could see were his dark brown eyes, and dark unruly hair.

He was big. Much bigger than me. He had on dark clothes. Dark jeans, and a dark shirt. He had black shoes on, they looked like something from the old west that I had read about. Something the cowboys would wear. Under his eyes, he had black lines. He also had a single line drawn down his forehead. On his head he had some sort of hat that was also dark. It looked like something the cowboys also would wear.

We stared at eachother for a long time. All we were able to see were eachothers eyes, being as both our noses and mouths were covered.

"I didn't know what else to do. I- I've never-"

"Seen a deer?" the stranger asked as I stammered out something.

"Had a baby one dying in front of me." I snapped. The stranger jerked back, and his eyebrows yanked up in surprise. He stared at me long and hard.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked me.

"I could ask you the same thing." I said, trying to maintain my poise, while also crumbling. He could tell too. I knew he could tell.

"Honey why don't you just go home?" he asked me crossing his arms. He had an accent that I had never heard before. His voice was deeper than anyone I had ever heard before. I crossed mine as well, showing that I was not going to back down to this man.

"Home is pretty far from here. We came for the beach." I say squinting my eyes at him.

"You wouldn't want to be caught now would you?" he said with a playful look in his eyes. A bit of fear coursed through me. He was bluffing. I kept calm and decided to act like I wasn't scared.

"Sorry, but you don't tell me what to do bud." I said and I sauntered back to the truck.

"Hey blue eyes," he hollered at me as I swung one leg over the side of the bed. I looked back at him expectantly. "I'll see you around." he said, and he scooped up the baby deer. He jumped over the barbwire fence and disappeared into the woods.

I felt myself breathe, I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath. I guess we never do until you let it out.

I slid completely back into the truck and looked to see my friends were all staring at me with eyes as wide as saucers. Before they could say anything I held a hand up, and pointed forward in a gesture for us to keep moving forward.

They didn't say a word, but I could tell everything they were thinking.

I knew that it didn't correspond with my thoughts at all.

That rude ignorant Grounder! How dare he try and tell me what to do, he should know that I am the damn Arkian Princess. I didn't want one bit of that. He was everything I expected him to be. Demanding, bossy, and condescending. He made my blood boil. I didn't even know what to curse, because I didn't know his name.

I groaned and thought about the way the corners of his eyes crinkled, as if he was smirking at me under the black cloth that covered his mouth. The way he towered over me, making me feel miniscule and weak. The way he had a scent of fresh air and freedom wavering about him.

I shook my head out of my thoughts as we arrived at the beach. They all hopped out of the truck and we slowly made our way to the sand.

The white sand. It was warm, but at this time of day it wasn't burning your feet off.

The water was bright blue with the sun shining over it.

"We made it!" Monty hollered as he ran to the water. We all laughed and followed him. We splashed in the water and ran on the sand.

I wish I had a camera, or that I could take pictures on my phone. I knew that if I did though, we would be caught. It didn't matter how well I hid them, they would come up. I took as many mental pictures, so I could go home and paint it.

We stayed there for what seemed like only a few minutes, but time told us differently. We had been there for a few hours, and if we wanted to make it home without being caught, we would have to leave now.

We all climbed back into the truck and began the drive home. As I sat in the bed of the truck, thoughts about the Grounder returned into my mind.

How his brown eyes seemed to read into my soul without even knowing me. The way my heart stopped when he called me 'blue eyes'. The way he held himself with a particular air that proved he was sure of himself.

I wish I could be as sure of myself as he seemed to be. I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts. I didn't have time for these feelings. I would never see him again anyway. I get to go home and marry someone I don't want too, all while pretending to love being Princess Arkian.

Great.

I wish I could be like Harper. She gets to go to regular school with everyone else. She has many more friends, while she is my best friend. She gets to experience regular teen things that I get to read about in books.

How we run things is different that we had run things in the past. I'm sure the Grounders run things differently there. I know for a fact that they have had the same technological advancement opportunities as we have, but what we don't know is what they have done with it. How they run things, and how their hierarchy works. I wish I did, that would make things a whole lot easier on everyone.

I put my head in my hands as I think of how high the stakes are. We have lines drawn all over the place, and no one can tell if they're winning or losing. It's like the war never really finished. I feel a few tears form in the corners of my eyes. This isn't the life I wanted, but it was the one I was granted. I wipe the tears away and sniffle. I shake myself out of the dark place which only enters my mind during the night.

I look up at the sky and realize I have been in my thoughts for far too long. The night has come, and the stars have come out. I lean back and watch the stars roll past my eyes. I wish I could dance along the stars. I bet it's nicer out there.

"Hey Princess, you okay out there?" Monty asks. I nod my head and rub my arms. I wish I was in bed. As much as I hate to admit it, I really do want to be in my own bed.

I wanted to paint, I wanted the comfort of a brush and colors. That was something that we didn't get much of where I come from. It's always been a clean canvas. It's been white and bright and never different.

I look around and start to recognize sights, and then I breathe a little better knowing that I'll be home soon.

The truck eventually stops, just as I eventually make it to the castle, and eventually get yelled at, and eventually make it to my room.

The days turn into weeks, and the week's turn into a month. All I've been able to do is hide in my room and think about the brown eyes of the Grounder. My room has turned into a mess of canvas after canvas of images from that one day. I knew that it was a day that was going to change everything.

I hear my mother knock on my door, tomorrow is the ball. The one where I get to choose who I marry.

Fun right?

I am seated at my easel once more, painting a picture of Monty and Harper on the beach. I smile at the memory, it seems like so long ago when my feet touched the warm sand and felt the salt air on my face. I wondered what other secrets they hid in Grounder territory. They seemed to hide the best men out there. I wondered what the women were like.

My mother stands behind me and watches me paint. I feel her eyes on me, rather than my painting. The only sound is the strokes of my brush against the smooth canvas.

"I don't understand how you come up with these things Clarkey." she says, breaking the quiet.

"I told you. I have vivid dreams." I mutter. I knew she had her suspicions, but I wasn't about to confirm anything.

"You should get some sleep honey." my mother says.

"I don't care." I say in the most unemotional tone I could muster.

"We know you don't Clarke, which is why this is a problem." my mother says sighing and sitting down on my bed. "We don't understand why you aren't at least a little excited for tomorrow." she said staring at me.

I didn't turn to acknowledge her at all. I was a little excited, only because I was hoping deep down that the Grounder from that day would show up. I was hoping he would, but I was also hoping that he wouldn't come.

Lord knows if it got out that we already knew each other there would be problems.

"You're right mom." I said placing my brush down. "I need a girls night before tomorrow." I said turning to face her. She looked taken aback, I knew that she thought she wouldn't win that easily. I was giving myself up to her. I didn't mind at all. I didn't need to add anymore suspicion onto myself. "Can Harper and Maya come over?" I asked her. She didn't say anything, she just nodded her head and ran out of my room. I rolled my eyes and quickly gathered all the canvases. I shoved them into my back closet and then proceeded to clean my paints. As I was shoving them back into their proper drawers, Harper and Maya burst into my room screeching.

"Clarkey!" They yelled. They were in their pajamas and I grinned as I took in their appearances.

Harper had on pink cotton pajama bottoms and a pink tank top that showed just a bit of her midriff. Maya was in a pair of blue cotton pajama shorts, and a white t-shirt. Harper had a white facemask on with her hair pulled up, while Maya simply had a headband on to keep the hair out of her face.

I took both of them into my arms and felt myself breathe. They were what I needed on nights like these.

"Come on hun. You need some help. It's nine o'clock and you don't even have a pair of shoes picked out for tomorrow." Maya said as Harper brushed my hair out of my face. I nodded my head and before I knew it I was in sleepwear with my hair in a half ponytail and a cream on my face.

We were sat at my bed with the books in front of us. They were all the things in my closet that I owned. As a Princess, I had an extensive closet, but I had a majority of it in the closet room. It was where all our clothes were. Mothers, Fathers, and mine.

We had the dress book, shoe book, accessory book, and hair book out.

"I think silver would be pretty." Maya said as we flipped through all the books, marking things we deemed acceptable.

"Yeah but red is so dramatic. You would look gorgeous." Harper said.

"What about blue, to match your eyes Clarkey?" Maya asked as she showed me a picture of a pale blue dress. It was long and flowing, but it didn't puff out like all the other Princess dresses I had seen. It had two straps that were bejeweled, and on the back it had a Victorian style ribbon with my back open. It had a tight bust and a sweetheart neckline, with jewels all over, but after my ribcage, it was tight, then began the flow. It had a bit of a train and I could envision myself in it.

I immediately scrounged through the books for what I was looking for, and when I found what I needed I flew around the bed flipping through book after book until I had found everything I needed. A pair of silver pumps, light blue nails, a hairstyle that had my hair pulled up with a braid wrapping it all up on my head. I stood back as I held all the books together with the pieces that I wanted.

"Wow." Harper said as she and Maya stood next to me looking at all the books.

"You did it Clarke. You got it done." Maya said leaning her head on my shoulder.

"Let's go show Cynthia these, before it gets too late." I say as we each pick up a book or two to show her our plans.

Cynthia was like my babysitter throughout the years. With my parents both gone a lot, she was the one who brushed my hair and gave me snack time. She was in her mid 60's, and she was the sassiest woman I knew. We knocked on her door before she swung it open with her bright green eyes smiling at us.

"I wondered when you girls would come knocking on my door." she said with her bright white teeth in contrast to her dark complexion.

She pulled us in and showed her our ideas, and she promised that it was able to happen. I smiled at her, and gave her the biggest hug. She was the one person that I knew I would forever miss. She may have been fragile, but she the grip she had on me as I pulled away showed me just how much I had affected her as well.

"You'll do brilliantly tomorrow Sunshine." she said smiling as we let go. I smiled and held back the quiver of my lip as the memories of a particular lullaby she would sing to me flooded my memory. It was of how I was her sunshine, and how I made her happy when the skies were grey. I remember how the song always ended with her begging not to have her sunshine taken away. I turned away and exited before anymore memories caused me tears. I needed to sleep before tomorrow.

Maya and Harper smiled and hugged Cynthia as well, we had all been attached to her.

We all exited and went back to my room as we got ready for bed.

As we all layed in my bed, about to fall asleep I took in a deep sniff. I felt my lower back completely unwind and my shoulders sag a bit before I went to sleep. Tomorrow when I felt nervous I would remember this. I would remember that I could get through it.

No matter what happened.