imperfect fit ; an everlark au based off of 'the selection' series

s e v e n t y - f i v e

The royal family exits out the side door, and the other Elite and I leave the way we came as the cameras and guests film and applaud.

Effie's eyes when we come through the door are positively deadly, which is already scary considering how bubbly and happy she usually is. It looks like she's taking every last bit of strength she has to keep from throttling me. She leads us around the corner to a small parlor.

"In," she orders, as if anything more will push her past the brink. She shuts the doors, not bothering to join us.

"Do you always have to be the center of attention?" Esim snaps.

"I didn't do anything except what I tried to ask you to do. You were the one who didn't believe me!"

"You act like such a saint. They were criminals. We weren't doing anything an officer or peacekeeper wouldn't do; we just did it in pretty dresses."

"Esim, did you see those men? Some of them were sick. And the sentences for their crimes were way too long," I implore.

"She's right," Delly says. "Life for theft? Unless he carted the palace away, what could he have he possibly taken to deserve that?"

"Nothing," I vow. "He took clothes for his family. Look, you guys are lucky. You were born in better districts. If you're in the lower ones, and you lose your main provider . . . things don't go well. I couldn't send him to jail for life and at the same time sentence his family to freezing to death or starving. I couldn't."

"Where is your pride, Katniss?" Esim begs. "Where is your sense of duty or honor? You're just a girl; you aren't even the princess. And if you were, you wouldn't be allowed to make decisions like that. You are here to follow the king's and queen's rules, and you have never done that! Not even from the first night!"

"Maybe the rules are wrong!" I scream, and possibly the worst moment possible.

The doors are flung open, and Queen Agatha storms in while King Harry and Peeta stand in the hall. She grabs my arm, hard- thankfully not my injured one- and drags me out of the room.

"Where are you taking me?" I ask, fear making my breath come out in short bursts.

She doesn't answer.

I look over my shoulder at the girls as the queen pulls me down the hall. Glimmer wraps her arms around herself, and Esim reaches for Delly's hand. For as upset as she is, Esim doesn't seem happy to see me go.

"Agatha, don't act in haste," the king urges.

We round a corner, and I'm forced into a room. The king and Peeta file in behind us as the queen shows me toward a small couch.

"Sit," she commands unnecessarily. She paces on the floor, a lion in a cage. When she stops, she faces Peeta. "You swore!" she yells. "You said she was under control. First the outburst on the Report, then you nearly killed yourself on the roof, and now this? It ends today, Peeta."

"Mother, did you hear the cheers? People appreciate her sympathy. She's your greatest asset right now."

"I beg your pardon?" Her voice is an iceberg, slow and deadly.

Peeta pauses for a moment at the chill but continues. "When she suggested that people defend themselves, the public responded positively. I daresay the reason more people aren't dead is because of her. And this? Mother, I couldn't put a man in jail for life over what was supposed to be a petty crime. How can you expect that from someone who's probably seen more than her fair share of friends beaten for less? She's refreshing. That majority of the population is in the lower districts, and they can relate to her."