GOLDEN PAWN, the hunger games

𝟮𝟴. 𝗀𝖺𝗋𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝖾𝖽𝖾𝗇

She watched the television again as the game maker continued talking. His voice was under a low octave but the sound was crisp she could only define the sound as something from a high-end radio box. At some point, they had started showing the highlights of every one of the game makers' games in the background, pausing to pose questions on what it was like on the other side. There was a gleaming sense of pride burrowed underneath his skin, shining through the pigment and pores as he spoke in a voice-controlled in an even tone. His eyes were still, but there was an essence of cruelty clothed in drapes of velvet and saffron.

"You know, Mr. Thames is an apparent protégé in the chess world, he had started at quite a young age," Livia said practically sighing, her eyes not straying from the screen as she took a sip of her martini. Seven, he had started then, he had also single-handedly beaten great legions by the age of twelve in some of the most esteemed tournaments in the Capitol. Gaining his higher grand legion rank by the age of fourteen. All of which were facts she learned about while reading his biography in chess-related articles for the past couple of decades, while the titles of the game maker and the professor became large parts of headlines in the past two decades.

As the camera panned away from the interview it zoomed in on Silvia Thames a tall slender woman with high cheekbones, her hair was platinum blonde and pinned back. She was smiling at her husband, her teeth bleach white, and the sapphire ring on her forefinger twinkled. Livia looked down at her own finger curling around the neck of her glass at the diamond ring on her finger and she huffed slightly her eyes glittering with envy as she took another drag of her drink. As far as Orianna knew, Livia wasn't married, she had a long line of affairs with other Capitol socialites, politicians, and stylists. Her long-lasting affair was with the very products in her glasses every other night.

"You might even be able to play with him" She watched the screen her eyes fixed on the man with a sort of longing whether that be for him or for the power and money he possessed.

There was a difference apparent in his appearance, but one thing had made him recognizable beyond anything else, his eyes. They were the same as they were behind the rails of the evaluation center still and calculating, those who she has seen numerous times on magazine covers. They seemed like refined obsidian, reflective of light but thick and molten where nothing inside was able to be seen from the outside. 

Orianna folded her fingers together leaning forward and watching him through the screen as his flat lips tilted up just a nudge in the faintest inclination of a grin. Past highlights of all the games he orchestrated flashed on the screen behind him in asynchrony, different years tied together with editing, music, and various bits of footage from the preparation to the arena.

I will.

THE SILVER ARCHES were only the beginning of the lavish entry line that led to the grandeur party. She had passed a fountain of crystalline water, and several plants ripe with fruit and flowers. The sounds of classical music playing became louder as she took steps into the wide marble entry decorated with vines, and flowers quite similar to the flora and fauna set outside.

The mansion was very similar to many of the others in that part of the city lofted atop the hillside, away from the mirage of noisy street sides. The air seemed crisper and barren of the smell of scented car exhaust replaced with the scent of freshly cut grass and peonies. Beside it, other grandeur manors of marble and iridescent windows were lined along the rim of the hills. Each one distinct in it's own color and design were glimmering fortress' in the night, like specks of light in the sky above.

Although summer, the night was brisk and the air damp and thick. All at once the loud sound, blinding lights, and blur of movements came like a riptide. She had to blink several times, before taking a deep breath in, and out.