The 23 Cannons Trilogy

Charming the Crowd

Topaz grabbed the rail on the inside of the chariot as the two horses pulled the extravagantly coloured cart out into the setting sunlight of the Capitol. Normally, Topaz imagined that the clopping of the hooves would have been quite loud, but there were two other sounds that practically made everything else impossible to hear. The first was the anthem of Panem, being played by a brass band, and transmitted via far too many loudspeakers to count. And the second was the sound of the crowd: every last brightly coloured citizen of the Capitol was screaming at the top of their lungs. Combining that with the bright sun made the parade almost become a sensory overload.

She glanced to her left, at Osiris. His blonde hair was styled up in an odd manner, and he had some sort of make-up on his face that made the flesh sparkle like a jewel, pretty much like Topaz's own outfit. Her brown hair was done up in an elegant braid, and her make-up sparkled a light shade of blue in the sunlight. Their actual outfits were also different. Osiris was wearing a silk toga, embroidered with golden fabric, and sandals made of some material Topaz had never seen before. The outfit was also adorned with the gemstone of his namesake, garnets. All in all, it was an extremely stunning outfit that showed off his characteristics almost perfectly. And as per tradition, Topaz's outfit complimented her district partner's. She had a short-cut dress made of the same fabric as Osiris', and boots instead of sandals. Her dress was adorned with blue topaz gems, instead of garnets; the gem she was named for. In Topaz's opinion, they looked stunning.

"Hey, Topaz," Osiris said, pointing to the crowd that was now in front of them. "You ready?" At least, that was what Topaz imagined it to be roughly along the lines of; it was nearly impossible to hear him.

"Okay then!" she yelled back, hoping that that was what he wanted her to say. To her relief, he half-smiled, and nodded. Osiris then started smiling and waving at the adoring citizens of the Capitol, causing them to scream in a wave of delight. Topaz joined in, smiling widely, giggling, and waving. More screams came from the citizens, and then, the swarm of gifts.

It was as if it had started to rain flowers from the sky. Topaz looked up, and a genuine smile crossed her face as a mass multitude of flowers descended onto the chariot. She grabbed a white rose from the bottom of the chariot, and brought it to her nose, smelling it. It was the sweetest aroma she had ever had the fortune to encounter. And the Capitol seemed to love it. Party streamers showered down on the pair from District 1, the coloured material weaving into their hair. Topaz smiled at the crowd, and blew a kiss at them. They truly did have the audience captivated by their charm. She looked at Osiris, who was smiling to himself. He then turned to Topaz, and looked at her, grinning.

"Hey!" he yelled over the rising volume of the festivities. "I have an idea that'll really win 'em over!" Topaz watched, still smiling, as Osiris reached onto his outfit, tore a gem off, and tossed it into the crowd. At that moment, her heart splintered in two.

Osiris was doing exactly what Ebony had done last year; Topaz remembered watching it on television, smiling to herself stupidly as he threw the gems at the screaming citizens. That was one of the happiest moments of the Games, seeing Ebony turning on the charm like that. And he was doing so well throughout the Games; getting a score of ten; winning over the crowd in the interview; living until the final eight; making several perfect kills... all of that ruined by one revenge-driven boy from District 10. That had destroyed Topaz, and she was in a state of shock for days, too traumatised to even watch the critical final moments of the Games. It was just too awful.

Topaz was brought out of her emotional state by Osiris, who elbowed her in the ribs.

"Hey!" he called. "Don't space out like that; we need them to see just how great District One is!" His enthusiasm made Topaz smile to herself, a tear rolling down her face.