16
We sing as we work, the tune growing and developing as the mockingjays join in, until the whole orchard is alight with song. The Peacekeepers that march below complain, but they do nothing to stop us.
My basket is full, so I begin to carefully crawl back down the tree. “You done already?” Belle calls after me. I smile up at her.
“Yeah,”
She sighs. “You always finish before me. I guess I’ll see you back at home.”
I nod, before marching down the orchard, to the Peacekeeper that waits at the gate to collect the fruits we pick. He weighs my basket, then places it beside the others. “You can go,” he says, handing me my money and stepping out of my way.
“Thank you,” I say as I pass.
It doesn’t take me long to walk from the orchard to the market place. When I get there, I perch on the edge of the fountain and count my money. It’s not much for a hard day’s work, but it’s enough. Then I wait patiently, swaying slightly, and watching the wrens as they dance through the sky.
“You’re early,” says Lex from behind me. I spin round, grinning. Lex walks round the fountain to meet me, his lips pressing against mine.
“I worked fast,” I say.
“So did I,” smiles Lex. He slips a small, warm bun into my hand. I gape, glancing up at the bakery a few shops away.
“Did you steal this?” I ask.
“No!” he exclaims. “I earned it.” I roll my eyes. Lex loves working in the bakery, and I love it, too. Sometimes the baker gives us free bread, and Lex always comes home smelling like freshly baked dough.
I rip the bun in two, and give Lex half. Then he sits down next to me, and we eat together. “Wren,” he says after a short while. “I found her.”
“What?” I say, frowning slightly. I don’t understand what Lex is talking about.
“I found her,” he repeats. “Fae. I know where she is.” He pulls Fae’s necklace from his shirt pocket. “We can finally give this to her.”
I don’t know where I am. All I know is that everything hurts, everything aches. My arms, my legs, even my brain feels tired. Slowly, I begin to remember what happened. The Games. Lex. The claw that pulled me away from him. I wonder if they’ve given me some sort of drug, to make me tired. My eyes fly open.
I’m in some sort of laboratory. It’s so white it hurts my eyes, but I try as hard as I can to keep them open. I’m in a bed. I suddenly wonder what they’re doing to me—why are they keeping me here?
“Wren?” whispers Lex from across the room. I see he’s also lying in a bed, with wires trailing from his wrists. I panic. What are they doing to him? Are they hurting him? I throw the covers off my bed and start to run towards him, but my legs are so weak they collapse beneath me.
“Lex!” I cry out. “Lex, are you okay?”
“It’s okay, Wren,” says Lex. I hear a door open. Someone helps me to my feet and takes me back to my bed. I try to pull free, but I can’t. “They’re helping us, Wren,” explains Lex. “We’re in a hospital. They’re making us better.”
