Seneca Crane didn't take Sera's warning.
Two victors from one district – that was the initial promise made to the remaining tributes while his promise to President Snow was that there would be only one victor.
From the start, Sera knew his idea was doomed for failure so she did what any 'good' person would've done, she warned him. She warned him that it wouldn't end well for him, not the tributes, no, the tributes would be fine. There would be an additional victor after all and even if that was against Plutarch's plans, she didn't care enough to rectify it.
Somehow, she didn't really feel bitter about it happening out of control. To her, it was measured chaos, something uncontrollable yet something that benefited her.
Yet there was that unmistakable sinking feeling in her chest that didn't seem to leave and had almost made a home in her body. It was guilt. She shouldn't feel guilt towards anyone let alone Katniss. They only traded a few words and that was it but those few words were etched into her mind, running over and over again nonstop.
Guilt wasn't the only thing she felt.
A part of her was afraid of Katniss Everdeen. Not the skin-crawling, blood freezing and stomach churning type of fear like what she felt around Scarus and sometimes President Snow but rather a numbing and almost bitter fear that married well with the lonely green-eyed monster that almost never showed its face.
She knew Katniss would be a threat but never imagined feeling threatened by her while the Capitolites fawned and sang her praises.
Funny how a few years ago, she was the one in Katniss' place, being praised for trying to be kind while trying to survive by poisoning her allies. Now...someone else had come with similar skills to her but so much more better and stronger. Maybe, she did feel a little bitter over Katniss and that bitterness was mixed in with guilt she'd never shake off.
Sera needed to keep her distance from her, hide away her thorns and her occupation as one of Snow's hands away from her if Katniss did make it out.
The only comforting thought she had was that she knew Snow would never replace her with Katniss. He was threatened by her, not just her influence as Crane was led to believe. Snow knew she was a threat the minute he'd laid eyes on her unlike Sera who'd given Katniss the benefit of doubt.
But that far distant look in Snow's eyes, a mixture of fear, anger and nostalgia clouding his vision for a brief second puzzled her. It was like he wasn't looking at Katniss at all. Instead he was looking at a ghost of something that shouldn't have existed. It was the same when he looked at the honest lovelorn Peeta Mellark. He wasn't looking at the two tributes at all. He was searching for ghosts that didn't exist anymore.
Her curiosity was sparked. She quietly observed the pale faced old man whose years had quickly caught up to him in weeks after Katniss Everdeen had volunteered. Even his thick tailored white suits and roses couldn't hide the wrinkles that had burrowed deep into his pale skin or the scent of blood that followed his every step. He was scared even if he didn't show it. His milky eyes gave away yet if she'd blinked she'd have missed it.
"A shame your tribute didn't make it to the end." President Snow's cold voice broke through her thoughts, drawing her back into his near empty office. It was near empty if it wasn't for Scarus hovering around Snow like a guard dog and Sera, herself who sat in the corner of a leather couch facing the only screen in the room. "She seemed so promising, you let her down." He carried on, dragging his fingers around the rim of his empty teacup that held the remnants of the rose tea Sera had brewed for him.
"We don't get to pick and choose our tributes. We take what we get." Sera reminded him in a quiet but somber tone and lifted the white teacup in front of her.
The bitter rose tea burned her tongue even if it had cooled hours ago. She coughed, finishing the last of her tea, almost gagging at the taste and fragrant stench.
"But it is your job as a mentor to cultivate her skills and make her a victor."
"The odds just weren't in her favor." She calmly said, unphased by President Snow's irritated voice. "You told me the odds are what matters the most and she's the one who lowered her own odds by refusing sponsors. I had to beg her to at least allow three." Throwing a dead girl down the tracks did make her feel a tinge of guilt but Faline was gone and the dead couldn't complain. Maybe if she had lived things would've turned out differently but she had died just according to Sera's predictions.
"It was your job—"
"I can hardly do much when a tribute gives up." The moment it was announced that two tributes would get the opportunity to win, something in Faline died.
Her desperate searching gaze as she stared out at the artificial sky like she was praying for a miracle, sponsored food maybe. There was nothing Sera could give Faline just like she had wanted it. In an act of desperation or apathy, Faline ate poisoned berries. Nightlock berries, Faline should've known what they were when they took her life.
"The last footage I remember seeing of her was the announcement of the change in rules for victors. I think she gave up after that." Celsi was gone and she didn't know that the announcement was just a stupid gimmick to drive up the ratings. "There was no way for her to win. Her partner was gone."
"The unintended side effects of Seneca's tampering." Scarus remarked offhandedly.
"Unintended? This was intentional, not an accident." President Snow cast a glance around the room, not looking at her. "This is what happens when you go against the rules. He intended for this to happen. 'Raise the ratings' is what I told him and what did he do? Get two of the more promising tributes killed and ruin the legacy of the games!"
"I'm not sure if it was intended and the legacy of the games isn't ruined."
"You're not sure?" He rose from his seat, abandoning his empty teacup and circled around his desk in a slow march, the scent of white roses and blood haunting his path. "Or you don't care." He turned to Sera and stared at her with a brow lifted. "You're defending Seneca...why?"
"I'm not. I'm trying to think...rationally because I don't think my tribute would've made it regardless of Crane's decision."
"I didn't ask your opinion and I hope for your sake, you're not actually defending Crane." He cast a distrustful look at her and mumbled something quietly under his breath. He plucked a white rose from the floral display she'd made. "I hope you remember your place or there will be rumors..."
Swallowing, she spared a quick glance at Scarus before attempting to speak but her timing was stolen by the Consul.
"Perhaps, she doesn't care." Offered Scarus with a small victorious smirk. "The outcome is obvious. Katniss Everdeen, the victor of the 74th Hunger Games—takes the fun out of this year's game, if I were to be honest so much for Crane giving us an unforgettable game."
"You can't really tell." Sera said with a soft feigned gasp. "The game's still going on. I think it might drag."
"Then go watch in the Observation Room instead of standing around." President Snow said with dismissal as if he felt the oncoming wave of discord between his Consul and sometimes Guard and Sera.
Scarus looked at Sera again with that same damned stupid smirk and lifted his head like he was trying to goad her into a fight. She would have laughed if President Snow wasn't there. Instead she did what she knew would annoy Scarus; a blank empty stare and a hollow doll-like smile that he loathed. It was all he would ever get from her.
His jaws clenched, his scar twitching in rage. He fought to keep his anger in check. "Should I escort her to the Observation Room?" Scarus stood up, abandoning his post.
President Snow wasn't paying attention to him. A subtle tremor in his hands and still form, he was not there anymore. His pale eyes were drawn in on the screen, searching for that ghost again in Katniss. He wouldn't find what he was looking for. He never would because ghosts weren't real and Sera knew it well, she was haunted by many but none of them were real.
His eyes were fixed on the screen where Katniss and Peeta held onto each other while those mutts Crane talked about so passionately nipped at their heels, trying desperately to climb up the smooth metal walls of the Cornucopia. The mutts were beasts baying for blood while the remaining career tribute's screams rang out through the arena and screen.
Impatiently, Scarus cleared his throat and crossed the office to stand a few steps behind President Snow before repeating his question. "Should I escort Seraphine to the Observation Room?"
With a weak wave of dismissal from President Snow, Scarus shut up immediately. "Seraphine." He called out instead and she got up to take her place on his left. "Will you prepare the bouquet for the victor this year?"
That wasn't a question.
It was an order and she didn't need to be told twice. She bowed her head, sparing a quick glance at the calm but angry Scarus and lifted her head. "Should I pick my own flowers from my own garden or should I just use the standard—"
"Bouquets?" He echoed. "Bouquets? Not a bouquet? I asked for a single bouquet!" He flared up all of a sudden. That eerie calmness was gone, replaced by an unexplainable fury. "Or do you think like Crane and believe they'll be more than one victor? Are you trying to undermine me? The games? The Capitol? Panem?"
"Oh. I-I'm sorry i-it was a slip of my tongue." Said Sera with a quick bow of her shaking head. Tears welled up in her eyes on command and she swallowed them. Her long dark hair fell in curtains. She bowed and profusely apologized for her tongue while she sent subtle glances at Snow.
"A slip of a tongue?!" He let out a bitter croaky laugh, throwing his head before his laughs turned to breathless coughs. "A...s-slip of t...tongue." He slurred out between his coughs.
Springing into action, Scarus took out a handkerchief and hurriedly passed it to the President, keeping his distance to not further anger Snow. "Seraphine...didn't mean what she said, Mr President." He began softly, trying to pretend like he was the peacemaker. "Seneca Crane hasn't recanted his order for two victors yet. If the boy from Two survives then he's still in the game and there's also the mutts..."
President Snow glared up at Scarus and he promptly shut up, letting the rest of his words die in his throat. The silence was filled with Snow's bloody coughs. Neither Sera or Scarus were permitted to touch him or get him something to drink in these moments. They just had to wait for his moment of weakness to pass or suffer for their act of 'kindness'.
His coughs slowly subsided and he looked up at Sera with bloodshot pale eyes. With his watery voice, he managed to drag out an order for her and Scarus. "Prepare two if you must! And join me for the crowning ceremony."
The invite wasn't up for debate but still she decided to press him. "I don't think it'll be appropriate for a former victor to join..."
"I don't think I asked about your opinion." He barked out.
"No, you didn't."
"You'll join me."
"It's unprecedented..." Scarus mumbled.
"It's unprecedented to have two victors." President Snow coldly reminded. "And we might just have two so who gives a damn about traditions—Seneca Crane has ruined decades worth of tradition with his silly attempt at boosting ratings—there shouldn't be any issue with you joining me!"
"The ratings are the highest they've ever been..." Sera noted with a nervous pull at the sleeves of her white coat dress. "B-but Crane should have never taken that gamble t-to raise the ratings."
"He was too ambitious." Scarus chimed in, trying to quell Snow's anger and almost defend his former charge much to Sera's annoyance.
She didn't need him. She was trying to provoke Snow! She needed to see something.
"Maybe we can deal with Katniss Everdeen after the games."
She was ignored.
"Not a bad idea." Scarus was the only one who'd heard her words. "Katniss Everdeen should be warned to keep her head down if she makes it out."
Again when she'd taken her eyes off Snow, he'd gone still. His hand with the bloodied handkerchief fell limp and it threatened to let go of the cloth. His eyes were again drawn elsewhere, not on the screen but to the shadows in-between the cracks.
"And I'm sure Katniss is smart—"
Crash.
Her words were abruptly severed by the shattering sound of her forgotten china cup colliding with the wall behind President Snow's desk. It fractured on impact with the hard marble wall.
Pieces of sharp and jagged white china scattered through the air and rained down on them. Instinctively, Scarus pulled Sera to the side, shielding her from the potential fallout. President Snow's eyes were ablaze with a terrifying intensity, fixated on the wreckage as if searching for some hidden meaning within the shattered pieces.
But it was gone within a blink of an eye like his rage was just a figment of her nightmarish imagination. The President Snow in front of her, remained eerily composed. His rage seemingly extinguished or was never there in the first place.
"That name..." He spat out with an eerily blank face. "...will not be repeated in my presence by either of you, not today and certainly not tomorrow."
Sera cast a sidelong glance at Scarus, a taut expression on his face. She bowed her head, choosing not to look at President Snow. She nodded silently, her eyes fixed on the broken pieces at her feet.
"... Understood." She and Scarus chorused, their voices subdued.
The tension in the air was thick and Sera could barely breathe. Her eyes wandered from the broken pieces on the floor to her wristwatch resting on her wrist, ticking by in silence. The rose-colored metal ticked by in silence and all she could hear was the footsteps of a pacing President Snow along with his and Scarus' breathing and her subdued heartbeat.
She couldn't wait until she was dismissed and she didn't even care if she was sent to the clinic, the Observation Room or even the orphanage at this point. She just wanted to be away from those two. But somehow, she couldn't help but watch the silent President. The way his eyes were trained on the screen, watching Katniss Everdeen with his beady watchful gaze while his index finger pressed down on his thumb, rubbing it like he typically did with the petals of his roses.
"The mutts..." He said in a muted outrage with his lips curling up in disgust. "They're clearing out at daybreak. Is this...one of Seneca's brilliant ideas?"
Scarus furrowed his brow, visibly confused. "That's unusual. Maybe they're nocturnal but those mutts, they weren't that vicious either, they're usually more vicious."
"They look familiar..." Sera whispered and President Snow stared at her in resignation. He didn't care about that at all. "I just mean..."
"If you have nothing useful to contribute to conversation, I think you should just listen, Sera." Scarus said with a sickly sweet smile that made her stomach curl with disgust and her mask crack.
"Seraphine." She smiled back and said. "I'm just pointing out that they look a little too much like the tributes...their hair and their eyes."
"So?" Scarus questioned and waved her off. "Seneca's experiments. He took a little something from the tributes to make those mutts and the gamble didn't pay off. Looks like the tributes this year were too soft."
A wave of revulsion washed over Sera, but she kept her features impassive, covering her face and keeping her eyes locked on the screen with the retreating mutts. Really, she should've expected it. Yet, just thinking about it made her sick.
"W-what do you mean a little something?" Against her better judgment, she asked a stupid question that she knew would have raised brows.
Scarus chuckled but his face softened as he came to Sera in an attempt to comfort her but she took a step back, drawing a line and reminding him of where he was before his face became blank once more. "What I meant was that Crane took pieces of the tribute—flesh, hair and maybe an eye from one of them. I'm not sure what he took, I just know he took something. Ah, but don't worry he said he'd replace them."
"Regardless, his idea might've been grand but his execution was terrible." President Snow cut in with a look of disgust towards Scarus. "Nocturnal mutts! What was he thinking?"
"Maybe, Crane wanted a showdown between the tributes. A grand finale for the audience." Sera offered.
President Snow huffed. "Crane hasn't even rescinded his order for dual victors! Pay attention to the games or leave!"
"I think the main issue is that there's two tributes from Twelve." Scarus quickly chimed in, almost begging for attention. "Twelve gained the most sponsors this year who 'gifted' them some very expensive life-saving medicine that should've been impossible to get for a district like Twelve."
"No, really, Consul? Why didn't you mention it before or maybe you were too busy with other things..." He trailed off with a pointed look to an oblivious Sera. Scarus' face flared up and his upper cheeks turned red but not as red as his dried blood colored hair. "Icarus, this is the third time you've mentioned this—what've you done since the first time you spoke to me about this?"
"I–I've been working on it."
"And? Any leads? Anything at all?"
For the first time since she'd entered the room, she was actually confused. What the two were talking about was new to her. She had no clue why Scarus would even pick up on the sponsorships that Twelve received. It shouldn't have been of interest.
Sera drew her lips into a thin line. "I don't see...what sponsors have to do with all of this?"
With a deep sigh, President Snow turned to glare at her. "The boy..." He said slowly and calmly like he was speaking to a child. "Miss Everdeen's partner..." Sera nodded. "He should not have made it. He wouldn't have made it, if sponsors weren't involved."
Nodding her head slowly, she'd already pieced it all in her head. "Twelve never got this many sponsors."
"So your head's not in the clouds after all?" Scarus quipped. "Twelve's sponsors are suspicious. They've never gotten this many, let alone any expensive sponsored goods." He turned to her, face devoid of all humor. "Which reminds me, do you know of any doctors or nurses who were sponsors in the games this year."
"I—" President Snow patiently waited, his eyes darting between her and the screen. "Just...Dr Jadewell." Not a lie, technically but not the whole truth.
"Dr Jadewell...your personal doctor?" President Snow questioned.
Sera nodded. "She sponsored Faline—my tribute at my request."
"That's it?"
She nodded again. He said nothing but it was clear he didn't believe her. "Then again, this was the first year Twelve had such a high scoring tribute and Ka–" President Snow's steely gaze narrowed in on her. "Miss Everdeen is highly sought after. I saw the bets on her and they are high so maybe—"
"Still doesn't make sense." Scarus cut in. "I watch the games and keep an eye on the bets, the sponsors shouldn't have been that many or expensive for Twelve of all districts."
"District 4 holds the record for the most expensive sponsor—"
"That's not what I said." He cut her off. "Twelve has hardly ever received this many sponsorships; burn ointment, bread, pot of hot broth, sleep syrup and if that wasn't enough they received a picnic basket." He listed off all the sponsored gifts with a dark chuckle. "Basket of fresh rolls, goat cheese, apples, and a tureen of lamb stew on wild rice? Who sends that? A stupid gift for showing off their little relationship. As if that wasn't enough, District 11 actually had the audacity to send 12 a sponsorship."
"District 11 sent them a sponsorship?" Sera asked. "How commendable."
"Do you honestly believe that, Seraphine?" President Snow asked.
"I'm just commenting on the spirit of the games."
"The spirit of the games." Scarus echoed, laughing at her words but his laughter died when he shifted his attention back on the screen.
"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed," Cladius Templesmith, the voice of Seneca Crane or any reigning Head Gamemaker announced.
"Well, at least Crane finally took back his announcement for dual victors."
Yet, the silent tension in the room told her that no one was happy with the recension of Crane's stupid reckless order. President Snow looked troubled by the screen in front of him and his eyes flared up as he bit down hard on his thin lower lip. He didn't approve of this decision either. Well, why would he? Crane was changing the rules as he went to either raise the ratings or keep his head. The choices he made were the stupidest of them all but Sera wouldn't lie and say she wasn't entertained in the slightest.
Sera watched the screen as both 'lovers' looked around in a daze, their faces drained of all color but a strange determination in their eyes. Oh, both of those two 'lovers' were getting out of that arena dead or alive. She just knew it so even if President Snow threw a fit, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark would find a way. The boy would easily die for Katniss but Katniss even if she didn't love Peeta, cared enough to not let him die alone. Sera knew that look on her face too well.
"I think Crane just made a mistake." Sera said softly, watching the two men in the room carefully for every little twitch and change. "He shouldn't have announced the change like that." She let some sense of urgency and concern leak into her voice and looked up to meet President Snow's wide eyes.
"And how do you think he should've announced it?" Scarus questioned, clearly agitated. "He already went ahead and made a mess. If I was him, I wouldn't even bother with the ratings and never made this stupid announcement in the first place."
"But it's done, Consul. Nothing to be done about it." President Snow said icily.
"He should've rescinded his little change before...that boy from One died." Sera suggested.
President Snow paused and nodded. "You're right. He should've. It's a shame," He said with a tired sigh, falling down on the seat in front of the screen with grace and resignation. "Crane's not as bright as..." He mumbled, eyeing her as she stood by his right side.
On the screen, the two star-crossed lovers remained rooted to their spots like actors waiting for their next scene to start playing. Desperation dripped off the two and anyone watching them wouldn't help but feel awful at the inevitable tragedy. Even Sera couldn't help but pity them.
The boy really did love the girl but for Katniss, love was clearly the last thing on her mind. She wanted to go back home, back to her sister.
Ah, Sera's heart felt heavy, so heavy like it would sink her to the floor, drown her into the marble underneath her with guilt and sadness that she never got used to carrying. She tried to swallow that oncoming wave of guilt but she couldn't as the edges of her vision darkened and grotesque figures danced in the field of her vision just for her eyes to see.
Maybe she should've skipped having tea that afternoon with the President...
Scarus, his face contorted with anger, couldn't contain his frustration. "They should be tearing each other apart by now!"
"They're not going to fight, Consul." Sera said, clasping her gloved hands together. "They love each other."
Something about Sera' words must've been funny because President Snow started to laugh. His slow chuckles turned dark fast as he looked up at her with a slow and lazy grin. "Do you honestly believe Miss Everdeen loves that boy?" He asked with a hint of mockery before he started to cough violently. He covered his mouth with his handkerchief. His eyes never moved away from hers. "We-ell?" His distorted bloody voice asked.
"Yes." Sera said with false confidence.
"Be honest with me and yourself, Seraphine." President Snow's coughs slowly withered away once more and his eyes fogged up.
Katniss took out a handful of berries on the screen. Sera's attention was on Katniss—no, the berries. The same berries that Faline took to end her life: nightlock.
She'd expected President Snow to forget her and focus on Katniss but his harmless words made her heart drop. "...You know what a girl in love looks like, don't you?" He asked, not letting her move on. "Does Miss Everdeen look like a girl in love to you?"
A wave of unease washed over her. The huge office felt oppressively small, closing in on her, crushing her. It took her a second to find her voice or make a connection to her brain to act but that single second felt like the longest second in her entire life.
"W-what do you mean?" Sera said with a coy and nervous laugh, her eyes darting to an oblivious Scarus was watching her with his snake-like eyes.
"You're observant, aren't you?"
"I don't know much about love."
"But you're so sure that those two love each other, aren't you? You're so sure that they're not making a fool of the games."
She folded her right hand, her gloved nails digging into her palm. Through the muffled pain, she could finally think and breathe. "The boy loves her more than she loves him."
"I'm sure that's not the only thing you see."
"Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with love to comment on that."
President Snow said nothing but raised his brow and looked away, back at the screen as he leaned back. "I'll take your word for it..." He said lowly.
"But it's true, Sera–Seraphine doesn't have much experience with love and it's obvious they love each other—" President Snow's cold laugh cut him off. "Did I say something wrong?"
As if he was air, Scarus was ignored completely. He'd lost the little attention and interest he'd manage to gain and faded into the background.
Sera knew Katniss was a fighter, a skilled archer with clear experience that had slipped under the radar of the Capitol. What Sera didn't know was that Katniss was a genuine threat. Not just to the Capitol but to her as well. She identified those berries from the start and kept a few for insurance. If she was alone, she'd have laughed at her genius reckless thinking but she'd have to give some credit to Peeta's theatrical thinking as well.
The two were quite the pair.
And a potential threat to her.
President Snow's gaze honed in on Sera. "You," he said, his voice colder than ever, "recognize those berries, don't you?"
Caught off guard, Sera hesitated before admitting, "Nightlock berries, I saw a picture of it in one of my aunt's old books."
"So you know a little about it."
"Poisonous berries."
"And? Surely that's not the only thing you know."
"The roots and leaves can paralyze anyone who eats it."
"Why would Seneca include those things in the arena?" Scarus tried again. "Was he trying to kill all the tributes? Then again with how things turned out, maybe having no winners would've been much better than having two."
President Snow raised his brow. "The consequences of unbridled ambitions, Consul. Consider this a lesson."
The blood drained from his face and feet frozen to the spot. A pin dropping on the floor could be heard with how silent the room had become. Scarus just stared at the President in silence. He was looked over once again as President Snow focused on the games.
A strange coldness had also seeped in through the cracks and crevices of the Presidential office as Katniss and Peeta all but shoved the poisoned berries to the camera's eyes for all to see as if they were telling Panem 'look and see what you made us do' before they slowly brought the berries to their mouths.
'They wouldn't.'
'No one wanted to really die in the games—no one.'
'Except maybe Faline.'
'But Faline was desperate and so hungry...'
Yet the star-crossed lovers seemed so damned determined and serious that even President Snow was fooled but he could do nothing.
The ending was anticlimactic as a frantic Claudius Templesmith yelled at them to stop repeatedly, trying to avoid disaster. Disaster had already struck. He tried to be calm as he announced those two as winners. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you—the tributes of District Twelve!"
That everlasting damage and the match he lit would never be forgotten by anyone certainly not President Snow who let out loud audible breath. The gears in his head was turning as he grinded his teeth, moving pieces on an imaginary chessboard in his head—Sera did the same.
"Maybe Consul Redcliff wasn't so wrong." Sera kept her voice low, measured and soft. "Maybe having no victors would've been better, a much more tragic but fitting end for the star-crossed lovers of Twelve..."
President Snow's face twisted into a sneer. "We. Need. Victors. No one would watch the games otherwise or did you forget, Seraphine, you're a victor—one from the one of the most dullest games but you won, didn't you? Or did you forget? Maybe you'd like me to remind you how exactly you won..."
Her mask cracked and she looked away. "No, I remember." She said quickly, her chest heavy with the burden of surviving. She'd rather swallow her pride than let Scarus find out just how she won. He was still in the room like a phantom hovering above her, much like the ghosts of Eugene and Gaius.
"Seraphine, the bouquets."
"I'll have them done by daybreak." Sera said, ignoring Scarus' presence.
In a daze, President Snow nodded, his eyes fixed on Katniss who cradled Peeta's head cautiously right before the screen cut to the flag of Panem accompanied by the anthem and a quick succession of tributes flashed onto the screen. Their animated faces alongside their names were placed on a table, ranking them in accordance to their deaths—their positions in the competition, Faline sitting just shy of the top three while Cato being placed above her.
At last, the animated faces of the solemn pair from Twelve appeared. The two were ranked side-by-side as victors while their names and district flashed on the screen for five seconds before a quick recap of the two lovers appeared.
Sera wasn't watching any of that. Her attention was solely on the President and Scarus. She couldn't take her eyes off either, especially not Scarus.
But it was President Snow that had the most of her attention. His eyes were glazed and red with veins branching out across his pale eyes. He was still, suddenly lifting his head before he shifted in his seat. His eyes darted across the room like he was following something again but he didn't move, no, he refused to move.
With a quick motion, his head snapped to another shadowy corner of the room leading to the halls. "Consul Redcliff..." He called out to Scarus with a wave like an owner calling for his hound.
"Yes, Mr President." Scarus, ever so eager for an order, merely spared Sera a glance before he was at Snow's beck and call.
"Check the halls and return quickly."
A deep bow, Scarus left the room, his long gray coat fluttering behind him like wings as he disappeared into the darkened corner leading to the halls. Sera watched him go, thinking she was about to be dismissed but this time for good.
She'd only moved a step before President Snow's beady gaze landed on her. "Clean up the mess." He said with a quick look over the scattered pieces of china on the floor.
"A-are you talking to me?"
"Who else?" He said, leaning back and drumming his fingers against the arm of his seat. "The mess you made is infuriating me."
But she didn't make that mess...
"Are you talking about the cup or..."
"Both." He answered curtly. "You knew about those berries."
"I've never seen them in person." She was already prepared for his questions. She always had to be. One wrong word and it was over. "I only read about them, nothing more."
But if she didn't have her family's lives held over her, she'd actually enjoy the challenge that Snow was—though she'd never say it out loud. Her guilt and pride wouldn't allow her.
"I take it you didn't tell Seneca Crane about the berries."
"I would never." Because it would've been a stupid move. "My tribute died mistaking it for a regular fruit–"
"Are you even sure it was a mistake?"
"Absolutely. I saw her in that arena. Everyone did. She was desperate." Faline's hollowed eyes and face still haunted her vision but it'd fade soon like ghosts of her past, well, apart from Eugene who refused to leave her. "Why on earth would I give Crane that idea to add poisoned berries into the arena?"
"I don't know, you tell me?" He fired back. "Seneca took an interest in you."
"And that was all there was to it!" She cried out. "I never entertained him or anyone for a damned minute. You know me!" She pleaded. "You know I'd never be stupid or foolish enough to give a Head Gamemaker of all people the idea to add poisoned berries into the arena, considering my own past! I'm not stupid!"
The beat of his drumming fingers sped up and he swallowed up his coughs. Still, he didn't look at her. She looked back down and glared at the shards of china. It wasn't even her mess...
"No..." He said slowly after much time had passed and the victors from Twelve were no longer on the screen, replaced by a jittery Caesar Flickerman and a very pale and quiet Claudius Templesmith. "No, you wouldn't do that at all. You're not stupid. You're smart...too smart to make a silly mistake like that."
"That's what I've been telling you!" Sera almost snapped but she bit her tongue and held back the rolling wave of anger inside. "I'd never do something so stupid. My tribute died because of those damned berries! If anything..." She nibbled on the bottom of her lips with rehearsed doubt. "I know the former Head Gamemaker—"
"Plutarch?"
"Plutarch Heavensbee was one of the advisors on this year's games." She said, "If I remember right, it was Gamemaker Heavensbee's style to put poisonous plants into the arena, wasn't it?"
"So it was..." He mused and the drumming stopped. "It's strange though."
"What is?"
"How easily you turn from one side to the other."
"I'm just—I didn't consider something before but with enough that I know now, I changed my mind."
"Is that all there is to it?" He eyed her warily and she nodded but again his hazy eyes weren't looking at her and she wasn't looking at him.
Neither were really there in that room.
She really shouldn't have had tea with him.
Murmured drumming brought her back into that office once more and she woke up from her waking nightmare. Eugene's grotesque figure withered away, revealing President Snow's still form on the hard leather seat in front of her. He still faced the screen with his back turned to her.
'It would be so easy for her to kill him right then and there.'
The barberry pin holding her hair up felt heavy and if she just...took it out. Her aim wasn't dull, she'd been practicing when she could. No, she didn't even need to throw it. She could just...sneak up on him and just...slit his throat or maybe stab him.
She could picture it then. The barberry pin, puncturing his face and chest repeatedly, leaving bloody dots decorating his face and spoiling his pristine white suit with crimson.
She could picture it.
Unconsciously, her left hand—her throwing hand went up to her hair and she'd barely managed to touch the cold pin when President Snow asked. "I never asked, how is your family lately?"
Her hand brushed past the pin as if she was fixing her hair; her insides were cold and hollow. "They are as fine as they can be." She answered with a blank look.
"You don't know, do you?"
"I haven't seen them in a while." She admitted.
He grinned a little. Maybe she should've gone with it. Forgotten all about scheming and plotting and just went ahead and drove that pin straight to his heart. "Maybe you should spend more time with them."
There it was.
The warning she was waiting for.
He honestly didn't care about her family. What he really meant was to say 'do your damned job or else' and she didn't need to be told twice.
Still, she couldn't help but push him more. That hazy gaze kept provoking her.
"Is this about how I was wrong about Kat—um—I mean Miss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark?"
"Among other things."
"Seneca Crane, then?" He shrugged. "I can take care of him."
"That was going to be your next assignment. It's nice to see you take some initiative." That patronizing tone and that blasé smile; she hated it. "Maybe, you can focus more on your job and less on any...other distractions."
"Distractions?" She echoed back. "Like what?"
"I'd like to know that too." He said and she had nothing to offer him. "As for Crane, I don't want him to go easy."
"I'll prepare some tea with nightlock leaves and do something with the roots."
"Good, taking more initiative. You learn quickly and as for the new victors..." Again, he was distracted. His eyes darted around the room, following shadows that weren't there. "What's taking Consul Redcliff so long?"
Just as he said so, Scarus re-entered flanked by two avoxes. "The Peacekeepers outside just changed their shifts." He informed President Snow and directed the avoxes to clean the floor before ignoring them.
"And?" President Snow asked, almost erratically.
"That was it."
"Nothing else? No one else?" Confusedly, Scarus turned to Sera who was equally lost as him. President Snow brushed his unanswered questions aside and carried on. "Consul, summon Finnick, Gloss, Cashmere, Augustus, Cecelia and...Laelia."
Scarus flinched at the last name. "Um, Laelia Kering is not here." President Snow looked at Scarus blankly. "She...passed away. She's dead. She's been dead for a while, Mr President."
"Ah, well, who else is in that stupid circle—I need some answers about the sponsors of Twelve and..."
"And the missing people." Scarus interrupted and Sera flinched as he did so. "One of the most prominent of disappearances is Cressida—I mentioned her last time, an upcoming director. She disappeared without a trace with her entire crew. She's just one of the many. There was a nurse and a doctor, here and there...bodies have also disappeared."
"Ah, of course. The missing people—let me guess, you don't have a lead on that either, do you, Consul? What is the point of you telling me all of this if you can't even do anything about it?!" Scarus looked away in shame. "You're more useless than Seraphine. At least, she's got a pretty face and she can say pretty things to keep people in check—not much I can say about you."
Quivering with apprehension, Scarus held his mountain of rage back but his envious glare and his twitching scar gave more away than he'd like.
"I'll summon the rest and..." Scarus turned to Sera.
President Snow nodded. "Seraphine, prepare seven more cups of tea, will you? Make yourself useful."
"I'm—"
"I didn't ask." No, he ordered but she didn't want to make tea.
"Any particular kind?"
"The same one as before." He said, waving her off dismissively.
A knot tightened in her stomach, she really didn't want to do as told but she had little choice. He stood up and paced around the room before settling down back into his seat in front of his desk. His hands gripping the sides of his wide desk so tight that his wrinkly pale hands turned ghastly white.
And she couldn't do anything but gracefully prepare the cups of tea for the unsuspecting victors.
She didn't even get to say another word when she was done setting up the seven cups before Scarus was already escorting her out. Whatever conversation was going to take place, she wasn't going to be privy to it.
Though, what little she managed to get out was enough for her. Scarus did notice the missing people including Cressida's disappearance but she never imagined he'd sound an alarm for it. He was actually more observant than she gave him credit for and she hated that.
His silence was even more annoying as he walked a few paces behind her yet still somehow leading her through the labyrinth that was the Presidential Palace. It was almost like he was her personal guard and she was the naive young victor who just wanted to go back home and stay there.
"Would you like me to—"
"I'm fine." She cut him off, not wanting to hear whatever he had to say. Maybe, he should've stayed silent. "I know you're busy."
"I can make time for you."
She nodded absentmindedly, scanning the towering marble columns draped in the colors of Capitol with marble statues of men and women stuck in melancholic or solemn poses.
Precious paintings lined the walls—she'd seen them so many times but none of them ever held her attention or anyone's attention for long. She heard a few squeals and her attention was dragged away. Gloss and Cashmere casually flirted with a few of their escorts as they were led to President Snow's office.
But what really had everyone's attention was the one whose eyes were only on her. Finnick laughed along with a silly joke of one of President Snow's assistants but his eyes followed Sera's every movement.
Yet the moment their eyes met, she looked away as if they were strangers even when they brushed past each other, their hands almost touching. They were strangers to them all, even if the truth was the furthest from what anyone knew.
She wrapped her arms around herself while passing through the halls without Finnick.
"Are you cold?" Scarus asked and she wished he'd shut up. "I can—"
"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine." She didn't dare to turn around and look at him, carrying on her lonely march.
Sera couldn't help but envy Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. She didn't care if their love was real or not, at least they could be open about it.
To the eyes of Panem, Seraphine Reza and Finnick Odair were strangers only tied together by a thin golden string representing their shared victor status, nothing more.
༺═──────────────═༻
Plant Dictionary:
Barberry - Bad temper and sharpness