"Ana."
Riyana groaned and rolled over burying her face into the sheets. She felt her shoulder being shook again and rolled over squinting her eyes open. Her breath hitched and she flinched seeing someone standing over her.
"Sorry." Sejanus laughed. "Didn't mean to scare you, it's just, I gotta go do something with my pa."
Riyana brought a hand to her eyes and tried to rub the tiredness out of them. If she thought sleep would help with the pain, she was mistaken. Her head was pulsing and there was a throbbing pain in her stomach.
"There's a driver downstairs waiting, whenever you're ready." He told her.
Riyana took the hint and pushed the comforter off of herself. She winced slightly and grabbed at the bandages on her stomach as she stood up.
Sejanus quickly grabbed her. "You okay?" He asked quickly.
Riyana nodded, "Fine."
Sejanus nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I really have to go." He said.
Riyana wondered what was so urgent but did not ask. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving," She said.
Sejanus nodded and turned on his heel, but before he could walk away, Riyana grabbed his wrist, prompting him to turn back to face her. She opened her mouth but realized she did not actually have anything to say. Sejanus didn't need her to talk, he just leaned forward and kissed her quickly.
"I'll call you when I have time." He said quickly, already walking out the door.
When Riyana arrived back at home she was met by Beatrice in the living room.
Beatrice took in her older sisters appearance with distaste. Beatrice pushed her hair behind her ear and Riyana knew her sister's neat straight hair would be a stark contrast to her own disheveled curls.
The grimace is still on Beatrice's face when she turns back to the television. "So you ran out for a hookup." Beatrice grumbled.
Riyana blinked in confusion and then remembered that she was still in men's pajamas.
"No that's not-"
Beatrice cut her off. "Oh i don't care, fuck who'd you like. Don't leave it to me to make up a story for your absence next time." She snarled.
Riyana stared stupidly and Beatrice turned back towards her.
"Did you need something?" Beatrice asked impatiently.
"No, i..."
Beatrice nodded, "Father thinks you were with Lysistrata, I told him her boyfriend broke up with her and you were there to comfort her."
Riyana thought that was a shabby excuse. Lysistrata's father worked with her father so this was a lie that could be easily fact checked. Seeing no point in vocalizing this rather obvious point, Riyana nodded and walked past.
Riyana went straight to her bathroom, turning on the shower to let the steam fill the room as she undressed. Standing in front of the sink, she gripped the cold porcelain with damp hands, her reflection obscured by the fogged-up mirror. Using her palm, she cleared a small opening to gaze at her reflection. Each time she looked, she seemed to face a more disheveled version of herself. As the mirror clouded up once more, Riyana made no move to clear it again, choosing instead to remain oblivious to her appearance.
The damp air in the bathroom intensified the scent of last night's sweat and grime clinging to Riyana's body as she reached in to test the water temperature. Satisfied with the warmth, she stepped into the shower, feeling the water cascade over her, washing away the dirt and dried blood from the night before. By the time she emerged, only the bandages wrapped around her stomach served as proof of the events that had transpired.
Eager to catch up on the latest news about the games, Riyana reluctantly made her way downstairs to join Beatrice after her shower. To her surprise, as soon as she took a seat, the video feed switched to the recording studio, revealing Sejanus and Strabo seated together. In that moment, she realized the reason for Sejanus' sudden urgency and his need to be elsewhere.
Lucky Flickerman took a seat next to them and patted Sejanus' leg.
"Sejanus, I'm sorry we didn't get a moment with you yesterday to let you comment on the demise of your tribute, Marcus." Lucky spoke.
Sejanus stared blankly at the commentator, seemingly not taken in any of his words.
"What's going on here? You look like you've been mixing it up yourself." Lucky joked.
"Fell off my bike." Sejanus rasped.
"Ouch." Lucky made a face towards the camera. "Well, I guess you have some pretty big news to share with us!" Lucky said.
Sejanus looked down towards his lap for a moment. Riyana assumed Strabo would take over, but he did not acknowledge his son, just stared sternly into the camera.
"Yes," Sejanus finally spoke, "We, the Plinth family, would like to announce that we will be giving a prize for a full ride to the university for the mentor who's tribute wins the hunger games."
Cheering could be heard in the background.
"Sensational!" Said Lucky. "What a thrill those twelve remaining mentors must be experiencing right now! Was this your idea, Strabo? To create the Plinth Prize?"
"My son's, actually." Strabo said, attempting a smile.
Riyana knew that would have never been the case.
"Well, what a generous and appropriate gesture, especially given Sejanus's defeat. You may not have won the Games, but you've certainly taken home the prize for good sportsmanship. I think I speak for the Capitol when I say many thanks!" Lucky beamed at the pair, but as nothing else was forthcoming, he made a sweeping gesture with his arm. "All right, then, back to the arena!"
Sejanus did not lie when he said his father would be quick with the buying.
"Of course they'd make it about themselves." Beatrice said bitterly.
Riyana turned towards her confused. "I thought you liked Sejanus."
Beatrice regarded her. "He's nice enough." She tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Whole family reeks of desperation though."
"They're literally making a donation."
Beatrice waved her hand towards the television. "They just had to have it documented for the whole nation to see their generosity." She said, mocking the word generosity.
Riyana wanted to laugh at the absurdity of her statement. The Plinths were probably the only family in the capital that made large donations without insisting on buildings being named after them, or statues being built in their honor- just requested an equal upbringing for their son.
"Why are you in such a bad mood?" Riyana asked, irritated from her sister's comments.
Beatrice glared at her. "I'm in a perfectly fine mood. Maybe tired, had to deal with fathers outrage last night."
Riyana shook her head and stood up. "Good," She said, already walking away. "You deserve to for once."
Riyana walked back up to her room and reopened a drawer she had been ignoring for days. She grabbed an empty sheet and a pen and started writing a letter. She knew, even then, she did not have the right words to say, so she simply wrote what Sabyn had asked her to. She wrote to tell the family that Sabyn loved them and she was sorry she would miss the moments. She assured them that Sabyn's death was quick, there was no pain or torture.
She grabbed the cash she had laying around her room, not much, only a few hundred, and slipped it in the envelope. What was spare change to her she knew would make all the difference to a poor family from the district. Then, she sealed the envelope and brought it downstairs to the mailroom.
Already out of the apartment, Riyana did not want to re enter. It would be hours until her father returned from work so she had free reign to spend the next few hours doing whatever she wanted. She decided she deserved a day of leisurely selfishness and opted to spend the day shopping.
When she came back into the apartment Beatrice was still in the living room but had changed the channel from the games to a random show. Seeing the bags Beatrice brightened up, and just like that their petty argument was forgiven.
"Oh I must see it all." Beatrice clapped her hands together eagerly.
Riyana laughed and set down the bags, showing her each item at a time. She received plenty of "oh I'm going to steal that", "Plinth will love that", "Cute," and by the end of the haul, Riyana was actually grateful to have ran into her. A funny thing sisterhood was.
It was a quarter past seven when a maid knocked on Riyana's door and informed her that their father would not home for dinner and that she was going to pick the girls up some takeout. So, Riyana spent the next hour picking at fried rice waiting for her phone to ring. When she'd finally given up hope, about to turn off the light and call it a night, it finally rang.
Riyana cringed at herself for how quickly she picked it up and eagerly spoke into the phone. "Hi!"
She could hear Sejanus' breathing before his response, and for a moment she thought he did not hear her, then he spoke back. "Hey, what are you doing?" He sounded restless.
"Um, laying in bed eating fried rice..." She trailed off.
The phone was silent for a few seconds. "I'm coming over." He said.
Riyana choked on a piece of rice and had to drink from her glass of water to clear her throat. "No, you're not, my father would not allow it."
"Then get dressed, we're going somewhere." He reasoned without missing a beat.
Riyana laughed. "Oh, where to?"
Sejanus heaved a sigh and she could hear shuffling on his end. "I don't know."
Riyana rolled over onto her stomach. "Think you should figure that out and I'll decide if it's worth getting in trouble."
"I don't know Ana." Sejanus said anxiously. "But, please, I need to see you."
Riyana smiled and bit her lip, "You just saw me this morning I'm sure you'll survive." She teased.
She heard a door close. "Please, I'm on my way." He said.
She could tell by the desperation in his voice he was being serious.
"Okay, okay, I'm getting up. I'll meet you outside my apartment," She said.
Sejanus hung up without responding. Riyana knew the situation was weird, but she got dressed like he requested and headed downstairs nonetheless. She watched him get out of his family's car and dismiss the driver.
As soon as he got out he walked quickly towards her, grabbed her by the cheeks and pulled her in. Without any regard for who may be around he kissed her, pulling her into him harshly until he was breathless and had to pull away gasping for air.
"As lovely as that was," Riyana said, stepping back, "Why did you do that, is something wrong?"
Sejanus seemed distracted as he shook his head. "No, no, nothing, I just-" He stumbled over his words. "It's nothing." He finally concluded.
"Well," Riyana said slowly, "Maybe next time don't do that in public." She finished, looking around to make sure no one saw.
"Who cares if someone sees. Let them." Sejanus responded.
Riyana grabbed his hand, hanging on by just his finger tips. "I told you what would happen if my father found out." She reminded him.
Sejanus shook his head and threw his hands in the air. "Oh don't tell me you're going to forget this just because of an empty threat."
Riyana stepped back, uneasy from his restlessness. "They're not empty threats." She said quietly.
"You couldn't possibly know." Sejanus said, fidgeting with the end of his sweater sleeve.
"Fine, I know where we'll go." Riyana responded, already beginning to walk.
"What are you-"
"You'll see." Riyana cut him off.
They walked for nearly a mile, Riyana leading the way and Sejanus walking behind, still with a slight limp.
"A graveyard?" Sejanus asked as Riyana walked through the entrance.
Riyana ignored him and continued walking until she found the familiar gravestone. She sat in front of it staring at the wilting flowers placed on top.
"Your mother." Sejanus said quietly, sitting next to her.
"I hate coming here." Riyana said, picking at the grass.
"It must be hard." Sejanus said, squeezing her hand.
"I don't even miss her, it's not that." Riyana admitted.
It was true, it was hard to miss a mother she never truely had. It was the name of the gravestone, her own name staring back at her that made her uncomfortable.
"Oh," Sejanus said awkwardly, unsure what to say.
"Oh," Riyana echoed.
"Why did you want to come then?" Sejanus asked.
"To show you his words aren't empty threats." Riyana explained.
She hoped seeing the tombstone with his own eyes would be the quickest way to understand the weight of her fathers words, but Sejanus was always one to interject.
"You can't actually mean-"
Riyana cut him off. "He didn't like actually kill her, he wouldn't get his hands dirty. Paid for it though, and he'd do the same for you."
"I don't care." Sejanus said.
Riyana stared at him blankly. What an idiot, she thought.
"What happened after the announcement?" Riyana asked, trying to figure out why he was acting so strange.
Sejanus looked away and began turning his heel in the soft dirt, his heel sinking in. "You saw that." He said, sounding almost ashamed.
"Sejanus." She said impatiently.
He looked back at her and shook his head. "Nothing really, it's all talk for now. Everyone's pissed."
"Understands so."
He ignored her. "There was talk about me going away, peacekeeper in one of the districts, don't think my dad will let it happen, but I don't know."
"Oh."
Sejanus shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Asked me a few weeks ago, would've been my dream. Then, god, I had to meet you, I don't even know if leaving the capital would be worth it if it meant leaving you."
Riyana didn't know how to respond. "No, you can't go." She finally got out.
Sejanus kicked softly at the dirt and looked up at the sky. "It's just talk, really, one of the many ideas thrown around." He assured her.
"Sorry for dragging you out tonight." Sejanus said quietly, still staring up at the stars ahead.
Riyana laid down on the dirt and pointed up at the sky. "I'll come visit you if you do get sent off, I reckon the stars will be much prettier from the wilderness."
Sejanus laid down beside her, but his gaze was on her, not the stars.
"I think you'd just forget about me if I was sent away." He told her.
"I'd never forget about you Sejanus."