Prologue
The golden rays of sun had only just begun to appear over the garden's tall fence, yet Katniss had already been up for hours. For over thirteen years, she had not been able to sleep peacefully, but it was always worse on her daughter's birthday. However, she used the excuse of wanting to prepare properly and just started decorating and baking cakes early.
As always, on her daughter's birthday, she was more than simply nervous. Every year that drew on was a year more without her husband and her daughter's father, as well as a year closer to the date when her daughter would have to take the throne, due to her father's absence. Katniss dreaded the day when she would have to let her take the crown.
Despite how her daughter constantly told her mother that she did not care about the responsibility that she had inherited, Katniss knew that was far from the truth. Like her, she longed for the outdoors and the freedom that the woods could provide someone, especially when coupled with the thrill of hunting. Her daughter was lucky to never have to be tied down to an indoor job, but Katniss always had.
Too, Katniss may have loved her daughter, but she never fully appreciated having another job that meant she had to stay inside. When she married, she thought that her jobs would cease and she would be allowed to what wished, to provide for her husband. Instead, she had to keep some jobs, to make up for her husband not being there, and she had to stay at home to look after her daughter as well.
The ring of the phone pulled her from her thoughts and she looked at the clock on the wall, as she dusted her hands on her apron. She was surprised to realise that it was ringing at a time, long before most sane people were awake; however, she did not question it as she walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway, where it stood on a small table, and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" she said quietly, not wanting to wake her daughter, even though the ringing probably had.
"Katniss?" answered the voice on the other end.
Katniss allowed a soft sigh to pass her lips as she recognised the voice of the King's butler, so turned to face the table, her shoulder leaning against the wall. "Haymitch, what is with the early morning call?"
"You sound far from sleep and I know that you do not sleep on this day, anyway," the man reasoned.
"Even so, I do not wish from Willow to be woken before she wants to," Katniss argued.
"Wish the princess happy birthday, then, but you may send her back to sleep, if that is what you want," decided Haymitch. "But I had no choice but to ring you at this time. It is a matter of urgency."
"What is?" Katniss could not help but let the panic slip into her voice as the hand that did not hold the phone dropped from her cheek and back to the table.
"I cannot speak it over the phone, but it is only something you can sort out, sweetheart," Haymitch muttered. "Bring the princess if you want her to, but you do not have to. It could hurt people either way."
"Do not dare say things like that," whispered Katniss. "Tell me what has happened."
"I cannot say," repeated Haymitch. "But I swear that it is important."
For a second time, Katniss sighed, but it was because she was giving up, rather than because she was relieved.
"Will you come?" Haymitch asked.
"I suppose I have little choice, do I not?" replied Katniss.
"You need to know first," agreed Haymitch.
"And Willow?" Katniss added.
"It could do her well to find out, too, but she could be told at another time," Haymitch told the mother. "However, let us speak the truth. Would she let you go on your own if she knew that you had to come here?"
"I guess not." Katniss paused for a second, before speaking again. "May I allow her to wake naturally, at least?"
"See how long she sleeps for because I need you here as soon as possible," answered Haymitch.
"Would the King not be a suitable reference?" Katniss suddenly thought aloud.
"It is not power that is needed here, it is you. A tie to the past is necessary and there is no one better than you for that," Haymitch admitted. "Please come."
"I will in less than an hour," promised Katniss, almost reluctantly.
"Thank you," said Haymitch, the relief obvious in his words. "Thank you so much. I will see you then."
Katniss put the phone down, instead of saying another word, and then rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand. She had not a clue about what the old butler needed her help so desperately and so early for, yet she felt as if she could not say no. Haymitch had played a big part in her life and her daughter's for years, so she did not feel she could deny him one small favour.
Sighing for a third time, she stepped away from the wall and turned around, about to head to the kitchen. Even if she was due to be at the Palace in less than an hour, she still had time to finish her daughter's cake, before she would wake her. Then, they would both dress appropriately and head down as early as possible, so that they could spend the rest of the day together.
However, as soon as Katniss was facing the stairs, she saw her daughter sitting there, her long nightgown drawn up to her knees and her head tipped slightly to the side, as she watched her mother. In the dim light, Katniss could see little of the young girl, but she knew that she had been woken by the phone call and had been watching her since, but she had not made her presence known because, similarly to her mother, she had a hunter's step.
There were many similarities between the two females, though. As well as their love for freedom and the outside world, where they could hunt, they also looked remarkably alike. The younger girl had inherited her mother's hair, her skin, her face shape, her temper, and the overall way she carried herself. What she had inherited from her father were his bright blue eyes and his soft smile.
Trying to smile, Katniss crouched down and opened her arms of, for her daughter to walk forward and into. When their arms were wrapped around each other, Katniss whispered into the younger girl's ear, "Happy birthday, princess. I am sorry you were disturbed before you wished to be woken."
Her daughter shrugged and rested her chin on her mother's shoulder. "What troubles you so?"
Katniss was always angry with herself for being so distant with her daughter on her birthday, no matter what she tried. Every year, she just thought of how her husband never got to see their daughter, and how she could never fill that gap for her. This year, especially, her thoughts were elsewhere, at the Palace, where Haymitch was urgently awaiting their arrival.
Despite her faraway thoughts, Katniss replied, "Nothing worth you distracting you from yourself today. It is your day and nothing else matters."
"Why must we be the ones for consult today, then?" asked her daughter.
"You understood that?" questioned Katniss.
"More often than not, people consult us, rather than the King. What right did I have to assume that today would be different?" the young girl admitted.
"Willow, you do not have to come if you would rather you stayed at home," promised Katniss. "I do not plan to be away for long, so you could either return to your room, to sleep for longer, or you could continue to bake cakes whilst I am out, if you would prefer."
"If you believe that I would allow you to go to the Palace on your own, you have obviously been misled," said Willow, a smile playing across her lips as she leant away, to look at her mother.
"I thought that something along those lines would be your answer," Katniss agreed. "Therefore, shall we just finish off the cakes I started, before we leave?"
"We will be in a terrible state if we do," Willow argued. "Why not wait until we have returned to finish them?"
"You are thirteen now. I would like to imagine that you know how to wash yourself," teased Katniss.
"I was simply suggesting that it could be better to just get the visit out of the way," disagreed Willow.
"Unless you are trying to avoid spending time with me. Please do not tell me that, now you are thirteen, you do not wish to spend time with me!" Katniss complained, with a fake, overdramatic flourish.
"You know that I would never dream of such a thing," Willow moaned, grabbing her mother's hand and dragging them both to their feet. "I love you more than words can say, so do not panic, you silly old flour-covered lady."
With a chuckle, Katniss followed her daughter into the kitchen, watching her grab her apron off a hook on the wall, whilst she picked something from behind her. As soon as Willow turned back around, she was met with a handful of flour, thrown by her mother, who only added, "Who is the one covered in flour, now?"
Willow gasped, and then initiated a flour fight with her mother, which mainly resulted in a messy kitchen and flour angels on the floor, but they eventually finished baking the cakes, too. They left them to cool by the window and Katniss promised to tidy it later, when they got back from the Palace, as they both agreed that they should probably start getting ready to leave.
Then, they both retreated back upstairs, to their separate rooms, to shower and get dressed. Katniss, after showering, left her hair to drip down her back, as she looked through her wardrobe to find a suitable dress. She did not want to be wearing an elaborate dress for her daughter's birthday, as neither of them ever did, but she also knew that she would have to dress up to go the Palace.
When she had dressed, she braided her hair quickly, before leaving her room behind her. However, as soon as she stepped into the hallway, she could not suppress her laughter as she saw her daughter sneaking out of her room, dressed in her old hunting clothes. Immediately, Willow straightened up and turned to look at her mother, but she said nothing.
"You are mad, are you not?" Katniss said as she walked towards her daughter, still laughing. "You may be the heir to the throne and you may be allowed to get away with some things, but they hate seeing you in clothes like that. They expect you to be dressed like a lady."
"They expect me to hunt dressed in a corset and a petticoat?" Willow repeated.
"No. Remember, they do not wish for you to hunt, as it is a violent and unsuitable sport for ladies of your type, but they tolerate it," argued Katniss. "However, to see you in trousers and a shirt like that is far too revealing for them to even imagine."
Willow blushed heavily and wrapped her arms around herself. "You have never complained before."
"I care not what you wear because I was exactly the same as you when I was your age. You have your own voice and your own rights, do you not? Anyway, you normally go straight to and from the woods, through our garden. This time, on the other hand, people will see you, and people with status most of all," Katniss reasoned.
"People see me normally," muttered Willow.
"Yes, but those people are only me and Nick, and we have both seen you without any clothes on. Nothing could be revealing to us," Katniss reminded her daughter with a wink.
If it was possible, the blush that had crept up from the bottom of Willow's neck and spread across her cheeks, suddenly because even heavier. "I will change, if you permit me to go into the woods for an hour afterwards, because I will have my clothes in my bag. You will need to tidy up here, anyway."
Katniss smiled, shooing her daughter back into her room. "Hurry up, then. The more time you spend getting ready, the less time you get in the woods."
The door shut behind her and Katniss heard her daughter throwing her clothes off and searching for a dress. "Can you not delay the party?"
"No. Everyone has been expecting it for months and been preparing for it for a certain time. I cannot change the details this late," answered Katniss, her back against the wall, which was beside the door. "As well, you should be grateful as it is. You do not realise how much trouble I had, changing it so that we could have a private one, rather than one that was broadcast."
"Well, thank you for that, but that does not mean I have to enjoy it," complained Willow, leaving her room, less than a minute after she entered it, in a dark blue dress.
"You will, though," Katniss decided, following her daughter down the stairs as she stuffed her shirt, jacket and trousers in a bag, before throwing the bag over her shoulder. "Johanna, Annie, Nick and all your friends will be there."
"Quite often they are not actually my friends, actually," Willow reasoned, grabbing her bow and arrows from by the door and throwing them over her shoulder, too. "Often they are people that only know me because of my status. The three you mentioned by name should not even be my friends."
Katniss laughed softly. "The way you speak, I wonder whether or not you remember that I should not be the mother to the heir."
Willow paused, her hand hovering over the door handle for a second, once they were both outside. "Mother," she bit her lip, "if you were not a suitable choice for- for breeding purposes, father would not have chosen you. But, despite that, I have never met anyone as responsible and caring as you. If you would not be a suitable queen, they cannot hold out any hope for me."
"Willow, you will be perfect for this role," Katniss promised, placing her arm around her daughter's shoulders once she locked the door, starting her walk to the Palace with her in her arms.
Her daughter tried to smile as she leant her head to the side, so that it was resting on Katniss' shoulder. "Will you tell me a story?"
"Is there a particular story you want to hear?" asked Katniss.
"The one about the prince and the maid, please," Willow answered quietly.
"You have not wanted to hear that story for years," Katniss replied.
"But I wish to hear it today," admitted Willow. "Please."
"It is your birthday today. I will give you whatever you wish," agreed Katniss.
Willow smiled properly, before she stood on tiptoes to kiss her mother's cheek, and then took hold of her mother's hand in her own, to swing between them as they walked. "Thank you."
Katniss was smiling, too, when she began her story, although she planned to tell the shorter version, to suit her daughter's young and innocent mind more. "Once upon a time, there was a poor girl who had already lost both of her parents; her sister was the only thing left in her life. To accommodate them both, she worked day and night, to ensure they could survive.
"Every day, long before dawn, she would sneak into the woods to hunt with her best friend. They would, then, sell most of their game, but they would also keep a little for themselves. To keep her sister alive, though, the elder sister had many other jobs, other than hunting: she was a music teacher at a local school and she helped at the Palace, to name but two.
"Sometimes, money was hard for the two sisters to come by, but they always managed to survive, especially with the help of the elder sister's best friend. Although they rarely accepted it, he had a little more money than them both and could give them some when they needed it. However, generally, the work that the elder sister had at the Palace kept them alive.
"One day, the elder sister's best friend got in a fight with the best friend of the Prince and, after he argued with the sister he was banished. The Prince- his best friend having been injured terribly in the fight- saw the fight between the girl and her best friend, before he saw her and her sister gradually losing everything they had. He offered to help them.
"For a long time, the elder sister refused his help, until her sister fell ill and she had no choice. Slowly, ever so slowly, she fell in love with him when he helped them, until she realised that he was the Prince. Even though she hated that he had kept such a big secret from her, she could not bear to see him leave her and her sister, so she agreed to his proposal.
"They were married quickly afterwards, and then the Prince began to notice changes in his new wife. It was not long later that they discovered she was due to give birth to his child, and she was much more than terrified. However, they kept it a secret for a long time and the girl kept her jobs, until they were both prepared to reveal that the heir was due to the world.
"The Prince stuck by his wife's side for nine months, without caring in the slightest that people were judging him for having a maid as the mother for his heir. He loved her more than words could say and he could not wait until the day when they were due to have the first new member of their life together. Unfortunately, everything was too perfect.
"Two days before their child was due to be born, the Prince had to go on a trip, which he travelled to on a train. His first call was to the meeting that had been scheduled long ago, in which he would discuss his role as King and his future dynasty. Secondly, he planned to buy some gifts for his wife and their child, as he was hoping to spoil them both rotten, no matter how much it cost.
"However, on the way back, when he was just a few miles away from returning to his wife, something appeared on the tracks, too quickly for the driver to react to. The train crashed into whatever that thing was and everyone on board was killed instantly in the collision. The Prince was included in the final death toll, as was his best friend, who had accompanied him.
"It took a day for the news of the crash to reach the Prince's wife, but that was only because the King wanted her to give a speech. The King had long been void of emotion, so he did not care in the slightest that his only son had been killed in the collision, and the only thing he did care about, as did everyone, was the fact that the heir would be born of a maid.
"The next day, when the girl went into labour as predicted, she was joined only by one nurse, the Prince's best friend's wife and their son. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who looked like exactly like her mother, except from her father's smile and his blue eyes. However, he never got to see the wonderful traits that he had passed on to the next generation."
When Katniss finished, she had tears on her cheeks because, even though her original plan was to tell just part of the story, she told more of it to her daughter than she ever had before. Before, her daughter had known parts of the story- that her mother and father should not have been allowed to marry, that her father had not been present for her birth- but she had never known the details.
Instead of saying anything concerning the extended version of her story, though, Willow stopped walking and enveloped her mother in her arms, whispering into her ear, "Mother, it is okay. I understand it hurts. I cannot imagine the pain you went through then, but I am here for you now. Nothing will take me from you. I promise."
Katniss managed a small nod as her daughter leant back and wiped the tears from her mother's cheeks. "You are stronger than I could imagine you would ever be," she replied quietly.
"You deserve someone to be strong for you. It is not fair that you have always had to be," Willow answered.
Katniss managed a smile following her daughter's words as she inclined her head forward and said, "Go to Nick. He looks as if he worries for you, given the lack of your mother's sanity."
"You are as sane as the next person to have gone through the pain that you have," argued Willow, not looking at the boy behind her. "As I have said, the kingdom holds no hope if you are unsuitable for the throne, if I am due to take it."
"Both of you could or will be incredible queens," disagreed a male voice, which came from behind Willow.
Willow allowed a smile to pass her lips as she turned to face her best friend, curtseying. "How would you know, Mr Odair?"
"You are wearing hunting boots under your dress. What better sign do I have then that?" Nick teased.
Willow blushed a little. "Where else do you think I plan to go? I have the right to do what I wish and wear what I wish."
Nick chuckled. "And you, your grace?" He turned to Katniss. "Would you allow her to go into such dangerous grounds, if you had the choice?"
"As long as she has someone like you, who will stay with her, she should be fine," warned Katniss. "However, how do you plan to manage to get away today, when you had your day off last week?"
"I am due to gather food at some point this week, so why not use that as my excuse?" answered Nick.
"What happens if I do not want to just gather food?" moaned Willow.
Nick shrugged, and then smiled. "I suppose I will just have to persuade you, then."
Katniss smiled, too, as she walked forward. "Just be careful, you two. Look after her, Nick, unless, Willow, you plan to come with me first?" She glanced back at her daughter, to see her nod. "You must only wait a couple a minutes, then, Nick."
Katniss started walking forward again, glancing back only occasionally to see her daughter talking to her best friend, her hand in his. They had been best friends from the moment that Willow was born, as Nick was just under two years older than her. Katniss knew that there was a desperation in both of them that meant that they wanted to both be more than just friends, but neither had said anything, yet.
At the main entrance, Haymitch was waiting, his Palace uniform ironed to perfection, despite the grave look that was written across his tired face. He said nothing, but bowed to the two women as they walked across the threshold, before he shut it after the boy and girl entered he hall. Then, he got to the front of the group, to lead them into the Hall.
As the door was pushed open, Haymitch turned to them and said softly, "Be prepared for trouble. You cannot expect something good to happen all the time."
Katniss nodded, her hands clenching around the skirt of her dress as she followed the butler into the Hall. However, as soon as she looked up at the opposite wall, the terror dropped from her face as she let go of her skirt and covered her mouth. "Good Lord. Is that really you?" Instead of waiting for the answer, she ran forward, towards the man who was in front of her.
"Katniss, wait," Haymitch called, but it was no use.
By the time the words had reached Katniss, she had already reached the man on the other side of the room. She was about to fling her arms around his shoulders, when he reached up and wrapped his fingers around her neck.
There were less than two seconds between the time when his fingers began to tighten and Nick ran forward, knocking him to the ground. However, when the older man began to focus his attacks on the boy, Willow pushed him down again and grabbed her bow off her back. Then, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver behind her and aimed it at the man, without thinking twice.
Glaring at the man who tried to attack her mother and her best friend, she saw that he was so painfully thin that his bones were visible, beneath his near-white, almost grey skin. He had bruises and cuts across his face and any visible skin, and his once bright blue eyes were haunted, suddenly dark and almost black.
"Who are you, to threaten these two?" asked Willow, not dropping the bow from pointing at the man's neck.
Nick stepped forward and took hold of the young girl's wrist. "Willow, do not-"
The man went to move again, but was suddenly close to Willow's arrow and fell back down, although his eyes followed Nick when Willow pushed him back.
"Haymitch," Willow whispered, "get something to hold him down." She waited until she heard the butler leave before she repeated, "Let me ask again, how can you threaten my mother?"
"Your mother?" The man waited for Willow to nod, before he replied, "That mutt over there was my wife."
It took a few seconds for the man's words to sink in and, even after they had, Willow waited until he had been held down with handcuffs before she lowered her bow and arrow. Then, she sat down, cross legged, on the floor in front of him and stared at him, blue eye on blue, before she said, "Mother, tell him your story." There was no response, so she repeated herself.
When Katniss took a deep breath and began the story she told her daughter earlier, Willow shook her head. "The whole story."
Author's Note: This is a rewrite of my original story and will be a one-shot, until I bring this story off hiatus when a couple of my other stories have finished. However, until then, I would really like to know either what you think of the first chapter as a rewrite, as a new story, or what you think of the story in general.
The rest of the story, as you may have guessed will be what Katniss tells Peeta, and what Willow hears, too.
If you read my original story, I hope you enjoy this, too. If you are new to this story, welcome and I hope you enjoy it! Please review!
