The Lady Of Shalott
So here we are again. It's been an age since I finished The Lady of the Lake, and while I agree that it is a complete story on its own, I discovered I wanted to revisit these characters many years down the track.
It was never my plan that Panem would become a utopian society after the traumas of the war, and enough time has past for the immediate pain to have faded, and for discontent to brew. And the kids have reached an age where the questions start to be asked...
Don't worry guys, Survival of the Fittest will continue as well, as is my Novel.
It's nice to return to my Panem, even if I didn't get to show many returning characters this chapter.
Chapters will alternate between two perspectives, Hazel's and Sky's as the story unfolds.
Chances are this won't be a saga the length of TLOTL, but this isn't a small story.
Thank you for returning to Panem with me
Chapter 1 - Hazel
My parents fought in the war.
That isn't a secret, in fact it isn't even that uncommon. Everyone knows that when the Rebellion began, the Snow Regime destroyed District 4 and 12, and the two districts relocated to District 13. They had to fight, the war had come to them, their homes had been destroyed.
My parents were young when the war broke out, the age when recruits graduate from Dad's Peacekeeper Academy. They were a perfect age to be soldiers, but there's something more to it, I know there is, because I've heard mum wake up with these awful, choked off screams, Dad holding her as she sobs. I hear it through the wall. I know Dad has nightmares too, he slips downstairs to his private gym out the back of the garden, I can see him through my window, and he always holds my Mum tighter those days, like he's afraid of losing her.
I asked them about it when I was younger, but they didn't really answer me. Mum just kissed my forehead and reassured me that nothing was wrong. Dad just ruffled my hair and told me that battle wounds take a long time to heal.
My parents fought in the war...but I think there's more to the story than they're telling me.
Sometimes it's hard to fathom that Teesa and I are sisters.
She's dynamic, a force of nature, athletic, fierce, passionate, goofy, and with the kind of confidence that someone like me can only watch and envy. Mum says that she's my Dad's daughter through and through, and it makes her laugh. They're both super competitive, and neither take losing well, so competitions between them invariably end badly, although it never stops them doing it. They can't help themselves, it's like an addiction, and when they go at it, Mum and I just slip away.
She's also attractive, with a slender, athletic physique, small and fine boned, with catlike green eyes and blonde hair. The boys in school love her, she's a badass, and charismatic, although she does have a tendency to talk before she thinks, and has limited patience, particularly for something she thinks is stupid.
I, on the other hand, prefer to stay in the background.
It's not that I don't like attention, in fact I don't mind it in the least, but next to Teesa, who practically demands all eyes following her, I don't mind taking a backseat. I'm the planner, the thinker, the analyser, and I know my sister values my opinion.
"It's stupid," she declares, and I look up at where she's curled up on the couch, books strewn about her as she scowls at them. Sprawled out on the rug, beside Aran, Darrien rolls over to took up at her, his bronze hair gleaming in the afternoon sunlight spilling through the windows as he puts down his book.
"What's stupid?" he asks, sneaking a smug look over at me, and I roll my eyes at him. It had taken me ten minutes to bully the two of them into actually sitting down and doing some vital homework, but I can see that Darrien has gleefully jumped at the chance to be distracted by whatever is bugging Teesa. The two of them may be two years my senior but most of the time, it feels like I'm the responsible one.
Darrien is Uncle Finnick's son and our next door neighbour. It's complicated, how we're all connected, but I know that even though we call them uncle, Finnick and Peeta aren't my Mum's brothers, at least not in blood. Legally yes, Mum mentioned adoption once, but….Darrien and I aren't related, not like I'm related to Theo, our Aunt Deccia's son.
Somehow, even though she's an only child, my mother ended up with a family that spans the length and width of Panem.
Anyway, even though we're not related conventionally, Darrien and Teesa are as thick as thieves. They're the two most charismatic and attractive students at school, and almost seems to like them, though there are the jealous among them who mutter unkindly about the two of them maybe being involved with each other.
It makes Teesa laugh herself sick, and Darrien just grins that killer smile. They'll never date, I know that. They see each other as a brother and sister do, they're too close to shift into any kind of attraction. But the unkind murmur, and the two of them laugh it off, before plotting their next bit of chaos.
Anyway, I digress…
"All this history crap." Teesa informs us disgustedly, waving a sheaf of notes at us, "We learn about the time before the Dark Days. We learn about the Dark Days themselves. And then we get this...bullshit…"
"Which is?" Aran hops up on his knees and peers over at her notes, "The Hunger Games?"
Aran is quiet, with dark brown, almost black hair, and soft blue eyes. He's handsome, although not as striking as charismatic Darrien or Jasper, he has his own, sensitive kind of good looks. He's a good guy, a real kind soul, and out of all us he's the one I feel I can go to no matter what.
Uncle Peeta is his father, but none of us know who his mother is. I don't think even he knows, and he's been like a part of our family for as long as I can remember. Uncle Peeta is one of my favourite people in the world, and his cooking is miles better than Mum's...and she's the best cook out of her and Dad and Uncle Finnick. Finnick is awful at it, I think he loses patience with it.
"Yeah," Teesa scoffs, "We spend, what, a lesson on this? And on the War? It's glossed over! I know about the Treaty of Treason, I know ABOUT the Hunger Games, I know they existed and that we had a War to free Panem from the Snow Regime, but...that's it!"
"But that happened less than 20 years ago," Darrien frowns, cocking his head to the side, "Is that even history?"
"Yes!" Teesa insists, "It's MODERN History! I'd much rather know about that, especially since our parents actually fought in this war!"
"We could ask Mum….or Dad?" I offer quietly, but Darrien scoffs as Teesa laughs.
"Yeah right," she barked another laugh, "I've asked Mum about it, she gets this...look...and clams up. Just tells me less than these stupid history books do. I mean, don't you want to know? I mean who knows what happened!"
"We do!" I insist, even as I know I'm fighting a losing battle, Teesa has this idea in her head now, "There was a war...and we won it."
"It might be better to let some things lie," Aran ran his fingers through his dark hair, "If they haven't told us...maybe it's better that we don't know any more than we do…"
"It's not enough," Darrien speaks up, and I see his handsome face is uncharacteristically serious, "We know they fought in the war, and we know my Mother died in it. Dad, barely talks about her, I think it's still too painful for him, even after all these years. I just...I wish I knew her you know? Anything, even the vaguest memory or fact, or...idea of her. I know she was kind, and gentle, but...that's it. Even if I knew what she did, where she was fighting when she died, where she died...that's more than I know now."
Teesa looks at me, and her face is determined, "Mum still cries." she says, and I nod, because she does, "Dad too...well he doesn't cry but there are times...he seems so far away. I want to know why. Something happened to them...and I want to know...it's a part of us too you know. And these school books aren't going to tell us…"
"What do you have in mind?" I sigh, resigned to my fate, but I do smile back when Darrien beams at me.
"You'll see," Teesa gets to her feet, determined now and full of that contagious energy, "But first, we're recruiting."
"Did you ever stop to think, that maybe they have a good reason for not telling us?"
Jasper and Pearl are even less enthused with the idea than I am.
The two of them live with their Dads on the other side of the street, and are the same age as Darrien. Their situation is even more complicated than ours, because Gloss, one of their Dads is actually their uncle, he adopted them after the War. Both of their parents died fighting, although I know that their Father, had been a medic with Uncle Peeta.
The twins are beautiful. I mean that seriously, they are two of the most attractive people I have ever met in my life, and that's saying something considering everything. Pearl has his soft blonde hair, and a delicate face and catlike soft brown eyes. She's stunning, and I know most of the boys at school secretly worship her but, she's got some serious brains too, and can calculate mathematical problems faster than anyone I know.
Jasper is an athlete, physically adept and with a kind of grace that makes him able to play, and master any game he sees fit. He's the first to climb a rope or run a field or hit a ball, and I know the selectors have their eye on him to compete in the Tournament.
The Tournament was brought in about ten years ago, to help foster peaceful competition and collaboration, and unofficially to fill the gap left by the Hunger Games with something more positive. It's based off something that was once called the Olympics, and brings together athletes from all the Districts and Capitol to compete in various feats of prowess.
I remember there had been an outcry when the idea was suggested, people had feared a return of the Hunger Games, but the Tournament has now become an incredibly popular fixture with all the Districts proudly competing. Uncle Peeta had been one of those upset by the initial suggestion, it's one of the only times I can remember him shouting at my Mum.
Jasper's natural athletic prowess, made him an ideal Candidate, and I know Dad also has his eye on him. Dad runs a Peacekeeper academy, but the training goes for Tournament competitors too.
Right now, Jasper has his arms folded, and Pearl has her hands on her hips as she glares at Teesa.
"There is no reason that would be good enough for us not to know what happened." Teesa declares, pointed chin tipping up in that stubborn way she has, "It's OUR history too! Don't you want to know about your parents? What they fought for?"
"What does it matter?" Pearl snaps, "They'll still be dead, we'll still be here. Nothing in those musty old books will tell us anything that will change anything."
"They're keeping it from us!" Teesa insists, "Out of love, or protection, or embarrassment or what, I don't know. But they aren't telling us everything. And it might not matter to you, but I want to know what it is that makes Mum cry and Dad not sleep. This is what we come from…"
"So many people fought in the War, everyone's parents have some kind of baggage from it…" Jasper points out quietly, "The War was brutal…"
"It's different." Darrien's voice is determined, "Even you have to admit it's different. Haven't you seen how people in the District look at Dad and Aunt Sky?"
"Uncle Finnick is the Consul of Four. Of course everyone looks at him. And Aunt Sky is his closest advisor, she's his Deputy." Jasper shakes his head.
"That's not it though!"
"They have a point," Pearl sighs, obviously annoyed by this fact.
"Our family is separate from the rest of the District, haven't you noticed?" I say quietly, speaking up for the first time, "We're all tight, but the rest of the District treats all our parents like...they're special."
Everyone nods, even Pearl, who still looks unsure.
"So?" Teesa tosses her blonde hair back over her shoulder, "You in?"
The twins look at each other and then back at us.
"Since you're obviously going to do this, with or without us," Pearl informs us, "We might as well come along, right?"
"Right." Darrien grins, "We'll meet up tomorrow after school...and go to the Library."
"The Library?" Aran frowns slightly, looking troubled, "Your Mum works at the Library sometimes…"
"She won't be there," Teesa, shakes her head, "She's heading out on the train to the Capitol late tonight...some big meeting. Uncle Finnick is going too."
"Then tomorrow it is," Darrien nods, and the rest of us nod back.
"Mum," I say softly, walking into her and Dad's bedroom, where she's packing her travel bag, "What's up?"
"Sweetheart," she straightens up and smiles, moving closer and enveloping me in a warm hug. She's a great hugger, even if Teesa thinks it's lame to hug your Mum at our ages. More for me, is what I think, "I've got a meeting, in the Capitol."
"Why?" I perch on her bed as she heads back to continue packing, "You're not the Consul."
She shoots me a small smile, green eyes warm, before she goes back to folding, "Long ago, I made the mistake of going to one of these small crisis meetings, and somehow down the line it became a permanent thing. For me, and for Finnick..although he got the job so really..."
"During the War?" I ask, unable to help myself.
Mum pauses and looks at me, serious and with that little conflicted frown she gets when she's worrying.
Mum's worried. And not just about my question….she's worried in general. Just how big a crisis is this, if she's got that look….?
"Yes," she says finally, voice quiet, "I went to these kinds of meetings during the War."
Then she seems to come back to herself, with a small shrug, "But this is nothing for you to be worried about love, I promise you that."
I hesitate, thinking of Darrien and Teesa's plans, and the discussions from this afternoon before I continue, "You don't talk about it at all...the War."
Mum stills again, and again those green eyes fix on me. I fight the urge to look down at the ground, and meet her gaze with my own. She swallows and gives a small pained smile as she moves to cradle my jaw in one gentle hand.
"I always knew one day you kids would get curious. I hoped it would never happen."
I don't know how to answer her, and after a moment she smiles again and strokes her thumb against my cheek.
"I promise, one day we'll talk about it,"
"When?" I can't help the word, and I feel my Mum withdraw slightly.
"Soon,"
She returns to packing and I look at the photos on her bedside table, trying to remember the last time my mother lied to my face like that.
To Be Continued...