Chapter 1: Not the Only One
Cassiope's POV
It is moments after Claudius Templesmith has uttered words I thought I'd never hear as a mentor: "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winner of the 50th Annual Hunger Games, or Second Quarter Quell: Haymitch Abernathy... of District 12!"
The bar is in an absolute uproar, especially District 1, to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Then, I feel a hand turn my face to the side, lips press into mine. Happily, I moan and scoot into Woof Casino's lap. He's a District 8 mentor and one of my best friends. And he knows something about Quells. We begin to furiously make out in celebration.
"What about... Mmmmm... Savera?" I gasp between kisses, referencing his fellow Victor and wife of about 23 years.
"Let her look," Woof smiles against my lips.
Mags Flanagan-Cohen, of District 4, bursts into tears and throws her arms around both of us. "My two best friends have each produced a Quarter Quell Victor! Oh, wait till Muscida and I tell this to Librae back home!"
After Haymitch is pulled from the arena, we prepare to board the train for home. We. For the first time, I am not coming back alone.
"Hey, Haymitch! Come here!" Woof calls, where he is standing with the District 8 mentors.
Haymitch swaggers over. A man of 41 years is standing with my best friend and he holds out his hand. "Indigo Weaver of District 8 and Victor of the First Quarter Quell. Glad to have a friend, especially from an outlying district."
Haymitch smiles and shakes. Woof insists on getting a picture with both of them, and then Haymitch and I board the train for home.
We are silent most of the way back. But I finally speak up. "They're not happy with you. You used their arena against them. They don't like that, so that's why most Capitolites are turning you into a joke, in case you were wondering."
"But that's not fair!" Haymitch protests. "Maysilee used the arena against them with the poison."
"And she's coming home in a coffin," I answer flatly.
"But..."
"The gods don't like it when mortals think they're better than them," I echo words I first heard when I became Victor.
It is night when we finally pull into the District 12 station. Hands pull Haymitch and I into the crowd in celebration, and an impromptu party instantly begins. I mingle through the crowd of mostly Seam well-wishers, ignoring how the Merchants won't give me the time of day. I spend most of my time searching for my winning tribute, my Victor. The second Victor of District 12.
I finally find him in the shadows of a building, sunk deep into a girl, who is thrashing and wailing against him. Haymitch flushes beet red and pulls out when he sees me.
"Oh, Cassiope... this is my girlfriend, Rosemary Fairchild."
Girlfriend. And a Merchant, no less! Uh oh. I blindly shake the girl's hand. She is very pretty and very polite, thanking me for saving her boyfriend from a field worth two arenas. Finally, I take Haymitch aside and we begin a lonely walk through the District. Victor to Victor.
"You need to learn about a new rule: the Victors' Code. It forbids you from having attachments, for your own good. So you need to stop seeing the Fairchild girl."
Haymitch scowls. "Again: so not fair!"
"Haymitch, I wouldn't be telling you this if it wasn't for your own good! And if it didn't keep you alive! You love Rosemary, don't you?"
"More than anyone," Haymitch growls intensely.
"Then protect her. By not getting any more involved with her."
I should have known the boy wouldn't listen to me. When he barges into my mansion one morning a few days after we've come home, and I see the Fairchild girl with him, I sigh and put down my book. Here we go.
"We want to get married," Haymitch tells me seriously. "You can't stop us. But as a gesture of goodwill, we plan to make you the only guest at the toasting. We need your help first, though."
I say nothing nor do nothing. Just wait for him to finish.
"You need papers to sign from the Justice Building, to make the marriage official," Haymitch continues. He must seem encouraged that I have not immediately shot this half-brained idea down. "We need you to break into the Justice Building and steal them. You're about the only person who can get in and out and no one will suspect."
"And if for some reason, you can't get out," Rosemary pipes up. "We give you permission to forge our signatures on the documents and file them with the Chief Clerk. He's so old, he won't know the difference."
I remain quiet, so now Haymitch begs me. "Please, Cassiope. I have to do this to stay sane. I'm in love. Have you ever been in love? Do you know what that feels like?"
I suddenly think back to a time when I was a giggling little girl. Before the arena. When a Lark Everdeen would smile at me and ask how I was doing...
"Yes," I finally say heavily. "I know what that feels like."
