Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Hunger Games universe (including the characters/places.) This is purely fanfiction for entertainment purposes, so don't sue me.
I stumble backwards slightly as the words leave his mouth. Luckily, Gale steadies me. From the slight touch I can feel the tenseness radiating through his arms, the anger apparent.
Under Arrest. Arrested. Jail. The work lines. Everything floods my mind as I think of what the next few years of my life will be like. I can't run, I know what they would do to my family. My lips quiver in fear as I hold back the tears. I don't want Prim to see me cry. No reason to trouble her more than she already is.
My mother brings her left hand to her mouth, grabbing Prim's waist with her right and drawing her close.
"Perhaps, Ms. Everdeen, Mr. Hawthorne, it would be best if you go willingly. Your mother and the girl should probably leave for this," the man says standing up from his chair and nodding in my mother's direction, allowing her to nudge Prim into her bedroom.
"What about goodbyes?" I ask, and it's a stupid question. I know the answer. It's not like me to be this weak, but I can't help it.
"Goodbyes, Ms. Everdeen, are for honorable people," he says, allowing the other soldier to come around the back and tightly shackle our wrists.
The cuffs are real metal. Shiny and new, too. They are obviously pretty expensive, the type they use on real criminals. Not the stuff they waste on illegal hunters.
Gale spits at the floor, his face filled with disgust as he shoots the man a dirty look.
"Make sure to write that one up for disrespect, Marvel," says the light haired one.
"What about the pretty one? I feel like I was getting some menacing glances back there. Maybe she's just into me. You know I like them feisty," Marvel says with a chuckle, shoving the door open and pushing me onto the steps.
"Unfortunately I have orders to make sure nothing happens to her," the light haired and obviously higher ranking soldier says as he takes Gale's wrists, kicking the back of his knees to force him to move.
"Where'd the orders come from, Cato?" Marvel questions the light haired man, Cato, as he has now been called.
"Someone higher up in the Palace with the arrest order that made us trudge all the way over here. Also orders to take the back roads and not make a show of it," Cato says as we walk along the dirt road that Gale and I had taken on our way here.
I wonder who could have called that in and why? I make eye contact with Gale, a look that obviously asks this question. He shrugs in response. We've both grown to communicate with glances and smiles over the years.
The men bring us to through the back roads, trying unsuccessfully not to draw too much attention. The bright shiny uniforms stand out like a sore thumb amongst the weary cold colors of the Seam. Gale and I are loaded up in the back of a transport cart and moved through the village.
From my surroundings and the direction of the cart, it's obvious we aren't being sent to the usual spot for prisoners charged with theft. No, we're heading in the direction of the palace. The palace guards, the cuffs, the the fancy cart, and most of all, being brought to the palace. The whole thing is off. There is no reason to spend that much money on a couple of hunters.
"Maybe they want to make an example of us," Gale says, voicing my internal thoughts.
I shift uncomfortably in the seat, sliding my fingers through the cuffs.
"Don't say that. There is no point. We will see when we get there. We can't waste our time on that. Gale, if I-"
He cuts me off, "I know. I'll miss you awfully, too. But we have to stay strong, Catnip. We have to take care of our families. Just like we promised."
"I'll get the lighter sentence. I'm a woman. The family can probably get by for six or seven months. I'll take care of them when I get out. Alright?"
"Alright. Katniss, if anything happens to us, if anything happens to me, you have to swear on your life you'll protect them. I'll do the same. Just like we have always said. I will keep my head low and I will not cause trouble, but you have to promise the same. Do as you are told when you are out there. It's the only way we can ever survive them. Submission."
It's odd, hearing Gale, my Gale, recommend submission. With all his traitorous talk and rebellious speech, it's something I never expected to hear, but he has a point. We have to keep our heads down and our mouths shut if we want to make it out of the system and the work camps alive. Disrespect to an official was an extra month for a first offence. An extra month could mean starvation for Prim and mother. For Prim's sake, it's true, I better shut up and do as I am told.
As the cart makes it's way out of the village and enters the Capitol, we take fewer back roads and enter bustling city streets. I rarely get this far into the city, and I might as well enjoy the civilization while I can, so I take in the sights and sounds, making sure not to make eye contact with any of the citizens. We pass through a merchant housing area, passing four story stone buildings in the traditional style shoved next to each other with only the occasional potted plant adding life to the streets.
Gale speaks up to me, "It's odd, isn't it. All of this money, all of this wealth, and they can't get a decent tree?"
"I guess that is what the forest is for, Gale," I reply, my tone making it obvious that I'm not in the mood for one of his little rants, even if the guards can't hear us.
"They can't use the forests, at least, not these people," he says as the cart makes a bump, pulling onto a rough back road. I can see the palace from a distance. The white stone and the gold accents gleam in the fading sun. It's not long before the sun parts from us, it's a longer journey than I had expected. It must have taken longer because they took the paths and back roads.
"They can't? I mean, I know it is for nobles, I'm not dull, but surely they can bribe their way to get a pass?"
Gale's better acquainted with the forest's laws than I am, "Some of the wealthier ones do during the off seasons, but during hunts they would never be allowed. They are dirt poor compared to the nobles. Such a ho-"
"Hush," I scold, cutting him off, "They could hear you." The guards were too close to say something that treasonous.
It's true. Insulting the country's system would give us something far worse than six months in a work camp.
The sentence for treason was a public hanging.
We pull up to a back gate on the palace grounds, the strong metal bars obviously showing that this entrance was meant for prisoners. Not hunters though, that was the odd part of this, usually the hunters, especially ones that resided in a village, were brought to a local place and sent to the work camps pretty quickly. If we were here, our sentence could take days, maybe even weeks before we got an official to send us out to the camps.
"Maybe you'll get kitchen duty or be bought out as a maid," Gale whispers to me as we are unloaded and the gates are opened.
"No talking amongst prisoners," an officer, probably a gate guard, barks at us, "Hey, Marvel, you heard that. Make sure to put it on the papers when ya dock them." The man pulls from his standing position at the front and goes out to help some of the other men pry open the gates.
Marvel and Cato shoves us inside. Past the gates is a little stone courtyard, certainly not meant for the average prisoner. Maybe this leads towards the palace's prisons.
"Eh, Marvel, what are they in for?" the same man speaks up.
"Illegally hunting on the King's grounds," Marvel says, rolling his eyes and bringing his hands to a shrug as he pushes us forward.
"Hunting? They made us set up the towers for common hunters?" the man says with a groan.
The towers? We're going to the towers? They haven't been used for years and it's another thing leading to this very unusual arrest. The towers aren't actually towers, just a few floors higher than main floors, rooms used for political prisoners and as a place for nobles with a price on their head to hide out. There was no logical reasons for us to be there.
"I guess so. Cato got orders from higher ups, and we're not allowed to play the pretty one either, so don't get any thoughts, and come help me with this door." Marvel says as he pulls us across the court and towards the wall, putting a key into a metal barred door. Cato is ten paces behind us, pulling around Gale.
"Now, go inside," Marvel says roughly taking my hands and shoving me forward as the door creaks open.
Inside are stairs, a lot of them and they are pretty solidly built out of stone and wood. A lot nicer than any of the other prisons I've seen.
Marvel shuts the door closed, and in that moment we're alone. Cato was behind us, with Gale too. We've finally been separated.
I probably will not see Gale for months. It's the harsh reality, although, maybe, hopefully, I could be assigned to the same place he is on the work lines.
Marvel nudges me towards the stairs, the annoyed grating of his teeth echoes through the passageway as we trudge through what seems to be six flights of stairs. At the sixth flight, we finally stop at an ornate wooden door.
"Go inside," Marvel barks, pulling the door open and briefly saying, "You will be seen in the morning sharply at six," before shoving the door closed behind me. I can make out the shutting of some sort of latch as I look around.
The room cannot be for me, it's far too beautiful. Meant for a noble or a lady, probably. The walls are a white stone lined with cheaply made tapestries, a large bronze colored unlit chandelier attached to the wooden roof. In the center of the room there is a dark wooden bed with flowers carved into the headboard, two matching nightstands on the side, small oil lamps casting a glow on the room. There are no other exits besides the door I entered, but there is a small closet door fitted with some knit blankets.
It's a nice cozy room, certainly not fit for the likes of me.
Well, I might as well enjoy a decent night of sleep. It might be the last night I spend in a real bed for a long time.
I spend the night awkwardly resting in the large bed. It's unfamiliar and I've never spent a night outside of my own bed, so even with the soft down mattress and the cozy cotton sheets, I can't seem to fall asleep. The room is a lot bigger than my bedroom at home, and without Prim splayed across the bed I'm unsure of where to lie down. The position is uncomfortable, legs straight and stiff against the mattress, my head flat against the feathered pillow as I look up at the ceiling.
I wonder how much just this single pillow cost? Certainly more than my entire straw bed back home. I pulled a piece that was peeking from the pillow case and studied it. It was a down feather, light and airy in my hands, probably from a goose. They were expensive, reserved for the nobles and surely not used to house prisoners. My mother had a small decorative pillow made out of the stuff at home.
I twiddle the piece of down in my fingers, my thoughts shifting to what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully my current treatment meant that I would get a position as a servant, although I wasn't naive enough to think that these were the conditions of servants. Everything about my treatment was perplexing, but the soldiers had said the orders came from a higher position. Maybe, just maybe. No! I shut down the thought immediately. It was foolish to think that was case, and anyways, it was better to not wonder about things I couldn't explain.
I had to sleep, tomorrow would be a long day and these thoughts were just keeping me from sleep.
I had to be strong and prepared, for Prim and mother. Whatever tomorrow may bring, I had to keep myself in check.
Author's Note: Thank you for sticking with me and reading this chapter:) I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I have been really busy in both my personal life and my fanfiction life.
So, what do you think is going to happen? For those of you who have been hoping, we will see Peeta in chapter three.
As always, you can follow me at starveinsafety on tumblr.