She saw the glistening towers of the Panemese palace on the 17th of March, after riding for ten days. She arrived in the town square dirty and disheveled, but she was met with cheers from colorfully dressed townspeople. Panemese fashion was very different from her home country's. The people of Panem wore colors of rich cyan, deep crimson, and flaming yellow. Both men and women painted their faces heavily with brightly colored cosmetics. They seemed exuberantly happy.

But among the cheers and whistles, Madge heard whispers. Dodici scum, they called her. Stupid pigs from twelve. Madge fidgeted uncomfortably in her saddle, but she kept her head held high amid the cheers and the thinly-veiled jeers.

The palace was large and imposing, with a barred maw of an entrance to an unwelcoming drawbridge. A tall, thin woman with a beak-like nose and steely blue eyes greeted them. The queen. An imposing man who wore a warm smile and a cold stare joined her. The king. Madge's soon-to-be mother and father-in-law. Unlike their subjects, their faces appeared unpainted, and their clothes were understatedly elegant. The king cleared his throat and broadened his smile.

"Welcome to Panem."

A thunderous silence ensued. Madge curtsied and murmured meaningless members of her caravan bowed silently.

"Princess Margaret! You are lovelier than I remember." Prince Cato emerged from within the castle. Like his mother, he was tall and thin with a pale, almost sickly coloring. His face was all angles, high sculpted cheekbones, square jaw, long pointed nose. He was hideously handsome. The queen frowned at him and turned back to Madge.

"I expect you want to bathe and rest after your trip," she said stonily. "Show Princess Margaret to her chambers and run a bath for her. Claud, show her escorts to their rooms." Madge curtsied again before following a young servant girl deep into the palace. It was larger and grander than the castle back in Dodici. Vibrant tapestries adorned the walls and drapes of almost gaudy hues dressed the windows. Servants darted around busily, but oddly, there was very little sound. Some servants wore red handkerchiefs tucked into their collars.

"What do the red handkerchiefs signify?" Madge asked the servant girl whom she followed.

"Oh, they wear those to mark them as prisoners of war who are now kept as slaves." The girl continued walking a few steps. "They've had their tongues cut out so that they cannot talk," she added as an afterthought.

Madge sucked in a breath at the cruelty. She watched more closely as the mute servants moved around in grim silence.

Finally, they reached her chambers. The maid, who Madge found out was called Odette, built a fire and began to heat buckets of water. She filled a tub and helped Madge undress before leaving to fetch food from the kitchens. Alone at last, Madge sighed as she scrubbed off the film of grime that had built on her skin after ten days of travel. Panem was beautiful, but Madge could not shake the angry disdain for her people that seemed to simmer beneath its gleaming facade.

After taking solace in the warm embrace of the water for a while, Madge stepped out of the now tepid water. Wrapped in a dressing robe that she found draped over a chair, she ventured into her bed chambers. On the bed was one of her gowns from her trunk laid out and freshly pressed. On the bedside table, there was some bread slathered with soft cheese accompanied by a jug of some sort of fruit juice. The door to the bed chamber opened behind her.

"Your highness, I had several of your gowns pressed. If the one I laid out is not to your liking, I can go fetch another. I also brought some refreshments to tide you over until supper." The girl fidgeted uncomfortably and stared at the ground, as if she were afraid of Madge.

"How old are you?" Madge blurted, suddenly. Odette shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her gaze fixed at Madge's feet.

"Eighteen, your highness,"

"Ah." They fell into an uncomfortable silence before Odette picked up the gown, seeing that Madge had not voiced any complaints against it, and began to help Madge dress. Once the gown was firmly laced and Madge's hair was neatly arranged, Odette left the chamber. Madge ate the bread and cheese that Odette had brought her before falling asleep, weary from the journey.