Chapter 9: They Found Him
Katniss entered the main hall of the mansion in a flowing yellow dress. On the opposite side of the ornate staircase stood Cray in a dark blue suit. Meeting in the middle, she took his arm with a beaming smile.
Dinner was a quiet affair, and Katniss noticed Cray was clearly nervous; his navigation around a plate was more awkward than usual. Finally, not willing to wait anymore - she was too excited! - Katniss took him by the hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. She carefully guided his one hand about her waist, while taking his other hand in hers; her free hand rested on his shoulder. As they began a slow, romantic waltz with Cray's girls serenading them, Katniss soon found herself resting her head on Cray's chest.
Taking a break, the pair exited out of the ballroom and onto one of the mansion's many balconies. It was a clear, crisp, moonlit night. The stars were twinkling above. Katniss and Cray sat on the railing, shyly avoiding talking to each other. Surprisingly, it was Cray who plucked up the courage to speak first.
"Katniss? Are you…. happy here with me?" taking her hands in his.
"Yes," Katniss said softly, a hint of a smile on her face that soon faded. She gazed off into the night. Cray searched her eyes.
"What is it?"
"If only I could see my husband again. Just for a moment. I miss him so much." she sighed.
Cray's brow creased in thought, and he remembered something he had come across a few days earlier. "I think there just might be a way."
Cray led Katniss through the mansion to his private chambers, ignoring how Katniss stared at the surroundings. She had never been in his room before. Unlike the rest of the mansion, it had fallen into slight disrepair. Katniss noticed a portrait hanging on one wall, slashes through it. Pulling back to the sagging canvas with one hand, she just managed to make out that it was of a handsome young man with ginger hair like Delly's. And his eyes…. they were as blue as a summer sky - almost as beautiful as Peeta's.
"Katniss." She turned to see Cray by a small table by the window. He held an envelope in his hands. "My men have been, uh, holding your mail for you since you…. came to live with me. I told them to forward me anything that might be important, and well…. this came just this morning." He held it out to her.
Katniss took the envelope with shaking hands and opened it to procure the letter inside. Scanning its writing, her anguish and fear grew with each passing line. Her eyes filled with tears, a hand to her mouth.
"Peeta! They found him in District 2! Oh no…. he's sick! He may be dying and he's all alone!"
Distraught, she turned back to see Cray staring out the window, his body stiff even with his suit on. By the look in his eyes, he seemed just as pained.
"Then…. you must go to him?"
Katniss gasped. He couldn't mean….. "What did you say?", her voice in a whisper.
"I release you. You are no longer my prisoner." He sounded defeated, his voice heavy.
"You mean I'm…. I'm free?"
"Yes."
"Oh, thank you!" Katniss gripped the letter tightly. "Hold on, Peeta! I'm on my way!"
"Take the dress with you," Cray preemptively encouraged her. "So you'll always have a way to look back…. and remember me." He gently caressed her signature braid.
Katniss gulped, holding back tears. "Thank you for understanding how much he needs me." Seeing his sadness, she dared to kiss his cheek and then hurried to her room to change and depart. Only moments later, Madge walked in, smiling.
"I…. hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she teased her boss.
"I let her go," was Cray's only reply; he didn't even turn around.
"What?" Madge gasped. "How could you do that?"
"Her husband has been found alive, but wounded. I had to!"
"Yes, but…. why?" she pressed, either not understanding or refusing to accept.
"Because…. I love her," Cray admitted.
Madge fled the room to inform Delly and Johanna of the sad news. Not long after, an anguished Cray watched from his balcony as Katniss galloped on a horse off of the mansion grounds and out of his life.
