Eleven Pipers Piping

Katniss stretched luxuriantly in bed, still hovering in dreamland. She, Prim and Peeta were sitting in the forest, snacking happily on his latest batch of cheese buns, when a trampoline unexplainably materialised before them. Peeta got up, shrugged off his coat to reveal a flattering red and gold costume and began to spring on the surprise trampoline. He was unexpectedly good, and quickly won cheers from the Everdeen sisters. That was until an offensive cacophony started up outside her window, snapping Katniss out of her reverie. It sounded like flutes or pipes, performing something hideously saccharine that she doubted counted as real music.

Prim apparently agreed. She sat up with a pillow over her head. 'What's going on?'

Katniss didn't know whether to be amused or highly aggravated. 'I think it's my latest present,' she replied, 'and Peeta developing an awful sense of humour.'

'Spending too much time around you,' teased Prim.

Rolling her eyes, Katniss slid from her bed and padded to the window. There was a horde of pipers assembled at her front door, playing far louder than the size of their instruments should rightly warrant. Sighing, she opened her window and called out with a half-grin. 'Peeta, you sadistic ass, don't make me fetch my bow.'

There was no reply at first, and Katniss's humour waned. She'd have to teach him not to test her before the sun officially came up. 'Peeta,' she called with some extra grit in her voice, 'don't make me come down there. Special hint: you won't like it.'

Katniss's lip curled in satisfaction as a male figure rushed into view, looking suitably threatened as he held his arms aloft in surrender. It wasn't Peeta. He was far too rangy, and he stared up at Katniss with apologetic grey eyes. Under his cap – that at least was a twin of Peeta's – he had dark hair. Who the hell even was that? She cast a net into the disconcerted fuzz of her brain, trying to put a name to that face.

'Thom?'

'On the eleventh day of Christmas, your true love gives to thee,' Thom yelled over the aerophonic din, 'eleven pipers piping.'

'Yeah, I can hear that for myself,' Katniss shouted back. 'Where's Peeta?'

'I…who?'

'Where's Peeta Mellark?'

'That Merchant guy from the bakery? What does he have to do with anything?'

Katniss thundered down the stairs and flew through the door, so quickly that Thom jumped in shock as she barrelled into view. She didn't stop until her face was right near his, her silver stare lethal. 'Where is he?'

'I have no idea.'

'He used to do the job that you're doing now. Why are you here instead of him?'

'I r-really don't know, Katniss. I'm sorry. All I know is today I was walking to the mines when this stranger confronted me and asked me to guide these pipers to your house on the way. He paid me for my trouble, more money than I'd ever seen.'

'Who was he? What did he look like?'

Thom was massively shaken by her urgency. 'I don't know. He was…I remember he was kind of fat. Bigger than anyone has any right to be.'

'Capitol?'

'I think so, probably.'

Katniss would give anything for him to utter a useful sentence that he was a hundred percent certain of.

'Age?'

'Old, sort of, but not that old, I guess. Older.'

'Just go to the mines, Thom,' Katniss sighed.

'Right, yeah, I will. I was told to ask you to sign.'

'That's right.' She took the sheet with her ten past signatures, trying to call up how she felt as she had scrawled each one. Baffled, irritated, distracted, amused. She marked today's with a creeping feeling of dread.

'Thanks.' Thom stuffed it haphazardly in his pocket, whereas Peeta (when he remembered it) had kept it neatly folded. Wrong, everything was wrong. 'Oh yeah, and one more thing. He wanted you to have the cap.'

He deposited it and waited awkwardly as she spun it in her hands. It looked exactly the same as Peeta's, but it could just as easily be a replica. She turned it upside down and what she saw inside made her start. Clinging to the rim were blond hairs as well as black.

'They let you have his hat,' she whispered.

'What?' When Katniss fixed him with a lead-laden stare, he backpedalled. 'Oh, never mind, I'll just let you do your stuff. See you, Katniss,' he said in a rush, running off.

The pipers remained and struck up another sickly sweet tune as if Katniss's day hadn't had an uncertain shadow cast over it. Prim poked her head out of the window.

'Ooh! I like this one!'

'What do you mean it wasn't Peeta?'

'He didn't show up, and someone allegedly paid Thom a hell of a lot to take his place for the day,' Katniss said as she hopped into her boots. 'I think Peeta got fired.'

'Oh no,' Prim frowned, 'but he was doing so well.'

'Yeah, so well that he was constantly, er, making out with his employer's target of affection.'

'Oh, when you put it that way…but how would the employer know?'

'That's what I'm going to find out. I'm heading to the bakery, ok?'

'Ok, see you later.' Prim hugged her briefly.

Katniss returned the hug before pulling away and snatching the cap up from the coat hook she had temporarily thrown it on. 'See you.'

Everything is fine. Nothing is wrong. You're overreacting. Nothing is wrong. She half ran to the bakery.

It was virtually empty so early in the morning, the sky was still an inky blue, but bakers rose early in the day, ovens blazing long before the sun came up. There were a few items on display already, but Katniss paid them no regard. She went straight for the deserted counter and called into the back of the store. 'Hello! Someone, please.'

Her breath caught in her throat as Mrs Mellark was the one to emerge, looking at Katniss with acid in her eyes. 'What do you want?'

Katniss had half a mind to mumble out an excuse and leave, but the thought of her boy with the bread made her straighten her back and say, 'I'm looking for Peeta.'

'And why should I tell you where he is? So he can run off Seamside again? He spends enough time in that dirty place, even when he's needed around the bakery. He thinks whatever you're giving him is better than helping his family, is that it?'

'Mom?' Bran's voice was a welcome sound, but there was one that she would have preferred to hear speaking that word. 'Mom, that's enough.'

'You're telling me what to do now?' The woman turned on her son, and although she was half a foot shorter than him, it was obvious who shied away from who.

'No, Mom, we just don't talk like that to customers.'

'She isn't a customer, she's a thief.'

'I never stole anything from you,' Katniss said.

'You stole our bread, and now you've stolen my son!'

'Mom, come on.' Mrs Mellark was guided away, and Katniss was left feeling cold.

Bran rushed back quickly after that. 'I am so sorry, Katniss. She's…well, you know. You can guess at least. What did you want?'

It took her a while to find her voice again. 'I'm looking for Peeta.'

Bran's face went slack like stretched dough. 'But I thought he was with you. We all did, like the night before.'

Katniss felt her legs turning to jelly beneath her. 'I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon.'

Bran's disquiet reflected her own. 'Yesterday morning.'

Before he could say anything further, she ran for the bakery door, yanked it open.

'Wait, where are you going? Katniss? Katniss?!'

Abernathy and Sons was only a couple of doors down the road, but it was closed: no lights in the windows, door obstinately shut. So Katniss began running again, all the way to the Seam, getting disconcerted, taking wrong turns, but never stopping until she was at the Abernathys' front door.

At least she hadn't woken them up. The family were already at the breakfast table when the eldest son rose to open the door.

'Can I speak to Mr Abernathy, please?' Katniss asked before he could even greet her. 'It's really important.'

'If it's a matter of business, then the firm's opening hours are eight 'til eight on weekdays. You may have to book in advance.'

'Oh, move out of the way, Rod,' Mr Abernathy growled, yanking his son back by the shoulder. 'Go and finish your breakfast before Jett wolfs the lot. That boy, possession is nine tenths of the law in his book. Katniss,' he said once Rod had ambled off, 'what's the emergency?'

'You know how you said your door is always open?'

'I know what I said, I want to know what you've got to say.'

'Peeta's gone, and I don't know what to do.'

'You're sure he's gone?'

'His family don't know where he is either. He hasn't been back for a day. His brother's worried, even I could tell. And I wouldn't be too concerned about it usually, but they replaced him as delivery boy. A Capitolite paid Thom off to do the job for him. At the end, he gave me this hat.' Katniss gestured to the cap she had taken to wearing on her head. 'Peeta wore it before. I think it's a sign, a symbol. This isn't a coincidence.'

'Shit,' Mr Abernathy remarked eloquently, 'it sure doesn't sound like it. Well, what are you waiting for? Come in. Have you eaten?'

She hadn't. She'd only just realised. Mr Abernathy sat her in his vacated seat, staring blankly at her hands as Mrs Abernathy placed a dish of streaky bacon and geese eggs before her, accompanied by a sympathetic squeeze of her shoulder. The two elder Abernathy sons, adults in their own right, continued despite the unexpected addition to their dining table, but Jett leaned forward and shook Katniss's arm.

'What's the matter?' he asked, looking prone to echoing her sadness whenever it came.

Typically, Katniss wasn't the most confident with kids that weren't her sister, but there was something about his ready empathy that reminded her of both Prim and Peeta. 'My friend's gone missing, and you're Daddy's going to help me find him.'

'Is he the nice one with the funny stories who looked at the geese with me?'

Katniss smiled despite herself. 'Yes.'

'I like him!'

'Me too.'

Mr Abernathy ruffled his little boy's hair, even as he sent his wife a significant look over his head.

The woman sprang into action. 'All right, soldier. All finished?'

'Yes, Mommy!' Jett chirruped.

'Good boy. Come and help me clear the plates.'

'Rod, Flint, you two go and open the firm. I don't know how long I'll be here, but I'll get there when I can.'

His adult sons moved to carry out his commands. When the room was empty, the table mostly cleared, Mr Abernathy moved to sit opposite her.

'Eat.'

Katniss grimaced down at her untouched food.

'I may not have any daughters, as much as Silvia wanted some, but I've had experience enough with anxious teenagers. Eat or you'll regret it later, and give me that hat while you're at it.'

Mr Abernathy was right, goose eggs certainly weren't the most fantastic taste in the world, but she forced the meal down, obsessively chewing each mouthful to dust. Across from her, Mr Abernathy examined the hat.

'Whoever took Peeta will be returning for you, and soon,' he said, setting the hat down.

Katniss set her fork down. 'What makes you so sure?'

'This cap wasn't meant as a simple souvenir. Like you said, it's a sign. It's the difference between closing the case, leaving you suspicious that this mysterious madman of yours was responsible yet unable to be certain, and outright taunting you. As long as they're provoking a reaction from you, trying to mess you around, they're still invested in you. Also, the expense of travelling from the Capitol to little, inconsequential District Twelve just to change a delivery boy wouldn't be justified if they were finished with you. And if they wanted to make the trip really worth it, that Capitolite might even be lurking around, prepared to take you along on the return journey.

'Did this Thom boy tell you what the open-handed Capitolite looked like?'

'All I got from him was fat and fairly old.'

Mr Abernathy grunted. 'There's an abundance of old fat Capitolites around here at the moment, a freaking cornucopia. Look like we'll have to wait for him to approach.'

'Supposing you're right–'

'Of course I'm right.'

'-and they do come for me…'

'Then I'll tell you everything you need to say to them.'

Over the next few hours, Katniss learnt what rights she had, which legislations she could cite. During that time, Mr and Mrs Abernathy had become Haymitch and Silvia and Jett had found a comfortable perch to colour from in her lap. Haymitch had tried to dismiss the boy at first, but to her own surprise, Katniss insisted that the kid could stay.

Just as she was feeling calmer, even in control, about her situation, Flint slammed through the front door.

'Father, a Capitolite came to the office.'

Haymitch stood. 'Old and fat?'

Flint winced at the phrasing. 'No, young and bald, and female.'

'I'll be right there.'

'She said she didn't want you, just her.' He indicated Katniss.

Katniss nodded warily. That's what she thought.

There was a Capitol hovercraft in District Twelve. The town square was once again the venue, and the uninformed residents of Twelve were forced to wonder what they had done to attract all of these abnormal events. Since the hovercraft had been there for a few hours, the crowd had somewhat dispersed. Katniss was grateful about that. The less witnesses she had for this precarious event, the better.

'You can do this,' Haymitch whispered as he walked alongside her. 'Keep confident, speak the facts with authority.'

Two Capitolites stood outside the hovercraft, a rotund man that she guessed Thom had been referring to and a very familiar woman with green vines tattooed to her bare scalp.

'Cressida?' Katniss rushed forward.

'Hey, Katniss,' Cressida replied with a jaunty smirk. She had a monstrous black device propped on her shoulder, angled at her. Katniss was pretty sure that it was a weapon.

'Ah, Miss Everdeen, just the girl we were looking for,' the man said.

'Where's Peeta?'

'Very forward,' the Capitol man muttered to Cressida.

'Like I told you, it's genuine.'

'If you want answers, I'd suggest that you step into the hovercraft.'

'Have you killed him?'

'What? We may be from the Capitol, Miss Everdeen, but I can assure you that we are not complete animals,' the man protested, showing her placating palms.

'That remains to be seen,' Katniss ground out.

'She has a real bite to her,' the man said to Cressida. 'No wonder both boys admire her so.'

Katniss looked back to Haymitch, wordlessly appealing to him for guidance. Should I go?

Haymitch scrutinised the pair of Capitolites with a gaze that Katniss suspected could penetrate the very essence of who a person was. Finally, he nodded.

'All right, I'll go with you,' Katniss said, 'but I'd advise you to be careful. As Peeta and I are both minors, you'd have far less wriggle room if this ever progressed to a court of law.'

'Very well, you have our word that you and Peeta are completely safe at the moment, and will continue to be so throughout our contact.'

It wasn't much, but Katniss supposed it was better than nothing. Haymitch beckoned his son forward and extracted something from his pocket, placing it in Katniss's palm. It was an in-ear reduction of the headset the Abernathys' receptionist had been wearing. He briefly talked her through the controls and said: 'I will call you every hour. Make sure you answer. And if there are any problems, if you feel threatened or unsafe, call immediately.'

Then he spoke to the two Capitolites. 'If any harm comes to this girl, I'll know about it. And once I know about it, I'll be struggling to choose between the scores of witnesses here in this square that could testify that it was you.'

'Please be assured Mr Abernathy that no harm will come to Miss Everdeen,' the male Capitolite said. 'Upon my word as an "old, fat man".'

If Haymitch was thrown, he didn't show it. 'I don't like this, but it seems that it has to be done. Get your boy back.'

'Right.'

'After you, Miss Everdeen.'

There were two men in full body suits standing between her and the crowd, their hard shells a mottled white and beige. They sort of reminded her of insects and seemed to blend into the palette of District Twelve. Katniss wondered how long they had been there for. They approached her now, following her and Cressida and the unnamed Capitolite into the hovercraft.

'These are Castor and Pollux,' Cressida explained when Katniss kept sending the insect men bemused looks. 'They're cameramen.'

Katniss optically searched their persons for the camera, before remembering that she didn't even know what cameras looked like.

'We wear our cameras in these suits,' one of them explained, once he noted her perplexity.

'Here, this is what a standard camera looks like,' Cressida indicated the odd assembly of plastic and metal that had balanced on her shoulder.

'But why do we need cameras in the first place?' Katniss couldn't think of any reason that would settle her nerves.

Of course, she didn't get her answer. 'Miss Everdeen, my name is Plutarch Heavensbee,' the man said, sitting across from her, 'pleased to make your acquaintance.'

Katniss regarded his proffered hand for quite a while before taking it.

'How did you know my full name and where to find me?'

'The hat you have in your hands, Katniss.' Cressida leaned forward and tapped the badge. 'It has a camera inside the badge.'

No. 'But you just said that was camera,' Katniss pointed to the piece of technology resting at Cressida's feet. 'How could something like that fit behind there?'

'Cameras come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.'

What had they seen? She tried to recollect all of the memories she had formed with Peeta, focusing on one aspect only in each one, whether his head was bare or not. It had been on in her house, several times, and that made her shiver. And it had been with Peeta in her precious forest. That made her feel truly violated. The woods had been for his eyes only, not the peripheral audience that had sneaked in unseen and intangible.

'Did Peeta know?'

'Of course not. He wouldn't have showered so much affection on you yesterday. Yes, the boy adores you, that much is clear, but he's certainly more prudent than that.'

'Who's been watching?'

'When we reach our destination, we will tell you.'

'No, not at all. This is my private life we're talking about. I want to know who thinks they can stake their claim on it.'

Heavensbee did nothing but smile calmly. 'Strap up, we'll be lifting off soon.'

Today was the longest day of her life. It wasn't just the sensation of waiting, it was a physical fact. The Capitol was on the other side of Panem from District Twelve, and they had to fly against the turn of the world to reach it. They spent the whole journey in sunlight, no matter how the hours dragged, so Katniss had an extended view of the lands below. At first, it was oddly thrilling to see trees, houses, things she had seen her whole life from one grounded perspective, transformed into little toy-like models, hemmed picturesquely in white. After a while, it became unremarkable, homogenous, and so Katniss turned away.

True to his word, Haymitch called her every hour, and they discussed Katniss's situation and all the laws it most likely broke in raised tones. Heavensbee, the deceptively docile bastard, simply smiled in that way that filled her with the perverse desire to punch him in the face.

'Do not resort to violence,' Haymitch told her. 'I repeat, do not resort to violence.'

'I wish I'd bought my bow and arrows,' she replied blackly.

They touched down in a beautiful, snow-masked expanse of landscaped gardens. Katniss was the first to leap from the hovercraft, but the insect cameramen were quick to follow her. She ignored them, taking in the scenery. It seemed to go on for acres unbroken, each way she turned yielding a delight to the eye. But Peeta was nowhere still.

'Where are we? Is Peeta here?'

Heavensbee and Cressida smiled at each other. 'Your persistence is very admirable,' Heavensbee said.

'Well, he is the only reason I'm here in the first place. I'm certainly not here to hang out with you.'

Heavensbee refused to be insulted. 'Come along then, Miss Everdeen. You have an appointment with your gift sender to keep.'

This caught Katniss's attention. 'He's here?'

'This is his house, or rather his esteemed father's.'

Of course it was. Capitol richlings!

They traversed the vast stretch of gardens to the point where their beauty devolved into visual torture. 'Why was the hovercraft parked so far away from the house?' she asked.

'That's where the hovercraft pad is.'

Katniss had no idea what that was. She didn't care enough to ask. The sprawling mansion crawled towards them, looking magical not just because of the gorgeous architecture or the snowy setting, but because of the warmth it promised. The back entrance would have served very well as front entrance for anyone with ten times the aesthetic snobbery Katniss possessed. A sweeping marble staircase led up to its pair of polished black doors, and its colossal veranda was supported by masterfully chiselled pillars.

The doors opened grandly, and a young man, thankfully around Katniss's age though she was briefly deceived by his hair, stepped out in a quilted dressing gown that put Katniss's ratty winter coat to shame.

'Hello, Katniss Everdeen,' the boy said, padding down the steps with his arms wide open, 'we finally meet again.'

'What time is it?' Katniss muttered to Plutarch.

'Here in the Capitol, it is currently a few minutes past one.'

'Why are you wearing a dressing gown in the middle of the day?' Katniss asked her Capitol suitor.

The young man stopped, dumbstruck, before resuming his cool manner and descending to the bottom. He held his hand out, and Katniss had no real choice but to take it with three cameras jostling in her face.

'Aren't you cold, though?' Katniss asked.

'Slightly, which is why you must join me inside.'

Katniss did want to get out of the cold, so she let the boy lead her up the steps, covertly scanning his features. He struck her as someone other girls would find handsome with his porcelain skin and dark, intense eyes. His hair was ridiculous though, jet black with silver streaks through it, as if it was aging without him.

'When you said "we meet again", what did you mean?' Katniss asked, dispassionately taking in the plush room they had entered.

Her admirer paused again, this time horror-struck. 'You don't recognise me? I'm Domitius Roe. My father is one of the most powerful senators in the Capitol. And we met before.'

Katniss analysed his face once more, and something sprang to mind. 'Yes! I remember you,' she crowed victoriously. 'You're a judge on that awful talent show my sister made me watch! Capitol…Sun? Capitol…'

'What? No. Well, yes. But we don't talk about that show anymore. Don't you remember meeting me? You told our story to that delivery boy, so you must do. My hair was red that day, and–'

'You? You! You're that idiot who broke his ankle after he got stuck in a tree.'

'Yes, and you got me down and helped me to the nearest doctor. Of course, she was useless and I had it fixed as soon as I got back to the Capitol, but it was all you could manage in that limiting district of yours. For that, I am truly grateful.'

'Let me get this straight. You've been sending presents to me and heralding yourself as my true love because I pulled you out of a tree?'

'I felt a connection to you. You must have too. You wouldn't let go of my hand during that doctor's questionable treatment.'

'That's because you were thrashing about and crying for your mom,' Katniss said flatly.

One of the insect cameramen had a coughing fit with the suspicious pattern of laughter.

'Domitius,' Katniss sighed heavily, 'have you been watching the…the, er…'

'Livestream,' Cressida proposed helpfully.

'Thanks. Have you been watching the livestream from the hat?'

'Of course.'

'So you know why I'm here? Because I've chosen Peeta, and I want him back?'

For a brief moment, Domitius Roe looked dangerous, more dangerous than anyone Katniss had ever met. He had a madness in his eyes, the kind only sated by compliance to his wishes. But that look was gone as quickly as it came. 'I'll make you forget about him,' he said with a charming smile. 'I'll make you want me instead. I'll show you all the things I can give you that he never could.'

And show her he did. That afternoon was a pageant of possessions and experiences, each more extravagant than the last. She dressed up in countless fine gowns, inherited the forest in his family's cavernous grounds, received a bow crafted from gold and arrows shaped from silver, and feasted on the most delicious lamb stew she had ever tasted. And everywhere they went, the cameras followed.

A plate of cheese buns were wheeled in to follow up the sublime dinner. They were excellent, gourmet, prepared by one of the finest bakers in Panem, but they weren't as good as Peeta's.

'Please, Domitius. I've had a nice time and everything, but I'm here for Peeta. Where's Peeta?'

'Peeta, Peeta, Peeta!' Domitius flipped the tray of cheese buns. 'How can you still be so hung up on him? What has he ever done for you? Whatever it is, I'll do it better. If he's given you something, I'll give you more of it. Forget him. Forget him.'

Katniss did what any sane huntress did in the face of a bigger, fiercer predator. She held herself very still, until she no longer appeared to be a threat, and waited for Domitius's anger to subside.

'We'll cut that scene,' Heavensbee murmured to Cressida, who nodded her agreement.

'Enough of your whispering, old man,' Domitius said to him. 'You're lucky you still have a job after your last screw-up.' All of a sudden, his smile regained its urbane brightness as he looked at Katniss. 'Dessert?'

Katniss watched his foot as he crushed a cheese bun beneath the sole of his smart black shoe.

'Yes, please,' she muttered softly, cautiously.

Katniss's designated bedroom was larger than her whole house and furnished luxuriantly with more commodities than she would need in a year, let alone one night. Still, she smiled graciously at Domitius and thanked him for his hospitability, kicking herself internally for every insincere word of it.

'Goodnight, gorgeous,' Domitius replied with a crooked, debonair smile. 'If you have any problems, my suite is only just down the hall.'

Katniss shuddered as soon as he left, but she soon stopped that. What if there were cameras in this room too? The miniature paradise quickly became a hostile environment after that. She glanced about the room ineffectually, knowing that if they wanted to hide those cameras so she would never find them, they could. On the bed was a diaphanous, bordering on indecent, nightdress. Katniss took one look at it and decided to boycott.

Before she retired to bed, she made sure that the door was firmly locked from the inside.


AN: So, what does everyone think of the "true love"? This story concludes tomorrow. Until then, thank you for reading!

Trude: Thank you, yes, Prim is a sweetheart! Safayi: I'm glad you think so! I really like that theory, and I could definitely imagine this story's Bran doing something like that for Peeta. Hopefully my reasons for dressing up Peeta etc will be on par with yours. Anonymous: Yep, I looked up loads of terms like paronomasia for my English exam. Never actually used any of them...until now. And it turns out that you were right on both counts.