"So, Dad, you said that we are going to Thirteen, but you have yet to tell us exactly where that is."

"It's on the border between the Districts and Panem."

"Dad,"

"Fine. It actually rests where the three kingdoms meet. It's safer to get to it through Panem because it's in a mountain." He slipped and sent pebbles down the side of the cliff they were walking along. They had left the horses when it was obvious that they couldn't make the climb. The cliff was a natural border between Panem and the Capitol. Not that it had been very effective fifteen years ago. "They went underground because of their position to the Capitol where they are seen as rebels. I heard that Snow is looking for them. If he were to find them, they would destroy them and make nothing is left for anyone to come back to. It's happened before." Katniss didn't question further. Every day, she was realizing just how much was actually on her shoulders and how much had been on them since the day she was born. She hated it and wished, for a moment, that she and Gale had run.

"What will be expected of me when we get there? What promises have my parents made on my behalf that I may have to break?" She thought sullenly, allowing Gale to wrap protective arm around her. She didn't mind it at the moment. She was tired and was barely aware of them talking over her head. At one point, she felt Gale tense and wondered what that could have been about. But forgot about it once the tension was gone.

It was getting dark by the time they reached a cave to spend the night in. They had been riding for the past week, making sure to stay out of sight as much as possible. She and Gale would do the hunting while Haymitch made the fire. Tonight was no different except that the tension had come back when they had prepared to leave. The two of them walked, only paying attention enough to leave markers for their way back. After about fifteen minutes, she turned to him.

"What were the two of you talking about earlier?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?'

"When I was leaning against you, I felt you tense up about something. What were you and Dad talking about?"

"I thought you were asleep." He had been about to pick her up at that point so she could sleep.

"Dozing as I walked. Now answer my question."

"He was telling me about your past. The year that you lived as the princess of Panem instead of as a woodswoman in the Capitol."

"That shouldn't have made you tense up the way you did."

"He told me that your parents have promised you to one of the princes of the Districts. He didn't say if it was the oldest or not. But I'm guessing so since he also said that if that marriage had happened and you won the Games, and kept winning them, then the Districts would also be free."

"And that made you tense?"

"He's afraid that you'll be forced to go through with the marriage by the president of Thirteen. He was telling me because he has, informally, inducted me into the Royal Guard and now I am to protect you similar to how he does. I think that is how we are going to present me to them when we get there instead of as your fiancée."

"I don't want to hide that we are engaged." She said. "If we hide that fact, then they will force me to marry this prince and then all they'd have to do is send me into the Games to win their freedom." Gale smiled as she pulled her bow quickly and shot into the darkness. They followed the arrow and found that she had shot a young buck.

"If you went into the Games, you would be a force to be reckoned with." He said and kissed her head before picking up the deer and walking back to the cave.

He looked after the two teenagers long after they had left to find dinner for the night. He had gotten the fire started fairly quickly and was only waiting. He knew that Gale would tell Katniss what he had said. He had said it on purpose so that Gale would tell her. He wanted to give them another chance to run if they wanted to. He hadn't told them that they were practically at Thirteen's doorstep. And he didn't plan to until they got back, "if they come back." He reminded himself. Though, he knew that they would. Katniss had fallen in love with Gale and his family. As it stood, his family was still in danger of the Games. She would fight with everything she had to make sure that they did not have to suffer the fate of her twin sister.

He picked up his head, listening for the tell-tale footsteps of a successful hunter coming his way. They had been gone too long. He had seen a herd half an hour before they stopped. He had judged that they shouldn't have been far from the cave. He knew that Katniss had seen them to. He waited another half hour before walking outside of the cave, following the path they had taken. He found a dead buck in the middle of the path and saw Katniss's signature shot. Something was wrong.

"Don't move." A voice said behind him. He lifted his hands in surrender, knowing that at least a dozen guns were pointed at him.

"Where is my daughter?" He demanded. He wanted to be sure that Katniss was safe before he did anything or went into Thirteen. "What have you done with her?"

"Shut up." The same voice answered. He thought he recognized it. "I ask the questions here. What are you doing here?"

"We picked that cave up there to stay the night. We are traveling to see family." He knew that he would not be able to pull the victor card that had gotten them across the border. He wished he could see their uniforms so he could know what to say. But they were hidden by the trees and the darkness. "Where is my daughter and her fiancée?" He felt the butt of a gun and then only knew darkness.

She opened her eyes and then closed them again to block the blinding light above her. She turned and heard a rattle. She opened her eyes, slowly, and looked at her hands. They were chained and so were her feet. She tried to sit up to get a look at her surroundings and found that she had very little clothing on except for a hospital gown. She bit her lip, contemplating if she should call out for Gale and Haymitch. Then she noticed the guard at the door. He didn't wear the white the Peacekeepers did, but several shades of grey. He was watching her. She glared back. "And Dad said that I would be welcomed." She tried looking around the room again. That made the guard move toward her. He didn't take off the chains, but he raised the bed into a sitting position before returning to the door. She looked at the room. It was small with only room for her bed and a small table. The guard was closer than she had previously thought and the door opened from the outside. "Where is my dad and my friend?" She demanded. He looked at her, startled. She didn't care. "Answer me! Where are they?"

"I don't know. My job is to guard you."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you have to guard me?"

"You trespassed on Thirteen's land."

"My father said that we would be welcomed."

"No one from the Capitol is welcomed." Katniss bit back her reply. She wasn't going to say anything to this man. She would talk only to the president and yell at him for his mistake. She was made aware of a room next to hers by yelling she recognized.

"Idiots! Don't you know me? I am the guard to Princess Katniss who is now the Queen of Panem! Alma Coin, ask her! She knows me! She knows the queen! Damnit! Let me out of these chains!" The guard looked at her and then the door. He couldn't leave to go help.

"That would be my dad." She said dangerously. She wanted to yell to, to let him know that she was there. "He's probably freaking out right now." A female voice interrupted Haymitch's yelling and Katniss waited in silence. A few minutes later, Haymitch and an elderly woman with straight, gray hair, opened the door. Haymitch was dressed in the clothes he had worn when they had stopped and he had hers in his hands. The woman, who she guessed was Alma Coin gestured for the guard to leave and then stepped in, closing the door behind her. "Where's Gale?" Katniss asked, not hiding the worry in her voice. She wasn't sure if he had been knocked unconscious like she had been. He had been carrying the buck. Haymitch turned to Coin.

"He has been detained." She answered. "He attempted to kill our soldiers."

"He was trying to protect me!" Katniss screamed, throwing on her shirt, having been getting dressed while they were talking.

"Princess,"

"He was doing what any future husband-boyfriend-fiancée-brother would do!"

"He was born in the Capitol."

"That's doesn't matter! Take me to him." Katniss demanded, pulling on her boots. Coin looked at Haymitch. He had a hard look in his eyes that told her not to argue with them and to take them to the young man. She nodded and knocked for the door to open. It did and they all exited the room and walked down the hall to an elevator and she punched in a number. Katniss grabbed onto Haymitch's arm as her stomach lifted to her chest before settling as they stopped. They exited the elevator into a dark hallway. Coin walked down the hall, lights flickering on as she did. Katniss and Haymitch followed right behind her. Coin stayed ahead of them until Katniss saw a light on in the distance with a single guard beneath it. She ran forward, knowing that Gale was behind that door. Haymitch didn't grab her. Coin tried to but missed. The guard pointed the gun at her.

"Stand down!" Coin called from where she and Haymitch were. "Open the door and let her in." The guard did as he was told and Katniss rushed into the room. She found Gale chained in a corner. He was bruised and had several small cuts. Katniss knelt next to him to make sure he was breathing. He opened his eyes when she touched his forehead.

"Some welcome." He mumbled. "Where did they have you?"

"They had me and Dad in some sort of hospital room. I was chained to a bed. Dad screamed his head off to get out and then he got me out. We're getting you out now." Katniss turned to Coin. "Unchain him." She demanded.

"Princess, he is from the Capitol. Your enemy."

"He is no enemy of mine. But I will be yours if you do not release him right now!" Coin jumped a little. Haymitch took the key from the guard and walked into the cell.

"President," the guard mumbled.

"Later," Coin answered and watched them. Katniss and Haymitch helped Gale to stand and then looked at Coin. Haymitch stepped forward.

"President Alma Coin, may I present to you, Queen Katniss Everdeen of Panem and her fiancée, Gale Hawthorne."

"Fiancée?" Coin questioned, the shock evident on her face. Katniss glared.

I hope you found that as enjoyable as i did. Thanks for reading and please review