Disclaimer is attached to the first chapter.
Note: Thanks for the follow, Hannahleep123! And, as always, thanks for the review, TheOnlyPotato!
Note 2: Slight warnings for this one. Kind of a heavy PG-13 thing, I guess. Snow's mind is a dark and seriously screwed up place.
Capitol Nights, chapter 28
Late afternoon sunlight slants through the windows of the solarium and floods the room with soft golden radiance. A grandfather clock, hand-painted with gold metallic vines running up the sides, ticks solemnly. A fire burns in the hearth even as the air conditioning blows a pleasantly cool current through the room. When he has a problem to think through, Snow often finds it helpful to watch the flames. A large tank of tropical fish is set into one of the walls, for the benefit of guests. Supposedly watching the fish flit about their glass cage is calming for many among the upper classes. For Snow it will always be the flames.
Currently the problem foremost in his mind is what to do about Haymitch. That's not his biggest problem, of course. Would that the disposal of a single troublesome Victor were his biggest problem, or even in the top five. As the ruler of Panem he knows he'll never be able to clear his desk, metaphorically speaking. And in addition to the usual myriad issues requiring his attention, there are the recent problems in a few of the districts. There's been a riot in 8, work slow-downs in 8 and 3, and five incidents of suspected equipment sabotage in 7. So far it's nothing that the Peacekeepers can't handle locally. But it bears watching, especially since such a cluster of events has never before occurred all in the space of a few weeks like this.
On top of that, there've been three disappearances in the Capitol over the last six months, most recently the young woman slated to take over as District 7's Escort. Where could they have gone? If they've been killed, who could have done it? And why? The Capitol Guard has yet to turn up a single lead on any of them. It's a mystery, and mysteries are anathema to the efficient governing of a nation.
Those are the things he should be focusing on, but the problem of Haymitch worries at his consciousness as persistently and maddeningly as a grain of sand in his eye. He'll have to attend to it before he can handle the weightier issues. How useful it would be to have capable subordinates he could delegate this to. But most of those under him are fools, are the rest are overly ambitious. No significant decision can be trusted to any of them.
It's tempting to let the Peacekeepers inflict the same punishment they would on any ordinary citizen who had committed the same crime. Perhaps two broken wrists and a broken ankle would finally be enough to bring Haymitch under control. At the least, it should render him harmless for the next year or so.
But then he would also be useless for the purposes of the List.
Katniss and Peeta would no doubt make up the lost income, and then some. Katniss would have to be held back until she'd given birth, but after that there should be no problem. There are very effective drugs to stop lactation and speed weight loss. She could be ready five months from now. And Peeta could begin whenever it pleases Snow to offer him.
Snow savors the idea for several minutes: Haymitch disabled to the point where he couldn't even feed himself, completely broken and humiliated, under the attentive 'care' of a few hand-picked minders; Katniss and Peeta on the List, servicing whoever Snow sent them to, doing their part to fill the royal coffers and perpetuate the Capitolite belief that Districters are as promiscuous as rabbits and enjoy sex with their natural superiors.
It paints a compelling picture, but one he sets aside with a confused and frustrated shake of his head. Somehow it doesn't completely satisfy. Without knowing why, he can feel that it's not the best possible solution.
Perhaps even that would not stifle Haymitch completely. Snow thinks the man may be within a couple of months of going insane. A dog can be pushed only so far before one of two things happens: it breaks so completely that it becomes a useless cringing thing that crouches belly-to-the-floor and won't move without being dragged by a leash; or it turns and mindlessly attacks whoever is closest to it, and keeps on attacking until someone puts a bullet through its head.
There's no good reason for Haymitch to be nearing such a state. Nothing's been done to him that hasn't been done to dozens of others without any significant problems arising.
There'd been just one incident, twenty years ago. A female Victor in her mid-thirties had successfully drowned herself after killing her two children by crushing sleeping tablets into their food. Snow believes she was from District 4, but he could have just gotten that idea from the method she chose. The List has taken forty Victors to date- all save four of those crowned since Snow came to power. To have only lost one in all that time testifies to the practicality of the system. It works. For almost all of them, it works very well.
Perhaps Haymitch has some congenital abnormality in his brain that makes him less able to tolerate routine stressors. Perhaps he's just weak-minded.
If pain and disability and the attentions of his minders failed to bring him fully in line, or if he went insane, he could always be put down later. And insanity would have the added benefit of letting his dear 'children' see what he'd been reduced to before he was put down.
Snow turns the idea over dutifully, trying to bring himself to like it. For maximum psychological impact on Haymitch and on the other two it could hardly be improved upon. But…
He wants Haymitch dead. There it is, stated simply. He doesn't want him squirreled away in 12 for the next decade or so, even if he never again does anything but drink himself into senility. He doesn't even want to kill him a few months from now, when he's too far gone to recognize his approaching death. And it's not even about the silly prep team, replaceable nobodies that they are. For no reason he can put into words, in the last few days he's begun to want Haymitch permanently and decisively out of the way. It feels like the right thing to do.
A soft musical chime sounds, and Snow taps the button on the remote to give the slave permission to enter the solarium. A uniformed Avox slips through the door and shuts it gently behind herself before presenting a tray with a sheet of thick gray-blue stationary folded on it. The letter bears a wax seal the color of ebony that Snow recognizes even before the light reflects off it and reveals the initials PH. He dismisses the Avox with a wave of his hand and breaks the seal.
Written to President Coriolanus Snow, with deepest reverence:
I have heard of what happened in 12. The prep team has not been as discreet as you perhaps hoped. Allow me to present a suggestion on what you might wish to do about Haymitch Abernathy. Long-term disability of such a popular Victor would be detrimental to the interests of Panem, as I'm sure you've considered. I know of a certain individual, Bacchus by name (no surname), who enjoys rougher sport than is usually permitted with the Victors. Permanent effects could be achieved without impairing the ability to perform. Matters could even be so arranged that Katniss and Peeta were privy to the details. Bacchus is well able to pay the usual price and might easily be persuaded to offer a bit more, as his previous requests for Victors have always been denied.
With profound respect, your friend, Plutarch Heavensbee
Snow idly drops the letter into the fire, as he does with all personal correspondence. It's sensible advice. Plutarch always gives sensible advice.
Perhaps he is over-reacting. Haymitch has been behaving himself very well ever since Thread whipped him. And Katniss and Peeta are a unique opportunity: a Victor couple brought together by the Games, and soon-to-be proven breeders. It might be more profitable to preserve them in that role. One baby is just the beginning of what could be gained from such a union. There are families in the districts with as many as nine.
There's been an undercurrent of giddy excitement in the city ever since the pregnancy was announced, and parties on the scheduled delivery date are expected to resemble the annual pre-Games parties in number and lavishness.
Yes, further children would certainly be desirable. One day at least one of them will go into the Arena. In another a talent for singing might be 'discovered'. A child of such origin would make a popular entertainment at Capitol functions. Even those who were allowed to grow up in 12, marry, go into the mines, and lead ordinary lives would serve the Capitol in their turn. Grandchildren of Katniss and Peeta would still make noteworthy Tributes. It's too rare an opportunity to discard on a whim.
None of those three Victors will ever be threats, anyway. Haymitch's cooperation is guaranteed by Katniss and Peeta, and theirs will be guaranteed by their offspring.
Ignoring the lingering vestiges of doubt, Snow slides open a drawer and takes out a sheet of his own ivory-colored stationary.
Plutarch-
Inform Bacchus that he may call on me in my office this Thursday between the hours of 1500 and 1600.
He seals the missive with scarlet wax stamped with his own initials, as the official seal is used only for matters of state. Summoning an Avox, he gives directions on where it should be delivered.
For the next hour Snow walks the paths of his rose gardens and contemplates the desirable meaning of the phrase 'permanent effects.'
