Disclaimer: I own very little.
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Grace of Snow
"Seneca, what are they doing?" I asked, or demanded rather as he kept his hand wrapped around me.
"I haven't the slightest. Let's see what the meaning of this is," He said softly, as we quickly stood and rushed to the front of this pack where a brutal beating of my father was taking place. I remember tightening my grip on Seneca's hand to prevent myself from simply rushing in and placing myself in front of my father's already battered body. My mother was screaming and trying desperately to understand the meaning of this just like Seneca and myself. Ostro was holding her back, making sure she did nothing she would regret.
As Seneca and I reached the circle forming around my battered father, he called out.
"Who calls for these actions? From who does your authorization come from?" His voice cried angrily over the ruckus.
A tall, uniformed man took a step toward Seneca, forcing himself from the beating. He looked down on Seneca and myself with little emotion before pulling out a small tablet, pressing several buttons, before bringing up a document.
"President Snow sent us these orders just hours ago," He said gruffly. "I suggest that you mind problems in your own part of Panem, Mr. Crane, and leave this to us. Mr. Stone has committed treason against the Capitol; he has failed to complete his duty as a Peacemaker, therefore he deserves every bit of what he receives."
I watched as a razor sharp blade came slicing down his forearm time and time again. Flinching, I turned to the eyes of the Peacekeeper," This is unnecessary! He has committed no such crime!"
The man clenched his jaw," Do you question the judgement of President Snow, Savera Stone?"
I swallowed hard, watching my father cry out and bleed profusely, before hesitantly answering," Absolutely not, however, I do question-"
Seneca placed a hand on my arm and looked at me, as if to tell me that I was doing my father no justice. I wished to argue with him over this, but I bit my lip and said absolutely nothing. I simply quieted myself before looking to Seneca to see what his answer would be.
"Do you have the details of said crime?" Seneca demanded, looking at the Peacekeeper.
The large man took several steps toward Seneca, towering over him," Mr. Gamemaker, though you may have power in the Capitol, my orders here will trump your 'demands' here any day. I trust that unless you wish for severe problems; you take your girl and go back to the Capitol."
Seneca swallowed hard before starting to argue again. I looked over to meet my brother's gaze. He was holding onto mother, who was sobbing profusely. I didn't wish to look at the body lying on the sidewalk for I knew that they had beaten him to a pulp. Ostro merely shook his head as if signaling to me that arguing was pointless.
After several moments, he mouthed a single word to me," Go."
I blinked several times, not wanting to believe the sight before me. Seneca had already started walking, trying to get me to move along, but I saw the blood spilled. I saw the stains on the sidewalk; I saw the battered face of my father as they relentlessly attacked him. It was all almost like a dream. Numbly, I moved along with Seneca, but I kept on looking back, wishing there was more that I could do. In my head, I was screaming out for him, but in reality the shock was proving to be far too much.
As Seneca dragged me along, I stared unblinking and felt tears begin to drop from my eyes.
The last sight I remember seeing before we turned the corner and the distance was too great was my father lying limp while the group of Peacekeepers kicked the last breaths of his life from him, turning swiftly as they marched away from the house.
"Father," I whispered, or whimpered rather as I was whisked away to get on a train back to the Capitol.
BREAK!
Sitting on the train ride was an absolute nightmare. Seneca had requested that he and I be given total privacy as we sat in one of the rooms, saying nearly nothing to one another. The last time I had been so disconnected was just after the Hunger Games. In fact, there had been many nights where I got little to no sleep at all simply with being haunted by images of my companions drowning in death. This image was now replaced by the sight of my father being beaten outside of his own home while my mother and brother watched.
Seneca kept his arm around my shoulder the entire time and tried striking up conversations with me, but I found there to be little that I actually wished to speak of. After several failed attempts, he finally enjoyed the silence and simply allowed me to sulk without disruption until we were just outside of the Capitol.
"We're ten minutes out of the city," A worker said, stepping in to the room.
Seneca nodded to him before nudging me softly," Did you hear?"
I looked at him, blinking slowly and very dully said," Time to put on a happy face?"
He kissed my temple before looking at me," Don't worry about it."
I wished that were as easy done as it was said. I looked away, laughing slightly without much humor. I wished that I could truly just express my feelings to the cameras and tell them to go pick on one of the other Victors, but the truth of the matter was that when I stepped foot out of the train, I would have to smile and flash the new ring sitting upon my finger. Truly, I was ecstatic about my engagement, however, I could hardly think much of it with the other images haunting me.
"They expect me to be jumping with joy and truly I am, Seneca, but…" I trailed off, looking down at my nails nervously.
He nodded," You don't have to announce it today, you know."
"But Seneca, you've already proposed," I said seriously.
He moved his hand down to the band on my finger," We can pretend…just for today…that we're still dating. They'll never know the difference, Savera."
"I'll know the difference," I shot back at him, pulling my hand back. "President Snow meant for me to see that, Seneca. I don't want to show any weakness as a result of him."
He swallowed hard before whispering," I know that he meant for you to see this, as well, Savera, however, I'm simply saying we can save the drama of this," He placed a finger on my ring. "For another day after we've figured out your father's situation."
"I do not wish to give him that satisfaction," I muttered to him, holding my left hand close to my heart.
"He will never know," Seneca whispered, trying to coax the ring off my finger. "Stop trying to be made of steel, Savera. Just this once, give your mind a break. We can announce it tomorrow if it please you, but you'll already have to answer enough questions simply because we went away for the day."
I stared into his icy blue eyes for a long, hard moment. I could feel the train pulling to a stop and out the window, the skyline of the Capitol was present once again. I shot a look at Seneca before stubbornly standing up. I knew that what he was saying was probably wise, but my pride was too great in the moment. President Snow had meant to show me that he did not approve of my planning; he never wanted to give me everything I desired. This was his way of disciplining me and also my father, who probably had spoken out while I was away as well.
I could hear Seneca grown as I stood up. In fact, I kept the ring on my finger for quite some time even up until the time when we were lining up in front of the door. It wasn't until I looked out the window to see the cameras flashing that I made eye contact with my fiancé again. He was staring at me, looking carefully to interpret what I was about to do. Against my will, I knew that he was right and I knew that the intensity of the crowd was already growing. With an irritated smirk on my face, I slipped the ring off my finger and placed it in his hand. He smiled and closed his hand around the ring before slipping his other hand into his pocket to retrieve the box and place the ring in it. Chuckling at my failure to win the argument, he placed a hand on my back as the doors opened and we started to walk through.
"Don't get too cocky," I mumbled to him, shaking my head.
"One time, that's all I need," He answered, still smiling.
And then nothing else mattered for we were greeting the people of the Capitol once more. I tried pushing the images out of my head for that brief period, simply to wave and then ride in the car back home to my apartment, where I could freely break down. Hiding the engagement was easy…until I saw and heard something that shocked me.
"Seneca, Savera! How did it feel to be engaged? Can we see the ring?!" They all hollered after us eagerly.
I shot Seneca a look. He swallowed, just as shocked as I was. Quickly, we posed for a picture where he wrapped his hand around my waist. He swiftly leaned over to whisper in my ear," Don't answer them."
"Aren't they going to be suspicious seeing as I don't have a ring on my finger?" I muttered, just before we turned to smile for another picture.
"We need to move along," The security behind us said gruffly.
Seneca quickly wrapped his hand through mine as we turned to leave the mob. He was careful to keep my left hand tucked out of their view between the two of us as we walked. Clearly, the mood of the crowd was deflated when we were not nearly as interested in them as they anticipated. They were shouting all sorts of things at us as we passed by, not even looking at them. It was not hard to tell that they were upset, to say the least.
To inform them as to why we were not responding, I took the time just before we were entering out escort to yell to them.
"We really aren't engaged!"
BREAK!
"You really aren't engaged?" A dry voice asked from the shadows of our escort vehicle. "Funny because I remember receiving a telephone call from you Seneca just hours ago confirming that you had received the blessing."
My eyes shot over to Seneca, who was reaching into his pocket to hand me the ring once again. As President Snow started to speak gain, Seneca slid the ring onto my finger. My heart was beating out of my chest, curious as to how he had found out of our ploy. I slowly breathed in and out while listening to him continue.
"I do not appreciate lies, Mr. Crane," He spat icily as he sipped the exotic drink sitting to his left.
"I did not lie to you, President-"
"Then, tell me…why was she not wearing a ring on her finger when she appeared in front of that crowd?" He asked cooly.
I answered for Seneca," President Snow, I am not sure if you are directly aware, but my father was brutally murdered in front of me just after Seneca proposed. I asked if it would be acceptable for me to not wear the ring for the sake of my emotions. Though I am ecstatic to be engaged, I would not be able to fully focus my emotions on the engagement."
Seneca stared at me for a long, hard moment, wondering why I had done such a thing. President Snow's gaze was boring into me as I met his eye.
"Your father's death was a result of his actions, Savera. I cannot help the timing of the matter," He shot back, crossing his legs.
I stared at him for several seconds. He did not break the gaze. I opened my mouth to speak once more," You mean to say that I am not to mourn over my father's-"
"You misunderstand what I mean, Miss Stone. You have every right to mourn your father's death, but it shall not interfere with your duty to the country," He answered swiftly, blinking slowly. "However, should you be mourning the death of a man who speaks so clearly against the Capitol…one may question your own loyalty."
"I see not how announcing my personal engagement immediately after it takes place is my duty to the country," I said, or muttered rather.
"I find that you are forgetting your place in this society, Miss Stone," He growled at me, looking right into my eyes. I looked over at Seneca, who was looking a little nervous. Between the both of us, we knew that it was time to stop pressing our luck with President Snow.
The car rumbled to a stop, looking out the window, I noticed that this was not my nor Seneca's apartment complex. In fact, I recognized the complex as the home of Caesar Flickermann's show. President Snow looked to the both of us somberly before explaining.
"Now, I'm giving you both one chance to make up for your mistake. Caesar is waiting for the both of you to give a huge 'announcement' to the public. This time, I expect that you will not abide by your own rules. I'm sure it will be best for both you, myself, and the public this way," He said sternly, looking at us as though we were children. The driver opened the door and before exiting, he spoke one last time. "Do remember that I was gracious this time, Savera and Seneca, do not expect me to be as gracious the next."
We went on living our life under his iron fist for the rest of our engagement. Truly, this were only the beginning of our trials we faced as a couple under the servitude of President Snow. We went in to the interview, laughed, flirted, and played the role as well as we could. To the extent of our knowledge, President Snow was pleased with us. We continued doing life like this for many more months. In fact, there were little more disputes with President Snow until just weeks before our wedding.
A/N: Thoughts? :D