"So your family is going to ground?" Kreg asks after I tell him the latest.
"Sounds like it," I say punching the bag he's holding. "Sariah and my cousins have already left Four. I don't know where they're going since they're afraid that the Jabberjays will listen in."
"I guess that's good. I mean, they won't be able to get to them."
Giving the bag a series of punches I say, "Good for my family but bad news for the government once the people find out. All right trade."
The first few hits from him are light, but they're just for practice. When he really gets going then holding this bag should be interesting. Now that he's no longer the starving boy who gave his rations to his sister, he's really bulked up. I'm not sure if he's aware of the girls that occasionally gawk at him. My guess is no since he hasn't reacted to their attentions.
"Is the problem because Galba and Panthra escaped?" he asks.
"Yep. Work through the logic," I prompt. "What would happen under the old government?"
Four hits, hard. Man this kid can throw a punch.
"Two high-security prisoners set for execution escape a place that they shouldn't have been able to? President Snow would've executed the people in charge believing them incompetent."
"So what does that mean for us now?"
"The people will have a lack of confidence in the current government. They'll be scared. And with your family acknowledging that fact by going to ground, it'll be even worse."
"Exactly. Atlas said the districts are starting to call for a change. President Paylor hasn't been in power a year and all the confidence they had is evaporating. Panem is on the verge of collapse if something isn't done soon."
"Like?" he asks as he punches the bag.
"What did Aurelius do to regain your trust?"
Kreg pauses and thinks this over. "He had someone I trusted believe in him and instead of ramming her opinion down my throat she showed me how to figure it out myself. From there I could see he was the same man I got to know even if he's a bit broody over Paylor. And he still treated me like a friend despite what my mother did to him."
"So make that the example and expand on it," I say keeping my emotions down. I knew he held a high opinion of me… but I didn't know how much until now.
"Someone needs to go to the districts and reestablish faith in the government. Someone the people know and trust. I think it needs to start with you and me being released."
Sighing I say, "Ya. But there's still that problem that needs to be fixed. Recapturing our prisoners will help some as well. Hang on, I'm going to get a drink."
He's right. The first step is for Kreg and me to be released, publicly with lots of news coverage. And that would work if I wouldn't get captured the moment I was out in the open. But maybe that's what needs to happen in order to get them to come out of hiding.
Kreg can't come with me that I know. I'm the prize and Kreg would be nothing more than an obstacle that is easily eliminated. And if I know Capitolists they would kill him. He's like a little brother to me and I want to protect him.
I look over my shoulder and see Yates holding the bag for Kreg. I smile thinking how the old Kreg, the one I first met, would've clashed with Yates' personality. But somehow the two have become somewhat friends. I was a bit surprised when Kreg asked me for training in how to be a diplomat and even more surprised when he listened to what I taught him.
Now he's great at holding his temper and working through the problem rather than let his mouth go off or his fists do the talking. It's a combination of my diplomat training and Dr. Aurelius' influence and my guards being his friends doesn't hurt either. And the door swings both ways. Kreg has brought the more brash side of my personality out into the open. It's nice to have a friend like that again.
"Time's up," announces the instructor. "Wash up and head to your next activity."
That time already? Drat.
"Meet you in the hall," I call to Kreg as I make my way to the showers.
A sharp pain hits me in the leg and I collapse to the ground. The person behind me fires at the Peacekeepers ahead of us, but she goes down a rain of bullets. More Peacekeepers are coming to the scene, ones I know from years of being around them. I don't hesitate to shoot, even though I like some of those that are charging me.
Numa points his gun at me the instant he realizes someone on the ground is still firing. Shock registers across his face when he recognizes me. Our gaze holds until a bullet, my bullet, strikes him in the head. His question of 'why' goes unanswered as he crumbles to the ground.
The place where that bullet entered has been irritating lately. I wonder if anyone noticed in practice that I'm favoring my other leg. Force of habit since I was off the injured ones for months.
My fingers abruptly move from that spot. Instead I turn my back to the mirror so I can see the burn mark between my shoulder blades. I'm told I'm one of the lucky ones. People, like my mother and sister, bear burn marks on their faces. My mother's is more pronounced covering the majority of the side of her face and Sariah's is along one side of her neck, but those burns continue to her shoulder. Mine? It's hardly worth mentioning. Just a souvenir from a bombing run.
I huff when I look at the place where a bullet grazed my arm, but no scar remains. Of all the marks the Capitol removed from my body when they captured me, they had to fix that one up. I went through great pains to get those marks! Now that was fun in a life on the line scared out of your wits sort of way. Thora, Chance, and I were given permission to sneak through the old tunnels and sewers leftover from the old world to set bombs at the heart of the Capitol's last stronghold in the district. What we didn't know is that we'd get to rescue a few prisoners everyone thought were long dead, Leah Hills among them.
Leah… Justinian… the Jabberjays. It's annoying sometimes how much my brain jumps around like that. With a sigh, I finish getting ready for dinner.
Kreg waits for me with his usual impatience. His guards and mine chat it up while he and I finish up our discussion. As we approach our rooms the door across from mine, one I thought was vacant, opens up.
"Hey Vixen."
As far as surprises go, this one takes the cake. "Peeta. What are you doing here?"
Peeta avoids my gaze, "I've come to see Dr. Aurelius."
"Funny, me too," I say.
Right away I recognize the signs that's something is wrong. There are bags under his eyes and he's much thinner than the last time I've seen him. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other. "May I talk with you?"
"Would you mind a third person in the room? For propriety."
"I'd feel better if there was another person with us," says Peeta.
Sas or Kreg, those are the only two I'd want in there with me. Seeing how Sas would be required to report the conversation I decide on Kreg. He eyes Peeta suspiciously and agrees to be our, for lack of a better word, chaperone.
Peeta tells me everything since the last time we parted. But like my cousin Elian, this is a conversation that I will keep to myself and have asked Kreg to do the same. The only thing that I'll reveal is that he knows about the ones responsible for the bombs that killed Prim.
A/N: My apologies for how long it's taking to post chapters. More coming soon and commentary appreciated.