Lothario Carmichael, 50

Head Gamemaker

My whole body ached. My mouth and eyes were dry. That poison really did a number on me. Of course, I had to take it. If only Aelia was poisoned, I would be her suspected murderer. But if I was also poisoned, no one could blame me.

Luckily, Drusilla was there to shoot that prissy stylist. I couldn't believe Fidelia told the Peacekeepers! I'd used everything in my arsenal to keep her quiet. But today, it was time for the private sessions.

I donned my purple robes and stepped into the booth where all the Gamemakers sat.

"Hello everyone," I said, raising a glass of champagne that an Avox handed me. "Today, we will show the strength of Panem in our ability to move on in the wake of hard times. Our dear President, Aelia Thorne, is no longer with us. But the Games, her pride and joy, will live on! We will make sure her memory is honored by these tributes, and the tributes of the future!"

Cheers rose up and everyone applauded, clinking their champagne glasses and clapping each other on the back. I turned to the microphone.

"Call in Hiro Kuromori," I ordered.

Hiro walked confidently into the room and bowed his head slightly to us. Then he grabbed his special weapon, a naginata, off the weapons rack. Then he made his way to the dummies and began to work through his movements, slashing and stabbing and sparring. He moved beautifully.

He asked to spar with a trainer, who grabbed a spear and took to the ring. He and Hiro danced around each other. Hiro made one mistake, but beat the trainer quickly.

"Thank you Hiro," I said. He bowed again, replaced his weapon, and left. Then we called in Seraphine.

She walked in, her hair tied up in a tight ponytail. She looked regal; full of confidence. I settled back in my seat.

Seraphine dropped into a roll and ended up right by the poisons station. She picked up a vial, tossed her hair back, and got to work. At each step, she explained the deadly effects of the poisons she was creating.

Once she was done, she floated over to the edible plants station and poured the vial out on the plants. They withered and died instantly.

Smirking, Seraphine snatched up twin sais and pointed at a trainer. He stood and grabbed a sword. The two dueled for a short while until Seraphine used her sais to twist it out of his hands.

"Thank you Seraphine," I said. She dipped her head politely and replaced her weapons on the rack before leaving.

Kalmin came in, looking prepared for anything, but especially pale and pasty. He picked up a mace and charged a trainer. They sparred for a bit, but Kalmin quickly took him out with a strong blow to the head.

He left shortly after that and I scribbled down a note on my notepad. Cloelia entered and slipped a pair of brass knuckles on. She fought fiercely against a trainer, and sent her sprawling with a punch to the jaw.

She switched to using a sword and sparred again. She made a few mistakes, but managed to beat the trainer. For her last few minutes, she spent time at the edible plants station, nearly acing her quiz.

Oren stepped in next, looking paler than Kalmin did. He picked up a dagger and sparred with a trainer. He held his own for a while, but eventually the trainer took him out with a knife to the throat. I took some notes and dismissed him.

Kaysa was next. She pushed up her glasses, a confident look on her face. She tied a complicated knot and then took an edible plants quiz, getting a fairly high score. Finally, she ended her session by building a fire.

Lir entered quickly, grabbing a sword and preparing himself for a fight. He was skilled, and did well, using a mixture of classic and more complicated techniques. And eventually, he did beat the trainer, but it did take a while.

Wavecrest surprised me. She was a thin girl; muscular, but small. So I was shocked when she took on a trainer twice as buff as she was. She was quick, landing hard strikes against his padded ribs until he went down. With a smirk, she left the room.

Pascal came in next, and I kept an eye on him. After all, he was a volunteer. But he picked up a slingshot and began firing sharp rocks at targets. He fired quickly, but he lost accuracy to his speed. I marked down his score and dismissed him early.

Candela was also a volunteer, and according to my informatives, she and Pascal were friends, and suspected rebels. She slashed dummies apart with a knife for a few minutes before I realized she wasn't going to do anything else and dismissed her.

Martin was definitely trained. I could see it in the way he moved so confidently with his sword. He took out a few dummies before fighting a trainer and winning.

I suspected Wilhelmina wouldn't be impressive, but she actually did alright. She fired arrows into the targets and then scaled the climbing wall with impressive speed.

Ceras entered next, looking around nervously. He went to the edible plants section and began working on a healing remedy before slashing up a dummy with a knife. When his time was almost up, he turned to us.

"I don't know if it matters," he said. "But Donovan Clawson was quite impressed with some of my skills back at home."

"Who's that?" I asked the Gamemaker behind me.

"The Head Peacekeeper of 7, sir." I nodded, chewing my lip.

Hollie marched confidently into the room and began to throw axes at the targets. Nearly every one hit the bullseye. Then she used a larger ax to spar with a trainer, and beat him fairly easily.

Tibalt used an ax as well, and did fairly well, though he was not as skilled as Hollie. But at least he used a weapon. He earned a decent score.

Anastasia came in and began to fight a dummy with a knife. Once there was only a few minutes left in her session, she began to give us a lecture about aliens. We all stared in shock until she left.

Rudi was next, and immediately grabbed a sword. A few trainers whispered amongst each other before one stepped out to fight him. Rudi fought him, and he fought dirty. It was clear that Rudi would do anything to win. I smiled. I liked him.

My other Gamemakers said Christa looked promising in training, so I was excited to see her skills. She fought a dummy with a knife, albeit clumsily, and then made a poison. Once she left, a trainer examined the poison.

"Sir," she called. "It's not deadly, just paralyzing. She didn't completely succeed."

"Thank you," I called back down to her.

Arian sparred with a trainer and then quickly ran the small obstacle course, showing off his speed and agility. Hesper did the same thing on the obstacle course, and then showed off her knife skills against a dummy.

Alann marched in and grabbed a sickle, turning to face the trainers. He sliced and slashed, and the trainer barely managed to keep away. Finally, the trainer took out Alann, but he'd put up such a strong fight that I thought he deserved a good score.

Sasha ran a lap around the edge of the gym to show off her speed, and then threw knives for a bit. She ended up at the edible plants station, but did very badly on the quiz.

Mason, who was another volunteer, was quite impressive. He fought with both his fists and a sword, and beat the trainer every time. He gave us a smile as he left.

Asha did well too. She grabbed a pickaxe and took on a trainer, knocking him to the ground quickly. She stood proudly over him for a few moments, a smirk on her face. I excused her a few moments later.

I sighed, closing my notepad and leaning back. The adrenaline from the session was wearing off and the lasting effects of the poison was sinking back in. But we'd done it. Drusilla and I had succeeded. She would be the next president of Panem.

Author's Note

Here are the Private Sessions! It's time for the tributes to show off their skills! Please tell me what you thought of this chapter.

Tomorrow is going to have a double update, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So keep an eye out for that, since ff.n might not update you. It kinda sucks with notifications.

Escort submissions are open! Please PM me up to two escorts for Pillars of Salt! And if you're in my Discord, tribute submissions are open already. If you want to join the Discord, PM me or send me a friend request. My Discord information is on my profile. Please come join us!

Please tell me what you thought of the chapter in a review. Reviews mean so much to me!

Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

- Fiona