Disclaimer: I own very little.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Ceremony

I swallowed hard and took several steps closer to President Snow, as if this were a pleasant surprise to be seeing him. Heaven forbid that I show any true emotion.

"Savera, you look absolutely stunning," He said with a smile on his face as we embraced cordially.

"Why thank you, President Snow," I answered quietly before he looked back at the bridal party, lining up in their positions and addressed them.

"If you all don't mind, I will be borrowing Miss Stone briefly," He said professional as he started to walk away, signaling for me to follow him. I furrowed my brow and looked at Enobaria, who quickly spoke up.

"Sir, I hate to protest-"

"Then don't," He said sharply back to her before she could even begin.

"We're on a schedule," She said shaking her head. "We have a-"

"I believe you are under my authority Miss Enobaria in my home which I have graciously donated to this event. Those who are waiting for the ceremony can wait just a moment longer while I speak with the bride," He said sternly, looking straight into her eyes.

Needless to say, Enobaria was silenced as I followed the older man down the hallway. I couldn't help but look back at those waiting to begin the ceremony with confusion. Even for President Snow, this was odd for him to simply stroll in at such last minute. He did run the country therefore I suppose he had every right to, but this was simply odd.

We continued down the hallway until finally we came to a stop in front of one of his doors; I remembered this door from before and as he opened it, I found that we were in his office. My mind was wondering what exactly this scenario meant.

President Snow meandered over to his desk and took a seat before offering a seat to me. I sat down across from him, squeezing my dress into a chair before looking at him once more.

"Have you heard from your brother today, Savera?" He asked plainly, looking directly at me.

My heart nearly stopped beating," No, I haven't. He was actually who was to walk me down the aisle."

He looked away and took a deep breath in before looking back to me," I hope you are being honest with me, Savera."

I raised an eyebrow. I was a little taken back by this situation; though it was not uncommon for me to mask things around President Snow…I truly did not know what was going on. In fact, the whole scenario was beginning to worry me.

"I'm being completely honest; I haven't spoken to my brother in a couple days now. I've been quite busy, as you can imagine," I answered, feeling my heartbeat begin to race.

"Assuming what you tell me is the truth; you may want to make finding your brother a priority. I've had a little chat with him over recent events," He said smoothly, walking around to the front of his desk, right in front of where I sat.

I looked up into his cold, harsh eyes, wondering why he spoke with my brother in the first place. My nerves were at a whole new level of being fried as I folded my hands in my lap, trying to remain calm on one of the most important days of my life.

"What did you tell him?" I asked, a little more forwardly than I should have.

President Snow stared at me," That is a confidential case."

I rose to my feet, eye-to-eye with the president," Confidential? You tell me to make finding my brother a priority then tell me the reason for his disappearance is not to be shared with me. I find-"

"It would be wise for you to stop speaking now, Miss Stone," He growled at me, inches from my face.

"I want to know where he is," I whispered to him, just as fiercely. "I think you know."

"You're forgetting your place in this hierarchy. It matters not whether or not I know; it matters that you do as I say…otherwise the consequences could be-"

At this moment, there was a knocking at the door before the door was literally thrown open. Both of us looked back and immediately I felt a rush of relief fill my heart. Turning from the tense moment, I ran to embrace the man in the door. It was none other than my brother, dressed in his most formal attire. There was hardly any other point in time when I had been more thrilled to see my sibling.

"Thank god you're safe," I whispered as I broke away from him.

He smirked at me before admiring my gown, acting as if nothing were out of the ordinary," You look great; Seneca's a lucky man."

I smiled at him, curious as to why he wasn't addressing where he had been.

President Snow was approaching us and shook Ostro's hand firmly. I watched the encounter closely, but nothing indicated that this was some unusual encounter. It was still a bit awkward, to say the least. We had just been worried sick of him and then he strolls in casually…as if nothing were wrong.

"I think we've a ceremony to get to…correct?" He asked, looking from President Snow to myself.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering what this whole situation meant. It wasn't every day that I was called into President Snow's office, told something rather seriously, only to have it work itself out in a matter of minutes. With a careful eye on my brother and the president, I followed them back out into the main hallway of the manner. There certainly was something out of place, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

This alone was enough to drive me up a wall.

President Snow bid us both farewell before turning to return to his spot in the crowd, now waiting anxiously for the ceremony to begin. Immediately, upon his entry, I heard the soft music begin to play before the bridal party began their rotation down the aisle. In the meanwhile, I grabbed my brother and pulled him close to me.

"What the heck is going on?" I whispered harshly as we stood far behind the bridesmaids, beginning to walk down the stairs to the ceremony.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at me innocently.

"You made a deal with President Snow, Ostro. I want to know just how stupid you've become," I hissed, shaking my head.

He blinked several times," I'm doing it for your own benefit, Savera."

"My own benefit? How could making a secret plan with President Snow aid me? You know I detest him," I hissed back at my brother.

I could heard the music growing louder as we walked closer to the stairs.

As I slid my arm through his, preparing for our position to walk down the aisle, he looked at me tenderly," He made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

Curiosity, at this point, was killing me. I certainly did not like the sound of this. We stood at the top of the stairs, as the soft music transitioned into the music I wished to have play as I walked down the aisle. I looked at my brother, staring deep into his eyes, wondering what this meant for the both of us.

"You aren't going to tell me?" I asked, still searching his face for an answer.

"You'll find out soon enough," He whispered.

By this point, I was still seething, but I knew that seeing as the rest of the party had already made their way to the ceremony; it was time for us to do the same.

In a matter of seconds, I forced myself to change my emotions from anger to happiness like none other I had felt before, after all, I was getting married. Walking down the stairs, I forced myself to briefly forget all that had just happened and continue with a more lightened aura. President Snow certainly wouldn't be pleased if the public thought I looked angry on my wedding day.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, we then had to take an immediate right into one of the long entertaining portions of the home which had been transformed into our ceremony space. Immediately, the long, white fabric running down the aisle was visible with the purple and white flower petals trailed down the middle. Candles were burning softly on either sides of the aisle perched atop of metallic stands. President Snow may have been a terrible man, but his home was especially lovely, if I had to admit it.

His decorators had done a marvelous job of draping white shimmering fabric against a black back drop, there were touches of purple flowers scattered around the platform that the rest of the bridal party was standing atop of. It wasn't until this moment that I met Seneca's eyes and realized what this moment meant.

I smiled wide and watched as a smile grew on his lips. My brother nudged me before I looked at him; we both knew what this moment meant. I felt the eyes of the rest of those in attendance upon me. Though I may not have known many of them, I knew that they were just as amazed by this moment as I was. There were not words spoken, but the feeling in the air was unlike any I had experienced before.

Suddenly, we reached the end of the aisle.

I looked at my brother who slid his hand into mine before kissing it softly. He nodded to me, as if giving me that one last notion of approval. As he took a step back, I noticed my mother standing beside him in the front row. She was beaming from ear to ear and I noticed the empty chair next to her. A single flower sat atop of the chair; I knew precisely what this symbolized and felt a warmness swirling within me.

I turned to see Seneca, dressed very fanciful in a black suit, but a bright strand of purple cut asymmetrically across the front; it was certainly more Capitol-chic than I would have liked, but he was rather fond of it and it did match the colors of the ceremony. As the chapel man directed the crowd to be seated, Seneca took my hand and I met them at the top tier of the platform.

Weddings in the Capitol, so I was told, were not like those in the other districts. Essentially, the weddings of the Capitol allowed the husband and wife for much more freedom. Marriage truly was more of a "guideline" rather than binding to a particular person. Seneca explained the process to me and I simply nodded my head, finding it a little ridiculous, but there was no point in causing much of a fuss over it. It would still mean the same thing to me even if the ceremony was entirely too short and the chapel man was hardly qualified to call himself a "religious leader".

"You look spectacular," Seneca muttered to me, smiling as the crowd situated themselves.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I answered, smirking as the chapel man silenced the crowd and proceeded with the extremely short ceremony.

"We are all gathered here today to witness the marriage of Seneca Crane to Savera Stone. All of us have seen the romance blossom over the years from the frolicking in the plaza to classy banquets. It took little thought to know that one day we would be standing here uniting the two as man and wife," The man, who had died his hair brilliant purple to match the wedding colors announced with a wide smile on his face. I couldn't help but notice just how far his cheek bones protruded from his face. He looked as though he was wearing more makeup than I was.

It was at this point that he began the actual ceremony. Had it been in any other district, I would have been appalled by the lack of thought and personal sentiment put into the words, however, I knew in this place it was for business purposes only. There was hardly much personal sentiment in a town that watched teens slaughter each other for entertainment. However, they did seem to gush over any sort of romance or affair that happened to occur. Though the words "beloved" and "loved one" sounded splendid, I felt that this man, who didn't even know us, was simply saying a bunch of "pretty words" and gushing.

Honestly, the only words I bothered with remembering were when the plastic-looking man gazed at me and said," Miss Savera Stone, do you take Seneca Crane to be your husband?"

I blinked several times, taking in the moment and looking down at the ring on my finger. Swallowing, I looked back up at the man and said," Yes."

My eyes met Seneca as he was asked the same of me. He quickly answered yes before the man giggled with excitement and clapped his hands together.

"With the power invested in me, I pronounced you husband and wife," He giggled again. "I think a kiss is in order!"

Mentally, I was groaning at his giddiness, but nevertheless smiled at my new husband as his hand moved to my waist and we kissed, giving the people of the Capitol and Panem a story to talk about for days to come.

BREAK!

Immediately following the ceremony, President Snow hosted a banquet in our name in which many drinks were served and food devoured. Seneca and I were nearly inseparable as we chatted with the elitist of Panem and spoke with television cameras for interviews that would air live to the rest of the nation. Apparently, it was all the rage across the nation.

Honestly, there were so many unfamiliar faces that I hardly remember much of the reception banquet. I enjoyed the company of Seneca and I also enjoyed Enobaria's company. It was even nice to see Brutus. For a short while, I was able to be with my mother and brother before they were forced to go back to their quarters due to their specific curfew. President Snow was adamant about there being no exceptions.

Thankfully, he was allowing for Ostro and my mother to stay for a week after the wedding. Any extra time I could have spent with them was a blessing. President Snow called it my wedding gift from him. Also, it would give me more time to pester Ostro about what that meeting was about.

Finally, after hours of dances, drinks, and faked conversations, Seneca and I were en route back to our new home together.

I distinctly remember sitting next to Seneca feeling absolutely exhausted. It had been quite a long, tiresome day.

"Can you believe it?" He asked, chuckling slightly in disbelief, his arm around my shoulder as we rode along.

I rested my head on his shoulder and looked at him," That we're married?"

"Yeah," He chuckled again, still taking in the moment. "This is...wow."

I laughed at his reaction," I'm still a little in shock too."

In a matter of moments, we were at the complex. The vehicle came to a stop and as soon as it did, the driver quickly came back to open the door for the both of us. Seneca first got out and then turned to assist me with my dress and whatnot. By this point in the day, I was getting rather fed up with having to wear a long, heavy dress everywhere.

Seneca's hand was linked through mine as we entered into the apartment. As we came upon the main living area, there was a basket sitting on the counter. Briefly, I dropped my hand from his to read the note on the card as he examined the contents of the basket.

Best of Wishes –President Snow

"It's from President Snow," I said, looking at Seneca cautiously.

Already, Seneca was grabbing glasses from the sleek cabinets and setting them upon the counter.

"You think it's safe?" I asked, seeing his eagerness.

He chuckled at this," Safe? Why would he wish to harm us? We're his major source of publicity right now. He'd be daft to do anything rash to us; the country would be in an uproar."

As he came closer to me again, he began taking the drinks from the packages and unscrewing the lid to one of them. I watched him carefully as he shrugged his shoulders and poured the bright bubbling, violet liquid into the two glasses. My eyes were narrowed as I picked up the slender glass and tenderly clinked it against his. He immediately took a gulp of the drink; I watched judiciously.

He chuckled as he set the glass down, swallowing," Oh, you're letting me try it first, eh?"

I smirked at this," Why not? You seem so sure of it."

He rolled his eyes before setting down his drink and slowly moving closer to me. I swallowed hard and as his face was only inches from mine. He blinked several times before tucking one of my stray hairs behind my ear.

"Heaven forbid anything happen to you," He teased before kissing me softly on my temple.

"We both know I'm the more important one anyways," I joked right back before his lips met mine once more.

Nearly suddenly, the situation had gone from a simply teasing to something on a much more passionate level. I remember slipping my veil from my hair and helping to loosen the top buttons on Seneca's shirt. Just as I felt his hands moving to my lower back, I opened my eyes, ever so slightly to see something moving in the darkness behind us in the living room. I blinked several times to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me.

With one more kiss, I placed a hand on Seneca's cheek before pulling away from him. Before Seneca could ask what I was doing and just as I took a step back, a knife came hurtling through the air and pierced the cabinets just behind where we were. I watched in horror as a hooded figure emerged from the dark with another weapon in his hand.

A/N: Whew! Finally got that one posted. I owe you all a major apology, but I've been suffering from an extremely busy schedule as well as a nasty bit of writer's block. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think :D