Peter
Five days later
"Katherine."
She awakes from a deep thought. She realises there's nothing but us surrounded by wild fields of snow. We have been traveling with only one hour of rest through dense forests, mountains, valleys and now endless fields covered in snow so white, it's a haunting landscape. The snow doesn't help and I wonder how we haven't caught a serious illness with the freezing breezes, icy snowstorms and heavy rains.
Her gray eyes reflect the snow around us and it takes a lot of my willpower not to do something reckless.
"Are you okay?"
She stares me, a bit confused. I wish I could say something reassuring, yet I promised myself I wouldn't worry about her too much. I'm aware she wants to ask me about my sudden silence, but I'm glad she hasn't asked. I hate lying, specially to her. Even with all that has happened between us, I can't lie to her. She has lied to me countless times. However, I have overlooked them all. I'm afraid she will hate me even more for lying to her.
"Uh... yes." She mumbles. "I am."
I nod and we continue our journey. Our bodies are weak and tired and our food supply is running low. If we don't find a village soon, my body will become its own and it will faint from the heavy tiredness. I glance at Katherine behind me and see a green ribbon in her hands.
"What is that?" I ask, without meaning to.
She looks up with narrowed eyes. "Weren't you suppose to be angry at me?"
I look away and focus on our path, because looking at her makes it harder to make up an excuse. "I am angry, but why would I stay silent?"
"You always want to talk."
"It's true, still it's better than silence and I don't want to think I may have hurt you." I wince at the last words. I already hurt her in these last five days.
"You didn't hurt me. I'm only tired." I hear the lie in her words. There's a moment of hesitation and then she speaks. "It's a gift from my father..."
What can I say to that? I was considered a pity case by the kingdom when my mother passed away two years ago. They offered their condolences, there were sad for what happened, they wished I didn't have to suffer. Lies. No one liked my mother. She was despised by the entire kingdom because of her bitter and petty nature. She wasn't the best, but she was my mother and the only one I had. I don't remember feeling happy or sad with her death. Still, days after the burial ceremony, I was numb, so numb.
"Did you wear it often?"
"Yes." I hear the smile in her voice. "It was my favourite. It still is."
We don't exchange more words and remain the rest of the walk in silence. A weight is lifted of my shoulders when I glimpse the silhouette of a village possibly thirty meters from where we stand. The light of the sunset makes the clay tiles of the roofs glow. We descend a hill, leaving the fields behind and entering once again woods. Most trees are bare, but some still have their foliage. We walk by a bare black oak tree. Its long and thick branchs reach the snowy ground and snake underneath it. It also looks haunted.
The moon rises in the night sky as we reach the village. A low fog has settled around the woods that line the main road. I keep a hand on the hilt of my sword just in case.
"What is this place?"
"I don't know."
A dim light appears out of nowhere as we come close to the village. The light changes into a torch and then two houses take form in front of us. None of them have any source of light glowing inside the houses, except for the torchs hooked to the outside walls. The fog becomes heavier and filled with silence as we walk the empty street. However, it's suddenly broken with a laugh. I unsheath my sword and walk slowly keeping an eye for anything unusual. Four meters from us a faints glow illuminates the entrance of an alley. As we get closer, the faint glow becomes more intense and I have to shield my eyes. I make a mistake when I think it's another torch.
On the corner of the alley are a man and a very peculiar woman. Her bright blue skin glows like millions of stars and there seems to be an invisible breeze in her hair. I don't have to assess the whole painting, because Katherine pulls me out of the sight of the two people and pushes me against a hard wall. She grips my left arm, while she takes glances at the alley.
"What is that?" She whispers, fascinated in a bad way.
"I'm as clueless as you are." I try to remove her hands from my arm.
"I have never seen something like that." She says as I let go of her hands. They are extremely cold. "Maybe I'm seeing spectres."
"It doesn't look dangerous." I step away from the wall and sheath my sword. "Don't worry about it. Let's find a inn to stay the night."
She hesitates for a moment. She isn't the only one with questions about the strange creature, but she nods in agreement and we walk away from the scene.
The fog is dissipating, making the street more clearier, as we walk deeper into the village. The road is muddy beneath my boots and in the air there's a mixture of roth and filth. An echo of music, shouts and laughter hovers on our street and when we round a corner, I'm thrown aback with the festivities. There are dozens on people of many ages dancing and talking. I suddenly collide with someone.
"I apologise." As I regain my foot, I lose all words when I glance the person in front of me.
A fae.
I must be staring, because she giggles.
"Are you alright?" She asks too sweetly. Her big and round light green eyes hold mine in place.
I mumble something, but I don't make out the words I speak. I blink several times to clear the foginess in my mind. Is she glamouring me? "I must be on my way."
I get away as quickly as possible from the fae and try to focus on the people around me. I suddenly realise Katherine isn't beside me. A chill runs through my body and I search every face in the crowd, but no one is her. I pick up my pace, looking everywhere. The crowd is mainly composed by men with drunken smiles and bottles of strange booze in their hands. Some have their arms around women who wear dresses with too much cleveage. Others stumble and try to stand up by leaning against the walls of houses that line the street or they end up on the ground and stay there.
"Katherine!"
No one hears my call, even when I call her name a second time. Out of nowhere I feel a sharp object being held against my lower back.
"Keep walking." A voice orders, quietly.
I do as the person says and we move as if nothing changed. Nobody takes second glances as we pass by them. The end of the street comes into view and the person suddenly takes a turn into a dark alley. The stranger stops when we stand in the middle of the alley, but doesn't release me and maintains the sharp object on my back.
"It's always a pleasure to recounter familiar faces." Another voice speaks from within the darkness. "You can let him go."
The stranger releases me, yet I feel his presence behind me. Two men step into the dim light. They both wear gray armors, each armed with two swords. And then a woman comes out of the darkness. At first, I can't decipher her features but she smiles, I tense.
"Your Majesty." I say through clenched teeth. How did she find us?
"At least you have manners." Her dress coveres her from neck to toe and her cloack rustles against the dirty ground as she steps closer to me. Her blonde hair is silver under the dim light.
"Why does Your Majesty say that?" It's hard to keep my eyes on hers.
"I didn't come all the way here to discuss such ordinary matters." She sighs, bored and disgusted.
"I suspected Your Majesty wouldn't choose such place to get away from the castle."
"You would be surprised." She breaks eye contact and dusts her already perfect dress. "Now, let's talk about business."
A blow is thrown against the back of my head and a strong kick to the back of my knees. My bruised knees dig two holes in the mud as I fall down, yet my head is pulled back hard and I feel the cold steel of a blade on my exposed neck. Millions of rock pound inside my head from the blow and there's a metalic taste in my mouth.
"Where is she?" Coin commands in her icy and deathly voice.
"Search my satchel." The blade is pressed into my skin.
"Don't play games with me, Peter. Your lie of betrayal was very convincing while it lasted!" She says, enraged. "I was foolish to choose you as my new assassin. I wanted to see where you would take your lie and it was very entertaining. However, you didn't see me pulling the cords. There was a hidden game behind my choice. I wanted to see if you would kill her or maybe she would kill you. A life as peasant changed her mind and, now she is a savage."
"You have it wrong."
"I didn't kill innocent men." She says, sarcastically. There's also a fake vulnerability in her words.
"It wasn't, but it was you who started those mindless wars for the other kingdoms' thrones." I accuse and she smiles.
"Mindless wars?" Her smiles morphs into a laugh. "One aspect you will learn when you become king is that there are no mindless wars. Every war has a purpose and mine was to rule every kingdom of Panem. This is a game and I dictate the rules everyone plays by. When I take your father's throne, you will understand."
"You will never rule my father's kingdom!" I warn her. "You will also lose the others when Katherine defeats you."
"I'm sure she will, but only after I kill her first." She says, promising a blood bath. "You just need to lead her to me."
"You think I will do that?" I say, angrily.
"There's nothing bad in practicing a little betrayal." She mocks.
"I will never betray Katherine." Coin's eyes turn dark and she straightens up and squares her shoulder.
"Find her." Her voice holds a threat and when no one moves, she shout, madly. "Find her!"
The two guards run and leave the alley in search of Katherine. I struggle against the hold the stranger has on my head, but the cold steel is pressed deeper into my skin and then a trickle of something warm and slick slides down my neck.
"Finish him." Coin looks at me one last time and disappears like fog. She was an illusion...
The stranger loses its hold on me and throws me to the ground hard. My face is caked with mud and my neck is sore and it stings from the cut.
"Stand up, Little Prince." The stranger teases, playfully. "Are you afraid your face will get harmed if you fight me?"
"No." I spit the sour taste of blood and remove the mud from my face. I stand up a bit unstable and blink before I focus on the stranger. The sneaky smile reveals strangely sharp teeth. His eyes are too dark to see its real colour and he has high cheekbones and a pointy nose end. I notice a few drops of something black in his right hand. I stare at his eyes. "I'm afraid I will ruin this alley with your blood."
He loses the smile and charges towards me, hoping to punch me squarely in the face. I dodge it and he ends up hitting a brick wall. The silence is filled with his shout and I take the opportunity to hit him in the ribs. He catches me off guard and swings his knife. The blade cuts me superficially on my cheek.
"We can end this, right now." I say, but I never lose sight of his moves.
"Why would I ?" He smirks. "The fun part is only beginning and I want the pleasure to kill the prince of Baluster."
I unsheath my sword as we move in a circle. He laughs. "Very showy."
"I'm giving you a way out." I can kill him, but I don't want to. The guilt of taking lives is too unbearable.
"I don't want a way out."
He throws the knife and I deflect it with the sword. He stumbles backwards when I hit him in the face with the hilt of the sword. Blood starts pouring out of his nose. Black blood. And it isn't because of the darkness in the alley.
"What are you?" I aim the sword at his neck. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows.
"You already know." Unexpectedly, he grabs the blade with both hands, immediately drawing blood, and in a swift move cuts his neck open.
He smiles as the blood fills his mouth and he chokes up on it. He falls to the ground, dead. The sight of him is almost unnatural. Black blood stains his clothes and mixes with mud. I stare at his dead body, trying to understand what just happened.
I can't figure out what is this place, this god forsaken village. I touch the cut on my cheek and my fingertips come smeared with blood and mud. I suddenly realise there isn't no protection from curious eyes and I glanceat the entrance of the alley, praying no one saw what happened here. I sheath my sword, not before wipping the blood on my sleeve, and leave the alley. I have to find Katherine before those guards find her first.
...
Katherine
Peter isn't behind me when I glance back.
I lost him as soon as we rounded the crowded street. The loud music and the jubilant people swallowed me and my sense of direction was lost for three minutes. Faces with big smiles, rose cheeks, showy dresses and bad breath blocked my eyes and prevented me from walking away from the commotion. This part of the street isn't crowded like the rest and there are a couple of people who stumble my way, making me cringe with sudden fear.
I was used to Peter's presence and so being alone feels strange. There's a feeling of loneliness and abandonment as I put distance between me and the festivities. Every village I visited had strange faces and sensations. I felt unsafe and threatened, but it was only in the beginning. I didn't know what to do and I was alone with no one to guide me. I had to forget my past life and become part of the people. However, nothing feels like this village.
I put those thoughts in the back of my mind and focus on the now. The people are fewer as the sound of the music becomes a background noise. The lighting is scarcer and the wind blows a gentle icy breeze. There are footsteps in a nearby alley...
I load my bow when the footsteps get closer. I thread and search the alleys for the sound. The footsteps suddenly stop and I straighten up, squeezing the bow in my hands until it hurts as I feel a presence behind me. I spun around and raise my bow when I spot a figure in an armor. Its strong and muscled silhouette identifies him as a man. He steps into the middle of the road and the oxygen leaves my lungs when I recognize the sigil in the armor.
Coin found me.
I don't hesitate and fire the arrow, aiming at his neck. He looks at me a minute to late and then collapses on the muddy ground, a scream caught in his throat. I lower the bow, knowing he won't stand up and walk to his dead body. A trickle of blood slides down his neck and he has on an expression of horror. I pull out the arrow, getting some drops of blood on his face, and the blood pours out like a stream. I clean the tip of the arrow on my sleeve, but stop when I look closer at the blood.
I drop the arrow like it's contaminated and step away from the body. The feeling of killing a human being takes over my mind slowly and I have to close my eyes tightly and try to push it away, not wanting to get lost in these thoughts. When I know they won't come back, I open my eyes and look at the body one last time. Coin will know I killed one of her guards and she will come after me, stronger and more powerful.
I turn around and immediately sharp is pressed against my stomach. I'm looking into the eyes of another man dressed in a Saldrian armor. He towers over me. I didn't even hear him approaching. It was like he appeared out of thin air. His eyes stare into mine and he smiles devilish at me. His eyes are black and they don't have a single drop of white in them. My body trembles and I know this will end here. I don't want to die. I thought I was strong, but I'm afraid to die now. I have to fulfill the promise I made myself. I must conquer Panem again and kill Coin once and for all. And-
I swing the bow and hit him hard in his face. He release his hold on me, but not without cutting me on the stomach. I wince at the burning sensation and clutch my stomach as I run away from the man. The icy wind is a slap in my face and I can't run much longer, because my legs feel like two blocks of stone. Suddenly, like a gush of wind, I'm thrown against a stone wall and there's a strong impact when my head hits it. My bow falls from my hand and I can't make my body leave the wall. The man stands ten inches from me and then he smiles when he lifts a finger.
There's a pain on my right shoulder and slowly, it goes across my chest until it stops right above my left breast. I can't describe the pain and I can't hold back the screams any longer. Tears fall down my cheeks, but I can't wipe them away. Throught blurry eyes, I see the enjoyment in the man's face.
"Why don't you kill me already?" I say, hoarsely and tiredly. "It's quicker."
He shrugs. Did someone cut his tongue out?
"Did Coin decide to take matters into her own hands?" I ask, hoping it will buy me more time. "What are you? Her new experiment? Her little dog who does the dirty work for her?"
There's the undescribable pain again, but this time it starts on my left shoulder. I clench my teeth, but I still moan at the sensation. Out of nowhere, I'm disattached from the wall and I collapse to the ground. My body is too heavy to hold. However, I manage to turn my head to the left to see the silhouette of someone cut the man's head. The headless body falls to the ground and I can only keep my eyes open to see the stranger's feet walk towards me before I black out.