President Snow gingerly lifted a glass of wine to his lips as he stared contemplatively out over his prized rose garden. He'd have to speak to the head gardener. The crimson blossoms didn't seem to be blooming as vibrantly this spring, and every member of the house staff was only too aware of the President's fondness for his specially-engineered blood roses.

A sudden coughing fit racked his body, and President Snow gently lowered the wine glass from crimson-stained lips, the pale liquid inside stained by a spreading cloud of deep red. A knock sounded from the door, and he turned away from the window, motioning for a servant to retrieve his wine glass and dabbing at his lips with a handkerchief.

"Enter," He demanded coldly.

The Head Gamemaker stepped reluctantly into the room, a haunted expression on his face. President Snow noted with interest that his usually resplendent amethyst robes were rumpled and worn, and bruise-like shadows lingered under his eyes. This was a man who knew his fate and was utterly resigned to it. Good, President Snow reflected. He really wasn't in the mood for hysterics this morning.

"Why Claudius, how kind of you to join me. Why don't you take a seat?" Snow motioned towards an armchair by his desk and watched as the man stumbled silently over to it, taking a seat of his own between the gamemaker and the door.

"I brought you here today in the hope that you could perhaps enlighten me on the Hunger Games situation. I could have imagined it, but haven't several of the tributes displayed an affinity for magic at this point? Why are they not dead yet?"

Beads of sweat formed on the gamemaker's pasty forehead, but he remained mired in a state of hopeless silence.

"Perhaps…" President Snow leaned forward, whispering menacingly, "You have yet to kill the magical scum because you lack the ability to. Perhaps one of those vile whelps has outwitted you…"

Claudius Ackerman remained rigid in his seat, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing. President Snow sighed deeply. "You see, Claudius, I brought you here today because I have a proposal for you. A proposal that I believe you will like much better than the… less pleasant alternatives."

The gamemaker's head bobbed slightly, and the President took that as his cue to continue. "I know what is bothering you, Claudius. The arena, and therefore the games themselves, have slipped out of your grasp, out of your control. You fear my wrath, as you should, but I'll tell you what bothers me. The boy from District Eleven. Merlin. Many believe he is Emrys, and therefore he poses a significant threat to the authority of the Capitol, to my authority. If that boy is allowed to live, the people of Panem will rise up in revolt, and the last filthy vestiges of magic that plague us will grow stronger by the day, until they are ready to sabotage all that I have worked for over the course of the past seventeen years. And we don't want that, do we?"

Claudius shook his head hastily, ripping his gaze from the opposite wall to glance at the President with a shred of hope in his eyes as he continued.

"Good. I am prepared to make you a deal. Am I correct in assuming that, although you have no control over the arena itself, that you have been able to maintain a hold over the mutations?"

Claudius nodded stiffly.

"Perfect." Snow absently fingered the damp bloodstains on his handkerchief. "Here is my proposal. I want that boy dead. You have one week to get it done- in any way necessary. If you succeed, I just might decide to let you live."

"And if I fail?" Claudius croaked.

President Snow's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "Then I will personally put an end to your miserable life faster than you can say 'Panem'."

Claudius Ackerman forced a weak smile onto his haggard face before fleeing from the room, the President allowing a malicious chuckle to escape his lips before being wracked by another coughing fit.

An unearthly screeching ripped the inhabitants of the castle from sleep that night, a shadowy form gliding over the castle on silent wings, crying its defiance to the wind. Within minutes everyone was gathered on the battlements, peering futilely into the inky blackness of the sky. Merlin rubbed at his eyes blearily and stepped behind Elyan.

"What do you reckon is making that noise?" he murmured nervously.

Elyan shook his head. "I don't know."

The ear-splitting shrieks faded into the distance, and Merlin could make out Elyan's shoulders relaxing marginally in the darkness.

"Everyone should go back to bed," Arthur ordered. "I'll keep watch for whatever that thing was. The Capitol must be tired of the lack of blood these games have had to offer so far and sent something to attack us. We'll just have to be on our guard."

Gwaine offered to stay with Arthur, and the rest of the group trudged uneasily back to bed. Merlin lay awake, shivering under his thin blankets. Privately, he agreed with Arthur. After defeating Valiant, the arena had been left in a state of tensely suspended animation, and for the last several days the Careers had quietly patrolled the area surrounding the castle without incident. With such a small bloodbath and an extreme lack of action stretching over the entire first week, it was no wonder the viewers were getting bored.

Now that he thought about it, Merlin was genuinely surprised he was still alive himself. The rest of the tributes may have been too blind so far to notice his spontaneous acts of magic, but he doubted it had escaped the notice of those watching in the Capitol and back home. Surely the gamemakers should have at least attempted to kill him off by now. Yet nothing so far had proved to be a threat to his own life; just Arthur's. Something was wrong about these games, and Merlin fully intended to find out what that was.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry, I know I haven't posted a chapter in forever, but reality got in the way for a while. This is kind of a filler chapter to explain what's going on back in the Capitol, and I'm really sorry for the cliffhanger, but since I have the day off tomorrow, I'm hoping too get another chapter posted then to make up for it all. :) From here on, I'm going to be deviating a bit from the order of events in the show, but don't worry. I have a plan, and need some things to happen in a slightly different order for things to work out the way I want them to. I know some of you have mentioned that you want this to stay true to canon, and I will try to do so in many respects, but sadly this won't be happening all the time. (As you may be able to guess from the end of this chapter, I skipped a few episodes here.) Anyway, sorry for the absurdly long Author's note, and I hope you enjoy!