Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Hunger Games trilogy universe, all of that goes to the respective owners.
Peeta and I are pulled into our respective chambers to be dressed. My prep team is fairly silent, their dark circles and lack of giggling a sure sign of last night's partying. They slip me into simple petticoats and loose stays. Common hoops are put on next, a silver dress petticoat layered over that. The over dress itself is nothing special, nicer than most of my clothes back home, but nothing special in the Capitol. It's a rich purple with silver flowers embroidered along the stomacher and hemline.
From the skirt's length, I can make the assumption that whatever we are going to do today involves nature, as the hemline rests above the soft white leather shoes.
"Your majesty, may you take my hand," Octavia speaks up as she finishes lacing the back of my over dress.
I slip my hand into hers as she helps me down and leads us towards a side door. It doesn't lead to the hallway that I remember from last night, instead there is a small passageway with stairs leading down to some sort of landing. One of the guards carries a lantern down, leading the way.
"I'm afraid that this was not designed in a time when the skirts were large, so you're going to have to squeeze a bit," Octavia says as she guides me down the stairs, which are indeed a fit for the skirts I am wearing. I can't imagine using these with one of the fashionable full skirts that I had seen some of the ladies wearing. It must be a real chore to navigate through doorways in those things. I was not looking forward to wearing any of those.
At the end of the staircase, there is an open passageway. It's not nearly as opulent as the other parts of the palace, but the stone walls and slate floors are from from plain. The passageway is fairly empty, other than the candles lining the walls there is nothing else in here. No furniture or decorations, just the occasional turn in the pathway.
"What are these for?" I question Octavia.
"Oh, these were designed when the palace was built. A way for the highest nobles to move around the palace discreetly without having to make a scene by walking through the main hallways. It's the quickest way around the palace."
"Are there any rooms here?" I ask, making sure not to trip as we made a turn into another hallway.
"A couple, not many. It's hidden amongst the public sections of the palace, so there isn't much room. There are a few rooms for guards and servants, only the ones who deal with the royal family, of course," she is quick to reassure me, "You wouldn't come across any common kitchen maids down here, so don't worry."
There seems to be some sort of hierarchy in the palace amongst the servants. Women like Octavia who work closely with the royal family seem to have higher honors than some of the common nobles, perhaps they had come from noble families and had been trained for this. Of course, Octavia worked with my clothing. The maids who served tea and fetched things for me, who were dressed finely and always beautiful, also seemed to have a high position. It was odd to think that it was some sort of high honor to work with me. The servants in Seam were pretty much all on the same level, unless they were in charge of a section, like the head keeper and the cook. The lowest servants from the disdain in Octavia's voice, must have been the scullery and kitchen maids.
We trudge up a few flights of stairs until the guards before us finally stop as we reach a closed wooden door. Two of them open the doors and allow Octavia and me to enter the room. It's not one of the ordinary palace rooms, it appears to be some sort of greenhouse. The ceilings and the walls are mostly clear class, only the white structure obscuring the view of the sky. From the muggy feeling of the air and the plants that line the structure, I can assume that I am correct in my assumption.
"This is where we part," Octavia says with a curtsy, exiting the room with a flourish and allowing them to close the doors. The guards remain posted at the doors.
"Katniss," a voice says, coming somewhere from my left. I look at one of the guards and he nods, motioning for me to go ahead.
The room is larger than I expected, and it forms a sort of maze as I follow the voice through azaleas and what appear to be daffodils.
There crouched against a wall of flowers is a familiar blonde head.
Peeta.
He turns around as I step closer, a bright grin on his face as he motions for me to sit next to him. I step forward and I awkwardly plop down beside him on the ground, my dress splayed across the floor in an unladylike manner, my legs showing in the open. I fuss with them for a moment before Peeta stops me by placing his hand on my thigh.
"Don't bother with that, the guards will keep their distance and nobody else is here but us. And I've already seen far more than that of you," he says, running his fingers against my side in a comforting manner before removing them and motioning towards the flowers, "Here, look at this. They are climbing roses, imported from the west. What do you think?"
I'm not particularly keen on flowering plants that aren't useful, but I try to have interest in his hobby, "They are pretty," I reply carefully.
"That they are, much like you," he says, causing me to blush, "You are named after a plant, aren't you?"
"I am."
"I would like to have your plant form here, I will have to add that to my list. Do they grow natively in your land? I have been unable to find them," he says fumbling with the lace of my sleeve.
"I guess, I'm not really sure about any of that," I answer honestly.
"Sorry, sometimes I forget I'm the only person who really cares about any of this stuff," he runs a hand through his hair nervously.
I give a soft sigh, "It's not that I don't care, I'm just sure about any of the origins. I have a plant book with me, not on flowers, it's mainly on edible things. I brought it with my trunk from home."
"Really," he brightens slightly at this, "Perhaps I could look at it one day."
"Of course you can," I say. He is my husband, he can do whatever he pleases with me, "Where are we anyways."
"Oh," he says, "We are on the roof of the place."
"The roof! But that's so high up?"
"Yes it is, perfect for the plants. This was a rose garden during Snow's reign, we took all of those out and replaced them."
"Do you spend a lot of time here?" I ask, trying to make conversation.
"Yes," he says, shifting his body towards mine, so that he is facing me instead of the flowers. "Remember what I said about painting," I nod at him, "You look lovely right now in the natural light, I should keep some paints up here. Would you mind that? If I brought you up here one day to paint?"
It's a bit annoying how he does that, pretends like I have any real choice in the matter. We both know that he could remove my head from my shoulders if he felt like it.
"Of course. I think that would be very interesting," I lie, biting my lip.
"You," he pauses, pulling his hands around my back and pushing our bodies to the floor, "are not a very convincing liar, sweetheart."
Fear runs through me for a second, wondering if he is angry with me, but that stops when he pulls me into a kiss. He presses his hands against the wall to steady us and pushes our bodies against the white stone of the flooring. My right leg latches around his as the hoops of my dress are misshapen against his body.
I pull away for a second as my head clears and I think about the situation,. "Somebody could see us," I remind him.
He pulls a soft brunette ringlet away from my neck, "The guards can't see us through the foliage, they have been instructed to keep their distance, and we are the only ones up here," he says continuing his assault on my lips.
This is the first kiss where I actually feel a stirring in my chest, a lust, as some may call it burning through my body. I feel the incredible need to just take in Peeta, and I wrap my arms around the sides of his body, grasping him as we kiss.
When we finally part and remove our bodies from the flooring, Peeta offers to bring me on a tour through the little greenhouse.
"I could show you around, if you would like," he says, slipping his dark jacket off and placing it one of the benches. He will probably never come back for it, what would he care for a simple silk jacket?
I nod at him, smiling and slipping my hand through the arm that is waiting for me.
"The indoor gardens were built by Snow, which of course is a part of our country's history that perhaps should be left untouched, as we are having a pleasant evening," Peeta starts as we walk along the pathways in the greenhouse, "There are two 'wings', the one that we are currently in, as you can probably tell, is meant for decorative plants and flowers. This is why there are benches along these ways, so that you may enjoy the plant life. I often come up here to sketch or write."
He pulls me past the entrance, nodding at the guards stationed there, before turning into what must be the other wing of the greenhouse.
"This side is meant for more practical plants," he says, pausing to touch some sort of fruit, "It's a sampling of all the different edible and medicinal plants that are able to grow in our country. I must admit, I don't spend that much time over here, but if you would like, you are free to enjoy it," he says, pausing to sit on a marble bench, and pulling me down to sit next to him, my skirts once again, flailing about in an unladylike manner.
"Is this open to the public?" I ask, noting that the was right, we are the only two people here.
He audibly laughs, pulling me towards him and squeezing my body in a sort of hug, "Oh, Katniss," he says, "Of course not. The only person who is allowed here is the direct royal family, which as of now only includes the two of us. Unless you count my mother, who isn't allowed outside of quarters."
It's a bit condescending, but I brush it off with a scowl. His mother, I had nearly forgotten about last night's conversation, with everything that had taken place.
"About you mother," I pause, uncertain of how to word it, "While I appreciate it, I don't wish any harm to fall on her."
He slips his hand around mine and tightly grasps it before turning to look me in the eyes, "I'm aware, I took care of the orders this morning. She is to be shipped off to the countryside. I promise that nothing ill will happen to her there, but all contact will have to be severed, for your protection."
I squeeze his hand a little, "Don't you think that's a little over the top, I can't imagine she'd do anything. She is your family, after all-"
He cuts me off, "She is my mother, that is not something I can change. However, she is not my family. You are."
"Me?" I question, looking at the man I have known for only a handful of weeks.
"Of course," he says, shifting a little bit so that my back is against his body, "I had very little to do with her until I was well into the middle of my life, and even then, the majority of the years I have spent with her involved her tearing my country apart or having to lock her away. Even though we have been married very shortly, you are my wife, my companion. You will share my bed and carry my children, and that means far more than anything else. At the present, you are my only family and you are by far, the most important person in my life. That is all that matters, and because of your importance, I must be able to put everything aside, even my mother, for your protection and safety," he sighs and runs a hand through his golden locks, "Come, lie down against me."
Peeta and I spend the rest of the afternoon on the roof, my head lies against his body as he points out different plants and paints a rich history of the different flowers and plants, and how they aided Panem's different economic system. In theory, it would be a quite boring lesson, but Peeta has a way of making anything sound interesting, and the way he speaks passionately about the various plants enthralls me.
I allow him to steal a couple of chaste kisses throughout the day, and when we return to our beds that evening I don't mind in the slightest when that kissing morphs into his heated mouth against my intimate places. We don't go any further than that, and he doesn't ask for me to return the favor, but when we are lying in bed late at night he drabbles off about different things he find interesting, picking up on the questions and conversations we had on the journey.
It is this magical afternoon and evening that brings me to the thought, late at night when I am lying curled up against Peeta's body, that this marriage might actually be pleasant. That being married to Peeta doesn't have to just be my duty, but I quickly brush the foolish feelings aside and succumb to sleep.
Author's Note: Sorry this wasn't published earlier, I haven't had internet for a long time and I'm (again) sending you to this ub-betaed because the power is still flickering and I'm not sure how long this is going to last:( I did, however, have had this chapter typed up since the 8th. So sorry about the late update.
Other than that, I just wanted to know what you would like to see in this story. We are coming to a point where the mood of this story will shift dramatically, and *spoiler* there will be more political scenes and we will see Katniss rise to the occasion with substance and grit.