Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Hunger Games Trilogy universe. All rights to characters and places go to their respective owners.
Sorry for posting a little later than usual, as an apology of sorts this is about fifty percent longer than most of my chapters, so I do hope that you enjoy that!
As the days go by and the celebrations end, I am dragged around to more political occasions than parties. I spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon listening to the male nobility debate over trades with the "heathen" countries of the west, and a Tuesday listening to the same men decide whether or not they should establish new laws on settlement. The only highlight of these boring lectures is listening to Peeta speak. He's a natural persuasive speaker. With an air of authority he makes you feel like the only intelligent answer is to agree with him. Persuasive speaking is never anything I could tap into, even with the classes I was given by my tutors in Seam. Of course I have no say in the debates that I listen to in Panem, I'm only a decoration that must be present to symbolize the royal family.
There are other women present at these functions, but we are kept in separate sections. It isn't until after I have attended four political events that I meet my ladies in waiting.
"You court has naturally been hand picked by those in the highest positions of authority. I assure you all of your ladies are the finest Panem has to offer," Duchess Effie says as we sit in "The Queen's Parlor".
It's another sumptuous room. The ceiling is tall and multileveled with gold stenciling that flows to meet the crystal chandelier in the middle of the room. The cream walls sport the same gold stenciling as the ceilings, with more details over the marble fireplace and the silk covered windows. The room is large, with enough furniture to fit a large group of ladies in oversized skirts. It's quite obvious that where I am sitting, a light pink settee that stands along the back wall, is the center of attention. The bright color of my settee stands out against the assorted group of matching cream chairs and sofas.
"Are they late?" I ask the Duchess impatiently. She had stressed punctuality as a virtue, so I would assume that the women she praised would be on time. Not that I had anywhere else to be, of course.
Effie gives a slight frown and her wig slides forward slightly as she wrinkles her forehead, "It's not like any of the young ladies I know. But don't worry, I will make sure the people who vetted for them will be made aware of how awfully inconsiderate they were to you. Poor dear, I can't imagine what impression this is making on you."
Effie has a way of making everything overly dramatic. Sure, it is slightly annoying, but I'm not exactly the most punctual person in the world. At least I will have company in my imperfection.
It is another ten minutes before the doors at the far side of the room are opened by the footman and the ladies come in. They are a mash of shiny fabrics, expensive metals, and white powder. Even in the gorgeous blue and silver robe a la francaise that Cinna designed for me, I can't help feeling bare compared to their finery. My dress is probably more expensive than the ones that they are wearing, but they command the type of attention that only the finest lady's education can provide. The low cut gowns, the poise in their stance, and the perfect smiles make me feel inadequate. Peeta could have had a number of these perfect women. He could have had a woman just like this from a country that would have actually given Panem something in return, but he married me. I almost feel bad for him. Getting stuck with me must have been a real disappointment.
The ladies enter one by one, almost like the groups in the parade from last week. Each comes through the room, is announced, curtsies, and takes a place in a seat. The seating must have been arranged beforehand because they all seem to know exactly where to go.
The first lady to do the walk through wears an almost translucent blue gown that stretches farther than any of the dresses I have seen so far. She's a beautiful girl, but from the haughty sniffle she gives as she curtsies, I can tell that she is one of the snobs I have been trying to avoid.
The woman is announced as, "Lady Glimmer of Andover, the wife of Lord Marvel, the Earl of Andover." Glimmer? Marvel? The names are fairly ridiculous, but they certainly do fit this place. Ridiculousness followed me everywhere here.
There are about eleven ladies in waiting from what I can tell, it's large compared to my mother's court back home. Most of them are extremely similar in appearance, and the only ones I take note of is Duchesse Anne, the woman from the parade, and a new woman Countess Johanna. Johanna stands out from the women in both her mannerisms and her dress. The gold and amber gown, while elaborate in it's own way, lacks the ruffles and fuss of the other dresses. Along with that she seems to give off a cocky confidence and spunk that the other women lack.
When Duchess Effie leaves to allow us some time to, "gossip in peace," the conversation takes a turn that I would have never expected. Without the guidance of Effie, who acted like a supervisor, my gaggle of women don't bother to keep up their shiny smiles and polite conversation.
The conversation turns ugly in a way that I could have never expected. I've never been close to women. My main friend was Gale, and without a mother I never really had a chance to be around many noble women. The idle conversation bored me and the gossip was dull, so I never really paid attention to any of them.
It is Lady Clove, the wife of one of Peeta's advisors, Lord Cato, that first says something rude. It's not openly cruel, nothing that she could get in trouble for, but the women have a way of making what they are saying very clear while pretending to be perfectly polite.
"So, Your Majesty, I have heard stories about your wondrous romance with our King. Is everything they say true?" she says as she gives a look to a blonde across from her. It's one of those looks that means something. I've noted other women do it before, but I have never had the ability to tap into the language.
Lady Glimmer interrupts before I can speak, "Of course they are, my dear Clove. There must be some unnatural attraction for our King to journey all the way to Seam," she makes a face at my home country, "for a wife."
It's the first truly traitorous thing that anybody says to me and I let out an audible gasp when she says the words. Nobody has ever said anything so cruel about me that openly, even when I was just a simple princess. I could have her head removed at my mercy for all she knows. Why would she dare speak to me like that?
The woman I noted from earlier, Johanna, gives a causal roll of her eyes and addresses Glimmer, "Perhaps you should keep your envy to yourself, jealousy isn't a virtue, you know? I can recommend a good prayer book on that if you would like. Besides, whatever tricks sweetheart used to get here, it can't be that bad. Not all of us can get pregnant so conveniently like you, Glimmer," she says in a sickenly sweet voice that must be sarcastic.
A few of the other women laugh at her remark, and Lady Glimmer turns a little red at the implication. Johanna doesn't bother with trying to be polite, she's openly brash with her words.
"Oh, Jo, don't be that way, it's impolite" Clove gives a momentary sigh and bats her eyes, "Your Majesty, you should come to my little estate in the Evonshire this summer. I'm sure the King would love it, he's always had a taste for hunting, and everybody knows the south has the best game."
At this I speak up, "As do I."
She looks a little perplexed but she continues to keep up her perfectly sweet act, almost forgetting her rude comment from earlier, "Pardon me, Your Majesty?"
"I enjoy hunting," I say as if it must be obvious.
"You enjoy hunting? So, the rumors are true?" a doe eyed brunette sitting next to Lady Glimmer asks.
I'm not exactly sure what rumors she is talking about. I wasn't aware that there were rumors circulating the palace about me. I knew that they looked down on me, but I wasn't sure of who would give them any fuel for good gossip. I could only hope they were making things up about me. My place in Panem isn't exactly secure. The last thing I needed right now was nasty things going around about me.
"I do enjoy hunting, but not the formal horses and dogs kind. I prefer my bow and arrows. It's more serene that way," I answer her quietly.
An oblivious lady from the back speaks up, "Oh lord, I love archery. I don't enjoy hunting, I faint at the sight of blood and killing bunnies isn't my thing, but I do adore a little formal archery. My brother taught me, you know. He is in the King's hunting league and all of that. I'm pretty good. I hit the targets all of the time-"
She is interrupted by Johanna, "Oh be quiet Olivia." The girl shuts up and inches backwards in her seat, almost afraid of Johanna.
"So," says Lady Glimmer, "You hunt? Like a man? How on earth do you accomplish anything in a skirt? I can barely walk in the gardens in mine, I can't imagine hunting live things in anything appropriate."
This catches me up. I'm not exactly sure how to tell women who wear gowns that stretch out ten feet on a regular basis that I wore breeches and trudged through mud and dirt on a regular basis. So instead I simply give a vague answer, "I suppose when you are used to it, it becomes easier. Besides, in Seam women's clothing isn't as…," I motion towards the blue and silver gown I am wearing.
She gives a thin smile and a knowing glance at Clove, "I'm sure you didn't. You poor thing, I can't imagine what it was like to grow up around such a lack of decorum."
At this I snap. Insulting me was one thing, I was used to it, but insulting my people crossed the line.
I look Lady Glimmer in the eyes, "Are you implying that my people are backwards? That I'm some sort of heathen you can look down upon? Because in case you haven't noticed, I'm your Queen. I am your superior, not the other way around. As your god appointed superior I expect for you to treat me like your Queen. That is how a lady in waiting should act. Perhaps instead of having the manners and tact of a young child, you should learn some respect. I may not know what the custom is in such a wealthy and civilized country like Panem, but in the Seam we treat our royal family with dignity."
The room falls silent. The ladies glance at each other, not entirely sure of what just happened. In their silence I stand up, and with a turn of my heel and complete disregard for the guards I walk out of the room.
I just barely catch Johanna's comment, "Well, sweetheart certainly isn't dull."
I find myself running through various corridors, avoiding the guards as I tunnel a maze through the numerous hallways and doors.
I'm so tired of everything that has happened. In a few weeks my entire life has been pulled out by the roots and I have been thrown into this awful place. In the whirlwind of activities I had forgotten to mourn for my past. But now that I'm settling into what will be my life, as I'm meeting the women who I will spend my days with, the crushing reality of the upheaval has finally dawned on me.
Losing the guards I find myself in a small room at a farther part of the palace. Like I have done many times back home, I curl myself up into the closet of an empty bedroom and just sit there alone with my thoughts.
A million different things race through my head. I'm practically alone now, without Prim or Gale, who at the very least I may see once or twice every few years. I haven't even written to Prim yet, and one day Gale will get married and rule Seam forgetting about my existence. Everybody in my home, my real home, will move on with their lives.
From the closet I can hear them calling my name and knocking on doors. They must have organized a search party in this area, and I can only hope that nobody will find me. I need to be alone for a while.
But against my wishes eventually I hear the sound of heels and the rustle of skirts against the floors that makes it obvious that I am no longer alone. I remain quietly curled up, barely daring to breathe, until somebody finally opens the door of my shelter.
I have to stare at her for a moment. What are the chances that she would find me? After two years of not seeing each other, my only female friend, Lady Margaret Elisabeth stands before me in the living flesh.
We had met as children, her father was an unimportant Panem diplomat that got stuck in Seam for a few years. Both of us were pretty quiet, so we ended up spending a lot of time together. It filled my quota for female companionship at the least and satisfied my governess's quest to find a suitable companion for me. She may have been nothing here, but in Seam she was considered very important. I bet her father had even handled my marriage.
"Madge," I breathed, shocked at the girl in front of me, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm a Panem citizen, you know that." It's true, but I expected when her family left, they moved on to another residence.
"But your father, I thought-"
"My mother finally got me a position in court," she slumps down next to me, "They are looking for you, you know? Everybody, even random ladies like me have been sent out to search every inch for you," Madge gives a little sigh as she tucks her skirts in.
"Let them look," I say nervously picking at a gold thread on my sleeve.
"So, what exactly are the odds of us meeting like this?"
I think about it for a moment, "Not to bad. You are well aquainted with my favorite hiding places."
She considers it and then nods, "I suppose so. What exactly are you running away from?"
"I met my ladies in waiting today," I look down at the wooden flooring of the closet.
"Ah, Lady Glimmer?" she says with a knowing smile.
"She was the main one, how did you know?" I never imagined that Madge was in touch with all of the gossip.
"I heard that she was one of your ladies. She's a real pain."
"She was just so dreadful. I hate them, do you know that?" I pull my knees to my chest, "I hate them all."
"Don't mind her, she thought she was going to be the Queen for a while. She was Snow's first choice for his wife."
"But she was so openly rude. Shouldn't she be, I don't know, trying to get in my good graces?"
"She thinks that you aren't permanently here," Madge says, hastily adding, "Not that I agree."
"Not permanently here? "
"Lady Glimmer and a few other women believe that you are some sort of phase, and that the King will tire of you eventually. None of them expect you to have any real power. I disagree, I think it's fairly obvious he is smitten with you for some reason and Peeta isn't the type to discard of a wife that easily."
"Peeta?" I say, questioning her casual use of his first name.
"Oh," she frowns a little, "We knew each other as children, don't you remember?"
"Remember?" I ask her.
She sighs and leans her head against the wall, "Oh nothing, it isn't my place," she pauses as we hear somebody shout out my name, "We should probably get you back out there. They will worry."
"I wish you were in my court," I say to her as she pulls me up to a standing position and helps me smooth my hair.
"That would be nice, but my family isn't important enough for that sort of thing."
I putter slightly, "I can do things about that, I guess. Now that I'm Queen."
Author's Note: Yay! New chapter:) And for those of you who were asking, this story will get pretty smutty as Katniss and Peeta get more comfortable with each other.
A million thanks to my beta, Prisspanem. If you like King Peeta stories, she has an amazing one titled 'Tales of Panem'.
As always you can follow me on tumblr at starveinsafety. If you go to my tumblr and click on fic inspiration I have an inspiration board for every single dress/gown that Katniss has worn through chapters 1-10. So check that out if you want to see pictures of the dresses I have described.
Please give any constructive criticism that you have for this chapter, I was a little unsure about this, so any advice would be helpful. I enjoy reading what you like and dislike about my stories.
Also, for those of you who like royal Peeta stories, writergirl8 has a "Prince and Me" Everlark story. It's not historical, but Peeta is a prince. I would recommend that you check it out.
Anyways, long story short, after this fanfic is finished I will be doing another historical fic. I have done intensive research to make this upcoming story accurate (spent a few hours in a mansion built after the civil war taking pictures and making notes, etc.) to bring you a Victorian era fanfiction where Peeta is a wealthy businessman who brings Katniss to be his wife in order to raise his goddaughter.
"Historical" Notes - A robe a la francaise was a gown popular in the mid 1700s.