Hello everyone! So sorry about taking a little longer to update. Been super busy! But the next few chapters are uploaded and ready to update :) Thanks so much to Luke777,sghope16, CJstoriesandobsessions for their continued reviews. And also many thanks to new reviewer, September Samstar. I appreciate all your comments and save them to keep me motivated to keep updated :) You guys are awesome!

Chapter 8

The nightmares that usually only plague me in the spring come almost night. It's as if my subconscious knows something my conscious mind yet does not. The lack of sleep combined with the cold, short days of winter seem to be affecting my performance. Plutarch continuously bothers me for more information, but the secrets that once flowed easily through the walls of the mansion are harder to discover. I have to find energy just to get out of bed in the morning, and my mind has been foggy and difficult to focus. I start the feel the old emotion of uselessness creep back in.

It's the morning of my wedding anniversary. The nightmares came all night, and morning brings no relief. Valeria enters silently but then throws open the heavy curtains that have been placed over the usual sheer ones. The sun is blinding as it reflects against the white snow that fell last night. I groan and roll over, so exhausted my body literally aches. But Valeria pulls the covers off of me and forces me to get up. It's time to get ready.

The citizens of the Capitol expect to see me and my husband today, acting the part of happily married couple celebrating each year of marriage. It is a special occasion, but thankfully not special enough to warrant my stylist and prep team. We usually make an appearance on the balcony where Coriolanus gives a short speech about his love for me while I look adoringly at him. After that we can go our separate ways and back to normal life.

Valeria helps me dress warmly in a gold dress with long sleeves and a heavy white jacket. My makeup is simple as the cold air always flushes my cheeks anyway, but she has to put quite a bit of concealer under my eyes. She pulls my hair up loosely. I am ready within an hour.

My husband is waiting for me at the entrance to the balcony. He is almost handsome in a blue suit with black shirt underneath and long black coat, although he looks like he has aged another five years in the eight months since the Hunger Games. He smiles at me warmly and wraps me in a hug and gives me a kiss on the cheek. The smell of roses is incredibly powerful, but even that cannot cover the smell of blood, and I know his mouth ulcers must have gotten worse.

"Analeigh, happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you, too, darling." The years of practice are good to me, even though I am exhausted and now aligned with the rebels, I can look at my husband and smile as if nothing is wrong. Just like he has always done for me.

I see Ian standing close by, but he is not paying much attention. He and Orli seem to be in a deep conversation about something.

"Are you ready for a bit of cold air?" Coriolanus asked, his hand on the small of my back, guiding me closer to the doors.

"I hope so."

Avox servants open the double doors and we step out together, holding hands, smiling and waving. The wintry air hits me squarely and takes my breath away for a second, but I do not lose my smile. I can't believe how many people have come to see us on this blisteringly cold morning, but the square is full of screaming citizens.

I take my seat and Coriolanus walks to the podium, raising his hand to quiet the crowd. He gives a beautiful speech about he has fallen more and more in love with me over the past nineteen years, and it is his honor to spend his life next to me. I play my part as well as the camera pans to me quite often. Then Coriolanus digs in his jacket for something, a present for me, he says. I can see Ian tense from his post close to the doors, and I sit up a bit straighter, a bolt of nervousness biting through the cold. Surely he hasn't brought me out here to kill me. But the President has been a desperate man lately…

He pulls out a long, slender box. Ian relaxes and my mouth drops open and Coriolanus pulls it open and shows it to the crowd, but he is facing me as he speaks into the microphone.

"In honor of my love for you Analeigh, my wife of nineteen years and the most beautiful woman in all of Panem, I have this diamond bracelet to give to you. It will never be as stunning as you are, but hopefully every time you look at it, you will be reminded of my feelings for you."

I stand up amidst the roaring applause of the crowd as my husband walks towards me. He slips it on my wrist and I can't help but gaze in awe at the bracelet. It is full of light blue diamonds, almost the same color as my eyes. It catches every ray of the sun and sparkles with every movement. It is the most stunning piece of jewelry I have ever seen.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"It has an inscription on the inside," Coriolanus smiled.

I eagerly flip the band over. The back is white gold, and the etchings are hard to read against the glare of the reflecting sun. I lean in to get a better look and finally see the cursive writing…I am always with you.

I feel my cheeks flush, not from the cold but from something I had yet to feel in my time of being a rebel. Fear. What could be a simple expression of love for anyone else meant something completely different to me. It was a threat.

I look up at Coriolanus, my eyes full of my emotions. He has hold of my other hand and pats it gently, a smile so warm and caring but his eyes incredibly calculating and emotionless. "Oh, darling, you thought I didn't know." He laughs slightly before turning back to the crowd, lifting our clasped hands to the applause. I smile weakly and wave, trying to bury my anxiety. But as soon as the doors of the balcony close behind us and he releases my hand, I rush back to the comfort of my room.