Date: Year 9, August. Eight days after Mags' victory.
Mags tied her golden-brown hair back properly and let her shoulders fall against the wooden rocking-chair. The wind simply didn't seem to stop this year.
The greenish-black tint to the far east sky made Mags scowl, thick disappointment coursing through her veins. Tornadoes. This one would strike inland, where almost no one lived, and was barely more than a strong summer gale, but it was a bitter reminder of Achlys' refusal. Mags had been careful, she'd not just mentioned weather forecasting but given the President the whole list of subjects instead, illustrating very practical, productive and non-threatening applications for all of them. Meteorology and, to her dismay, health and water analysis, had been vetoed 'until we can further discuss them' by the infuriating woman.
Why water analysis and not flares? Flares could have people knowing how to make dynamite and yet Mags had permission to teach it. Was the Capitol afraid they'd learn to make bacterial weapons if they were given tools to determine which zones were toxic and which weren't? Mags had just asked for the sample kits, not the technology behind it.
From her balcony on the cliff, Mags could see the town stretch out below. The animated harbor was full of busy workers and squealing children. Mags tightened her grasp on the thin armrests as she thought of those children splashing in the seawater that had been so terribly polluted during the rebellion. The fish had come back seven years ago, but only some species and in fewer numbers. Fishermen still complained today of bad harvest. The farms hadn't given a good harvest in a decade and there wasn't a sea urchin to be found on any rock. Sea urchins like clean water, and only clean water.
There had to be something they could do to make the waters safer! Who knew what filth had had been eating for the last years? Only the food that went to the Capitol was carefully purged of noxious elements.
Mags coughed, feeling her chest ache, and huffed in annoyance. Her mother had told her to take it easy and Mags was certain she'd been reasonable, yet in the last days she had started feeling exhausted before the sun had even set. Mags had been sleeping eleven hours a day. It was an utter waste of time.
An odd noise made her stand up abruptly. The victor walked up to the balcony rail, tensing as her eyes glimpsed a shadow. Somebody was climbing up from the ground floor. She stared in recognition, her alarm giving way to shock.
Surprise and curiosity shaking her out of her torpor, Mags rushed to give a hand to the auburn-haired girl. Mags' hadn't spoken to the other seventeen-year-old since she had left school, over three years before. What was she doing here?
"Glynn, why are you climbing the wall?"
The twenty foot tall wall of my house, and you could break your neck, was heavily implied.
Glynn readily grasped Mags' hand and climbed over the balustrade. Her face split into an unabashed grin. "Because it's fun, Mags, and I didn't want to miss such an outstanding view of the town."
Mags' lips quirked at Glynn's sheer nerve, for it fit with what she remembered. Glynn had been a memorable fixture in her school years, a bright girl, a shameless know-it-all with a fearsome bluntness that delivered touching compliments as readily as biting insults, but also a big heart. Glynn had not been popular, but neither had she been an outcast. The outspoken girl had never seemed to care what people thought, which did little to dull her brusqueness. She had been the one reading textbooks in a corner or playing boisterous games with the guys, not much of a talker.
She had grown into quite the looker and Mags absently wondered if Glynn had a boyfriend. There were so many former acquaintances Mags occasionally saw in the streets but had no news of...
"I hear you're looking for people to find teachers for your school," Glynn said, enthusiasm lighting her expressive face, "I'm up for it."
Mags stared, stunned someone already had heard. The mayor had not made a public announcement yet and she'd seen him barely three days ago.
"News travel fast," she muttered, trying to guess what Glynn had been up to by observing her slightly calloused hands and well-drawn muscles. Glynn didn't have a swimmer's shoulders like the people who went to pick mollusks on the scattered reefs, but she wore her auburn hair short like a sailor and her arms had the toughness of regular hard work. The small dragon tattoo on her bare shoulder was also a sailor's mark, but Glynn had always worn many bracelets, making her own from the oddest things, so Mags couldn't be certain if it wasn't just pure vanity.
"It's not common knowledge yet, but I've been stalking you," Glynn said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "My brother Jett is friends with the mayor's daughter. I had him invite her over yesterday afternoon."
"Stalking me?" Mags repeated with arched eyebrows. The choice of words left her a little unsettled, Glynn gave her the impression of a cat ready to pounce.
"You could potentially become the most influential person in Four, Mags. It warrants stalking," Glynn said earnestly with her trademark cheerful yet smug smile. "I work flexible hours, so I had the time. Did we get a free pass for meteorology?"
Mags shook her head. "No, we didn't…" She leaned on the balustrade, trying to make sense of the situation. "So you want to go find people for me? Why? You're one of the few people who can afford to pay well to be apprenticed. Both your parents still work, don't they?" Mags said, now worried something had disrupted Glynn's enviable financial situation. Glynn's mother organized weddings and funerals, and was the town's unofficial marriage counselor, and her father was sought out by anyone who needed a boat engine fixed, neither was ever out of work.
"Yes, which is why I have the luxury of doing what I want to do," Glynn replied. "I want to find people for you because I want this academy of yours built, Mags. If I choose the people, I influence the results, and that's important, because it's the best thing that's happened to Four in a decade." She gestured towards the shipyards, where a three mast vessel was being fixed. "I'm to leave with the Swamp Fox before fall sets in, Captain Griffin wants me to draw a new map of the District coasts, all of them. I'll be spending time in every village from here to the border."
Mags nodded, a small smile blooming on her lips as she remembered Glynn's passion for drawing landscapes. The Harbour Master's Offices had been the first buildings to burn when the District had rebelled and most maps had been lost. The Swamp Fox was one of their best ships, maybe the best in town. It would be faster than anything Mags could hope to commandeer on short notice.
"I can also get you information on how things are there and how many people would be prepared to come to live here if it meant learning a good craft," Glynn pursued as Mags made a move to speak.
Mags let her gaze fall on the abandoned desalinization factory, a black spot against the yellow grass just at the edge of town. She smiled again, this time more strongly, warmed someone would be so quick to offer their full support. It seemed too good to be true. Mags eyed the short-haired teen before her, seeing only goodwill and enthusiasm written on her comely face, but she was a little wary to take Glynn at face value. It seemed to her that the auburn-haired girl was trying too hard.
"Glynn, why did you climb my wall?" Mags repeated, not satisfied with the previous answer. Knocking at the door would have done the trick just as well.
Glynn smirked, as if Mags' questions were cute. "To catch you unprepared and not give you time to lie. And the view is magnificent," she added, embracing the scenery with her arms, "Should I spend some time with you and your mother before I leave? Since she used to sell expensive and objectively useless goods, selling teaching positions will be cake."
Mags furrowed her brow as Glynn stepped towards the open glass-door, suddenly recalling why everyone had found the girl pushy. Mags was extremely interested by Glynn's suggestions, but she had barely been able to get a word in and Glynn was already inviting herself in.
Mags new attempt at speech died in her throat as Glynn raised her hand in greeting at the tinted windows, causing a shapely figure to reveal herself by moving. Mags' eyebrows shot to her hairline as she saw her mother step out the door. How long had she been observing them?
"I can teach you how to sell the school," Angelites said, looking a little offended by the objectively useless comment about the tapestries the Peregrine family had woven and sold for generations in District One. The dark-haired woman then folded her arms across her chest. "Stalking, Glynn Corduroy?"
Glynn smiled, as if she was torn between mirth and apology. "People don't dare talk around you, but they talk around me. I think they all will flock to you, hoping to curry your favor and profit from your aura of riches, as soon as they get over the Games. By being quicker, I can make myself essential and make a difference in the District without even having to volunteer in a death match."
Mags bit hard on her teeth, highly bothered by the airy way Glynn phrased her answer. For some reason Glynn left her wanting to justify herself. "And you have no problem with the fact I volunteered?"
Glynn paused this time, her eyes going from the defensive young victor to the frowning mother standing closely behind her, as if prepared to bodily throw herself in front of her daughter would danger rear its head. A flash of frustration crossed Glynn's open features, as if she felt at a loss at how to reassure them of her goodwill. She toyed with her grass-woven bracelets as she carefully chose her words.
"I think it takes both the strong belief you have a destiny and a slight dose of insanity to volunteer," Glynn said, her lips breaking into a wry smile, "whatever you're doing, you're devoted heart and soul to it, Mags. That or you're hopelessly in love with a Capitolite and it was the only way for you two to have a future together, but you don't seem the type."
Mags winced, amusement and indignation warring inside her at Glynn's words. The Games were not a subject to treat lightly, yet Glynn's answer also revealed a touching amount of understanding. Mags found herself leaning back into her mother's soft form, afraid of what the all too straightforward girl would say next.
Glynn laughed softly, looking sorry to see them so tense. "Do your intentions even truly matter as long as we all have houses and jobs? People will stop remembering you for your Games and start thinking of you as the girl who built the academy soon enough." Glynn folded her arms across her chest. "Wasn't that the initial plan anyway?"
Mags stiffened which caused Glynn to roll her eyes. "Mags," she said with a sigh, "you gave the mayor precise instructions on this new academy, that went from the location to the detail of each subject, days after your return. It didn't all come to you in a dream."
"Stop that," Mags suddenly said, feeling assaulted despite the lack of malice in Glynn's words. Mags felt like she'd been pushed on a ride she hadn't signed up for. She lacked the time to think and felt the other was backing her into a corner by sheer force of personality, making everything sound much too straightforward.
Glynn remained silent and turned her eyes on the town below, awe glittering in her almond eyes.
Mags tried to put some order in everything the auburn-haired teen had told her. It was obvious Glynn had thought things through and was motivated, but…. Mags grasped the hand her mother had laid on her shoulder and threw her a questioning glance. The woman nodded to indicate she had no objections, although her brow remained furrowed at Glynn.
"I'd really like your help," Mags finally said, "What's your long term plan? Do you want to teach?"
Glynn cocked her head to the side, her eyes distant as she seemed to lose herself in possible futures. "I'd love to try it out," she said with a thoughtful smile. "I'm not sure what I want my job to be, but I like to change and interact with different people, so your academy sounds like a delightful sandbox."
"Mags will have authority over you," Angelites said, a note of warning in her voice.
Mags flashed her mother another glance, realizing she wasn't the only one who found Glynn destabilizing. The intent girl was much too comfortable with them for an ex-classmate and brought up sensitive subjects as if they were as mundane as the weather. A part of Mags was saddened by Glynn's attitude, because the girl was clever, practical and meant well, but because of her attitude, she had less friends than she deserved.
Glynn was too slow to conceal her smile properly behind her hand. She then nodded, growing much more serious. "Mrs. Abalone, I think you've taken people's walled off attitudes too personally. Those who say that upgrading our standard of living is eating from Achlys' hand aren't thinking. The Capitol already has a surplus of wealth. Their greed for more will open the gates to a more decent life for us. I'm here, on your balcony, because I can see Mags is doing this because she believes in it, not to get rid of money she feels guilty to own." Glynn turned to Mags, "call me uncaring, but what you did in the Games is between you and your conscience. I doubt you'll be going on a killing spree anytime soon, so you're no danger to me. What I want is a good specialist school where I can learn something."
Mags had winced at the comment on money and paled at the casual mention of a killing spree. The worse was that her intellect was telling her that Glynn had given her a compliment, but the way it was delivered made Mags feel exposed and vulnerable.
Her mother's hand tightened on her shoulder. "You're going to need tact to win people over, Glynn," she said tartly.
The lasts hints of a smile vanished entirely from Glynn's face. "Killing spree," she repeated without a trace of mirth, making Mags wince once more.
Glynn's face darkened with grim compassion. "You have no bags under your eyes Mags. Some say you're not affected by what's happened. I'd tell you to stop the sleeping pills for a couple of nights to prove to yourself the nightmares won't cripple you as much as you may fear."
"What do you know of nightmares?" Angelites cut in through gritted teeth, a strong protective ring entering her voice. "Don't you dare make my daughter feel like she's being weak for allowing herself to heal!"
Mags swallowed, her eyes on her own feet as shame filled her. People had noticed that she was taking pills? Had she started relying on the drugs too much?
"I'm not even implying it, Mrs. Abalone. People who recovered from a broken leg have to learn to walk again," Glynn replied without so much as blinking. "It's painful but necessary and waiting isn't a good idea. You're not a bad mother for having let her volunteer. You raised a hero, Mrs. Abalone." An excited smile split Glynn's lips. "I can't even believe it, myself! Things are going to change for the better for the first time since I can remember, because of this family." Glynn's eyes locked with Mags'. "Well done," she said softly, and Mags could see there was not one ounce of levity in those words.
Mags was speechless. She couldn't believe how presumptuous Glynn, barely an acquaintance, was being. Glynn had plunged ungloved hands in her mother's raw wound, bringing to light her fears with an ease that was insulting, and slapped on a bandage. Angelites had flushed, her dark eyes a swirl of surfacing emotions and Mags truly thought her mother would strike Glynn, not out of anger, but like prey backed into a corner.
"Somebody needed to tell you," Glynn said with a small genuine smile, her hazel eyes now sad. "I can be polite, tactful and flattering. But you're smart enough that it'd be a waste of effort. If I cross a line, shout at me, I'll get the message." Her lips curled into a smirk. "You'd have to truly want it to actually offend me."
That Mags didn't doubt. Glynn was incredibly thick-skinned.
Glynn paused, receiving only silence in answer and finally raised her hand in greeting. "I won't overstay my welcome," she declared, "You can have Esperanza give Jett a message when you've made your decision. Or hang your white sheets to dry out the window if you want it to be confidential," she said with a cheeky smile, "I'll be sailing off by mid September. Have a nice day."
Mags dumbly watched the short-haired girl climb down the balustrade, still too overwhelmed to speak.
Angelites breathed in, a tear escaping her eyes. She straightened her clothes, almost tearing them from the force of her grip. Mags put her hands over her mother's white knuckles. Something in her unraveled at the sight of tears from the woman who had given birth to her. It was one of those things that went against the established order, that should not ever happen. Mags swallowed back her own tears, scrambling for something to say.
"Tell me," Angelites said, her lips trembling, "does Glynn realize what she says?"
A hoarse chuckle escape Mags' lips. She now remembered why people with problems had fled Glynn like the plague. Mags couldn't get over the comment on the sleeping pills. She took a shaky breath. "Glynn believes that confronting everything head on is the way to go. Sometimes, she has no boundaries…. She never cared that people resented her advice, but she was thirteen back when I knew her best," Mags allowed. "Glynn has no humility," Mags muttered, her eyes on the fit figure jogging down the cliff, "but she wants to help and I remember her as a perfectionist who kept her word. She's smart and completely under-challenged right now. I don't think we'll regret her, Mama."
Angelites nodded, her expression still far from serene. "I think Glynn is sincere and safe too." The woman wrapped an arm tightly around her daughter's shoulders and led her back inside the house. "But don't let yourself be trapped by cheerful people who ask you 'small' favors, Mags. Such people make you feel great at first, but they're leeches. It's better to struggle to patch up your friendships but have something solid. Glynn wants to be a partner, not a friend." The woman exhaled, as if recovering from a blow. "And teach her that problems can't all be handled like infections to pierce and drain. She can't… she's exhausting. How long was she here, ten minutes?" Angelites gave a bewildered chuckle. "Her mother is the smoothest person I know. Who is this child?"
Mags was suddenly torn between the desire to hug her mother, to repeat what Glynn had said, to tell her to be proud and that she had no reason to be guilty, and a fierce urge to defend her former classmate.
You raised a hero.
Glynn had come to Mags when everyone else avoided her. She'd come to commit herself to the project Mags had risked her life for and was just asking in return what Mags had been already prepared to give. Complaining about Glynn was making Mags feel disgustingly ungrateful.
Mags turned to her shaken mother and put her arms around her. For the first time, the young woman was keenly aware that she was almost as tall as her mother. The thought sent a shiver up her body. Was this the strongest she would ever be? Somehow Mags had always held to the belief that one day she'd become adult and be suddenly more equipped to handle reality. She now realized there would be no metamorphosis. She had to build herself brick by brick. She took a deep breath, inhaling her mother's sweet perfume, and let the familiar scent soothe her.
"She was right, Mama," Mags whispered, "It took as much bravery on your part to let me go as it took me to not give up. I decided this was worth taking the chance you'd mourn me, that Esperanza would mourn me, but I still did it. I won, and it'll pay off a hundredfold."
The strained smile she received as her mother caressed her face filled her with warmth and hope. Maybe being strong would not be so impossible.
"I'll prepare our very own brand of propaganda," Angelites vowed, "You'll have so many people wanting to be here that this will become a full-blown city."
Mags stood on the pier of the secondary harbor, a mile away from the edge of town, where sound bounced off the cliffs and made it possible for her to address the twenty-six hundred assembled people without a microphone.
Every fragment of speech she had prepared had exited her mind as she stepped on the rocks next to the mayor. Her throat was so constricted she feared only a squawk would exit her mouth. A hand squeezed her arm. Clad in a tight fitting dress covering her from neck to ankle, her mother made a convincing bodyguard. The shapely woman had the air of someone not even a storm would unbalance. Esperanza was close behind, clutching her hands together nervously and looking extremely curious by what Mags would say.
You can do this, Big Sis, the twelve year old mouthed with a smile of encouragement.
Mags opened her mouth when she realized the only sound she could hear was the crash of the waves and the beating of her own heart.
"I waited so long to speak out because I didn't want to give the wrong message," she began, speaking slowly not to stutter, "and then I realized I was trying too hard and that something too carefully worded would be fake." Mags swallowed, feeling intimidated by all those staring eyes and grim faces judging her. She had caught a glimpse of Marlin and Dylana minutes before but now had lost them in the crowd. "The real question isn't why I volunteered," she said more forcefully. "After all, if it's for rebellious reasons, I'd lie for my own safety. If I tell you to work with the Capitol for the greater good of all, I will only convince those who are already convinced," or at least she hoped. "The real question is what does my presence here mean? How does it change things?" Mags swept the audience with her eyes, now sure of what she would say next and confident that words that resonated so deeply inside her would not be scoffed away by her district.
"I want everyone in Four to wake up in their own homes in the morning and have a job they can feel proud about. I want to invest in District Four. We are the sea district, and yet we have grown afraid of sharp submerged reefs and deep seas. We can't repair our ships well and we haven't built any in ages." Mags raised her voice as some people began to mutter angrily, knowing they grumbled that it wasn't their faults. "And now we can change that and everyone will gain," she ground out forcefully, "Poverty breeds discontent, which the President has a great distaste for. The Capitol wants us happy," and docile and ignorant, "it's no trick," she promised, aware she struggled to believe that herself, "and almost everything will be overseen by citizen of District Four." Mags breathed in deeply, feeling her previous stress slowly ebb away. "A month ago, I had no job, few prospects, and like an acquaintance said, maybe I did trust my guardian angel a little too much, and maybe I am insane, but I will do my best."
And her best had better be enough.
Mags was suddenly exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home. "I want to raise my children in a District I am proud of," she said, turning her eyes on the calm sea. If only she had the same ability to endure.
Somebody in the crowd clapped. Mags couldn't see who, if it was Marlin, Dylana, maybe Glynn, or someone she barely knew by sight, but when the clapping started, it rippled across the crowd, echoing in various places, brief, discontinuous and sometimes shy, but sincere.
Mayor Bream stepped forward with a tight-lipped approving smile. "That was very clear, Mags. I think we'll work tremendously well together. Thank you, you can go home."
Mags grinned back ruefully.
"Excuse me! I'm sorry. Please let me through. Excuse me!"
Mags turned towards the agitated speaker, dreading any questions. She hoped he would be the only one. She could already see her mother's eyes flare up in warning.
"The recaps, they're missing bits," the flushed man said as he pushed through the crowd. "Lots of bits. D… Delphin, did he say…" the man stuttered, as if failing to find the right word, "anything?" He turned pleading blue eyes towards Mags. "You were together for days in the Capitol. We just saw interviews."
Mags' fear dissolved at the nature of the question, replaced by a much deeper sense of sorrow. "Walk me home, Mr. Vega. I'll tell you what I remember," she promised. Wariness constricted her chest. Delphin had lived much farther up the coast, when had his parents arrived? Why had they made the trip? What did they hope from her? She doubted she would ever dull their pain.
Mags still wasn't sure whether she was grateful to Glynn or wanted to strike her. She'd dreamed of Fife and Constantine, with Lila, Sylvan and Keane in the background. There had been no blood or screams, no harsh words or shed , the three of them had just talked, like old friends, making plans for the future, casually touching and laughing. Fife had been on Constantine's knees and Mags had even caught herself thinking she was glad he was over Teal.
Mags had then woken up, and remembered that of them all, only she still had a future. She'd been so depressed that she'd made her sister cry.
"The speech went well," Esperanza said with a tentative smile as the crowd began to disperse. "I thought you would faint. You could have done that days ago."
"No," Mags said, digging her feet into the sand, "I still had to sort it out. As long -" A dry cough wracked Mags' lungs and she paused, forcing herself to calm down and speak slower. "As long as I wasn't sure it had been worth it, I couldn't convince anyone else," she said.
Esperanza lowered her gaze, looking thoughtful. She spoke up again after a short pause, her wide eyes hopeful. "Can I stay while you talk about Delphin?"
"Of course," Mags replied, "just keep any questions for later."
Esperanza nodded seriously before latching onto her sister's arm.
"May I too, or were there embarrassing sexual undertones involved?"
Mags glared at her mother, but a part of her was thrilled that the woman was starting to joke about the softer parts of the Games. It didn't make them any less serious, but it gave her hope that the Games would become one day something of the past.
"No sexual undertones, Mama," she whispered, waiting for Mr. Vega to catch up with them. The sandy-haired woman by his side was a sucker punch to Mags' stomach. Nightmares were etched in her drawn skin and she walked like every step could be her last. Her painful thinness was not one of hunger.
Mags shivered and looked down, unable to keep her eyes on Mrs. Vega. This was what her own mother might have become had she lost. This was the risk Mags had taken. It was terrifying.
She tightly grasped her mother's hand.
I don't want to introduce too many new characters, but Glynn and a few others will have a big role to play. Mr. and Mrs. Vega won't be appearing again (unless I change my mind) because I need the story moving on quickly enough to cover all of Mags' life in a decent sized book (so basically centering over a half dozen relevant time-periods/events). Important sub-plot coming ahead as District Four adapts to having a victor.
Please review.