She'd done nothing for another two days. No one spoke to her. She'd called out, she'd pleaded, but she was ignored. The nurses didn't even look directly at her.

All she'd been able to do was watch as they continued to pump sedatives into Peeta, keeping him asleep and her alone.

It was after these two days that Snow returned.

"Please," Taiya's voice shook as soon as he sat down. "Please take these off," she begged, gesturing to the cuffs that kept her tied to the bed.

Snow watched her for a moment before he nodded at a nearby nurse and she rushed forward to remove the cuffs from Taiya's limbs.

"Thank you," Taiya rubbed at her wrists before she sat up in bed and looked nervously over at Snow. What could he want now?

"Miss Ambersnow," Snow smiled at her. "I've brought you a change of clothes," he gestured to an avox who lay a white dress down on a chair in front of Taiya. "Nothing says perfection like white," he continued to smile at her.

"A dress?" Taiya reached out to touch the silky material.

"It will suit you quite nicely."

"Why do I need a dress?" Taiya asked nervously.

"I have a problem," Snow leaned forward. "And I believe you can help me. You're officially being reassigned, my dear."

Taiya's heart stopped.

"No," she breathed.

"Yes," Snow nodded. "Although this one will be different," he smiled. "A Capitol citizen has started asking questions. Questions I don't want to be asked. But his death would be hard to play off as inconspicuous for the moment, it's not the right time. He's easily distracted and the allure of you should keep him occupied for a while. He's already purchased the company of a companion of yours. And now he's purchased you, my dear Miss Ambersnow."

Taiya shook her head rapidly. "No. I won't do it," she refused, her hands shaking violently.

"You will," Snow leaned back in his seat to look at Peeta before he tapped the boy's leg. "You have people relying on you," he threatened. "Don't end up alone like your friend from 7," he threatened before standing up. "You leave in an hour."

Taiya couldn't stop the short raspy breaths that shook through her chest as the Peacekeepers escorted her to her buyer's apartment.

She'd been done up by a new hair and makeup team and looked as good as new in her white dress. She'd been injected in her ankle with a strong painkiller so she could walk on it. The Capitol doctors had declined to heal it fully. It'd be harder for her to attack anyone when she could barely walk.

The elevator doors opened and Taiya stumbled out after being pushed by a Peacekeeper. She'd never been in this building before, but it screamed money. She was prodded by the Peacekeeper one more time before she continued walking. There was only one door on this floor.

One Peacekeeper stepped forward to knock before returning to his position behind her.

Taiya could hear the footsteps behind the door. With every step, her fear grew stronger.

The door slowly opened to reveal someone who immediately turned that fear into rage.

Romulus Crane.

It took everything in her not to attack him in front of the Peacekeepers, but she knew she'd have a better chance when they were alone and there were no Peacekeepers to stop her.

"Oh, thank you," Romulus grinned as he looked between the Peacekeepers.

"We'll wait out front," the Peacekeeper informed. "As discussed with the President, you can have her as long as you want. Send her down when you're done."

"Amazing," Romulus smiled, opening his arm and gesturing for her to come inside. But Taiya made no move to go. Not until the same Peacekeeper pushed her again and she stumbled into the doorway, unable to maintain balance on her ankle. "Hello there," Romulus smirked at her before closing the door with a slam.

Taiya was quick, but Romulus was quicker. It was like he knew exactly what she was going to do. He'd made his first move before the door fully closed.

He slammed his hand against her mouth and pushed her body against the wall, pressing his foot against her bad ankle, the pain of which made her knee give out, leaving her being held up only by Romulus.

"Shhh," he hushed. "Shh, trust me," he immediately instructed. He awkwardly shuffled their bodies and looked through his peephole on the door. "They're still there," he muttered quietly. "Look," he turned to look at her. "I need you to trust me ok? I'm going to remove my hand, you're not going to attack me, but I need you to scream."

Taiya tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what was going on.

"I need you to scream," Romulus snapped.

Taiya nodded, maintaining her icy glare. Slowly Romulus removed his hand from her mouth and let out a loud scream. Romulus let it continue for a moment before he slammed his hand back over her mouth, muffling the sound.

He then peered back out the peephole. "They're leaving," he sighed as he turned back to Taiya. "I'm going to let you go now, don't do anything stupid," he warned, releasing her and stepping back with his hands raised in the air.

"What the hell are you doing you asshole!" Taiya yelled at him.

"You're being too loud," Romulus shook his hands, trying to get her to quieten down.

"Oh! That's a problem is it you sick fuck! You bought me!"

"It's not like that," Romulus sighed.

"Oh, it's not like that? It's not like that? Care to explain then you psychotic monster!?"

"I didn't buy you for sex," Romulus groaned. "Taiya, you were engaged to my brother for years! I thought you were going to be my sister, trust me, I'm not interested in doing that with you!"

"Then what the hell is this?" Taiya stormed closer to him.

"I'm just trying to help you out!" Romulus yelled back.

"What are you talking about Rommy?"

"If you'd give me a minute to explain without yelling at me! I'm going to remember this attitude next time I try to help you," he snapped back.

"How is this helping me? Buying me to be a prostitute!"

"I don't want to have sex with you!" he yelled at her.

They both stared at each other, huffing with anger when his eyes moved towards something else. A creak echoed through the hallway as someone shifted their body weight.

Taiya turned around to look at who it was. And she saw red. She turned back to Romulus and lunged, tackling her old friend to the floor. She heard the thundering footsteps coming up from behind her. Brilliant, this was their chance to fight back. Taiya clasped her hands around Romulus' throat, but the last thing she expected was for arms to wrap around her body, in an attempt to pull her off the Capitolite.

"Ankle, ankle," Romulus croaked and the hands released Taiya.

Shortly after, Taiya let out a yelp as a hand squeezed her bad ankle, and in response, Taiya released her hold on Romulus.

"You're a psycho, you know that right?" Kenna huffed as she helped Romulus off the ground and stood next to him as they both looked down at Taiya.

"Good tip to grab her before the door closed. The moment it slammed was when she made a move but I already had her," Romulus straightened his jacket.

"What the hell is going on?" Taiya groaned as she grasped at her ankle.

"Just calm down," Romulus tried to placate her, but she just glared up at him.

"Can you help her to the couch?" Kenna asked, touching Romulus' forearm.

"Yeah," he nodded, leaning down to wrap his arm around her before walking her quickly over to the couch, letting her sit on a more comfortable surface.

"What's happening? Why are you here?" Taiya asked Kenna, her eyes darting nervously around the room.

"As soon as Katniss let her arrow fly in the Games all the video cut out. We all got sent to our homes and the District was in lockdown for the night."

"It happened to all districts," Romulus added, before falling silent as Taiya glared at him.

"I was staying with Mags. I've been helping her and Annie out since you all left. The Peacekeepers burst in," she glanced at Romulus. "They took us all. Transported us to the Capitol."

"Mags and Annie are here too?" Taiya's eyes widened.

"They're in the tribute centre with you," Kenna explained. "Surprised you haven't seen them."

"I haven't seen anyone," Taiya breathed. "What's happening?"

"Well," Kenna glanced sideways at Romulus. "Rom heard a bit about what was happening. He heard I was stuck in the Capitol. Taiya… what goes on here… I had no idea. I was so confused when the Peacekeepers told me what Rom bought me for."

"It wasn't for that," Romulus immediately interjected. "I bought her because I heard Lucius talking about buying the victor and her friend as a package deal. I had no idea what went on here either, but it all makes so much more sense," he stressfully ran a hand through his hair. "I bought her and you to save you both from Lucius. I paid a hell of a lot to get Snow to promise I'd have exclusive rights to you, that way he won't sell you to anyone else. I'm keeping Kenna here with me full time, Snow didn't want her. But he said I can only have you twice a week. I'm sorry it's the best I can do. But I figured you could use your time here to rest without being worried."

"You bought us to keep us safe?" Taiya's voice shook.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Tay," Kenna leant down in front of her and took her hand. "What Snow is selling you to do… has he sold you like that before?"

Taiya glanced up at Romulus, she didn't know how much he knew regarding her and his brother, but she shook her head.

"What about Finnick?"

Taiya's lip started quivering and Kenna's eyes widened. "Oh my god," she breathed. All the Capitol gossip made sense to her now. She'd seen all the Caesar Flickerman specials on Finnick's 'latest squeeze' and it'd never made sense to her. She'd seen how whipped that boy was by Taiya, there's no way he had Capitol lovers. "What about Seneca then?" she asked.

Taiya let out a sob as she looked at Romulus. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt him I swear. Snow made me be with him, I had to control him and tell him to make the decisions Snow wanted when it came to the Games. When he broke away, Snow killed him," she cried, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Oh my god," Romulus gasped, dropping his head in his hands as everything that happened started to link up for him.

"I've been with Finnick since I was 16! I had to lie to Seneca for years! I'm so sorry," Taiya cried as Kenna pulled her in for a hug.

Kenna and Romulus met eyes, all the suspicious behaviour of their loved ones over the years suddenly made sense. The unspoken horrors they'd gone through…

"My brother knew?" Romulus asked.

"Not in the beginning," Taiya shook her head as she pulled out of Kenna's hold. "But in the end, he knew. He knew everything. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Romulus denied.

"Did you see what happened to Finnick?" Taiya asked them. "Snow said he left me. He wouldn't do that, he'd never leave me."

"All we know is that he's with the 'radicals'," Kenna mocked the word. "I'm sorry sweetie. We're as much in the dark as you. They keep telling Panem they're waiting for the rescued victors to recover and make a statement together before any more information is given."

"But they're keeping us sedated," Taiya pointed out. "They don't want us all awake."

"They don't want you awake until they've crafted the perfect statement," Romulus nodded. "One that will placate the Districts and implicate the rebels. They woke you up to bring you here."

"Johanna's awake," Taiya whispered before looking at Kenna. "I heard her scream."

Kenna gasped as she immediately pulled Taiya's head into her chest to comfort her.

"Taiya, I'm here to help ok. Twice a week you can come here. You tell me what you need and I'll help you. You need rest, you sleep in the bedroom. You need food, I'll get you food. I just need you to tell anyone that asks… tell them I did what I'm paying for," he swallowed in disgust.

Taiya just nodded.

"Do you need anything now?" Romulus asked.

"Food," Taiya croaked. "I haven't had food since I woke up two days ago."

"Food," Romulus nodded. "I'm on it. Are you good with her?" he asked Kenna.

"I've got it," she nodded before Romulus left the room.

"Snow said Finnick left me."

"Oh please," Kenna scoffed as she released Taiya's head and pulled her back so she could look into her eyes. "Finnick would never leave you. Don't listen to that rubbish. Finnick would literally follow you to the ends of the earth. After what I know now, after what you've both been through, Taiya, I swear to you. He'd never leave you. Never."

"He didn't come back for me," Taiya's voice shook.

"Tay, hey!" Kenna shook the girl. "He didn't leave you. Don't listen to that rubbish. Whatever happens next, hold onto that. Hold onto the fact that you love him. He loves you. That will never change."

Taiya hesitated, but she nodded. She trusted Kenna. And she needed a favour.

"I need you to hit me."

"What? Are you crazy!"

"Snow knows. He's testing Romulus. He knows I'd never willingly sleep with Romulus, not without a fight. Rommy is too kind to hit me. I need you to do it. We have to sell it to Snow otherwise he'll kill Rommy. So I need you to hit me. Somewhere obvious. Here," Taiya pointed to her cheekbone. "That way he'll know Romulus is loyal to the Capitol and not to me.

"I'm not hitting you," Kenna shook her head.

"Don't make Rommy do it," Taiya pleaded. "Please Ken, please. He's helping us, don't put him in danger. He's my best chance of getting truthful information about Finn. And besides, he's my friend. I can tell you like him too. Please."

Kenna nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to do it, but Taiya was right. This first visit was a test. They had to prove Romulus was loyal to the Capitol cause. Asserting power over District citizens, even victors, was one sure way to prove you valued the Capitol over all else. That was what they had to make Snow believe, or this play would be over before it began.