Gold
It was the second night Haymitch spent in Effie's bed. Only the second night, and yet it seemed as if she had already gotten used to his presence next to her. Half asleep, she reached out to him, as if she needed to make sure she really wasn't alone. For him, it was the exact opposite. Lying here, waiting for the sun to rise behind the glittering rooftops, felt strange and wrong. And yet a part of him enjoyed it.
It was a simple arrangement. A new arrangement. An extension of their original agreement, with sex probably being part of the first. It hadn't just been a one-time thing. Even without alcohol, it seemed to Haymitch that this was the best way for Effie to let out all her pent-up emotions. He had never experienced anyone so fierce and passionate. She was the exact opposite of him. Maybe that was exactly what drew him to all of this: the chance to forget his own world.
Haymitch wanted to say that the sex was the best part of the arrangement. That would have been the easiest answer. But he couldn't deny that there was something peaceful, something idyllic about lying in bed next to Effie, listening to her steady breathing, feeling her steady body heat while night slowly gave way to day in the city. There was a calm that surrounded him in those early hours. A calm in his chest that relaxed him. So different from the chaos he usually felt. It was the main reason he had stayed again at the end of the next day, after she had asked him to.
It was now the eighth day of the Hunger Games. Ramon's death had already been over twenty-four hours ago. A whole day in the sponsors' lounge, during which Effie and Haymitch had had to pretend that the death of their male tribute didn't affect them. During which they had had to endure the sometimes amused expressions of condolence without opening their mouths, without letting a rude word pass their tongues. To keep up appearances. To avoid causing bad blood. Because there was still a girl in the race. There was still Elowen, for whom they had to give everything. So they had played along, as they had been expected to.
Although all the flattery had of course been useless. After Ramon's death, only nine of the Top Ten remained. Most of the sponsors had already made their decision and those who hadn't yet, had no interest in Elowen. Little Elowen, who had survived so long and even killed a boy. Who just kept gathering berries and nuts and spent most of her time in trees. She was better off than some of the other tributes in the arena.
Day eight of the Hunger Games was truly not worth mentioning. In the arena, the female tribute from District 3 had to bite the dust after crossing paths with the boy from 7 while foraging. Her District partner, with whom she had maintained an alliance, had been too far away to help and, in the face of uncertain danger, had made a run for it. The tribute from 7 hadn't even bothered to follow his trail, as he had only been interested in the girl's backpack with dried meat. Hunger Games.
When you thought about the fact that the Capitol only thirsted for the most brutal death, they should have given the whole spectacle a different name. Haymitch thought Killer Games was much more fitting.
But not much had happened outside the arena either. The interviews of the living tributes had been broadcast on television. Elowen's mother hadn't made a particularly friendly impression, even though she had exchanged a few sentences with the reporter. More than Haymitch had expected of District 12, even though the interview had made it abundantly clear that she didn't believe her daughter would survive and was hoping for a merciful death. A fact that hadn't exactly helped Effie to lift her sad mood. Or to sell Elowen credibly to sponsors. Today they had to achieve more. With every dead tribute, it would become more difficult to support Elowen.
Absently, Haymitch stared out of the window. The sky was still a deep blue, but the moon had already disappeared behind the mountains. The first shades of orange were visible on the distant horizon. And precisely because the sun had already made its first appearance, Haymitch was glad to be able to lie here in bed. Glad that he still had a few hours before he had to get up and face this next unbearable day.
A sigh escaped Haymitch's lips, and he folded his arms over his chest as he tilted his head back and rested it on the wooden headboard. Technically, he wasn't lying in bed, but sitting, his back against the headboard and only his legs under the thin covers. When he was here in Effie's room, he wasn't sleeping anyway. He hardly slept in his own room as it was. And falling asleep here, with Effie next to him within reach ... something he couldn't risk with the vivid nightmares that plagued him.
Effie's body moved next to him. First her body twitched, then after a long pause she turned towards him. Nothing unusual. As it turned out, Effie was a restless sleeper. Haymitch put it down to the Hunger Games. If she wasn't already plagued by nightmares of her own, they would catch up with her sooner or later.
Effie continued to move, stretching out her arms, which surprised him. "Haymitch?" she whispered, no sign of tiredness in her voice. Instead, there was a fragility, as if she had to pull herself together to be able to breathe evenly.
Haymitch nodded, because the city gave off enough light to make out his silhouette. He thought of the way her body had twitched and wondered if she had actually woken up from a dream. The question was answered when she grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward her. He had time for a single breath before her mouth was on his; before her fingers stroked southward across his chest.
And so, the first rays of the late night – or early morning – faded into the background with a breath; blurred at the edge of Haymitch's vision as Effie's body merged with his.
oOo
The sponsors' lounge was crowded. With so few tributes left, people were starting to get agitated. It helped that the Careers were hot on the heels of their next victim. The inevitable death was expected in the next few hours. Crowded enough that Effie had hoped to avoid the man who had caught her eye as she had entered this morning.
Caius Canville. Dressed up in a tailored black suit, its gilded ornaments shimmering and sparkling in the neon light, whether seen from the corner of her eye or in direct view. No matter where she was, he simply refused to disappear from her vision. As if he wanted to remind her over and over that he was here; that he was waiting.
Effie knew, of course, that she could not simply avoid Caius. Not after her sister Aurelia had explicitly stated her intentions with the rising politician a few months ago. A dream for every mother, and Lyssandra Trinket had certainly not held back her pride. Caius might not be as elite as Seneca, but he was high enough on the food chain to belong to the elite. He came from a family of politicians, all of whom held high offices. His father was part of the president's inner circle and was thus almost as untouchable as the mysterious Snow himself. And wealthy. So one could easily overlook the numerous affairs of the future son-in-law.
Caius Canville, who was officially engaged for several weeks now, showed no sign of this restrictive fact. He moved lightly through the crowd, graceful as always, flashing his dazzling white smile at the ladies while the crowd parted for him as if he were a god. The engaged bachelor. The ground he walked on was revered by women of all ages. A bubble that Effie didn't want to penetrate, a place to which she didn't want to belong. A part of her wondered why Caius had chosen her sister of all the women he could have had. Not that she wasn't a model example of a loyal, dutiful wife. But one only needed to cast a fleeting glance at Caius at an event like this to know that his interests lay elsewhere.
Effie stared and stared, deep in thought. Not realizing that Caius had noticed her attention. Although her eyes were on him, they didn't follow him as he broke away from a conversation with a young girl and strutted over to her with a springy gait.
"Effie!" Caius called amused, his voice sweet as honey. His hand came to rest gently on her shoulder, and they exchanged air kisses before Effie had fully come back to the present. "I have been waiting for you to come over and say hello."
"Caius," Effie replied, too proud to reveal that she was uncomfortable with her staring. "On days like this I am very busy, as I am sure you know."
"Certainly." Caius's lips curled into a mischievous grin, and he ran his hand through his dark brown hair before sipping his champagne. "Things are going pretty well for you. Or rather, were. Unfortunately, your ace in the hole fell victim to the Golden Girl."
Something in Effie's stomach tightened at Caius's words. On the outside, she maintained her steadfast attitude. Head held high and smiled. "My male tribute may be dead, but Twelve is still in the race. I believe we have a chance."
Caius tilted his head and his umber eyes searched Effie's face. "I may spend most of my time partying, but do not forget who I am," he replied now, a trace of seriousness in it. This was one of the strange sides of Caius that Effie never understood. Instead of hiding his misdeeds from her just as he did from Aurelia and the rest of the Trinkets, he always told her the truth. Effie didn't know what he saw in her to not withhold these things from her. Or why he didn't bother to use the artificial Capitol dialect with her. "As a politician, you have to be able to read people's faces if you want to be successful. Especially the faces of people who hide their emotions behind a facade of lies."
"They are not lies," Effie replied coolly, helping herself to the champagne that an Avox was offering them at that very moment. The bubbling alcohol didn't help to ease the fear in her midst, but it did suppress the trembling that threatened to build up. A trembling that hadn't completely stopped since Ramon's death. "I truly believe that my girl can win. Maybe not directly with a weapon, but there are plenty of other ways to outdo the other tributes."
"Oh, Effie." Caius sighed theatrically, but when Effie met his pupils, she found neither the amusement nor disapproval she had expected. Instead, pity. Barely visible, but there, nonetheless. "Firmly believing a lie does not make it any less of a lie."
Heat rushed through Effie's body. Fear and anger at the same time. But this wasn't Haymitch, with whom she could share her feelings; who would understand her. And even though Caius apparently knew more about this world of the Hunger Games than it seemed, she knew that his pity was for her naivety. Not for the dying children or her feelings toward the tributes.
Effie would not have known how to respond to Caius's words. There was nothing she could say to him. The confused voices of the people around her, suddenly rising like a unified choir, gave her an excuse to turn away from Caius. Towards the screens broadcasting the arena. And for the first time, she was glad to be part of this crowd; to be able to act as part of it; to be able to hide in its actions. Even if the last time this euphoria had taken hold of the sponsors' lounge, Ramon had paid with his life.
The cameras were focused on the boy from District 3, who had been pursued by the Careers for some time. Only now, he was no longer wandering around obliviously but was perched on a tree with his spear, hiding in the canopy. Meanwhile, the four remaining Career tributes walked right past him.
"It seems our dear Dell from District Three is one step ahead of Cashmere and her team," Caesar Flickerman remarked almost casually. "Aside from being the oldest tribute at eighteen, he is also one of the biggest this year. Something that should not be underestimated. Especially considering that the anger over the death of his District partner yesterday is still quite fresh."
District 3 was rarely part of the Career tributes, but they often stayed in the Game just as long. Both tributes had made a good haul at the Cornucopia this year. They had announced their alliance during the interviews. An alliance that had ended yesterday with the girl's death. Whether anger was involved, as Caesar claimed, Effie could not say. The boy from District 7 was responsible for that, not the Careers.
They didn't notice Dell, walking past his hiding place without further notice and followed a false trail that the boy had previously laid. Dell rose from the treetop and balanced the mud-smeared spear in his right hand. Waiting. Until the four tributes were standing exactly where he wanted them. Then he hurled the spear from him and as it hissed through the air, he jumped from the tree, directly towards the Careers.
The cannon fired at the moment the spear pierced the back of the boy from District 2. His body tipped forward, barely touching the ground when Dell already pulled his spear out of him. That was how long it took the remaining Careers to turn on their heels and take in the ambush.
Cashmere lunged forward, her sword drawn, and Magnus followed suit with his own spear. The girl from District 4 didn't react as quickly, further disadvantaged because she had formed the rear guard and was thus directly within Dell's range. She reached for her sword and crouched down to avoid the dirty spear, which was now dripping with blood as well as dirt. Within seconds, the three Careers had surrounded Dell. He must have known from the start that this was a suicide mission. But they had already been on his trail anyway.
Dell fought, his spear almost brown instead of silver in contrast to Magnus's. The staff was long enough to defend himself from several sides at once. It looked like a dance and at first glance seemed more peaceful than one would expect. If one ignored the lifeless body of the male tribute from 2. Steel met steel, sparks flew, metal croaked. It seemed like a rehearsed choreography, as if the children had rehearsed the steps and movements for a long time beforehand.
Then Dell broke out of the choreography. He stabbed in Cashmere's direction, but it was all just a bluff. Because the next moment he crouched down to avoid Magnus's reaction and then lunged at the girl from 4. And as Cashmere stumbled back and Magnus slashed into space, he rammed his spear at her body. She managed to jump to the side, but not fast enough to completely avoid the collision. The tip scraped across her collarbone and up to her shoulder. The girl hissed in pain as the sharp steel slashed her skin. But before Dell could take another step toward her, both Cashmere and Magnus had recovered from their distractions. With his back now defenseless to them, it was easy to strike him down. Almost simultaneously, as if the tributes from District 1 were still performing their synchronized choreography, they stabbed him in the back with sword and spear. The next cannon roared through the jungle.
"Things are happening very quickly!" Caesar shouted, excited and frantic at the same time. He continued to summarize the events. "You just witnessed Dell from District Three first taking out our favorite Wystan from Two, and then engaging in a nerve-wracking battle with Cashmere, Magnus and Kaili. While our dream team from One is fine, Kaili from Four was injured. With that, Districts Two and Three are completely out of the running for this season, sorry dear friends."
In all the noise of the sponsors' lounge, Effie felt small and insignificant. She turned away from the screen, only to find Caius still standing next to her. He was looking at her, watching her. "And that makes six." He smiled in his charming, engaging way that neither warmed nor excited Effie's heart.
"Two less competitors," Effie said coolly, even though she felt everything except cold inside. This death from an ambush, this spear through the back, brought Ramon's images back to the surface. She took a long sip of the now warm champagne.
Caius raised his eyebrows and curled his lips in amusement. "Did you just see that, my dear sister-in-law? That's how this game will end this year. You see how the Career tributes are. Your little girl could hide for the rest of the Games, and she would still lose."
Effie returned his smile discreetly. All the false kindness Caius showed her was thrown right back at him. Like a force field; the stronger the force of the impact, the greater the force of the recoil. "Do you have anything else to say or is your only intention to tease me today, dearest brother-in-law?"
"Do not think for a moment that I am merely talking to you to make you look ridiculous," Caius replied, winking at her. His hand went back to her shoulder and his wiry fingers lingered on her bare skin, which today's burgundy velvet dress offered. "We have not been a family for long, Effie. For the Canvilles, there is nothing more important than that. And you and I, we are a family now. I see it as my duty to support my family wherever I can. That is why I am here."
"To support me?" Effie echoed darkly, suspicion written on her face.
"Oh, you have thought poorly of me from the very first moment!" Caius complained in a feigned downcast voice, pressing his other hand dramatically to his heart. Then his pouting lips broke into another grin. There was something devilish about it. "I have always wanted to be a sponsor!"
Caius's fingers slipped into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a bundle of red bills. A gesture that made the jaws of all the people who had been discreetly observing them drop. No one, and really no one, closed a sponsorship deal like that. No sponsor would just hand over a stack of cash as if it weren't the core of what kept their entire lives running. People boasted about their money, rubbed it in others' faces, but didn't present it this way. This was an affront in so many ways, and Effie would have preferred to sink into the ground. Cash. That was how one paid for drugs and prostitutes and whatever other illegal attractions the Capitol had to offer. But not for a sponsorship deal.
Effie stared at the bills that Caius was holding out to her and felt the tingling sensation in her fingertips, wanting to hit him. His eyes sparkled with amusement while hers could not have been darker. He was paying her like a whore. Because he wanted that exact attention for her. Because while he was doing something good for her with the money, that favor obviously came with another price.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Effie hissed in disgust. She had no choice but to take the money. Refusing it would be ungrateful and arrogant, especially for District 12. Her only consolation was that it wasn't an insignificant sum. "What kind of person carries around so much cash, Caius? Word will get around! You'll get robbed if you keep showing off like that!"
"Just say thank you." Caius grinned, bowed slightly and patted her shoulder one last time. "I merely hope that my sister-in-law will soon be associated with a more pleasant District. But everyone starts small, right?" One last tease before he nodded and walked past her. Already looking for a new adventure.
Only after about twenty meters did Caius turn back to Effie. His intense gaze caught her off guard, widening his grin. "Before I forget, you look truly stunning today," he called out over the roaring crowd, loud enough for heads to turn in their direction again and blew her a kiss. A breath later, Caius had vanished among the people. And this time, the annoying sparkle of his gilded suit disappeared with him.
oOo
"Who was that?" Haymitch asked, leaning against the counter with vodka in his glass as Effie joined him. He had easily followed the scene with that brown-haired man from a distance, thanks to the many others who had wanted to watch them as well. A man who clearly possessed the confidence and charm of the elite; who was so obviously poisoned by the Capitol's throwaway mentality that it should have been oozing from his body's openings, so full of himself was he. The women still threw themselves in his path, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of his world, his lifestyle, his money. Even if it wouldn't last.
A man who had cast a spell on everyone in the room, making them submissive. A spell that seemed to have no effect on Effie alone, no matter how many stimulating smiles and intimate touches he had thrown at her. Her expression had not gone beyond a feigned friendliness and had actually only gotten worse as the conversation progressed. Until he had pressed a wad of money into her hand and the bewilderment and desire for revenge could hardly have been clearer on her face.
Haymitch found it amusing. There were so few who could throw Effie Trinket off track. Effie obviously didn't find it funny.
"A generous member of the family," was all Effie replied.
Haymitch hesitated because this man screamed elite so much that it confused him. The Trinkets weren't elite. Besides, she didn't seem to be particularly fond of this generous family member. Effie waved him off before Haymitch could open his mouth to ask more.
"We have new money, that is all that matters." Although Haymitch could clearly hear that the opposite was probably the case. "Come, I have to go to the deposit office to transfer it to our account."
After they deposited the money, something happened again in the arena.
Kaili, the girl from District 4 who had been hit by Dell's spear before he could be taken down, had contracted an infection. As it turned out, Dell hadn't dirtied his spear without reason; he had used the filth to drag his opponents down to death in the long run. Kaili's wound on her shoulder, which had been treated at the scene, had become inflamed in just a few hours. A blood infection, judging by the black veins under her skin. The fever had already broken out, so violently that she could barely continue to walk. Cashmere, who appeared quite jittery after Dell's ambush, didn't hesitate long. Kaili wouldn't have survived anyway. All Cashmere could offer her ally was a quick, painless death. And so, within two days, only five tributes remained from the original ten. And Elowen was one of them.
Elowen's survival wasn't much cause for celebration. After a few more unsuccessful sponsorship talks, Haymitch and Effie finally headed up to the roof terrace in the evening. The afternoon sunbathed the city in a golden glow, tinted the windows of the neighboring buildings bronze and warmed the copper-colored drinks in their hands faster than they could drink them.
Haymitch leaned his back against the railing of the terrace. A thin pane of glass and a metal frame were all that kept him from free fall. Over the years in the Capitol, he had grown to trust their engineering skills. His silver eyes rested on Effie, who stood beside him, looking out at the shining city. She seemed lost in all the gold. It reflected in her eyes, overlaying the blue of her irises.
Effie had turned her back on people, had given up on the search for sponsors. Talking to the same sponsors every day didn't change the end result of their decisions. There were no free sponsors left. At least none that were interested in District 12. Haymitch understood that; he would have expected nothing else. He wanted to help Elowen, wanted to save her, wanted to bring her home alive. But how? The odds were against them. And although Elowen had done better in the arena than some of the other outsiders, her betting-odds were the worst. Haymitch despised them for that. Despised his powerlessness.
Beside him, Effie was dejected. Because of Ramon. Because of her own powerlessness. She slowly realized how little could actually be changed, once a decision had been made. Her usually bright eyes seemed empty in the past few days. Her once energetic features appeared hopeless. It had become difficult to coax an honest smile from her.
Haymitch sipped his warm alcohol and let his gaze wander over Effie's body. A body that he had almost completely explored, whose paths and curves he knew. She wore a curly, wine-red wig, almost identical to the color of her dress. Only the steel fittings on her shoulders and chest provided a contrast, as did the heavy silver chain around her neck.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Effie, who had noticed his gaze. She leaned her arms on the railing, her glass hovering over the baseless freedom of the depths.
Haymitch was glad that she let herself go a little. That she didn't stand stiffly next to him, like a lady was supposed to behave. He was glad that Effie had stopped this stupid behavior in his presence. Did she feel comfortable around him?
"Do you trust me?" Haymitch asked. Even though they were standing apart from the crowd, he kept his voice low. His tone was unfamiliar to him, as if it wasn't him speaking at all, but someone else. Probably someone he didn't let come to the surface often enough. Someone who benefited from Effie's presence.
Effie turned her head towards him, found his eyes over her shoulder, the emptiness there suddenly wiped away by a gentleness that stung Haymitch's chest. Her dark red lips slowly lifted in a smile, soft and rare and more precious than any money one could have offered him, if he hadn't already had enough of it.
"Of course I trust you, Haymitch," Effie replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. As if it were nothing unusual that Capitols and Districts could coexist together in harmony.
And for a moment, for a brief second, Haymitch tried to imagine just that world where there were no boundaries between the Capitol and the Districts. A world where everyone could be who they wanted, where they wanted, with whom they wanted. A world where the Capitol and the Districts didn't feud, without cruelty and brutality. A world where Effie and he could have been who they wanted. Where they wouldn't have had to draw a line in experimenting, just because nothing beyond could exist. Or was allowed. Haymitch didn't actually know for sure.
The second passed, and Haymitch blinked the illusion away. The budding longing couldn't be easily dismissed. A longing for his family, for a life without loneliness, for a life worth living.
Haymitch stared at Effie and smiled slightly; a ghost of a smile, his head still half in an alternate universe. "I was thinking about District Twelve," he answered her original question. "Summer there. Behind town, everything is full of colorful wildflowers at this time of year. I think you'd like it." Their richness of colors reminds me of you. Or your richness of colors reminds me of them.
Effie's smile grew wider and warmer. "Maybe I will have the chance someday."
They both knew it would never happen. That Effie would see nothing of 12 except for the Town Square and the Victor's Village. Because in this world, they could never share a life, would always fail against the restrictions from above. In this world, there was no life for Haymitch and Effie where more than just experimenting was up for discussion. Considering anything else was thus pure waste of time.
So now there are only six tributes left. Everything is slowly but surely coming to an end. Today there is a guest appearance by Caius, who some of you may already know from Figure It Out. How did you like seeing him in his prime? What did you think of the chapter in general? I hope you liked it.
By the way, on my Pinterest you'll find how I imagine Effie's dress and Caius character in general.
Skyllen