The 'Flower of Panem' or 'The Angel of Mercy', Seraphine Reza is the jewel and pride of Panem. One of their most treasured victors in the history of the Hunger Games and a favorite of President Snow.
While she smiles, comforts and plays her part ev...
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Music filled the ballroom, melody weaving around the guests like a silken thread cocooning them into a sense of bliss.
Children's laughter entwined with the melody as some of the orphans happily ran through the crowd dressed in the best of the donated clothes the matron of the Orphanage could find. A few gave Sera a toothy grin before running off to play.
Sera smiled as she watched them play before turning back to greet the wealthy guests still streaming into the ballroom. "Thank you so much for coming." She repeated the hundredth time as she shook hands with strangers whose faces she couldn't recall.
Behind her, Emilia waited while quietly chatting with her son Mathias, the escort for District 3. He was dressed in a silver and black suit that looked very similar to his mother with long black hair tied with a silver ribbon and half-moon eyes with a deep violet shade that reminded Sera less of his mother but more of her stylist Eos. It was a given that Eos and Mathias would look a little similar, she was his aunt.
Now and then, Emilia would glance over at Sera to check if she was almost done.
"That should be everyone." Emilia said. Her son left her to go talk to some acquaintance of his. "Now you can go enjoy the ball."
Sera rolled her eyes. She was already exhausted yet the night had just begun. Her high heeled shoes dug into the soles of her feet like she was stepping on a bed of nails though she couldn't bring herself to blame Eos.
Beside her, Emilia could only give her covered shoulder a comforting squeeze. She knew the discomfort Sera felt but she couldn't do much.
"Cressida." Sera called out to a late guest and waved at the blonde woman dressed in a plain black silk gown.
The blonde looked far too plainly dressed to be a Capitolite. She almost stuck out had it not been for the fact that half of her head was shaved with tattoos of vivid green vines covering her smooth scalp that extended to her shoulder.
Without meaning to, Sera took a nervous step back despite being the one who called for Cressida's attention. She couldn't help but look away from Cressida's face. Those vivid green vines taunted her, almost reminding her of something else; a buried memory she had tried so hard to hide.
Cressida's face crossed her vision, green vines appeared in front of her. Sera swallowed back the lump in her throat as the vines morphed into throbbing green veins with spulture poison running through them.
A smile on her face but her gaze hollow, Sera dug her nails into the palm of her hands as Cressida's face flickered to Gaius'. Her former ally glared at her as the poison burned through his veins.
"Seraphine." Cressida called back as picked up a glass of white wine from a passing avox and smiled brightly at Sera, being pleased to see a familiar face. "It's nice to see a familiar face."
