Sparks Fly

Chapter 9

In that one slight motion, I see the end of hope, the beginning of the destruction of everything I hold dear in the world. I can't guess what form my punishment will take, how wide the net will be cast, but when it is finished, there will most likely be nothing left. So you would think that at this moment, I would be in utter despair. Here's what's strange. The main thing I feel is a sense of relief. That the question of whether I can succeed in this venture has been answered, even if that answer is a resounding no. That if desperate times call for desperate measures, then I am free to act as desperately as I wish.

Only not here, not quite yet. It's essential to get back to District 12, because the main part of any plan will include my mother and sister. Peeta and Haymitch, if I can get them to come with us. I add Gale and his family to the list. These are the people I must take with me when I escape into the wild. How I will convince them, where we will go in the dead of winter, what it will take to evade capture are unanswered questions. But at least now I know what I must do.

So instead of crumpling to the ground and weeping, I find myself standing up straighter and with more confidence than I have in weeks. My smile, while somewhat insane, is not forced. And when President Snow silences the audience and says, "What do you think about us throwing them a wedding right here in the Capitol?" I pull off girl-almost-catatonic-with- joy without a hitch.

Caesar Flickerman asks if the president has a date in mind.

"Oh, before we set a date, we better clear it with Katniss's mother," says the president. The audience gives a big laugh and the president puts his arm around me. "Maybe if the whole country puts its mind to it, we can get you married before you're thirty."

"You'll probably have to pass a new law," I say with a giggle.

"If that's what it takes," says the president with conspiratorial good humor. Oh, the fun we two have together.

I look at Peeta. He doesn't know yet —  how could he? Snow's silent message, quietly dooming our loved ones and us to an uncertain, and no doubt horrifying end. He doesn't know yet that the proposal didn't save us. Although I could feel that his words had been authentic, his love had once again been extorted and perverted by the Capitol for the sake of survival. And he didn't deserve that. But he is grinning, bantering with Caesar, and for a moment I could swear that he looks genuinely happy. The moments of happiness we get to enjoy are rare, and now surely numbered, so I choose not to disrupt it. Besides, I'm the one who has endangered him and everyone he loves because I couldn't bear to leave the arena without him. The news of our fate can wait. I take his hand and smile, mirroring the joy in his face. The feeling of my hand in his tears his attention away from Snow and Caesar and he looks at me softly before brushing his thumb against my cheek and pulling me in for a gentle, sweet kiss. No, I would not ruin this for him.

The party, held in the banquet room of President Snow's mansion, has no equal. The monumental ceiling has been transformed into a twinkling night sky, and the stars look exactly as they do at home. There's too much light pollution to see them here, but I assume that they are the same in the Capitol as they are in the districts. Musicians float in midair on what look like fluffy white clouds, but I can't see what holds them aloft. There are innumerable stuffed sofas and chairs, some surrounding fireplaces, others beside fragrant flower gardens or ponds filled with exotic fish. There's a large tiled area in the center of the room that serves as everything from a dance floor, to a stage for the performers who come and go, to another spot to mingle with the flamboyantly dressed guests.

But the real star of the evening is the food. Tables laden with delicacies line the walls. Everything you can think of, and things you have never dreamed of, lie in wait. Whole roasted cows and pigs and goats still turning on spits. Huge platters of fowl stuffed with savory fruits and nuts. Ocean creatures drizzled in sauces or begging to be dipped in spicy concoctions. Countless cheeses, breads, vegetables, sweets, waterfalls of wine, and streams of spirits that flicker with flames.