Bloody Rose

Chapter One

From deep in the apartment Coriolanus Snow heard the recording of the Capitol anthem, "Gem of Panem," kick on. His grandmother's tremulous soprano voice joined in, bouncing off the walls.

As always, she was painfully off-key and slightly behind tempo.

Coriolanus winced a little.

He wondered if more furniture might absorb some of the sound, but the question was academic. At present, their penthouse apartment was a microcosm of the Capitol itself, bearing the scars of the relentless rebel attacks. The twenty-foot-high walls were veined with cracks, the molded ceiling was dotted with holes from missing chunks of plaster, and ugly black strips of electrical tape held in place the broken glass of the arched windows that looked out over the city.

Having been in his friends' apartments, Coriolanus knew that most families had begun to repair their homes, but the Snows could not even afford a few yards of linen for a new shirt. He thought of his classmates, riffling through their closets or slipping into their newly tailored suits, and wondered just how long he could keep up appearances.

Speaking of his classmates, Coriolanus peeled back the curtain and looked out the window to the Crane's penthouse straight across the Corso. He scanned all of the open windows before looking down at the sidewalk, finally catching a glimpse of her.

Darcienna Crane. Cassius Crane's bastard daughter whose mother was from district two. The girl whose grades were almost as good as his own.

She wore a black dress that reached past her knees, half of her ink black curls were tied up with a ribbon. That same damned crimson ribbon she had worn in her hair every day since she came to the capital after her mother's death eleven years ago.

In each hand she loosely held the leashes of her two pure black German Shepherds who were trained to keep close to her. When she wasn't heading to the academy, she always had the two with her, their size intimidating anyone who dared to approach her.

As if sensing his staring, she glanced up at the penthouse.

The front door, warped and complaining, scraped open.

"Coryo!" Tigris cried out, breaking him out of his trance making him drop the curtain quickly.

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Coriolanus made his way through an entry draped in black banners, down a vaulted passage, and into cavernous Heavensbee Hall, where they would watch the broadcast of the reaping ceremony. He was by no means late, but the hall was already humming with faculty and students and a number of Games officials who were not required for the opening day's broadcast.

Avoxes wove through the crowd with trays of posca, a concoction of watery wine laced with honey and herbs. Coriolanus took a goblet and swished a little of the posca around his mouth, hopefully rinsing away any trace of cabbage breath.

The world still thought Coriolanus rich, but his only real currency was charm, which he spread liberally as he made his way through the crowd. Faces lit up as he gave friendly hellos to students and teachers alike, asking about family members, dropping compliments here and there.

"Well, Coriolanus Snow." A voice drawled from behind him.

He turned around, a smirk on his face. "Clemmie."

With her own smirk she looped her arm through his, leading him to where their other classmates were.

"Finally, the star pupil." Arachne Crane said, lifting a glass of posca to her red lips. "Lovely shirt. What are these cunning buttons? Tesserae?"