The Purest Snow

Chapter 32: Hell Week

"What do you think The Hunger Games are for Ro?" Coriolanus asked his sister, as they shared coffee as the sun rose over Corso. It was the day after the reaping, and the parade would be held that night. Tigris had been at the fashion house since the arrival of the tributes, working hard to prepare them for the big night.

"I don't know. Depends on the person. For me it makes me feel grateful that I'm safe from them. And extremely guilty at the same time."

"Dr. Gaul says it's to remind us who we truly are... but I'm not so sure anymore." Coriolanus said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" His sister asked.

"I think it has something to do with hope. I mean, why do we have a victor? Why not just reap names and execute them all at once?"

"Apparently entertainment," Rosella said coolly.

"Well, yes. But also, the hope that one of them will live. I think if we're to truly demonstrate the power of the capital, we should have the victor be rewarded."

"I know, give them a prize... you've told me this."

"Not just that. I think we could make them a public figure here in the capitol. Bring them back each year to bring up the viewers. Turn them into even more of a spectacle. Maybe once we had enough victors, we could even have them mentor the new tributes."

Rosella stared at the swirl of the cream in her coffee. "Did you tell Gaul about this?"

"Not yet. I thought I'd see what you think first."

"Coryo, you know what I think. I think this whole thing is entirely ridiculous! It's a waste of money and resources, it's cruel, inhumane. I think it's a waste for your smartness and talents to be going towards this. I think it's pointless no matter how many ways you try to spin it. It's stupid, and I hate it, and I wish you would stop dedicating your life to it!" She ranted.

"Rosella!" He said, frowning in surprise. He had thought he had gotten her outbursts under control.

"What?" She threw her head back, almost annoyed.

"You can't talk like that!"

"It's just you and me here!"

"There are..." he gestured Cass and one of the Plinth's maids who had come to help with breakfast. "People who can hear you."

"They can't speak to repeat anything," she frowned back at him.

"Ro..."

"Fine, fine. I think that you'd really have to make it worth it for victors to come back as mentors. Anyone who wins those games is going to have serious trauma, and probably won't be dying to get back to the place that caused it."

"How do you think it would be worth it to them?"

Rosella shrugged, not wanting to give him any ideas. "I don't know... give them what they want. If they want fame and glory, go for it. But if they don't want to be forced back into the spotlight to perform for us, you shouldn't make them. After all that, the least we can do is give them freedom after."

"Freedom is costly," Coriolanus fidgeted with a rose from the vase centerpiece.

"It's all costly!" Rosella threw her hands in the air. "The amount of money you're going to be spending to feed and house and clothe these people for two weeks, not to mention the money that's being poured into the arena, and then the victor prize-"

"That's not what I meant," Coriolanus interrupted. "It's costly in that it can cost power, and control."

"Ugh, Coryo," she groaned faceplanting her face into the table dramatically, which Coriolanus couldn't help but laugh at. "You're nineteen years old. How much control could you possibly need?"