The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

A beacon to the heavens

Chapter Seventy Two | A beacon to the heavens

"She would have given worlds if she had felt the courage then to tell him everything." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

The morning of Katniss's wedding arrives with much fanfare. If she had expected she'd be able to sleep in, she is sorely mistaken. She's dragged out of her sleep when her bedroom door slams open and Effie strides in with a loud, "Chop chop, Katniss! Peeta, I'm afraid you must remove yourself from the bride's bedchambers. We have a lot of work to do!"

Sil isn't far behind, though she's quieter as she steps in carrying a tray of coffee mugs, cream, and sugar. She laughs at the sight Katniss makes as she sits up, clutching her blankets with reluctant fingers. Beside her, Peeta groans at the rough awakening and rolls over, hoping to ignore the interruption.

"Darlings, you really must get up. The guests will be arriving in only a few hours and we have so much to do still," Sil informs them in a dry tone, as if she finds this particular brand of torture to be quite amusing. Katniss glares sleepily at her, but it hardly lessens Sil's amused grin.

With what sounds like a cuss (though it's too mumbled to be sure), Peeta throws the covers off and stumbles out of the room after sending Katniss an apologetic glance. "Good luck," he tells her, as if he's as wary of the erratic duo as she is. Katniss just turns her glower to him, and the force of it sends him out of the room faster than anything.

As Effie throws open the bathroom door and starts to fill the tub with hot water, Sil slides onto the bed and hands Katniss a mug of coffee. Katniss takes it, though she's still glowering at Sil like the Victor has threatened her. Sil just smirks.

"It was Effie's idea," she shrugs. "I would have let you sleep in a little longer, but she insisted."

Katniss groans, takes a sip of her coffee, and mutters something about regretting inviting them. Sil laughs aloud at the muttered words and takes a sip of her own coffee. Her amusement towards the situation only makes Katniss's glower grow stronger.

"After your bath, we'll start making you presentable," Effie chirps as she reenters the room.

Katniss casts her a wary look and says, "But the wedding doesn't start until later tonight."

Her words make Effie and Sil exchange horrified looks. They both turn to stare at Katniss as if she's got two heads, and Katniss wriggles uncomfortably under the attention, wishing she could just kick them out of her room and go back to sleep. It's eight o'clock in the morning, for goodness sake, and her wedding is at six. She can't possibly need ten hours to prepare.

But Sil just simpers, "Katniss darling, I would have thought you'd be used to this by now. You've spent enough time around Capitol stylists to know how this works."

Katniss immediately looks aghast. "You're gonna repeat the whole process? Even the waxing?" She looks like she'd rather die.

Sil snickers and gets up, leaving the tray on the bedside table as she shrugs, "Gracious, no. I won't be doing any of that. I have to go make sure everything's running smoothly. I'll leave you in Effie's capable hands, my dear!"

And with that, Sil makes her exit before the sheer force of Katniss's glare can set her on fire. She chuckles as she shuts the door, clutching her coffee and continuing to snicker to herself all the way down the stairs.

"She's gonna get you back for that," Peeta informs her as she gets to the bottom, an amused smile spreading over his face.

Sil just smirks at his and says, "Oh I don't think so. By the time she has a chance to, she'll be far more focused on you, Peeta."