HEART OF GOLD | CORIOLANUS SNOW

𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 25

Downing another two pills of aspirinth to curb the return of her throbbing head, Lilith set herself down to work. Her second assignment was more straightforward, and, because she hadn't the faintest idea how to get round her first, she began with that.

The good thing was she only had twenty-one proposals to read, having already proofread Athena's and Olympia's (her own wasn't even in the pile). The bad thing was she still had twenty-one proposals to read. At least she didn't have to spend energy rearranging them in alphabetical order—Snow had already done that. Her needs for systematicity satisfied, Lilith commenced.

It was slow and laborious. The medication seemed to have had negligible effects, unless it was to make her eyelids feel as heavy as gold bars, which it was not. Either way, she could hardly concentrate. When she failed to get past Dion Alexander's second page, Lilith popped another couple of painkillers and washed them down with coffee. Coming directly from Cook meant that it was brewed to perfection, but she had never developed an appreciation for the beverage. No matter the quality, it just always tasted bitter to her. That was an advantage now, though, for the pungent flavours had the desired awakening property.

She decided on a different approach as well. As if she was tackling a textbook, she started making notes of her classmates' essays. Listing down the pros and cons was simple; conceiving methods of improvement was more demanding, so she skipped ahead, telling herself she would come back later, when she might have gleaned inspiration from what others had written.

And indeed, she did.

While Snow had specified that no reports were necessary, Lilith summarized her choices and rationales into a table. Not only did it facilitate the tracking of her progress, making it seem that she was making some, the standardized format comforted her. If she needed something to get through this night—and in fact this whole ordeal—it was comfort.

Still, the little sleep she'd snatched at dawn was fitful. Without an external exercise to focus her mind, it wandered naturally back to Athena, whose revolutionary arenas were at the top of Lilith's "To Implement" column.

Olympia had been right: Lilith would accept the role out of a sense of duty—a duty to the award, to herself, even to Athena. If Lilith shirked this responsibility knowing it would only fall into oblivion, she would never feel easy. Athena might not have forgiven her even then. Like their peers, she might have despised Lilith further for walking away from the opportunity. Now, Lilith could at least relate her experiences to her best friend, and Athena could live the apprentice's life vicariously through her if she wanted to.

Of course, the flip side was that it was too agonizing to hear of someone else living your dream, to be so near yet so far, and Athena would remain distanced, never speaking to Lilith again. Lilith actively blocked out this terrifying thought, because hoping that Athena would one day understand why she hadn't left it was the only way Lilith could keep going.

Hope's the only thing stronger than fear.

At lunch the next day, Archie again filled the void of Athena's absence, if only physically. They were at the Czarina on campus. Not wanting to land herself in a food coma for the afternoon lecture that loomed, Lilith only had a small tuna puff pastry; her appetite hadn't recovered at any rate. While the warm, savoury treat had been palatable, her vanilla latte was a disgusting concoction—no offense to Nazarius, who always made a mean vanilla milkshake. Perhaps the shock of her order had affected his performance. Nevertheless, Lilith sipped determinedly at the awfully spiced liquid as an added precaution to prevent herself from nodding off.

Both to distract her companions from the surprise that had not been limited to their barista, and because she yearned for some feedback, Lilith initiated a discussion to pick their brains. After all, it had been Archie's proposal that had given her some headway on her first assignment.