𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐋𝐘 - Coriolanus Snow

four.

YOU STUPID GIRL, Coriolanus cursed to himself as he raced towards Amena, who lay convulsing and trembling on the cold bathroom tiles.

He watched as her fingertips began to turn a light shade of blue, and the lips he found himself mesmerized by white and kissed by blood. Her breathing was sharp and labored and rung in Coryo's ears to the point where he thought they could rupture if he stayed in that room. But he had to, not because he felt a semblance of love for the young Plinth girl, but because she was the only thing that would forever tie him to fortune. He wrestled with this notion, but too much was at stake now, too much could be stripped away from him.

His blue eyes flickered to her again, beautiful was the only word that crossed his damaged mind. She was so beautiful to him like this—in his arms, her life in his hands. She was weak and tragic and she hypnotized him. He drowned in her beauty no matter how hard he tread the water. He hated himself for those feelings, those infantile emotions he had been caught up in once before that almost destroyed him.

He lifted her up into his arms and made his way down the stairs. The party-goers were lost in their own worlds, alcohol strong on their breaths and lust clinging to the air around them. Coryo flinched away from them and sulked into the darkness, concealing Amena's face with his coat as much as he could. She was going limp, and had a matter of minutes before death's greedy hand took her from him. The same way it took his mother and his father and Sejanus.

Coriolanus couldn't remember getting her to the infirmary, but he sat next to her bedside for hours. He watched the pattern of her breathing, the dull hum of her voice as she exhaled. Her hair stuck to her skin from the sweat that slicked her face, and Coryo felt the urge to fix it. Intertwining his forefinger and thumb in her curls, pushing it behind her ear.

Strabo Plinth arrived promptly, his silk navy suit adorned with a pin of a dove. Coriolanus had heard Amena's mother call her Dovie, at their home when he was younger. He thought it was a stupid and childish nickname, but Sejanus had said that the dove was the purest of all birds. And although he felt Amena acted as a crow most days, Sejanus would always call her sister by what she truly was. Innocent.

Coryo was taken aback by the image. Amena the light of the Plinth family, angel wings practically sprouting from her back. He knawed at the idea of her piety, but he found it improbable.

"Amena"

Strabo rested his hand on his daughter's forehead, and Coriolanus heard a wince. Another dead child under his belt, Coriolanus thought. Except that Amena was still breathing, she was alive and blood still ran through her veins. He thought about all the dead he had seen, how at some point it tormented him. He wondered if when Amena's time was up, if he would hear her in his dreams, laughing and rolling her eyes at him. He shuddered to think about it.

"Why was she out Coriolanus? We thought she'd be home with you." Strabo finally spoke up, his voice slicing the air like a knife.

He faltered. Why was she out? Well, it was simple, really. After finishing her paper, Coriolanus felt restless. She had snuck a bottle of moonshine from Hecate earlier in the day, slipping it under the coat of her uniform as she left. She began to drink, and Coriolanus didn't feel with dealing with the Plinths when they arrived home to a drunk daughter. If she was going to drink, she wasn't going to be alone. Coriolanus received an invitation to the Heavensbee gala the night before, and he knew many of Amena's peers would be in attendance. If he could dump her off with her friends, tipsy and crude, he wouldn't take any of the blame for her actions. The paper would be written on the table, and no doubt get her a high mark.

The plan was flawless.

Amena was wild and impulsive, it was why the Plinths tried so hard to contain her. Why her room resembled that of a child's, decorated with pink bows and teddy bears she never threw out. Coriolanus assumed it was why they never let her outside. Once, her mother had said to him that if Amena did not return home straight after school, tell her instead of Strabo. Maybe he shouldn't have let her out, maybe his plan was truly flawed.

"We finished our session, sir," Coriolanus uttered confidently. "I assumed she would stay home and go to bed. Instead, I found her like this."

Strabo didn't say anything, but the daggers he shot Coriolanus with his beady eyes were enough words already. Coriolanus did not flinch or droop his head but remained firm in his position as he held Amena's bony hand.

"You may leave, Coriolanus."

His lips twitched. "I brought her here, don't you feel it would be inconsiderate to leave her now? She's vulnerable."

Once again, Strabo remained silent.

"I promised Sejanus that I would protect him, and I failed to do that. I must not repeat my mistake with Amena. It would be a disservice to his memory." Coriolanus knew that the words he chose to speak would strike a chord so deep in Strabo Plinth, that he would have no choice but to fall silent and become a puppet in Coriolanus' circus.

Strabo sighed but nodded his head in agreement.

Amena does not drink, he overheard Mrs.Plinth cry as she spoke to the doctor. She gets these, well these fits. It's never been this bad before. I don't know what happened.

Coriolanus's eyebrow quirked, he tried to not seem interested. But the conversation was eating him alive. His mind raced, Amena the number one topic. Her clothes, her hair, her mannerisms. Something was off, and he would give anything to know what it was.

He thought back to the painting, Amena's ivory dress that truly made her look like a poor District child. The image of a dove that stretched across the stitching. Those distant honey eyes. He wanted to know, he wanted to know what exactly it was that drew him to her. And as she almost died, he swore he almost found out.

Amena's eyes began to squeeze shut tighter as she fussed awake, her face strained and fatigued. When she woke up, he wanted to be the first thing she saw. And he was. He stared at her as she blinked awake. A small smile formed on his lips.

"Coryo." Her broken voice struggled to say.

"You don't have to say anything, Amena. Just rest and I'll be here, okay?" He touched his thumb to her chin, her skin smooth to the touch. It burned, lingering inside him unwillingly. He instantly wanted to scrub her off of him.

She nodded weakly.

Coriolanus had a plan for Amena, and although this was not specifically mentioned, it did not hinder it whatsoever. In fact, it made her more susceptible to him. He could've grinned as he saw her, the warmth finally returning to her body.

She was his now, and would be till daybreak.