𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦 , coriolanus snow

TWO

DON'T BLAME ME.
02. ❛ plinth and embry. ❜

MOST EYES FELL ON SERAPHINA Embry when she sauntered into the Heavensbee Hall. A small smile, near smirk, was playing on her lips as she sipped on her drink, her shimmering hazel eyes meeting every eye with those she knew and giving a subtle nod of acknowledgment.

The eye contact was a subtle little power move, and her mere presence had those lowering their conversations and some even switching to gossip about her. 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 of the Hunger Games Reaping.

Seraphina's hopes of slipping away from the gathering for a moment were immediately washed away when Sejanus Plinth caught her eye and beckoned her over.

Sejanus had been Seraphina's class partner during school, and they were good friends with each other, but sometimes Seraphina just loved to be left alone, not being called over to talk to the Plinth family.

"Good morning, Sejanus." Seraphina beamed and leaned in to give the boy a feather-light kiss on the cheek with a small hug before turning to his parents and doing the same. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Plinth, I'm Seraphina Embry."

"Embry?" Strabo Plinth questioned as his ears perked up at the well-known last name, shooting a look to his son that Seraphina couldn't exactly make out. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Seraphina pursed her lips and tried to act as nice as possible, but it was bluntly obvious that she just wanted to excuse herself from the family. "How are you enjoying the Academy? I hope your experience has been good, especially with an excellent tour guide to show you the way."

Sejanus chuckled at the joke and smoothed down his brown hair, "Well, they've only seen the front entrance and the Heavensbee Hall, so it's not much." His outfit was a soft charcoal gray suit with a blinding white shirt offset by a paisley tie, cut to add flow to his tall, angular frame. The ensemble was stylish, brand-new, and smelling of money. War profiteering, to be exact.

Sejanus's father was a District 2 manufacturer who had sided with the president. He had made such a fortune off munitions that he'd been able to buy his family's way into a life in the Capitol. The Plinths now enjoyed privileges that the oldest, most powerful families had earned over generations, and that pissed Seraphina off to no end.

It was unprecedented that Sejanus, a district-bor boy, was a student at the Academy, but his father's lavish donation had allowed for much of the school's postwar reconstruction. A Capitol-born citizen would have expected a building to be renamed for them. Sejanus's father had only requested an education for his son.

Seraphina politely passed a small chuckle and rested her hand on Sejanus' arm. She knew what she was doing. The subtle touch on the arm, eye contact, and warm smiles; she was obviously trying to mess with Sejanus' emotions, as she did with almost all Academy boys she talked to—except for Coriolanus, that is.

It always got her what she wanted or needed and helped her make her way to the top (not that she wasn't there already); it's how she got away with most things and lived up to the Embry name. Seduction was so much more than the beauty she held. It's generous, intelligent, mysterious, and exclusive—her favorite weapon.

"I'm sorry to take your son away, but do you mind if I borrow him." She smiled and turned to Sejanus' mother, who wasted no time in granting the redhead permission.