An Ode to Her - Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 12

Coriolanus decided it'd be best to visit the Covey in their home before setting off to the lake. But much to his dismay, Sejanus had to accompany the blond on the trip. Peacekeepers were forbidden outside of the premises without leaving in pairs or more, and because Sejanus knows of his history with Carolina, Coriolanus assumed he would be the best bet to ask to go. And he happily agreed, explaining that it would be nice to get out of the barracks for a trip other than to the Hob.

"But we're not staying long," Coriolanus warned. "We should be back by dark."

Sejanus nodded as they stepped up to the door. The walk through the Seam was unsettling. People off of work stared at the passing Peacekeepers from their porches, with their hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. Coriolanus found it all overwhelming. Didn't they know it was rude to stare? Of course, he couldn't blame them. They weren't taught how to behave. Nothing was civilized here. Especially without people like him; who kept order. He sighed as he knocked on the half-decayed wooden door. A frail woman with long wispy hair opened it.

"You that Snow boy, I presume?" She leaned against the doorframe, sizing Coriolanus up.

Coriolanus nodded and stammered, "Yes... yes, I am. Is Carolina here?"

"Course. She ain't got elsewhere to be. She's just waking up little Maude Ivory. Come on in," she said welcomingly. The two boys stepped through, and it took Coriolanus several moments to let his eyes adjust to the change of lighting. It was dark and musty in the house, which was already in bad enough shape. Fallen shutters, leaking ceilings, and it seemed like the Covey insisted on bringing the outside to the inside. Plants riddled the place, some living, some dead. Coriolanus immediately felt uncomfortable, but he brightened as Carolina entered the room.

She smiled at him and Sejanus. "You meet Barb Azure?" She gestured to the willowy woman who let them in. "Don't let her intimidate you. She's just fidgety."

Barb Azure laughed. "We've met. And I recognize him from our shows. He's always lookin' at you, though," she said to Carolina.

Coriolanus blushed as Carolina giggled. Then, she grabbed his arm and linked her hand with his. "Let's wait outside. Tam Amber should be comin' back from the Meadow, and Maude Ivory is back there with Clerk. They'll be out shortly." She waved her free hand in the direction of the end of the house, and proceeded to guide Coriolanus outside, Sejanus close behind.

"And Lucy Gray?" Sejanus asked shyly. Did he have a newfound... crush? Coriolanus smiled to himself.

"She'll be comin' along, too," Carolina said. "I'm sure she's in the Meadow as well. Always strumin' that guitar."

"You, too," Coriolanus added.

"Yeah." She played with his fingers for a moment, twiddling her thumb around his wrist. "Yeah. Me, too."

Tam Amber and Lucy Gray appeared from the woods, the man carrying a tear-drop shaped guitar, and Lucy Gray holding a normal looking one. Both looked cheery, and greeted the two Peacekeepers in a friendly manner. Maude Ivory and Clerk Carmine, whom Coriolanus sensed didn't like him too much, came out of the house, bounding for the lake.

And off they went in the early afternoon, only taking a single rest by the hanging tree, a place where public executions were held. Coriolanus didn't like the hanging tree. It made him feel odd. In any case, it's where people died, and that certainly wasn't welcoming. But he tried not to let that bother him.

Maude Ivory is happy to talk everyone's ear off on the way. She even dabbles in some singing.

In a cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner
And his daughter Clementine