The anthem of gemstones and wood

The Stranger

The next morning, Lucy Gray was woken up by the sun's rays filtering through the curtains. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light. She didn't know which room she was in as she took a closer look at the clothes on the floor. She recognized Coriolanus' red coat and his outfit from yesterday. The next moment she realized that she had nothing on. She was frightened and covered her face with her hands. What happened last night? When she removed her hands again, she noticed a small pile of laundry in front of her. It was one of her blouses and a pair of pants. Someone had brought her clothes. She hoped it hadn't been Gilian or Tigris. She pushed the covers away and tried to sit up. Instantly her head was pounding and she layed back again. It would take some time before she could stand up.

About half an hour later she was fully dressed and on her way downstairs. She felt miserable. Her head was pounding and she had already vomited once. And her feeling told her that it wouldn't stop at one time. She actually didn't dare go into the living room. What if he sat there? But she didn't want to go to her room without checking on Ivy first and she certainly didn't want to stay in his room. When she got downstairs, she heard voices from the living room. She heard Ivy raving about yesterday, "...how beautiful Mommy and Daddy looked dancing." She came in. "Morning, Mommy!" Ivy called immediately. She ran into Lucy Gray's arms, who almost lost her stand and felt a brief dizziness. "Good morning, my darling," she said. "Good heavens," said Tigris. "You look terrible." "It looks like wine," Gilian said and continued eating the fruit salad that was in front of her. Coriolanus had looked out the window. He turned around and smiled at her. Despite last night, he looked rested and fresh. "Gilian, we have to go. The car is waiting," he said. Gilian stood up with a sigh. He gave Ivy a kiss on her head of hair. He stopped briefly in front of Lucy Gray, but continued on without a word. Gilian frowned and followed behind. "See you later!" "Are you bringing apples?" Tigris shouted with her mouth full. "Yes." The front door slammed shut. "Sit down," said Tigris. Lucy Gray sat down at the table. She covered her face with her hands again. "Here, drink this. Then you'll feel better." Tigris pushed a cup towards her. Lucy Gray smelled it and gagged. "What's that?" "Coffee. It wakes you up. Don't you have that in District 12?" Lucy Gray shook her head.

On the way to the town hall, Coriolanus thought about Professor Gaul's words from the previous evening. "Miss Hillers will be dangerous for you." He looked over at Gilian, who was engrossed in documents. What did Professor Gaul mean? Of course, he was well aware of her stance on the Hunger Games and he knew that she had a family connection to the Hunger Games. Her mother disappeared after her son's death in the Hunger Games. Almost a year later, Gilian, who was only 12 years old, received a letter in which she had joined the rebellion. She kept it a secret. Gilian was living with her aunt and was already enrolled at the Kaptiol Academy. But why would she want to challenge him for his place as president? . ,,Is everything ok?" "Yeah...yeah sure," he said and looked away again. Gilian looked at him. "No, there's something wrong with you. Tell me what's going on." Coriolanus sighed. "Yesterday at the party, Professor Gaul came to me." Gilian wrinkled her nose. "How scary." Gilian and Professor Gaul probably never got along well at the academy. This was mainly due to Gilian's sometimes very cheeky nature and her different views. "She said that she expected me to marry you and that you could be dangerous to me." Gilian looked at him with wide eyes. "Well, I don't know what scares me more. Why should I get dangerous?" Coriolanus shrugged. "She didn't say that." "So if she means that I could steal the presidency from you, she is very wrong. I would rather do anything than hold this office." Coriolanus nodded. He knew he could trust her. At the same time, however, he knew that she wouldn't work for him forever. He wanted to lighten the mood a bit. "Tell me, would you have said yes if I had proposed to you?" Gilian looked at him again with wide eyes. She cleared her throat. "Well, I'll put it this way...if it's for representative purposes. If it had been out of love, then probably not. I consider you a good friend, but nothing more. At first you had the idea of marrying Livia. But you rejected that. Or are you confessing your undying love to me now, even though you got married yesterday?" she asked jokingly. Coriolanus laughed. "No." They stopped at the large town hall building and got out. "I guess she spent the night in your room, huh?" she asked teasingly. "Well, I didn't want to leave her alone. And besides, she's my wife." They had just entered through the huge double doors when a hectic man came towards them. "Gilian, finally!" He completely ignored the president. The man waved his arms frantically and narrowly missed an employee who came by. Coriolanus hated him. Among other things, he was entrusted with organizing the Hunger Games. He had his hair with more hair gel than was necessary, slicked back and was always overwhelmed and hectic. "I tried to organize the rooms in the hotel, but this person was completely incompetent. And all the things in the arena...It's all a disaster." Gilian raised his hands. ,,Stay calm. I'll take care of it," she said calmly and said goodbye to Coriolanus. He made his way to his office. On the way he received cautious congratulations. He tried to concentrate on his work, but his thoughts kept wandering Professor Gaul's words and yesterday's celebration, especially what happened afterwards.