An Ode to Her - Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 16

Carolina flipped her hair confidently to one side as she grinned.

"And after that?" she asked excitedly.

"Well..." Coriolanus fiddled with a strand of her hair, "I told Tigris that I couldn't eat any more beet roots, and she made me down the entire jar of paste."

Carolina hit him playfully on the arm. "You're playin'."

"No." He smiled weakly. "It's kind of... sad when I think about it now. I was hungry." Then he remembered who he was, who he had became. "Not anymore, though. I haven't been hungry since."

"You don't ever have to lie to me, Coriolanus," Carolina mumbled. "I'll never judge you."

His eyes softened as he looked at the one person he knew he could trust. He trusted her with it all. Everything from his past, and everything in his future. She would be his for all eternity, and there was no denying it now.

"When do we leave?" he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

Carolina looked around the bustling hob and brought her face close to his.

"Tonight. I'm not singin'. We can leave right after I pack up my stuff in the back room."

"Okay," he replied, nodding his head solemnly.

Coriolanus was nervous, of course he was, but he was also excited. The idea of leaving the world behind to be with the person he loved was all he wanted. It was all he wanted for so long and he didn't even know it.

Carolina kissed him on the cheek before excusing herself to the back of the stage.

Tonight. Tonight. Tonight.

A hand on his back brought him out of his thoughts.

"How much have you had to drink?" Sejanus asked, sliding into the seat Carolina left.

Coriolanus held up his drink, swished it, and smiled. "Water. It's all I could stomach."

"How come?"

The blond shrugged casually. "Just not feeling the best. I'll probably retire early," he explained.

What a perfect cover up, he thought. He truly was the most clever man he knew.

Sejanus nodded like he understood and said he would be right back. Coriolanus watched as he met with Smiley, who looked anything but. He was fidgeting with a small envelope in his hands, and Sejanus was constantly positioning himself in front of him, as if to shield the man from the crowd. Coriolanus slunk his way to the bar, getting a closer look at their hushed conversation. He couldn't hear much, but he could make out enough to know what was about to happen.

They were going to start a mutiny.

Sejanus started to say something again, something that looked important, but he stopped when he noticed Coriolanus was staring. He gave him a small nod, to which Coriolanus ignored.

How could Coriolanus leave now? The very order of the Capitol was failing. This was exactly what he and the other children had been warned about since the Dark Days. A mutiny. An uprising. A rebellion. Just the thought of it left a bad taste in his mouth. He had to find Carolina and explain he wasn't quite finished in District 12.