I Bet On Losing Dogs

Chapter 13

A/N: Publishing this chapter today feels so surreal. I wrote some more about today at the end but just please PLEASE take care of yourselves, especially if you are reading today from the U.S

On a slightly happier note, this chapter should have some more fun cameos for our Ballad of Songbird and Snake fans. Seeing the influx of comments recently has been so much fun to respond to and see people pointing out things i hadn't even begun to notice. 

Content warnings: Child death (ongoing) 

The next two days continue on as if the Arena isn't alight with violence. The total of canons by the second day is seven. Her stomach churns as she realizes that is a remarkably low number, slow in villainous spectacle but a reasonable story curve as the Capitol gossip train is enraptured by the innovative arena. A step away from the usual, sickly mundane arenas of woods and forest and more woods, the Gamemakers present this year with a landscape of volcanic rock and ash, three looming volcanos encompassing the outskirts of the arena (though she's smart enough to know there's only a matter of time before Jewel and her colleagues will have to push the story along).

Dottifer finds herself being whisked away at every moment to something new. A new sponsor, a new party, and marked today, a new invite. The correspondence marked the symbol of Festus Creed, declaring how endeared they would be for her to join them at this evening's tea. Performing as if she has any choice in the delicate play of social etiquette, she holds her head high with a pearly smile as she greets Mr. Creed and Mrs. Price.

The crinkles and cracks of his porcelain skin are clear with age as the old man holds her close by the shoulders and plants two warm kisses to her cheeks. Her jaw tightens as she resists the urge to wipe them off with the napkins provided. "We've missed the company of your Court. Always a delectable bunch."

"Minus that excuse of an heir." Lady Price is a chilling figure as always. While her husband is not delightful company, he only remains as repugnant as most men in the Capitol with that level of status. Persephone always held her head high with the weight of someone that has mastered a thousand lives in the span of this one.

"Well, doesn't absence make the heart grow fonder?" She chimes, her grip on the coffee mug tight. Festus finds her sneers amusing as he seats himself down on the overarching chaise lounge. The afternoon meal is sickly sweet, even for her taste. The cardamom sugar soaked into the sponge cake causes her teeth to stick together on multiple occasions, overwhelming the nauseous feeling that had been bubbling within her all week.

She finds there isn't much need for her mouth anyways, the man of the hour never seeming to shut up until his wife begins to croak. "You're a pretty little thing, just like your mother." A comment she's very much accustomed to, she gives a faint blush across her cheeks as she finishes the last of her slice. "Do you hear that a lot?"

"Fortunately." Her smile glimmers in the chandelier light.

Persephone appears unfettered by Dottifer's warmth, still as chilling as ever. "A shame." She swaps out her warming beverage for a crispy display of syrupy and flaky pastry, shimmering an amber shade in the midmorning sun. "My daughter used to be just like you."

Festus rubs his temples as his eye roll with a dramatic groan not even Trill could rival with ego. "Don't bring her into this, I'm enjoying my coffee." He swirls the last in his mug before clicking his fingers for a refill.

It was the first Capitol scandal that she had been of age to indulge in, freshly introduced into the academy in the summer after the 57th Games. A car chase along the outskirts of the Capitol as the Price family were attending a venue in the Panem observatory. The young girl was on the brink of graduation, an up and coming star in Panem's eye already at the age of seventeen. "What happened was-"