The Factions' Fall, Book 2: The Faction Games

Chapter 5

We walked into the dining room just a few minutes late, Alec still fumbling with his tie. "Here," I said, easily tying it for him. The room was silent, and I turned around to see the other tributes sitting there, Jeanine and Marcus at the raised table in the center of the back wall. "How kind of you to finally join us," Jeanine said, her voice dripping sarcasm. "And thank you for inviting us, ma'am," I replied, fake politeness oozing in every syllable. "You're welcome. Now, if you'd take a seat so that we can get started?" I obliged, never once taking my eyes off of her. Alec sat beside me, taking my hand beneath the table. 

Jeanine cleared her throat once we were all settled. "Tributes, as you know, the games began the year you were all born. Thus, we have sixteen victors, and they will be assisting you during the remainder of the training period.They will be joining us at the gala later tonight, and they will choose you, not the other way around, much like your stylists did. Enough talk, though. Let's eat." At those words, a stream of the servants brought out our food- a meal of steak, mashed potatoes, and some unfamiliar side dish I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to try. It was a green blob, more or less, and when I asked Edward, who'd been put on serving duty, about it, he shook his head. "Don't. It's ridiculously spicy, and it just tastes horrible anyway." I thanked him, and Alec poked at the dish with his fork. "No. You're not doing that," I told him, watching the others' faces contort into expressions of disgust. "Don't eat too much either," I reminded my ally, taking a small bite of the steak. Alec nodded, and so we finished quickly, having eaten only half of the portions provided. 

Jeanine's cold gray eyes were practically shooting daggers at us, so we pretended to eat a little more until only about a fourth of the meal was left. She seemed satisfied at that point, talking to Marcus in tones that none of us could hear- if we weren't absorbed in our own conversations then- occasionally glancing toward the U-shaped table us tributes were sitting at. The argument got heated, both of them wearing glares and gesturing sharply enough to cut a block of wood in half. At one point, Marcus put a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder, which was immediately slapped away, harshly enough I could hear the crack of skin hitting skin. Jeanine's eyes had gone hurricane dark, and I pointed that out to Alec, who laughed. "We can't have her getting suspicious, so I'm acting like you told me a joke or something. Anyway, we're going to stay on her good side tonight. No outbursts or anything, because we need this info." I nodded. "I don't plan on any. They're arguing; it's getting pretty heated." I added for Nolan's benefit. Alec and I continued with normal conversation for the remainder of the meal. Finally, Jeanine got to her feet, seemingly recovered from the argument. "Ladies and gentlemen, now you're going to meet the victors who will be mentoring you through the rest of the training period!"

The door that Alec and I had come through opened, and sixteen people- most of whom barely looked older than us- filed in. They watched us, gazes lingering every now and then, but silent. The woman responsible for the death of my mother smirked at them and gestured to each of them in turn. "Victor number one: Cara. Erudite, former allegiant. Victor two: Takehiko Wu, Dauntless. Three, Rose Nesbit, Amity. Four, Rose's brother, Calder Nesbit, Amity. Five: Sophia Reyes, Erudite; Six, Catherine Butler, Candor. Seven, Phillip James, Erudite. Eight, Gianna Howell, Candor. Nine, Jericho Truman, Amity. Ten, Kirsten Lund, Candor; eleven is Cameron Falco- Dauntless. Twelve is Lillibeth Parker, Amity. Thirteen, Corinth Gardener, Dauntless. Fourteen: Viviana Harlowe, Erudite; fifteen- Halcyon Grainger, and most recently, Cara's son- William, Dauntless." We applauded them, and Alec pointed at Cara. "Her. We need her." I grinned almost wolfishly in response. "That we do. So we go to the gala, we talk to her and William, we get the intel, we go home. Simple." Both of us knew it wasn't going to be that easy, so we prepared for the worst as we walked into the ballroom.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE** Sorry I haven't updated-- writer's block SUCKS. Anyway, hope you enjoy. Any thoughts or predictions about what's coming up? Take a guess, maybe you'll give me some ideas. If you do, you win the fabulous prize of getting the chapter that idea shows up in dedicated to you!**