The Sterling Nightingale ⟷ Finnick Odair/OC

In Medusa's deadly embrace

Chapter Four | In Medusa's deadly embrace

"She watched his anxiety melting away under her sunny smile, and soon perceived that, whatever doubt may have crossed his mind at the moment, by the time the last bars of the minuet had been played, he never realized in what a fever of excitement she was; what effort it cost her to keep up a constant ripple of banal conversation." Emma Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

Sil doesn't have time to look at Coin's message until much later, when she's getting ready for an opera event that she is attending with a high-born Capitol man who's paid for her presence. Besides the endless parties, there are also endless events that she goes to as well, for the primary sake of those paying for her. Usually her services extend only as far as the public eye. She rarely takes the men home with her unless they pay for that, too. But this one, thankfully, only seems to want her by his side for the exclusive purpose of vaulting his own public image. He either doesn't have the interest or the money to afford a night with her. She is extremely expensive, after all.

She opens the message while she sits in front of her vanity and applies her make-up. The years have made her familiar with Coin's electronic passwords and tangled, spy-proof mechanisms. Her fingers fly over the screen as she enters word after word, unraveling the complexity of a single message. A message that, once she opens it, is only a few sentences long.

Sil reads it quickly, devouring each word with an eagerness that comes as naturally as breathing. She's been waiting for a message for days now.

"Things will be moving quickly now. Pay close attention to Snow. Gather as much information as you can and make use of Odair."

And that's it. Just a few words and a thinly veiled order. To spy for 13. What does Coin think she's been doing all these years, if not spy? Sil sighs and deletes the message. Coin must be telling her to step up her game, to learn deeper secrets. To become more of a spy than she's already become. As Sil colors her lips with orange lipstick, she pauses, her mind whirling as a sudden thought pushes into it. Finnick Odair knows a lot of secrets. He could help her. Only she'd have to make sure that he doesn't know her real motives.

But it would be perfect. They're dating now, after all. They'll be seeing each other a lot more than they used to. And he doesn't think she's anything more than a foppish, lightheaded girl without any brains. He wouldn't suspect her for being anything more than that, and why would he? She's worked for seven whole years fabricating her image, creating the stupid, naïve version of herself that everyone knows. No one is aware as to what she's really like beneath the dramatic veneer she has cultivated. Finnick Odair might be smart and good at seeing the truth, but not when she's got multitudes of truth to draw from and a very convincing alibi.

Quickly, she opens up a new message and types the words, "Your wish, my command – N," into her electronic PADD. N, for the Nightingale.

It's all very roundabout and was created with the assistance of Coin. But it ties Sil to the rebellion by morphing her family ties into a codename all for her own. After all, only the best spies have roundabout codenames for themselves. Or at least that's what Sil likes to tell herself when she's feeling gloomy.

She hits send. The message will go to Mr. Dorsey, who will then transfer it to District 13 and Coin. When she sees that it is sent, Sil locks the PADD and puts it into her clutch. She never goes anywhere without it, and why would she? Silver Lamprey Cornelius would never dream of going to a party without her PAAD. She thrives on gossip, after all, as well as news of the rebellion.

She's in the middle of clipping her hair up on top of her head when suddenly her doorbell rings, and Sil stops. Her social client isn't supposed to meet her at her apartment. She's the one who is supposed to meet him at the opera house. So who is at her door?