this is chapter 50. i actually can't believe that this book has made it fifty chapters--it was eight when i first wrote it, and then pretty much js gave up--but i'm honestly pretty proud of how it's turned out so far, and i've still got a whole lot more planned for it. who knows, maybe it'll have to become a series? 👀

***

I knock on the door of the Theodoros household, huddled up in a thick sweater, yet still cold. 

No answer. I knock again, and finally hear footsteps descending the stairs and moving towards the door, but I can't tell whose they are.

Angler opens the door, and I suck in my breath quickly, straightening my back. He already doesn't like me much; I don't have any reason to make him hate me any more. 

"Hi," I say, somewhat weakly. "I was looking for Altalune?"

A pause, and then he nods gruffly, stepping aside to let me in. "She's here, in her room."

I raise my eyebrows, almost unnoticeably, and yet still get another look from Aeolus's father. But he lets me walk past him and up the stairs, past the door I of course recognize as my boyfriend's and to another one that I assume is Altalune's, although I've never actually been inside her room before. 

I knock once, then twice, then in a short pattern just for fun. It takes a moment, but eventually she opens the door, frowning. 

"Oh, hey, Daphne."

"Hey. Sorry, I just wanted to visit..."

"Yeah, sure, come in."

I do. Her room is just as magnificent as Aeolus's, except decorated with a small sitting area: a couch, a few comfortable-looking chairs, and a luxurious television. 

I take a chair. "So..."

She sits sideways on the couch, leaning on the armrest and lifting her feet up comfortably. "So."

"Okay, you know I saw you and the mayor together the other day," I blurt out, the words spilling from my mouth. She gives no sign of shock or fear, just a slight raise of her eyebrows. 

"So did Aeolus. What's your point, again?"

"I'm not insulting you." I frown, her manner insulting. "I was just wondering what you were doing out with her."

She hesitates. "Maybe it's top secret."

I take a deep breath, fiddling with my fingers in my lap. "She talked with me too."

Again, no reaction, the most movement I get is her gaze flicking to mine and back to some point behind me. "I've been told."

I lean forward in my chair, just a little bit. "You've been told?"

"Yes, I've been told. Doesn't mean you can know what we were talking about, Daphne."

A small huffing sound involuntarily escapes my lips. "Oh, come on."

Finally her gaze does lock on mine, but this time it is more annoyed than anything. "She's the mayor, Daphne. You wouldn't be going around spilling her secrets either, if you knew them."

I don't know the extent of her knowledge, what Mayor Gallopetal has told her, and so I am not going to share anything unnecessary--at least not until she does, which, at this rate, looks like it could be a while. 

"Fine. How about this: you tell me where you were meeting up with her, no details or anything, and I'll tell you what she said to me about someone you know very well."

She sits up from where she is lounging, just slightly. "Not Aeolus."

I shake my head, hair swooping into my eyes just for a moment. "God no, not Aeolus. Someone else."

Altalune glances towards the door, and I know she knows. 

A deep breath, her hands clasp tightly together, and she sighs. "Fine."

My expression breaks out into a smile. "You first?"

"You're the one who came here for information. You go first."

I follow where she'd been looking previously, scanning the door as if there was any way I could see through it. "He's downstairs?"

She nods; that is all I need. 

"The mayor said that your father was falsely accused of treason. That he was not helping the... hypothetical rebellion."

She looks at me, for a long, suspenseful moment, and then eventually stands. "I didn't know that."

As she begins to walk toward the door, I stand, too, following her, my pace fast to catch up. "Where are you going? We're not done here yet."

She pauses in her stride for just a moment to turn and look back at me, the expression on her face unreadable. "I'll show you where we met."

"Now?"

"Why, are you busy?"

"No. Let's go."

I am: Shan is expecting me home at 5:30, for dinner, but she can wait. This is more important--I have a feeling, a very strong one, that if I do not go with Altalune right now, I'll never know her secret. 

And really, I'm nothing if not curious. 

***

Altalune leads me to an unassuming sort of house, in the part of town I don't wander into often. She knocks three times, waits a moment, and then knocks again. There is creak from inside the house, and then footsteps.

An old man opens it, his hair and beard a scruffy bright white. "Altalune," he says matter-of-factly, frowning, or maybe that's just his face. "Al--Guinnie's not here right now."

I raise my eyebrows: he calls the mayor 'Guinnie?' 

"I know," Altalune says, her tone a mirror image of his. "This is Daphne."

"Amphitrite?"

"Yes, Amphitrite. What about it?" I answer quickly. Did he know my father, maybe? There are plenty of men in this town who hold grudges against him for many different reasons, although I did think I at least knew who most of them were.

But he just shakes his head. "No reason. Word travels quick here."

Oh. He means about my victory in the Hunger Games. Nothing for my father, for my broken family, the only recognizable thing about me has grown to be the murder I have selfishly committed and the twenty-three children I have had a hand in killing. 

I just nod, unable to say anything, and with a glare Altalune saves me. "She says Mayor Gallopetal met with her recently. Is that true?"

He looks me up and down, as if trying to place me in his memory. "I suppose so."

"I suppose so, or yes?" Altalune counters.

He meets her gaze, and I realize the expression on his face is in fact a frown, not just wrinkles. "Yes. They did meet. Now calm yourself, Altalune. Come inside. I will make tea."

We go inside, because clearly Altalune is desperately seeking answers, and I'll admit I'm curious, too. 

"Why did they meet?" Altalune asks, impatient, as she takes a seat at the long table in the middle of the room. The man's chairs are hard and wooden, and as I slide my hand along the armrest, I swear I feel a splinter lodge itself in my hand. 

He turns to me, taking a seat between the two of us. "I apologize for not introducing myself. My name is Crassus, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I reply politely, gracefully ignoring Altalune's glare. 

Crassus. Where do I recognize that name from? I swear I've heard it somewhere, but not recently, and not often. 

"Why did they meet, Crassus?" Altalune repeats, swiping hair out of her face.

He turns, rather slowly. "I assume you could simply ask your friend here, Altalune."

"She's told me why, but I'd like to verify that it's the truth. Also, I don't like that Guinevere is keeping secrets from me. So?"

"Patience, child. Guinevere is out right now--although I'd suggest you call her Mayor Gallopetal, as she is your leader, not your peer."

"Your leader?" I ask, because by the way he says it, it doesn't sound like it means 'mayor.'

Crassus responds without so much as a glance in my direction. "All will be explained in time."

A pause. "Oh, so she's getting let in on this, too?" Altalune pipes up, earning herself an eyebrow raise and annoyed look from our kind host.

"Don't be childish, Altalune. You're an adult now, act like it."

"I will act like it when both you and Mayor Gallopetal stop withholding important information from me."

Crassus sighs, turning to me. "I think it best you go on with your day, young lady. Me and Altalune should speak about this, in private."

For half a moment I consider mimicking Altalune and resisting, but seeing better I stand, and move towards the door. 

Crassus bids me farewell, and then I shut the door behind me and start home. 

A million confusions fill my head. I've never seen Altalune act like this--normally she's so stoic, put-together. But here she is, being disrespectful not only to an elder but also to someone who seems to be above her rank, along with the mayor herself. 

Not only that, but she's working with the mayor. And they're talking about me. Why would they be talking about me?

Although, to be fair, I suppose everyone's talking about me right now, about my Games and how I won them. But I can't imagine how that sort of talk would go hand-in-hand with what Mayor Gallopetal told me about Aeolus and Altalune's father. I did nothing that could even be remotely construed as treasonous during my Games, nor did I mention, much less help, any sort of rebels, real or not. 

Rebels. Hmm. That could be it, couldn't it? 

But no, it wouldn't, because if I can trust anyone in my District, it should really be my mayor. She wouldn't commit treason herself; she wouldn't betray her District like that, the same way I didn't and would never kill Apollo. 

Or would she?

***

so sorry for the wait! I haven't published a chapter in more than two months, so that's totally my bad, and hopefully there'll be more soon.