#alwayseverlark

There’s a strong knock on the door that startles me. 

“Gale! What are you doing here?” His visit is unusual so late in the evening, and his face denotes anger. Something has happened. 

“I just came to tell you that there’s been an incursion of the Merchants. We think it was a small group, possibly spies or explorers scouting for an imminent attack. One of them, at least, has been badly injured, although he has escaped. We need to hunt down all of them. We don’t know what they saw, and we could be vulnerable. I came to warn you to take care of you and your family and not to go out in the next few days. If they want war, we will give them war.”

The animosity between Merchants and Seams is old, but recently the word ‘war’ can be heard all around. My father used to say that we were lucky we didn’t know war and starvation. The last war ended 9 months before I was born, but recently it seems like the frail truce between the two nations is reaching its end.

I nod as an answer and answer carefully, “Ok, but it won’t be easy to keep mom at home.”

“You must, Katniss,” Gale says, reaching for my hand and kissing it softly. “I hate that I have to go and won’t be able to see you. I will be thinking of how our wedding is only a few weeks ahead.“

“I hate it, too.”

“But you understand, don’t you, Catnip? It’s my duty.”

“Of course, Gale!” 

He then laces his arm around my waist and brings me to him to softly kiss my lips.

The kiss is comforting, warm and familiar, but it’s nothing like what other girls talk about; there’s no butterflies or heat…

I’ve never searched for romance or longed to fall utterly in love. No, that kind of love only brings misery like it did to my mother and my father.

I’m looking for something different: safety, companionship, a hunting partner, someone who can predict my next move in the woods while hunting, someone who will ever have my back.  Someone like Gale.

I disentangle myself from his embrace with a delicate movement and caress his cheek, which is covered partially in stubble. It’s tradition for men to grow a beard when they’re engaged and about to be married. 

“Be safe, Gale,” I beg him because I know he can be relentless in battle. 

“Don’t worry, Katniss. I’ll see you soon,” he replies and turns around to jump on his horse without another glance back. I know this separation is hard for him also. 

I close the door and go into the kitchen; my mom is in her usual rocking chair singing to herself. 

“Mama, where’s Prim?”

She takes a while, as she always needs to break out of her daydreaming, and answers, “She said she was going to take Lady to the meadow, by the stream.” 

“Damn, Prim!” I gasp in worry. “I need to go and get her.” I put on my shabby coat and my purple, wool beret and head towards the door. “You stay here, okay, Mama?” 

“Okay, but we will have to go later to see your dad.”

She means the gravesite of my father. She still goes there every day to speak with him. I’m not really sure if she always realizes he’s dead. Most of the time she’s lost in her own thoughts and memories.

“Okay,” I agree because I will deal with her later. For now I need to make sure that Primrose is safe.

Thirty minutes later I’m starting to get desperate; I keep calling my sister’s name in the woods, but I don’t get any answer, and I don’t see any trace of her, or Lady.

Then I realize. If Prim is in trouble, she’ll be hiding in our dad’s old cabin. It’s our spot, Prim’s and mine. No one else knows; it’s a very secluded spot behind a hidden entrance in the mountains. A cave that opens to a clearing in the woods. 

I’m nearly there when I yell out once more, “Prim!” But this time my search is productive, and I see my sister exiting in a rush from the cabin.

“Oh, thank God, Katniss, that you are here!” she says, launching herself into my arms. “I need your help.”

There’s a hitch of urgency in my sister’s voice that rings an alarm in my head.

“Why? what’s wrong?” And then I see it‒a big blood stain, covering her dress, and hands. “Oh my God, Prim! You are hurt!”

“No, it’s not me, Katniss.” 

“Who, then? Is it Lady?” 

She stops for a moment, considering her next words and whispers, “Listen, you have to promise me that you won’t be mad.”

“Primrose Everdeen, tell me right now what is happening!”

“I’d better show you,” she answers, grabbing my hand and walking towards the cabin. 

Prim opens the door, and the familiar mustiness hits my nose. Soon enough, though, I can distinguish a different smell; it’s metallic…it’s blood. Prim moves to a dark corner, and it’s then that I see a blond man, sprawled on a blanket on the floor.

“It’s the Merchant! The spy Gale told me about!” I exclaim and forcefully grab my sister by her shoulders to hide her behind me. “We have to go now and warn Gale and the other men.”

“No!” Prim shouts in anguish. “He’s badly injured, Katniss; we need to apply a tourniquet to that leg, and we need some of mom antibiotic’s ointment, or he will die.”

“I don’t care, Prim. He’s the enemy! It’s them or us!”

“He saved me, Katniss!”

“What do you mean? And why did you need to be saved in the first place?” Horrific images of my sister in danger cross my mind in the few seconds she takes to speak again and tell her story. 

“I was in the meadow with Lady; there was a loud noise, and she ran away. I followed her into the woods and finally got her, but on our way out, we came across a black bear. It was aggressive, and it was going to attack us, but he intervened and fought the bear. After that, he wanted to escort Lady and me out of the depths of the woods. His team told him it could be dangerous, but he didn’t listen and said it was his duty to make sure a young girl got home safe and sound… And that’s when Gale’s unit found us. I was able to hide and they didn’t see me, but Gale’s arrows injured him in the shoulder and in his leg. The rest of the Merchants confronted our men, and he escaped to the river. It took me some time to find him, but when I did, I brought him here, and he passed out due to loss of blood. I owe him, Katniss.”

She knows she’s got me with that. I hate owing people. 

“Ok, we will help him,” I concede… For now.

“Thanks, Katniss.” 

A smile spreads across her face, and I return it, but I point at her with my finger as I establish my rules. “Listen to me carefully, Primrose. We will just heal him, and then we are out. This isn’t like the animals you bring home, nursing them until fully recovered. He’s a Merchant. Perhaps he was kind, or perhaps he was looking for something else. We can’t trust him.”

“Peeta isn’t like that!” My sister defends the unconscious soldier.

“Oh! He has a name…” I frown, looking at my sister with a nagging suspicion. “He can’t be your friend, Prim. The sooner you understand that the better.”

“I understand; I ain’t a child anymore, Katniss, even if you don’t want to realize it. But he’s in critical condition; this isn’t going to be ‘clean and patch.’ It will require a bit more time than that, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him.”

“This is dangerous, Prim. If our people find out, we will be accused of treason. If his people find out, they could kidnap or kill us. There’s no easy out of this situation.” 

“I want to be a healer, Katniss.” The defiance and determination in her voice is unmistakable. “I won’t let him die if I can help it, but I promise I won’t try to be friends with him. Deal?”

“Just one more thing,” I add because I’m still unsure of the whole situation, “you won’t be with him alone. I’ll be here also.”

“Ok,” she concedes.

It’s getting dark, so we agree, not without some argument from my sister, to boil some water and concentrate on his leg first. Prim will go home with Mom and come back tomorrow morning when it is safer with some antibiotics and a sewing kit. Me, on the other hand, I will stay with him tonight, clean the rest of his wounds and try to control the fever that’s starting to break.

I have another reason to be here tonight, although I don’t share it  with her. I don’t trust Merchants; they are cruel and arrogant, and I am going to make sure this guy doesn’t fool us. My sister is too innocent; she doesn’t know how Merchants operate.

—————————-

The moon is high in the sky, and a cold breeze sneaks through the wooden planks. I light a small fire because I don’t want to bring any attention to us, but I hope that the trees and mountains will cover the smoke from the fireplace. 

Prim left around thirty minutes ago, so I return to my chore. Slowly, I pass a wet cloth over his face, cleaning the mud from his skin. It is pale, but not as pale as his leg; you can see that his face is sun-kissed, and there are freckles gracing his Roman nose. His mouth is generous, and the profile of his jaw is strong. He’s blond like ninety percent of the Merchant population. Oh yes, and he’s handsome. 

Very handsome.

He has no beard, and I wonder how he’s clean-shaven, even in the current circumstances when he obviously has been away from his home for weeks. Or maybe he’s too young to grow a beard, although he looks to be my age.

The next step, as I was told by Prim, is to clean his shoulder injury, but for that I need to undress him. Well, his shirt at least. I blush at the thought. I have never been comfortable with nudity, but it’s just his shirt, I tell myself. There’s no reason to be nervous or shy.

I repeat the process of removing blood and filth from his upper body, only to discover broad shoulders, a strong chest, and firm abs. Without thinking, and by their own accord, my fingers caress the middle of his chest, playing with the hairs there. They are very blond, and they glow under the orangish-yellow light of the fire. His hairs tickle my fingers, creating a warm shiver that runs down my spine. He’s attractive.

Devilishly attractive.

Lost in my thoughts of the foreigner, I’m caught by surprise when I find his eyes fixed on me. They are blue opals, and I get lost in them just long enough for the man to catch my arm with surprising strength for being injured. 

“Where am I? Who are you?” he asks, pain reflected in his voice.

“I am Katniss, Prim’s sister. Let my hand go,” I demand, but Peeta doesn’t follow my order and holds on tighter to my hand.

“You’re Seam.” 

The cold statement riles me up, and with my other hand, I grab the dagger I always bring with me and position it near his jugular.

“Yes, I am, and if you don’t release me now, I’m going to slice your neck, Merchant.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

It’s the last Friday of summer break, and I think I’m gonna faint. The air is muggy, the sun is hot, the pool water a few yards in front of me looks inviting and refreshing, yet, I couldn’t move a muscle to save my life if I wanted to.

I arrived home from a 5 week retreat for disabled athletes, and after dumping the smelly contents of my duffle bag into the washer, I peeled off my shirt, shoes and socks and made my way to our family pool, just to be confronted by an unexpected sight.

I’ve been staring at my baby brother’s best friend in the tiniest, neon orange bikini in history, for what has to be up to a solid minute now.

“You’re such a pest, Rye!” She yells from behind a lounge chair, loading with darts a brightly colored nerf gun.

My brother is standing in the middle of the pool, aiming his water blaster in her direction, “Yeah? You think so, Kani?” Ryen mocks— ‘Kani’ isn’t her real name, though. Rye just had trouble pronouncing it properly when he was a baby, and the nickname stuck— “Eat chlorine!” He blasts his bestie as soon as she moves from her cover to shoot at him.

Is a typical scene, really. A summer staple of our childhood: my brother— Rye— chasing little tomboy, Katniss Everdeen, around the pool while shooting some toy projectile at each other; except this time the swell of Katniss’ breasts, the flare of her hips, and even the miles upon miles of sun kissed, olive skin, glimmering under the sun with water droplets scattered all over her body, gave me panting and straining.

I don’t remember her looking this way at the beginning of summer!

Objectively speaking, Katniss has always been cute, but she’s also another one of the ‘guys’, invariably tougher than Ryen, and completely out of bounds.

“I’m warning you, Ryen Mellark…surrender, or prepare to get your butt handed to you!” She roars.

“Bring it on, Kani!”

In typical Katniss and Rye fashion, her massive nerf gun gets dropped on the terra-cotta tiles for the patio, as she leaps into the pool to rough-house him.

My eyes follow her graceful ass with tunnel vision narrowness. A disgusting appreciative half moan-half grunt, escapes the back of my throat involuntarily. Worse of it is what happens below my waist, where my shorts are tenting and my muscles twitch.

“Fuck!” I heave under my breath. I can’t let Rye see me like this!

Nothing good will come of my brother noticing the effect Katniss has on my body. Rye is obsessively overprotective of her, their bond is one of the most unique, strong and special things I’ve seen, and I don’t dare messing it up.

You wouldn’t be able to tell, just looking at our house, our cars, Dad’s sprawling business, our high end education, or our perceived wealth, but our family life hasn’t been a field of flowers exactly. At times, Katniss was the only sliver of light and hope in Ryen’s existence, and vice versa when tragedy struck the Everdeens, Rye was Katniss’ sole source of understanding and companionship. They’re equally dependent on each other.

It's time to get back inside. A cold shower is in order.

My daydreams of shedding my fake leg and falling into the pool to relax in the weightlessness of the water after my long ass drive, will have to wait.

I step backwards into the living room, but my real, bare foot lands on a nerf dart. The squishy material startles me; I trip, narrowly catching myself against the open French doors.

“Shit!”

The skirmish behind me comes to an abrupt end, and I shift in place, to face them.

My brother’s eyebrows are arched, watching me quizzically. Even with one prosthetic leg I’m usually very sure footed.

“When did you get home?” Rye demands, hoisting himself out of the pool.

“About 10 minutes ago. Where’s dad?”

Rye shrugs, “Take a wild guess,”

So, the bakery then. Dad owns a chain of bakeries state wide, but he’s the head baker in the original shop, here in town.

I try to keep my eyes on Rye, chanting in my head: don’t look at her, don’t look at her, don’t look at her… it isn’t working! My eyes stray to Katniss all the same.

She climbs out of the pool as well, and it’s all I can do to not stare like a creep, as the rivulets of pool water drip down between her breasts and limbs.

I swallow harshly before rasping out the first thing that comes to mind. “Hey Rye, have you seen my jockstrap, I’m doing laundry.”

‘Jockstrap? Really? Smooth you moron!’

I have to suppress the urge to groan.

Ryen rolls his eyes, “Yeah, I just wore it this morning during all my sport tryouts.”

His sarcastic quip makes Katniss laugh. A sound I’ve found mesmerizing ever since I can remember. Her syren call is too strong to resist.

I turn in her direction, and again, my mouth runs with the first thing that comes to mind. “Everscream, are those new?” I point at her chest, making a vague circle gesture. I’m such an idiot!

“What?” She looks down at herself confused. I can pinpoint the moment she realizes I’m referring to her boobs.

Normally, Katniss would fix me with a scowl for the nickname she hates so much, but at 17 she’s so pure, my comment about her chest just causes her sparkly gray eyes to widen in shock. Her cheeks turn a deep shade of pink, and she plops down into the nearest lounger, scrambling to pull a towel over herself.

“There’s nothing new here!” She snaps, scowling at her knees for a second. She turns her flaming gaze back on me. “Hey, Peeta, have you ever heard of a detangler? Is a grooming product that can help tame that rat’s nest you call hair! By the way, put a shirt on, you look like a hobo!”

Rye guffaws, and even I have to smirk.

She isn’t wrong. I could use some shampoo and maybe some conditioner as well; washing my hair only with the cheap bar of soap from the athletic villa for a month has taken its toll on my poor head.

“Whatever dorks. Just keep it quiet, will ya? I have a hot date with the couch and Netflix, and I don't want you two intruding in my ‘me’ time with your racket.”