#cbuilding

“Don’t you have a party to attend?”

Castor didn’t even turnaround from his work bench as the screen door slammed back on its hinges. I moved around my brother, his head still not lifting from the net his calloused fingers were weaving.  I snatched an apple from his open knapsack, jumping up onto the bench beside him as I surveyed my kingdom. I’d spent half my life in this shop; both being babysat and working. It was just as much home as the tiny little house nestled on the shoreline was.

Titus glanced around the crowded room, taking in his surroundings but not moving from his spot in front of the projection. It was day three that Magnus was in the arena, and it was clear he was a frontrunner for victory. Not that Titus was surprised at all. His brother was brilliant. Of course he was going to win. There were only nine people left, and really only two of them would be a threat. And anyway, Magnus was basically the leader of the career pack.

  The Galloway mansion was full of people, all talking and laughing and socializing. His parents had even allowed him to invite Flux over for the viewing, despite their opinion of his friend’s low class status. The two of them sat in chairs directly in front of the projection screen.

  When the footage cut and the announcer came on Titus turned to Flux, a wide grin on his face. “This is so cool, right?” He was practically vibrating his seat, thrilled about the Games. He had always loved watching, but now his brother was in the arena and winning.

  Flux smiled at his friend’s enthusiasm, but said nothing. He had never understood the Games, or their appeal, but her knew Titus was thrilled and wanted to be a good friend. At 14, he already knew his path would not lead to the Games, and was perfectly content with that.

  “Titus, push over.” Silk had wandered over, bored by her other brother, Skein, and wanted to watch.

  Titus rolled his eyes but said nothing, scooting over without protest. Silk could be a brat, but he couldn’t help doing as she asked. She was the Princess in the family, and the hell he was going to deny her anything.  Glancing back behind him, he saw Skein talking animatedly to a friend of their mother’s and he smiled slightly. His brother had discovered his niche in fashion two years prior and was flourishing.

  His father was a few feet away, laughing cordially with a few older men and Titus recognized Mr. Atwood as one of them. He grinned as his mother approached, taking his fathers hand and resting her head on his shoulder.

  The camera turned back to the arena and his head whipped around, not wanting to miss a thing. It flipped back and forth from the different tributes until it settled on Magnus, who was in the woods hunting a deer. Their food supply had been drained after a fire halfway through day two, but it didn’t matter since he could hunt.

  Suddenly the camera flipped to focus on a bush a few yards away and Titus squinted, trying to figure out why this bush was so important. On his lap, Silk gave a deafening shriek and in that moment, he spotted it. It was the boy from Four that had defected from the pack after killing Magnus’ district partner.

  Shooting up, Titus rushed closer to the projection, his heart racing. Surely Magnus had noticed, right? He would be fine, right?

  He saw the other boy lift his sword and stalk forward and everyone in the room went silent. Silk was clutching desperately to Flux, and Skein had rushed over to his parents, but Titus couldn’t move, his hands on the glass and his eyes glued to his brother’s back. All he could hear was the sound of the announcers, narrating what he was watching.

  “What’s this? Is that? It is! It’s Gil Kincardine! For those of you who don’t know, Gil earned a shocking 11 at training, and has already performed three kills in the arena, including the female tribute from District One.

  It seems Magnus Galloway, the receiver of the only other 11, has yet to notice Gil. It seems Gil is about to add Magnus to his list of kills. Oh! It seems like he is going to use his Dagger. Gil has a bow and several arrows, but we’ve noticed he prefers a more, personal, touch.

  “MAGNUS MOVE! PLEASE! PLEASE!”

  He is only a few steps away from the District One tribute and has remained unnoticed! Folks it seems like Mr. Galloway will be kill number four. Wait, what’s that? Magnus’ allies are fast approaching. It seems Magnus now knows of his danger. Ah! He’s spotted Kincardine but it may be too late!

  The sound of a cannon echoed in Titus’ ears loudly as he stared at the projection in front of him.  People all around him her gasping and he heard his mother give a wail of agony, but he couldn’t move from his place on the ground. There was movement all around him and the images on the screen had changed, but his mind didn’t seem to understand. All he could see was his brother, the look of fear and pain on his face when the knife was dragged across his throat.

"Skein, hurry up!" Titus yelled, pushing himself to run as fast as possible. The 16th Hunger Games were about to start, and Titus had no intentions of missing the beginning. Septimus had volunteered and was clearly a front runner for the Games this year and he didn’t want to miss a single thing.

“Titus, wait up!” His brother yelled from a few yards back. Skein was a small, boy who, unlike his brothers, was remarkably unathletic. Despite this, he was still expected to train and prepare like all of the other children of wealth in the district, though it was obvious he would never show any real progress.

Glancing back behind him, he rolled his eyes, not bothering to slow down. Skein had always been slow and unlike himself and Magnus. Grinning, he picked up speed, wanting to be home as soon as possible. Where the rest of the family would already be gathered around the projector. Magnus was in the other school, the upper level school and after this year, Titus would be joining him, but for now, the two boys got out of school thirty minutes apart.

“Titus, please!”

Titus wanted to keep running, to leave his brother in the dust, but he couldn’t help but slow down. It wasn’t his fault he was small and couldn’t run very fast, right? Titus was big for his age, just like his father and Magnus had been, but Skein seemed to take after their mother, who was slight in build. Turning around, he ran back to his brother crouching down, “Hop on!” He said with a grin, watching Skein’s face light up.

Running with his brother on his back was something Titus had grown up doing, though he’d been refusing a lot lately on the principal of the thing. He was eight years old, plenty old enough to try and keep up. But Titus knew Skein was excited for the Games and to see Sep win, so breaking his own rules, he continued running with a passenger. Not that it really made a whole lot of difference.  The house was already in view and Skein couldn’t weigh more than 40 lbs.

Finally he came to a stop outside of the house, letting his brother on the ground, before throwing open the door. Just as he was about to enter, Silk came speeding out of the car that had pulled up next to them, slamming into her brother. She had just turned five, and unlike her brothers, was still permitted to be driven home from school.

She grabbed both her brother’s hands, pulling them into the house and squealing loudly the whole way until Titus picked her up. She hugged him tightly around the neck as the three of them entered the viewing room. Normally, it would be full of people, and after today the house would constantly have visitors coming and going, but for the first day of the Games, the Galloways watched together as a family, with no outsiders.

Magnus,

I beat my time at the obstacle today at morning practice and I thought Ivory's head was going to explode. it was hilarious. You’d have been proud of me. We went over some tactical analysis and strategies today and we talked specifically about Septimus' Games. I know you'd have loved it. With the Reaping coming up, they've really been trying to prepare us for the selection. I know I'm the front runner, but even if I don't get selected, I'm going to volunteer anyway.

Oh, and I saw Flux and Thalia too. They seem to be doing well. I know I haven't been seeing them much, but I spend most of my time in the training center. Flux seems to be flourishing in the hotel industry. Father mentioned him the other night and I know he means to select him as his successor. I thought Skein might be upset, but Silk was the one who seemed pissed off.  She's really come into herself and I think father might put in a clause for her to inherit after he retires for when she comes of age. With both Silk and Flux running it, I know the corporation will only flourish.

On that note, I have no earthly clue what's been going on in Skein's mind lately, though. He seems okay, but I think the upcoming Reaping is worrying him. He's doing quite well in his design and engineering classes, though, so it seems like he has inherited mother's creative disposition. Father has been at the Capitol for a few weeks now, but he's assured me that he will be home for the Reaping. Mother spends most of her time locked up in her workroom, but that's nothing new. I've been taking care of Zeus, but I can tell he misses you.

We all do.

I'll write as soon as I can, but I've been quite busy so I'm not sure when.

Your Brother,