THE GOLDEN AGE, sejanus plinth

009. the funeral

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CHAPTER NINE
THE FUNERAL
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IF ARACHNE HAD known that her funeral would be held at nine in the morning, she wouldn't have shown up voluntarily. Especially because it was a Saturday and Saturdays were made for staying in bed until noon (at least in her mind).

Aurora sat next to Achilles in the chariot, waiting for the parade to begin and waiting for it to be over. At least she had slept for a few hours last night, but she had been troubled by nightmares, that had left her waking up sweaty.

"Is that Coryo?" She asked her cousin quietly over the sound of the anthem. The boy pointed to one of the monitors and as she looked at it, she could see her friend singing the anthem.

"Two days ago, Arachne Crane's young and precious life was ended, and so we mourn another victim of the criminal rebellion that yet besieges us." The voice of President Ravenstill took over.

"Her death was as valiant as any of the battlefield, her loss more profound as we claim to be at peace," he continued.

Aurora furrowed her brows slightly.
If we're at peace, she wondered, then why do we have the Hunger Games?

Does peace mean to continue punishing those that we allegedly won over?

She blended out the rest of Ravenstill's speech and instead found herself going down a rabbit hole. If it wouldn't be for Arachne's stupid behavior, she still would be alive. That was a fact nobody could deny.

But if it wasn't for the Hunger Games itself, she would also still be alive. Ergo, it was the president's fault. But Brandy had slit her throat, so it was directly her fault.

Does that even make sense? She asked herself. Could there be more than one person at fault?

The chariot started moving and it would take another few minutes until the Cranes would turn onto Scholars Road. Her cousin's white coffin, that stood in a stark contrast to everyone wearing black, was transported a few yards before their chariot. And they could only see it on one of the screens.

None of the Cranes felt comfortable by this display. They normally didn't mind being reminded of their position as one of the old money families that got to reside on the Corso, but praising Arachne as a kind of war hero was even too much for her parents.

Aurora glanced at one of the screens that hung around Scholars Road and she immediately wished she hadn't.

Instead of showing her cousin's coffin, it was showing a flatbed truck with a crane attached to it. Brandy, or more so her bullet ridden body, dangled from its hook. The other tributes were shackled to the truck bed, looking worse than ever.

Her eyes widened as she saw Sol and Hy. They looked younger than they were, they always did, but even more so today. She quickly took her eyes off and instead turned her head around to her cousin.

She felt sick.

Achilles didn't seem to mind the public display of the tributes, especially not Brandy's.

How old was Brandy? Aurora wondered. Maybe sixteen, younger than them, a child like them. Forced to be here, starved, and taunted.