Corruption of Ambition | Sejanus Plinth

Seventeen

Riyana did not eat dinner with her family that night. She skipped out on breakfast as well. It was not on purpose, she had tried. She could not even look at food without feeling sick to her stomach though, so she showed up to class with only a coffee in hand.
Most students were off talking to tributes. It was Sejanus, Livia, and Palmyra that sat at the lab tables. Palmyra sat next to Livia, leaving the seat next to Sejanus the open one. Riyana hesisted before sitting next to him. He did not acknowledge her, his gaze never averting from Dr Gaul at the head of the classroom. 

"Good morning." Riyana said quietly. She knew she should leave him alone, but she selfishly wanted to hear his voice.

"Morning." He muttered under his breath, still not sparing her a glance.

They did not speak again and the room remained silent until the rest of the students came escorted in by Dean Highbottom. Riyana watched as each student became more uncomfortable at the sight of Dr Gaul than they had been from talking to their tributes.

Hippity, hoppity, carrot or stick? Everyone's dying and you're . . ." Dr Gaul turned to them expectantly, and everyone but Sejanus averted their gaze.

"Feeling sick," said Sejanus.

Dr. Gaul laughed. "It's the compassionate one. Where's your tribute, boy? Any clue?"

The capital had been covering updates on Marcus' manhunt, but they had become less frequent by now. Riyana hoped this was due to no leads, not for some shock factor during the games. The capital citizens did not share her sentiment, many believed it was simply because no one cared. He was likely either dead or captured, or would be soon.

"Possibly on his way to freedom," said Sejanus in a strained voice. "Possibly captured and under wraps. Possibly injured and hiding. Possibly dead. I've no idea. Do you?"

Riyana absent mindedly moved to the edge of her seat, not wanting to be so close to him while he talked to Dr Gaul argumentatively. She had never seen someone talk back to the insane game maker. It would take someone truly out of their mind to do so, yet here Sejanus was.

"No, don't answer," Sejanus spat out. "He's either dead or about to be, when you catch him and drag him through the streets in chains."

"That's our right," Dr. Gaul countered.

"No, it isn't! I don't care what you say. You've no right to starve people, to punish them for no reason. No right to take away their life and freedom. Those are things everyone is born with, and they're not yours for the taking. Winning a war doesn't give you that right. Having more weapons doesn't give you that right. Being from the Capitol doesn't give you that right. Nothing does. Oh, I don't even know why I came here today."

Riyana gasped when Sejanus sprang to his feet. If he hadn't begun walking so fast, she would have grabbed his wrist and begged him to sit down. Sejanus did not understand how crazy Gr Gaul could truly be, exactly how much danger he was putting himself in.
He reached for the doorknob, but it barely moved. He tried jiggling it one more time before turning to Dr Gaul.

"Locking us in now? It's like our own little monkey house."

"You have not been dismissed," said Dr. Gaul. "Sit down, boy."

"No." Sejanus said it quietly, but it still caused several people to jump.

After a pause, Dean Highbottom intervened. "It's locked from the outside. The Peacekeepers have orders to leave us undisturbed until notified. Sit down, please."

Riyana gave him a pleading look. She was not going to give up Sejanus to keep him safe, just so he can get himself hurt by another powerful capital figure. He did not even glance at her. His eyes traveled across the room multiple times, but always skipped her.