Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Hunger Games universe. I only own my original work. All names, characters, and places belong to their respective owners. Big thanks to my beta for the quick turn around of this chapter!

The deadly stain of nightlock smears across his lip, the dark red juice dripping downward as I slash the berries from him. I let go of a panicked cry as he finally looks at me, a stunned blink of shock falling over him as he moves to wipe his chin.

"I-I…" he stutters as I force a glass of water on him. "I didn't know."

I let out a breath as the beating of my heart decreases. "No shit," I respond, not bothering to censor my language. "Somebody, somebody tried to-"

"Kill me?" he almost laughs, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I caught on to that."

At that, somebody pulls me backward, a strong hand dragging me off of the table. "Miss," says the hushed voice of a red-headed guard, "you're going to need to come inside." My fists curl in apprehension, but I comply anyways, giving in when Peeta nods at me and stands up to follow. "Come on," Peeta says, loosening the guard's grip on me and taking my arm, "My father's going to want to know about this."

There's something about being so close to death that tends to make even the strongest of men tremble. Even Peeta, who seems to have a gift about these things, is still shaking, I notice, as we wait for the King. I'm not a stranger to that kind of fear. I've seen it many a time before when on the job, even experienced it myself after narrowly escaping a sword or clinging to a building's side. But nonetheless, I find myself unable to calm Peeta, much less say anything that will bring me closer to the ruby.

"You're going to be alright," I reassure him rather unconvincingly as we sit beside each other in some kind of overly furnished parlor. When he doesn't respond I reach out for his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "You're still here, Peeta. You survived."

"I could have died," he lets out in a low whisper, staring blankly ahead.

I bite my lip, unsure of how to placate him. "Yes, you could have. But you didn't."

"No," he says, giving me something between a chuckle and a scoff, "I didn't. Because of you."

I shake my head and lean deeper into the plum colored chair. "Not really. For all you know, if it wasn't for me you would have never stopped at Lord Abernathy's, which means you wouldn't be here now, and perhaps then none of this would have happened."

He places a hand on my leg, his thumb brushing absentmindedly against the brocade of my dress' outer lining. "You can't blame yourself for this," he says softly, "I don't think you had much control over my ending up at your father's. I think that was more or less in the hands of fate."

I blush guiltily, because I did have control over Peeta ending up at Lord Abernathy's. In fact, I'm the very reason he ended up where he is right now. But of course, I can't mention any of this to Peeta, so instead I scoff. "Fate robs carriages these days? Things must be worse off than I thought."

As soon as the jab slips from my lips I freeze, wide eyed. You're not supposed to talk about that type of thing, not supposed to mention economic instability or inequality; at least, you ought not to when waiting for the King's audience.

Peeta seems to catch on to my sudden panic. There's no panic, no tremor or shake in his fingers, when he rests his hand assuredly against me. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Katniss," he sighs, tapping his fingers against my leg. "I know we haven't known each other for long, but after last night, after today, you should know that I trust you."

I trust you. It's enough to make me want to hurl myself out the window. I don't know why it hits me the way it does. I should be happy, after all, that he feels this way about me. But I can't. Maybe it's because he always gives so much of himself to me, maybe it's because I've come so close to losing him. Either way, I know that whatever attachment I have to him is dangerous. If I want to come out of this job with my head still attached to my body I'm going to have to do whatever it takes to rid myself of these...sympathies I feel towards Peeta.

"Hey, Katniss," Peeta says, breaking my thoughts.

I look up at him, at his bright blue eyes, at his easy, giving smile. "Yeah?" I ask, "Is something wrong?"

"No," he shakes his head, swallowing hard. "I just, I mean, this whole thing with the nightlock has got me thinking about the things I wish I would have said more had I got the chance and I just..." he stops rambling and sighs. "I'm glad you agreed to come with me, Katniss. I think that-"

Before he has the chance to finish we hear it, the booming echo of boot steps on marble floors. The King's men dressed in their finest livery, about a half dozen more than usual. They've trumped up security, it seems, in light of recent developments.

"Lady Katniss," the King greets, nodding in my direction as he enters the room, "I hear that I owe you a great debt of gratitude. All of Panem does, it seems."

I shake my head, trying not to laugh at the lacy ensemble of cream and pink that reminds me more than a little bit of a puffed pastry.

"No, no, Lady Katniss," the King turns his head pointedly, pacing throughout the room in an aggrandized manner. "Don't be modest. You have saved the Crown Prince from near certain death. That is an action worthy of honor. Of course, I have made arrangements to...duly compensate your father, but nevertheless I cannot express my greatfulness. You have saved my son, my heir, my lifeline. That, my dear, is an accomplishment worth boasting about."

I don't respond to that, King Snow doesn't even give me the chance. Before I know it he's leaning over Peeta, dabbing his mouth with a ruby colored handkerchief and explaining that our travel plans have been expedited. "I want you back to the Capitol as soon as possible, Peeta," he rasps, coughing into the handkerchief. "I'll handle this matter, in the meantime it is best you make your way back home. I can't have my son outside city walls. Not with the way things are now."

At the King's words I swallow, making an attempt to cover up my surprise. Not with the way things are now. There's no doubt in my mind that he's referring to the plans of war Peeta mentioned. Perhaps he intends on striking sooner rather than later.

"Of course, father," Peeta nods dutifully, taking my arm in his. "We'll be on our way before sundown."

True to his word, Peeta has the entire convoy packed and ready to go before even two hours have passed. I'm left to my own devices, left alone, rather, in some kind of aging parlor on the far end of the estate. I wonder how proper ladies deal with this kind of thing. If they often find themselves as bored as I am now. If I were a man like Gale I would be out there with the rest of the men helping to make travel arrangements, but instead I'm here, rotting in a room that clearly hasn't been updated since Haymitch was a child.

Somewhere towards the end of the first hour I start wondering who would have the motive to kill Peeta. It's not that I care terribly, or even that the knowledge itself is all that useful to me. But whoever the would-be-assassin is, they've jeopardized the job, jeopardized Peeta. The rebels are the most obvious answer, but anybody in their organization who has that kind of access would have gone directly for King Snow. It must be somebody with ulterior motives then, perhaps a party from the Capitol. I don't know enough about court politics to ascertain who the running suspects are.

As I reach a dead end on theories, I kick my feet up against the settee arm rest and start to play a game in my head. Scanning the room before me, I take in items of value and try to devise ways to sneak them out of the room. I'm halfway through a plan to steal a set of pearl covered potpourri boxes when Peeta arrives.

"Well you look mighty comfortable," he says with a jaunty laugh as he swings the door open. Taking in my rather relaxed appearance, and the feet slung across the settee, he props himself up against a side table and offers me his hand. "Come on," he says, "we'll want to get a move on it. You can sleep in the carriage."

I sigh, accepting his hand and letting him pull me up to a standing position. He's dressed in his uniform now, a sword at his belt. As we walk through the house and into the courtyard the sword swings ever so slightly against his coat, a tell-tale sign that he didn't attach the sheath correctly. Not that I'm going to inform him of that, of course. Men tend to be fussy about those things.

The stairs aren't set up when we get there, so Peeta helps me into the carriage, boosting me up with hands wrapped around my waist. He follows not long after, taking the seat across from me and closing the door. There are pillows and blankets laid out, I notice, as I take in my surroundings. A whole bed-set worth, with under sheets and what looks to be a quilt all folded up in the corner.

"Are we sleeping here?" I ask Peeta as the horses pull off with a jolting start. "For the night, I mean."

It's odd for a carriage of noblemen to travel through the dark, though I suppose most of the roads between here and the Capitol are nicer than those back where I'm from. We must really be in a hurry if they've decided to avoid stopping for the night.

He nods. "I hope you don't mind...if you would prefer, we could always stop at an inn."

I shake my head and try to avoid scowling at the thought of sleeping in my tightly pulled laces. "No," I tell him, "I'm fine."

Peeta gives me a half-cocked grin in response, his eyes lighting up with a hint of mischief as he surveys me.

"What?" I ask, annoyed. I notice now that his hair is slicked back instead of let down. Despite this, he looks more...handsome than normal, something about the uniform suits him better than court attire.

"Nothing," he says, "it's just that you're a terrible liar. I can tell you're not looking forward to spending a night in the carriage, Katniss. You have that look on your face, the one that always makes me wonder whether or not you want to kill me."

I shake my head, annoyed at the smugly knowing grin he's sporting. "It's not that I mind the carriage," I inform him with a brazen shrug of the shoulders. "It's just, you see, that my stays are tight and I'd prefer not to sleep in them."

Peeta practically chokes on his own saliva, turning bright red as he pulls from a coughing fit. "Your...stays," he chokes out.

"Yes," I say matter of factly, "my stays."

"Oh," he replies with a little squeak, "well I'm sure we could pull over or…"

I glare at Peeta, urging him to shut up. "You didn't really think I was inconvenienced by sleeping here, did you?" I ask, nudging my feet into his leg room.

He shrugs. "Many a lady has opposed to the idea."

"Many a lady?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him. I try not to think about all the women who have most likely come before me. The ones he's bedded and flirted with and lost before a month or two's time is over.

He doesn't respond to my implication. "Carriages aren't the most comfortable of accommodations, and of course, there's the dark to worry about."

"The dark?" I laugh. "I'd worry more about bandits and potholes than the dark itself."

"I will have you know," he informs me with mock sincerity, "that the fear of the dark is a rather common one and a perfectly natural paranoia at that."

I laugh, pushing my feet against the edge of his seat. "Tell me, Peeta. Are you, our most esteemed Prince, afraid of the dark?"

He laughs, raising his voice in a contrived Capitol accent. "Oh, I'm terrified." I laugh at that, leaning farther back in my chair so that my feet rest on his side of the carriage. I'm focused on balancing between the two seats when he speaks up again, this time without the accent. "Of course, I have you with me now, so what do I have to be afraid of?"

I don't quite know why I do it, but I do it nonetheless. Before Peeta can say another word, I'm there, pressing my lips against his.

Author's Note: Let me know what you thought about the kiss in the comments below! Make sure to breeze by my weheartit to see the inspiration collection for this chapter!

As always, you can find me on tumblr at starveinsafety, everlarkfanfictionclub, and girlonfirerecs. My beta is also on there if you would like to check her out!