The Vulgar Crowd [Sardonyx / Olivia]
May 31, 2020 18:48:38 GMT -5
Post by marguerite harvard d2a (zori) on May 31, 2020 18:48:38 GMT -5
Olivia MontferratMadam SecretaryCommerce, Labor, Weights & Measures
I couldn’t say that life had been unkind to me. Sitting in my tearoom blossoming with pastels atop a dewy blue chaise lounge, I’d at least fifteen servants on my beck and call at any one time. They were all male avoxes, not because I needed anything to look at, but rather because it was a benefit to be surrounded by men who couldn’t speak. I spent enough of my days listening to men prattle on about their whims, or worse, after speaking my piece, having another repeat the same suggestion I’d offered be heralded as the second coming of Christ.
Eighty-two years of talentless hacks leading the way was enough to make anyone want to cut the tongue out of the man who dared make the suggestion my thoughts were ‘out of place and unrefined.’
I served at the discretion of the (now former) president for over fifteen years, but I’d been an essential cog in the capitol’s governmental machine for nearly fifty. Secretary of Commerce, Labor, Weights & Measures, I’d been tasked with making order out of the district’s incomprehensible plans for sufficiency. After all that time keeping my head down, doing the hard work, and kissing the gold ring on the hand that fed me, I was so kindly gifted with a task that was as unrewarding as it was impossible.
But I’d never turned down a challenge in my life, had I? Perhaps there had been no other good option. How many people had been in this position for a few years and then disappeared, or retired, never to be seen again?
It serves well enough to know that when you truly want something, you sacrifice.
You start giving away the things that stand in your way: the time after work spent socializing at the frivolous parties; the escapades with useless men who either saw you as fuckable or those that saw you as unfuckable but useful if you were fucked; the part of yourself that longed to let yourself have an opinion about those around you so you could speak out against their incompetence.
No one wanted that sort of person, let alone woman, at the helm of anything. Don't tell me you've bought into the belief that Panem has squashed sexism? There was always a moment when to step forward and point out another’s mistakes; that moment was when what they’d done reflected so badly that they could be exposed for all of their sins at once. Let them fall into the sense of security before you lay it all to bear, especially for the man that had been in charge.
Except then, as I dropped a cube of sugar into my blue china teacup, it was worth reminding myself that he had gone and died.
I had heard the news of what was happening in the districts – how could I not know when the supply chain was interrupted? I had sat through meetings of strategy, the whispering and bickering that hapless morons squabble over when they become frightened at the prospect of losing power.
News came out about the plot and all of us held our breath. Someone on Snow’s cabinet would be an easy suspect for the authorities or the council, wouldn’t they?
He was a stubborn old fool, you know? Ninety-two and he couldn’t fathom the thought to train a replacement. Not that I was surprised a man like Coriolanus would be too proud to admit he needed to step aside. He envisioned himself as an immortal.
All men must die, thank god.
Now we’re left with the remains of the day. A half functioning government dependent on the knowledge of those with any sort of experience. A populous that’s been riled up by terrorists and a food supply chain that’s fragilely putting itself back together. A succession crisis.
You could say all you want that this is normal, that a young country barely eighty-five years old would always struggle to transition from one leader to the next. Except it’s become clear that there are already those jockeying to take control.
It’s the moment.
The time when a woman could step forward, and lay out a plan for a new dawn. Silence those that need to be put out of their stupidity. Get the boots behind her. Settle the districts with a smile and an iron grip. Someone that had served her country for the vast majority of her life, someone that knew the games were not just a torture device – but a means to keep them broken and under the capitol’s boot.
I’d invited Sardonyx to my manse for an interview, the first that I would have given in about ten years.
You won’t find me commenting on the former president’s choices of appointments, or how he’s conducted the cold war across the districts. How he’s let the gamemakers run amok time and again, only to dither and be cajoled into keeping them alive. Or that his victors pay no respect to their service to the capitol, carrying on and fucking without abandon, popping out children and parading themselves around like idiots. Making friends with districters and thinking that they could have their own thoughts and opinions.
No – I’d kept my head down, and stayed the course. Locked myself away in my offices, kept to a schedule, read my books and tended to my hobby of sampling scotches and watching found pre-dark days contraband.
A doorbell sounded, and a barrel chested brute dressed in a tuxedo moved to get the front door.
No one could just ascend to prominence. Not through hard work alone. You had to be far cleverer and well liked to be taken seriously. The world needed to not only fear you but love the fear you made people feel. When they looked at Snow, they found a coldness that could leave you numb; a power that spoke for itself without needing an explanation.
“Sardonyx Crowe, what a pleasure, my dear,” I rose from my seat and brushed down my skirt. I waved to offer a seat to my most esteemed visitor in one of the couches set at each side of me, and then to the tea and pastel colored macaroons on the silver tray in front of me. She was a bigger household name than Flickerman at this point, and that was worth its weight in gold to begin with. “I so appreciate your coming. I’ve been meaning to speak to you for a good while now, what with all the unpleasantries as of late. Especially as high in demand as you are. It’s an honor.”
