"I AM NOT NAMING MY BABY BARTHOLOMEW!" I barked out a laugh, still trying to catch my breath from when Sejanus recommended I name my unborn child Alfredo.

He has the back of his head rested against the wall behind him and I'm scanning through this oldened 1000+ Baby Names book as I sit criss-cross on the floor.

I blow out a breath, pushing my hair out of my face. "Okay, what about if it's a girl?"

He smirks. "Easy. Baruta."

My lips part with disbelief as I give him a dumb-founded look. "Baruta?"

He shrugs, his smirk growing on his face. "Why not?"

I shake my head, scoffing. "Okay, you're terrible at this—"

He slaps a hand over his heart. "I'm wounded."

"Yeah, okay." I roll my eyes.

He spares another laugh before I flip onto the next page. The first name that appears—Lucy.

My words get caught in my throat as my eyes scan over the name.

Lucy—meaning: light.

Lucy Gray certainly is a light. She's always got a smile on her face as she sings a tune through life yet she somehow stays sophisticated enough to be strong while being so innocent and joyous. She's ambitious, and she stands up for what she believes in and she's everything I'm not.

I swipe my tongue across my bottom lip and pry my eyes from the words on the page, meeting Sejanus' gaze. "Do you think anything is going on between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus?"

His face goes white and he appears as though he's been caught. I watch him swallow and look away from me. "Mari, he bribed the people at the Stationing office to come here to 12."

For Lucy Gray. He doesn't have to say the words, but I know damn well that's what he's implying.

I've moved my entire life here to a crappy fucking district and he didn't even want me here.

He came here to run off with Lucy Gray and I'm just some chess piece that's gotten in his way.

BLAKELY SPEAKS !
y'all are impatient and i'm still dying from illness so in return you get an unedited 500 word chapter that i won't remember writing in the morning!