When Katniss volunteers, she thinks she knows what to expect. Katniss expects Haymitch Abernathy to be sat with his arm around his wife's shoulders, their son playing a game at their feet; Katniss expects Maysilee Mellark to be brimming to the gills with pride that her son is going to be in the Hunger Games – that he volunteered for his younger brother, just like Katniss; she expects the train to the Capitol to be her living hell.
It turns out that none of that is right in the slightest, except the living hell part.
Maysilee hugs her son protectively on the sofa and he lets her, her copper hair mingling with Banoc's own, still shiny and bright as ever – Capitol influence, Katniss finds out later. Haymitch sits beside Effie Abernathy, but he clutches his newborn daughter to his chest as Effie frets over Hayden, both looking like it could be the worst thing they could be doing in the world.
The mentors don't talk to her and Effie only takes a distracted few hours to talk her through what would be happening. Katniss both blames her and doesn't – she has two children she can only see a few times a year when she accompanies her husband to the Capitol, both to be eventually up for grabs during the Reapings.
What if this was Prim? She thinks, though, bitter and angry. Maysilee is obviously focused on making sure her son wins the Games – Ryen Mellark is already dead and gone in a cruel twist of fate, the second-to-last Tribute, killed in a mutt attack while the Victor of that year went undisturbed on the other side of the Arena.
Katniss wonders whether Peeta will be Reaped again, next year, because even she can tell that the Games have been rigged in past years. Ryen had volunteered for Banoc, after all, when he was twelve – just like Katniss did – and Ryen was sixteen, the same age Haymitch Abernathy had been during his Hunger Games. She guesses that Peeta is sixteen, like she is. Banoc must only be a year or two older.
Nothing sits right with her after Effie's little 'talk'. The next morning – after the softest bed she's ever slept in and the strangest bathroom in existence – Katniss slams a knife into the table, finally getting them to actually look at her, eyes sharp and for a moment, clear of distraction.
"I have just as much of a chance at being Victor as Banoc."
Haymitch is the one to take her on. His daughter, Iris, is left in Effie's arms as he questions her thoroughly. The fact that she can use a bow obviously surprises him, somewhat, until a glint appears in his eyes and he questions whether she knows Greasy Sae and her famous stews or not.
He spends the entire morning with her and when they get to the Capitol, Effie looks hard-pressed not to drag him away to spend time with his daughter, who, to Katniss' understanding, was only born a few months ago. This – the seventy-fourth Hunger Games – is the first time he's meeting her.
"I'll be fine," Katniss says the third time Effie turns up to hover. "I had to look after Prim after my dad died. You never know how much time you've got."
Haymitch looks like he's going to be sick, but he goes.
We'll win, Katniss thinks later, when Banoc shows as much aptitude for swords as she does archery. Haymitch and Maysilee won together – why can't we?
We're going to win.