Chapter 4

Effie collected them at the front door. "All right, that's enough chatter. We're on a time schedule. The concert's in twenty minutes. It'll go for about two hours, and then we all need to make our way to the Great Hall. Come along now," she said and began walking away. They all followed her and even though she frequently waved at people and say a few words at passing party-goers, she never flagged her pace and kept to her timeframe.

Effie led them along a row of seats three rows from front. "These are just the perfect seats," she exclaimed. When everyone was seated, Katniss was pleased to see that Peeta was on her right and Cinna was on her left.

"Finally get to see the orchestra?"

He grinned at her. "You won't regret it."

"Portia told me what we'd be seeing," Peeta said. "It sounds like it could be really interesting."

Katniss was surprised to see there were already people swarming all over the stage and they were all dressed in black. Some were even fiddling with the instruments, some that were shiny and others that were wooden, but what struck Katniss was at how…normal they looked.

"They look so different from other Capitol citizens."

"Ah, yes, that's actually part of tradition. You're not allowed to alter yourself to…strange proportions like some people," Cinna replied, dropping his voice low on the last bit, since they were surrounded by such strange denizens. "Children with musical talents are discovered at a young age and if you're drafted to be in the orchestra, you're not allowed to change yourself. You can do certain things, like wear make-up or dye your hair, but it must be unobtrusive."

"Why?" She asked, though she privately felt that that was a welcome normality to the Capitol's strange ways.

Cinna just shrugged and said, "Tradition."

"Were you close to being drafted into the orchestra?"

"What makes you think that?" Cinna asked

"Because you don't look like other stylists. You look so…normal."

"Yes, I almost got drafted into the orchestra. I played the Clarinet. It's that black and silver instrument there. You can barely see it. I was good, but…not good enough and I don't think I loved it as a child. Now, I regret not being more serious about it, but then I…wouldn't have met you."

Katniss smiled, but it faltered as soon as she turned away. Discussing the past was too painful. She had nearly driven herself to distraction thinking about all the other things she could have done to avoid the situation only to run into a wall: there was no point in discussing the what-ifs because that didn't change her situation.

"Do either of you know the instruments?"

"No, other than…that fiddle there. That is a fiddle right?"

"Yes, it's also called the violin. There are usually two sections of violins: 1st and 2nd violin. The first chair of the 1st violin is called the Concertmaster. They are sometimes in charge when the conductor isn't there."

The orchestra was getting increasingly fuller as they waited and Cinna started pointing out instruments.

"Those big instruments laying on their side right there. Those are cellos. The bigger ones in the back are bass. They have a really low deep sound. The silver instruments right there are flutes. The flutes, the clarinets, the oboes, the bassoon, and piccolos are all part of what are called woodwind instruments. Those shiny instruments there are the brass. You have your trumpet, French horn, saxophone – though there isn't one here – tuba, and trombone. There are more instruments than that, but they don't usually make an appearance in a traditional orchestra like this. Also, in the middle, they're hard to see, are what are called Violas. They're a lot like a violin, but bigger and they play a lower range of notes."

Right then, what Cinna had mentioned was the Concertmaster stepped up to the podium in front of the orchestra and everyone became still and quiet. She played a strong clear note and then the rest of the orchestra played the same note before it became a mish mash of sound.

"They're tuning their instruments as a whole," Cinna whispered.

Katniss nodded halfheartedly but she was watching the Concertmaster with interest. She was practically a girl, probably only a handful of years older than her. Her skin was pale and she had long black hair that was pulled back into a braid in her own style. Was this woman a fan?

The sound of tuning died down and everyone was silent as they sat, back straight in their chairs. Katniss was used to quiet. The woods outside District 12 were quiet, with the ambient sounds usually of birds trilling, insects chirping, and the occasional snap of a stick. However, this was not the comfortable quiet of a day spent alone in the woods. It was so quiet she thought she could actually hear the people behind her breathing and it made her uneasy.

Then a man in a black and white suit was striding out onto the stage and the audience immediately broke into wild applause. The orchestra jumped to its feet and they only sat down when the man stepped onto the dais. He bowed to the audience where the clapping once again tapered to silence. He raised his arms and the orchestra immediately readied their instruments.

Katniss found it all a little unsettling to see such strict discipline, but was even more surprised to see it here in the Capitol as opposed to the outlying districts. "Why do they do that?" She whispered to Cinna.

"Tradition," he replied again. "To be in the orchestra is a great achievement. They're not all as uptight as it looks."

Nearly everyone jumped at the first note. The first song started off loud and aggressive and fast. The drums thrummed deeply almost like war drums setting the pace of the attacking army. Katniss felt a little intimidated by it. Did President Snow have a hand in picking the songs for the night's concert? Of course he did, she mused and formed her mouth into a grim line. Was she supposed to hear this all night?

The song built up to an explosion, but the tone afterwards slowed down and went at a quiet and measured pace. The entire tone of the song changed and after several minutes there seemed to be a hint of…optimism. Am I even reading these songs right? Normally, Katniss would scoff at the notion of songs carrying a hidden meaning, but ever since her song to Rue she started attributing stronger emotions to music and there was no doubt of the undertones she felt towards this particular song. She was surprised to find herself smiling by the end, the notes of hope warming her like a balm for her soul.

The rest of the concert continued with more pieces that seemed to hold little significance but were at least pleasant to hear. Another song that spoke even stronger of aggression, violence, and war caused Katniss to internally wince. The Capitol Orchestra – though looking back this didn't really surprise her – was yet another thing that President Snow was in complete control of.

As the orchestra prepared for the next song, the Concertmaster – the surprisingly young violinist – stepped away from her chair leaving it empty and faced the audience. She turned to look at the conductor who looked at her and nodded. She put her violin up and began the song.

Cinna leaned over and whispered, "She plays parttime as a solo performer. She wrote a piece and this is its debut."

"What's it called?"

"Flight of the Phoenix," he replied.

Katniss cocked her head in interest. After the first minute, Katniss thought the start sounded...majestic. While the feeling never went away, there was something inspiring about the music. It evoked energy. While the first song had a feeling of hope eternal, this sound never slowed to that pace and took off.

She couldn't keep from staring at the woman. She had seen Dorner play the fiddle and she had always wondered how his fingers could possibly move that fast to hit all of his notes and yet this woman was doing the same thing, but more elegantly. Fiddle was frenetic, while this sort of style was more structured, but no less moving. When the song finally ended Katniss let go a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and began clapping enthusiastically with the rest of the audience.

As she was clapping, Katniss froze when the young violinist suddenly looked straight at her. The woman's smile grew wider and then she bowed in her direction. She was beginning to wonder if she hadn't just been imagining things when the people in front of her stood up, blocking her view and she noticed the rest of the audience standing up and roaring their approval. Finally, the clapping died down, but a rumble of voices talking excitedly about the concert replaced it as everyone stood up to make their way to the feast.

"Did you enjoy the concert?" Cinna asked in clearly the same amount of excitement.

"That was amazing," Peeta said. Katniss glanced over to him and his eyes were dancing. "Everyone was so good! Especially her! I wonder how she does it."

Katniss shook her head and said, "Yeah…yes, she was very good. All the songs were very good."

"Oh come on, Katniss. They were good. Thanks for suggesting them, Cinna," Peeta said. She could already hear him humming snatches of the last song.

"Come along, we need to reach our seats in the Grand Hall. Can't be late for dinner," Effie said, already pushing them out of the row and towards the exits. The Grand Hall, they found, held several round tables that were all stationed around a singular giant table that held too many dishes of food to count.

To Katniss' surprise, her entire party had a round table to itself. She half expected President Snow to insist sitting next to her to intimidate her and she let out a quiet sigh of relief that that was not the case. Once again, Effie was in control and she herded them with the skill and elegance of a shepherd dog. She pointed out their seats, then she herded them to the banquet table to pick up their food and herded them back to the table.

Katniss was saved from conversation by a litany of whispered orders from Effie to virtually everybody at the table.

"Katniss, you start with the fork on the outside!"

"Peeta, dear, put your napkin in your lap."

"Haymitch, you should really stay sober for this party!"

Haymitch muttered something under his breath and ignored Effie. Just like many dinners before the games, Cinna and Portia struck up a good deal of the conversation and kept everyone appropriately engaged and civil.

When Effie was in deep into a conversation with Portia and the makeover teams, Cinna leaned over and whispered, "So, given any further thought to talents?"

"Actually, I have," Katniss replied, stabbing the lettuce in her salad thoughtfully. "I was impressed with that Concertmaster violinist. I…I would like to try it."

"Daneel? She is truly amazing. I know you'll be great at it," Cinna said.

Katniss nodded, already imagining her fingers flying across the violin as if it were as natural as breathing.