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Know Thy Enemy
Brutus had worn an expression that seemed to be set in stone for the whole afternoon, but now as we sat with Enobaria and Nero on Level Two, the facade finally broke. It was a mixture of delight and determination that played on his face and I supposed that was his feeling ever since Katniss had displayed her talents. The bloody girl. Her skills with that bow were more than impressive, even I had to admit it, and ever since then she seemed to be the most requested ally out of our group of victors.
"I want her in!" he announced. "Make a request to Abernathy, I want the girl in my alliance!"
"Ally with Twelve?" I asked lazily, taking a sip from the lemonade one of the Avoxes had just handed to me. "Really?"
Brutus glared at me while Enobaria took a seat next to him on the couch. The two were good friends - I had not realized how good friends they actually were before we had come here. Ever since then, though, it was obvious and so it was that Enobaria, while officially my mentor, seemed to mostly care for his success. It did not matter, either way. Much like Johanna, I was relying on myself.
"Haven't you seen her shoot?" Brutus demanded.
"Of course I have," I told him. "Which is why I'm going to off her as quickly as I can."
"Maybe we can delay killing her in her sleep until she's outlived her usefulness," he suggested dryly.
This time, it was me who glared. I was still grateful that he had volunteered, but maybe gratefulness only went so far. He should be happy if I did not kill him in his sleep the first chance I got.
Nero leant against a nearby table, looking between the two of us uncertainly. He had not been around much for the last two days and it was obvious to me why. Still, I could not bring myself to talk to him about it, no matter our shared experience. I would not have known what to say.
"Let's not fight," Nero said carefully.
"Yes," Brutus said. "Let's put that off."
"Yes," I said through gritted teeth. "Let's."
My glass landed on the nearest coffee table with such force that the liquid spilled over. I did not stop to apologize for that and instead swiftly got up and strode out of the room. Brutus obviously thought that it would be easy to put me down, but he was very wrong. There was the faint hope that I might make it out of the arena alive what with Haymitch's plan, yet even if I did not, I would not go down without a fight. And I would especially not be subdued by Brutus or - even worse - Cashmere. That, I was sure, would even haunt me in my death.
"Nissa?" Nero had followed me, watching me with even more apprehension now than he had before. It took all my self-control not to snap at him. It was not his fault that I could not even trust my own district partner. "Are you quite all right?"
"Peachy," I assured him. "Having a great time."
"You're not going to ally with the Careers, are you?" he asked carefully, closing the door to my bedroom securely.
"No, I'm not," I told him.
He crossed and uncrossed his arms in front of his chest, apparently unsure of what he was going to say. I was watching in amusement, waiting if he was going to pull the mentor-card on me. "Are you sure?" he said finally.
"Yes, of course," I said. "Don't you trust me?"
Nero did not even bother answering that. "And are you going to tell them?"
I sighed heavily and bit my lip before I answered him, opting to be honest with him. I would not have told the truth to Enobaria under these circumstances, but as much as he trusted me, I trusted Nero with this knowledge.
"You know how sometimes, as mentors, we need to say one thing and do another," I said.
His jaw twitched a little as he, too, remembered Four's boy from last year. I had never shaken off my guilty conscience for that, even though we all knew that it had been the right choice. This year, none of the Careers could know with whom I allied, lest they got suspicious.
"Yes," he said tightly. "I know. Who are you allying with?"
"Sorry," I said gesturing vaguely to the door. "But the walls have ears here."
"I am supposed to protect you!" he snapped irritatedly.
I shook my head, causing his eyebrows to furrow in anger. "Nero, I was always supposed to protect you and I did a poor job of it. Just... just put a good face on the matter and trust me to take care of myself."
He did not meet my eyes when he uttered his next words. "I'm scared you'll die," he said. "And I won't be able to do a thing to protect you."
I reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort and reassure him even though it was an attempt in vain. The feeling of being helpless in watching your tribute's death was something that was all too familiar to me. "I'll do my very best," I told him. "And if I don't come out, it'll be my fault. Don't ever blame yourself, promise me."
Nero sucked in an unsteady breath. "You know," he said slowly. "That I can't promise that."
I trained especially hard the next day, my words to Nero constantly running in my mind. I even visited the station that showed eatable plants from poisonous ones. Haymitch had promised our survival and I did not want to risk this chance by getting myself killed out of stupidity. Not only for me - also for me, I rather liked to lived - but for the people watching and fretting over me.
Johanna offered me and Finnick an extra lesson with her preferred weapon, the axe. The whole craft was a little too brutish for me, though she had my open admiration for her skill.
We had a sword battle later on, just to have a fight in which we would be equally equipped. I hoped that I would never have an actual fight with Johanna. She was an uncomfortable opponent, albeit one I could have beaten if I bent the rules of fair fighting a bit. Facing a friend such as her, though, there was no way I could bend the rules and still look in the mirror later.
I knocked the sword out of her hand after about half an hour of constant battle and tapped her lightly on the chest with my blade. She rolled her eyes at my display before we both collapsed to the floor, exhausted, and erupted into laughter.
"Why don't we do this more often?" Johanna asked when she finally caught her breath.
"We should," I agreed breathlessly.
"Are you fighting or will you get off the floor?"
I looked up and found Chaff and Seeder from Eleven standing over us. Making a mental note to ask Haymitch if his drinking buddy was in on the plan, too, I grinned up at the two as the glowered at me. Had we really taken up the space for so long that people had to complain about it? Personally, I thought their best chance was at camouflaging, anyway.
"Off the floor," I said, sitting up to find Johanna had rolled over and was kneeling now.
"We can fight, too," she offered. "What are you going to do, anyway? Hit me with a bottle?"
By now, several people had turned to watch our exchange. I especially noted Katniss, who was watching us with wide eyes and she had me wondering if the girl even knew what her mentor was planning. If she did, she probably would have displayed a little more confidence.
"All right," I said, getting to my feet and gesturing for Johanna to do the same. She complied but her smirk to Chaff told me that this was a fight begging to be fought sooner or later. "C'mon, Jo, we'll have plenty of time for that."
After drinking down almost all of my water, I was about to join Finnick in the hopes of getting a lesson on tying knots when the door to the training space opened. One of the gamemakers had entered - I recognized him from years ago as a friend of the moustache-man, though his name escaped me. He seemed to know me, too, for he walked directly towards me, ignoring every curious look and tentative greeting.
"Miss Smitt," he said when he reached me. By the time, I was almost sure what was going to happen.
"Let me guess," I said. "President Snow wants to see me."
His eyes widened comically. "How do you know?"
"A lucky guess," I told him. "Let's go."
The man nodded to me, obviously still confused. With contributors such as this, it was a true miracle the Games were even launched each year. I followed him outside, sending Finnick a reassuring smile. He was watching me wearily and just before the door closed behind me, I saw him walk over to Johanna who looked equally concerned.
Snow was, unusually enough, not waiting for me in his office. Instead, he met me right in front of the Training Center, out in the open. I wondered why he would do such a thing, but could not come to a sufficient conclusion. His motives would perhaps forever be shrouded in mystery.
The gamemaker that had showed me here lingered uncertainly behind me until Snow dismissed him with an impatient wave of his hand. The man hurried away as quickly as his wobbly legs would take him.
"It's been a while since we've done this," I said in place of a greeting. "I almost missed you."
"I don't doubt it," he said.
Another wave of his hand told me to accompany him as he strolled down the street. Curiously, there was not a single person to be seen around. Why would he meet me in the open if he then proceeded to block the street?
"I hope you have a good reason to pull me from my training," I said, attempting to keep my voice even. He need not know that I was bothered by my circumstances. "My life kind of depends on it."
"Yes," he said thoughtfully. "I was surprised you volunteered."
At this, I could not contain the snort that escaped me. Perhaps he could see through me at times, but I could as well see through him and was certainly not fooled by these words. "I assumed that's what you wanted," I told him.
His lips twitched into something akin to a smile. "You assumed correctly."
So I had been right. I did not bother asking what he would have done if I had not volunteered. But he would have found a way, so much was confirmed now. Once more, I was assaulted by the feeling of how unfair it was that I was in this position. After having sold myself for years, one would think that I at least got the privilege of living. All sense of fairness seemed to have eluded the president long ago.
"If you wanted us dead, surely there would have been an easier way," I said pointedly.
He laughed at that, a sound that made my skin crawl. Surely, no one was supposed to find such joy in their own evil ways. "But, my dear," he said, shaking his head. "I don't want you dead."
I scoffed. "The odds are not in my favour," I said. "In case you haven't noticed."
"Oh, but the odds can be changed," he said lightly, but watched me with expecting eyes.
I froze in my step and he stopped with me, a gleeful smirk playing around his lips. That man was far too cheerful. "What would you have me do?" I asked.
"There's only one person I really need dead," he said slowly.
"Twelve," I said at once. "Of course."
Snow nodded along with, that annoying smile never once leaving his face. "Whoever killed her would have a great chance at survival."
My mind was racing with my possibilities. My first intention was to spit in his face and tell him that I surely would not trade another's life for my own. But despite my many flaws, I was not stupid. I knew that if I refused him openly, I probably would not survive to tell the tale, Haymitch's plan or not. Of course, I could not kill Katniss either, not when District Thirteen's support depended on her life.
Once more that day, I thought back to my earlier conversation with Nero. Say one thing, I reminded myself, and do another.
I cleared my throat and met Snow's eyes confidently. "Well, I never really liked her," I said. Thinking about it, that was not even a lie.
"Good," Snow said with sparkling eyes. "I'm glad we agree."
For the first time in our conversation, I forced a smile of my own. "Don't we always?"
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