One, two, one, two. First the right then the left, first the right then the left. Two, four, six, eight laps.
Jendy loved to run. It relaxed her, freed her, as if running took her away from that all-too-perfect field for a little girl who was going to die the next day.
One, two, one two. First the right, then the left, first the right then the Ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen rounds.
Lyssa was good at running, too; and she could use a knife, Jendy had seen her. It was good, or at least she hoped. They had a fair knowledge of herbs and a little less of knots, but fire was the problem. Lyssa was practicing lighting it at that very moment. Jendy watched out of the corner of her eye as Helios confabulated with Lyod Templeshmit as they walked past the camp. The younger boy caught sight of Cinna's niece and waved to her. He was a strange one, Helios.
"He looks like Lyssa," Jendy thought, returning the gesture as she continued to run. Not infrequently, the last couple of days had seen him bickering.
"Jendy Kellaghen" a voice from the sidelines called to her. The girl stopped: Plutarch Havensbee, in the company of two soldiers, was looking at her seriously. He beckoned her to come closer. Jendy obeyed.
"Miss Kellaghen, you have to follow us" said Plutarch, as soon as the girl was in front of him "We have to talk"/
"What's going on?" asked Jendy frowning.
"Nothing serious" replied the other one "But we need a safe place.
"I think the floor where I live is free" said Jendy "My "roommate" is at practice.
Poor Karoline, Jendy felt very sorry for her: she was obviously scared to death and every time she tried to speak she trembled. Cinna's niece had tried to make her smile a little at the dinners they had shared, but it was rare that the other stopped crying.
Plutarch and Jendy were then escorted to the latter's quarters.
"Well" said the former HeadGamemaker, sitting down on a sofa "Miss Kellaghen, do you know that you are a special case in these Games?
"I thought it was the Games that were a special case" replied the young girl calmly, albeit with a hint of sarcasm. Plutarch smiled.
"Yes, that's right" he said "but you're the special case in the special case.
"I know, sir, that I shouldn't be here" Jendy said "My uncles were supposed to be a kind of safeguard, right?
"Exactly" replied the man "and do you know why you ended up in the glass bowl instead?
Jendy hesitated.
"For my parents" she mumbled finally, with her head bowed.
"Exactly" repeated Plutarch "Jackal and Nandy Kellaghen, one a stylist, the other a Gamemaker; also protagonists of a big scandal...-.
"I know the story" the girl blurted, losing a thread of her calm.
"I can imagine, dear" the other reassured her "because of that story you ended up in the arms of your caring uncles, arriving here because of an unpleasant misunderstanding.
Jendy looked at him with half-closed eyes.
"There is a person" said Plutarch, lowering his voice "who is desperately fighting to get you out of here.
"Those who loved me are dead now, those who ruined my life would do better to let me go" said Cinna's niece, serious.
"I like you, Miss Kellaghen!" exclaimed Havensbee laughing "How wise you are for such a little person!
He became suddenly serious.
"There is a way out for you, Jendy" he murmured, leaning forward "You could save yourself if you wish.
Jendy looked at him interdicted, while a myriad of thoughts began to swirl in her head.
Save! Free! Out of danger! No Arena, no Games, no death, no fear, no nightmares...
Lyssa...Lyssa will still be in the Arena.
"No, Mr. Havensbee, I don't think I accept" said the little girl resolutely.
Plutarch remained there for a moment.
"How...? Are you serious?" he asked stunned, then composed himself and smiled "Sure, sure, Miss Trinket. Well" he stood up "I'll give you ten more seconds to change your mind, then you won't be able to do anything, although I'm delighted by your courage.
"No, Mr. Havensbee, I will not accept" repeated Jendy "Otherwise someone else would be chosen in my place, someone else would be torn away from his family and I think it would be as if I had killed him with my own hands. I refuse the kind offer of those who out there made it to me
The former HeadGamemaker nodded.
"As you wish Miss Kellaghen" he said, then turned to the guards "Take her back to training, she will need a lot of physical strength for tomorrow. Moral strength, I can see she doesn't lack-
The guards approached Jendy.
"Sir" said the girl "Can you tell the one who tried to pull me out, that I really thank him for the effort?
"Of course, dear" replied Plutarch with a smile. Jendy nodded.
\\\\\
"How do I look?" asked Lyssa, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Beautifully" Jendy answered in a whisper.
Surprisingly, a few hours earlier, the person in charge of the tributes' training had announced to them that that afternoon some stylists from the Districts would come to prepare them for a sort of presentation to the public that would take place that same evening. Silent men and women had spent the hours dressing all the tributes in magnificent clothes and jewels, after observing them carefully. Lyssa herself wore a pretty little white dress, with a fluffy tulle skirt, decorated with pink and silver flowers. Her curls had been gathered in an elegant braided hairstyle, with a tiara laid on top. Jendy, on the other hand, was having a purple and black silk dress put on, with gold intersections that reached up to the top of her neck with a gold collar.
At that moment Helios walked past them, wearing a mesh shirt under a pinkish beaded jacket, matching her hair and face.
"If I could always wake up with such beauties in front of my eyes" he joked, winking at Jendy.
"Get lost, you'll drop dead" Lyssa chased him away, making him giggle.
"At your orders" he said all cheerful and disappeared behind a red curtain. Lyssa looked at Jendy.
"He told me she saw you coming out of the camp with Havensbee and two guards" she did "Is everything ok?
Jendy smiled sadly.
"It wasn't a big deal "she lied "just a spiel about special cases and stuff.
Effie's niece shrugged.
"In position!" shouted one of the District stylists.
"Well, let's go" said Jendy coming down from her pedestal and holding out her hand to her friend. Lyssa grabbed it.
"Let's go smash" she said, grinning.
"You can count on it" replied the other one.