Careen Ellis

I had so many tubes and wires in me it didn't seem possible to feel anything, but it still hurt. I was floating above the bed and I felt more comfortable than I had in years, but there was still a nagging pain radiating from my hip. I must have really gotten messed up in there.

Second time was the charm. I woke up feeling as good as new, and I knew from past Victors that I'd look as new as I felt. But it was hard to concentrate on that when I was so thirsty I wanted to rip the fluid bag hanging beside me off the hook and chug it. I was so thirsty it took me a split second to notice how much my mouth hurt.

When I put up my hand, my lower face felt firmer than normal. Something seemed to be stuck in my mouth, and when I tried to open it, it wouldn't go. I leaned over one side of the bed and peeked at the mirror on my nightstand.

There was no sign of the horrible swelling or the twisted mess my mouth had been, but when I pushed my lip up, I saw my jaw was wired shut. It was no surprise, seeing as I probably looked like an angler fish in the Arena.

And what do I look like now? I moved my gaze up to the rest of my face. The damage was light by Capitol standards. My hair was wavier, my skin was bronze enough I could barely see my freckles, my lashes were thicker, and my lips looked like I'd already applied a perfectly complementary coat of gloss. The only change to my body, aside from cleaning up the scars, was the inevitable chest enhancement.

I had half an hour to myself before Mags came in. She sat by my bed like it was just another day.

"Good job. You outlasted them all. And what's next?" she asked.

I pointed at the water bag pleadingly.

I met with Harlequin before the final interview and went through the questions with a team of Capitol techs. I couldn't open my mouth more than a crack, so I wrote down my answers and they recorded a synthesized version of my voice. Onstage, the lights and chairs were positioned so carefully the audience had no idea.

"And so another Career joins our ranks," Harlequin said. "But you weren't the favorite to win. It seems a lot of gamblers underestimated you."

"It's always best to have people underestimate you," the recording played while I moved my mouth as much as I could.

"Tell us truly. Was there ever a time you thought you wouldn't win?" Harlequin asked.

"I didn't think about it until the end. Anything can happen in the Games. Complacency is the fastest way to die," I said.

"All you Career hopefuls out there better listen close," Harlequin said. "But let's get to the fun part."

The screen lowered on the wall behind us, and the replay started. Everything progressed at a normal pace, but then something awful happened. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the quiet boy from Six smash in Kerry's head and shove his face into the remains. If I hadn't been a Career, I might have choked on my own vomit watching each lovingly enhanced moment of each of Titus' exploits. It was even worse than the segment on Valerie's death, which was mercifully brief.

There was a moment of stunned and revolted silence the instant after the replay ended. The Anthem played abruptly and I gladly shifted my attention to our new President, who was coming to give me my crown. I'd seen Snow before, of course, but he was different in person. He was younger than Galba- maybe forty years old- and he seemed to suck the warmth out of the air around him. I smelled him halfway across the room. He didn't stink, exactly, but he smelled like he'd bathed in rose perfume. I'd rather have smelled dirt.

"Congratulations," he said when he reached my chair. "Let this be the first of many."

The crown he held was a circlet as wide as three of my fingers. It was made entirely of stained glass, and it swirled with colors. A thin border of light blue bled into deeper blue and then bands of orange, red, purple, and indigo. It was beautiful, just like a sunset.

Next Games is the outlier All-Stars, so don't worry about reservations because I'll add as many Tributes as people request. I meant the Career and Non-Career All-Stars to be near each other, but they're so exhausting and complicated to write that I made a break Games. There's still a few cleanup chapters in this story though.