Chapter 4

From the train we were escorted to the beautician centre and I was taken away from Jasper, Cashmere, Beryl and Erran and shown into a clean, shiny metal room.

I changed from my dress into the blue short gown that they had left there for me. I remember my father wearing something similar in the medical centre when he had stomach problems. My own stomach wasn't feeling so great as I wondered what they were going to do to me that would require a medical gown.

I needn't have been so worried.

Two capitol people in white clothing arrived and did little more than my mother did on a regular basis. My eyes watered as they plucked my brows and I heard footsteps.

Wiping my pain induced tears away I sat up on the metal table. A woman with blue eyelashes that stood two inches from her face and no eyebrows at all that I could see walked in with a cart full of equipment. She introduced herself as Anthousa, my stylist.

She clucked around me, looking at my hair, turning my face this way and that and finally standing back and have an all over look.

"You'll do." She said and started pulling things from the cart.

I sat mutely, letting her work and hoping that she wouldn't do anything else that would hurt-no more plucking!

After a while she gestured to me to put on my parade costume.

I walked over to a dress of luscious cream fabric embedded with diamonds. I nodded and smiled at Anthousa, she had done a good job, much better than most years.

I pulled on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. I was even less recognisable than this morning. I was very grateful for that. Somehow it made everything easier if I could just be someone else.

"Excellent, well, I think you are ready to go." She said and walked out of the room, taking her cart with her.

When I was sure no one was looking, I pulled out my father's perfume. I was rather proud of thinking to hide it in the folds of my dress at the front and as I opened the stopper and the subtle hints of cinnamon, lavender and some other strange concoction melted into the air.

I sprayed a little all over myself, mostly at my neck, hoping that it would somehow gain me favour with anyone who was watching.

After a few more nervous minutes they guided me out of the room and to the parade.

I remembered watching the parade when I was very young, too young to understand what was really going on. I remembered being so excited to see District One come out blazing first in the line of tributes. Everyone looked so beautiful and brave. A part of my young, naïve mind had wanted to be one of those people; to have everyone cheer me on, to look beautiful and fearless.

That was before I had realised, on my tenth birthday, that most of those waving, beautiful, fearless celebrities wouldn't make it through the next weeks alive. It was before I realised that it could never have been me because I was inept at pretty much every skill that would be required in the arena. Or so I had thought.

I walked up to the line of tributes, all dressed in clothes representing their district.

I saw Jasper step up to chariot. He looked brilliant and for a second I worried that he would outshine me and get more sponsors. Then I remembered that I had been made up by the stylists too, it was all about confidence.

I walked up confidently, keeping my chin high and barely deigning to look at Jasper.

He smiled ruefully at me and I knew he saw straight through me.

I ignored him.

After a moment, the chariots lurched forward and we were off. I stood as straight and proud as I could as we approached the opening that would take us into the parade grounds.

I could hear hundreds of people and then, before I knew it, we were blinded by the light glaring at us.

The entire crowd roared as our chariot pulled out into the sunlight.

I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust and then I saw them all.

When I had watched the parade every year, I had never realised just how big the parade grounds were. I was hit with a wall of noise as people cheered us on.

I couldn't help but feel strangely buoyed up by their cheers. They were cheering for District One. Maybe I could do this.

We finished up in a large semicircle in front of a podium so tall I could barely see President Snow at the top.

He said a few short words as people continued to cheer and then, as quickly as it had started, we were whisked away into another tunnel.

It was all over.

I dismounted as Anthousa arrived with Beryl.

"You did brilliantly." Said Beryl as she escorted us quickly out of the room.

As they steered us away I got a quick look at the other tributes. The boy and girl from district two, both dark haired, both fierce looking, were staring at me and Jasper.

I felt instantly uneasy under their gaze, but I didn't have long to do so. Beryl led us out of the door and closed it firmly behind her.

After we had quickly removed our parade garb, Beryl called a meeting in the dining room of our suite. The place was nice. We were on the bottom floor which meant two things, one that we didn't have to bother with the elevator to get to our rooms. Two, and much more importantly, was that through a window we could see all of the other tributes returning to their suites.

Cashmere and Erran sat next to Jasper and I and they decided that now was a good time to start briefing us on the other tributes.

First to return was the two District Two tributes.

"Slade and Acacia." Cashmere said. "They are both careers, both highly trained, they will be your toughest competition, but they will almost certainly be your initial allies. We will confirm that before the games. Just remember they will bond quickly. District Two is aiming for them to be the final two. Don't trust them."

Then came District Three.

"The boy is young." Erran said. "Not a threat, the girl is apparently a bit of a genius. Make sure that you don't let them near anything in the cornucopia."

Next came District Four.

"Boy is a tribute." Erran explained. "Girl was selected from the bowl. She will not be a threat. District Four is always atrocious in the initial bloodbath, afterwards they are not so useless. Aim to kill both of them then if they don't agree to become a part of the career pack."

And so it continued, as the different districts came through, sometimes with up to fifteen minutes gap between each; I wondered what was taking them so long. Some of the tributes were desperately young. They were unlikely to even make it through the bloodbath.

Cashmere and Erran gave less and less information as they explained the tributes, apparently the upper districts were the only ones we had to worry about. Seeing the gaunt faces and defeated eyes, I could see that they had a point.

We got to District Ten and Cashmere sighed.

"I'm bored." She said and got to her feet. "It's only District Eleven and Twelve left. They're not really a threat, but watch out for the boy from Eleven, those ones can be strong." With that parting information she slouched off towards her room.

Even bored, she was still magnificent and I was left in no doubt as to why she had won her games.

I looked at Erran with his greying hair and regal nose, yes, I could see him as a victor too.

With that Jasper turned to me with a winning grin and got to his feet, showing off his muscles as he did so. He definitely had the makings of a victor.

I sighed and looked at myself in the reflection of the window as the District Eleven tributes came in. I just saw a weak, frightened girl, nothing impressive, definitely not a victor.

I rested my head on my knees as two kids who couldn't be older than eleven came in from District Twelve. They looked terrified. I felt a pang of guilt knowing that my survival relied on them being killed by me or someone else. But I pushed the thought away. I couldn't afford to think about morals right now. Right now, I had to plan how I was going to stay alive.