Johanna Mason clearly did not take any etiquette lessons. She props her boots up on my makeup vanity and surveys my suite with a whistle. "This place is bigger than my house."

"And undoubtedly cleaner," Enobaria sniffs at her appearance. She turns to me. "I regret to leave you in such hands, Miss Everdeen. I suppose I must trust you to remember your teachings on your own as you will find no further guidance."

I glance at Johanna, but she's picking at her nails with a jeweled bobby pin.

"I'll do my best. Thank you, Mrs. Cloister," I curtsy.

Enobaria gives Johanna one more disdainful glance before she enters her security code on the keypad and leaves. The door clicks behind her with a defining thunk.

Johanna and I look at one another for a full minute in silence.

"So what the hell am I supposed to do with you?"

"I think," I cough, "you're here to keep me safe."

"From what? We're in a padded cell."

"What did they tell you when they hired you?" I ask.

She laughs with contempt. "Girly, I wasn't hired. They picked me up in my backyard and told me I was coming here to look after you." She drops the bobby pin and stands up to look out the window. She looks over her shoulder at me. "As I imagine you were."

At least I won't have to lie to her.

"It's not a bad prison, I guess," she notes, pulling the curtains back to look at the gardens. "As far as strangers go, I hear Snow's kid is pretty nice."

"He is," I offer. "I met him before…"

"Before you got kidnapped?" she asks cheerfully. "Or bride-napped?" she snickers at her own joke. I must look crestfallen, but she walks back over to me with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, kid. I'm trying to lighten the mood a little."

"It's all right," I sigh. "And I'm not a kid anyway, I'll be seventeen by the wedding."

"Practically an old maid." She rolls her eyes. She starts to move around the room, picking up the crystal comb set and examining them with curiosity. "So what is your captor like?"

"Snow? He's…stern." I say carefully. She could be spying. "He's very protective of his son. Um. He's really busy."

"Not him, Peeta."

"Peeta?" I hadn't thought of him as my captor. I guess I figured he was stuck with me as well. But the difference is he wanted it that way.

"He's going to be a good President," I tell her. She's surprised.

"Really?" she sounds unconvinced.

"Yes," I demand. "He has some amazing ideas on how to improve life in the Districts."

"Well won't that be interesting," she sneers at my embroidered pillows. "If he ever gets to, of course."

"What?"

"Oh nothing," she smiles. "I just can't imagine our illustrious leader every leaving us."

I can't decide if she's placating or mocking me. I don't like her disdain for Peeta, but I ache for the free way she expresses herself. I just don't know what to make of my new guardian.

"I guess I'll get to make up my mind when I meet him. When's tea?"

Snow is absent from tea, and Peeta offers his apologies. "He was really looking forward to meeting you personally," he tells Johanna. "You were highly recommended by Mr. Odair." Her nostrils flare as she controls her sarcasm.

"So you were a Victor?" Portia inquires as she spreads her napkin over her lap.

"Yeah. Six years ago now," Johanna says as she reaches across the table to snag a biscuit.

"Which District?"

"Seven. Lumber."

"Oh yes!" Peeta remembers. "You were brilliant with axes, I recall."

She flushes with pride. "Well. Yeah."

Peeta laughs at her admission. "Have you seen Katniss with her arrows? She's incredible."

"I did," she says as she looks at me. "My tributes died pretty quickly this year. I had plenty of time to watch."

My heart jumps. The boy from Seven. He had been reaching the pack I grabbed with Clove's knife had caught him in the spine. I'd carried his blood on my face into the woods. I hadn't thought about him again. I don't even know when the girl died.

"I'm so sorry for your losses." Peeta's words mirror my thoughts. I can see they stun Johanna when she doesn't know how to respond.

"Branch and Petiole were exceptional in their interviews. I was very impressed by her knowledge of the plants in the arena; they weren't native to Seven. And I heard he was remarkably good with starting fires, even with damp wood, in the Training Center."

I try not to gloat with vanity, but he's proving me right. Her jaw is nearly on the floor.

"Thank you," she mutters. "I didn't get to spend much time with them, but they were great kids." She sips her tea quietly.

"Where's your father?" I ask politely. I don't want to appear too happy he's not there.

"There was an accident in Eleven," he says gravely. "One of the granaries caught fire. They were trying to contain it from spreading to the wheat fields."

Portia gasps. "Were there injuries?"

He nods unhappily. "A few deaths. A lot of injuries." He turns to me with a sad smile. "I had Pollux send a crate of aloe. I'd been growing it anyway. It might not help with the infection, but the pain…" he trails off.

Johanna watches him. "How did the granary catch fire?"

He frowns. "I…I didn't ask-"

"It seemed that most of those machines were manual," she pushes. "There weren't electrical currents or anything running through those buildings. It's been a rainy year; it's not dry. So how would a fire start?"

The table is silent. Peeta looks thoughtful. Portia is stricken. I watch Johanna carefully.

I don't think I should trust her.

I'm braiding my hair while she tosses a pillow onto the oversized sofa in my quarters. "This couch is the same size as a bed," she mutters. "Ridiculous. Still wanted my own room in this stupid place."

I tie the plait and turn to her. "Why did ask? About the fire?"

She looks up and yanks her shirt over her head. I look away, startled by her naked form. "What?"

"At tea," I say to the vanity table and I hear her unzip her boots. "When you asked about the fire. It sounded…like you knew something about it."

"Did I?"

"Yes."

"I don't." I hear her settling into the sofa and look over as she hauls the covers up to her armpits.

I frown but click off the light and stumble over to my bed. We lay in silence.

"Johanna?"

"Yeah?"

"How would a fire start in a rainy season?"

"Someone sets it."

She may not be one for manners, but Johanna is much more fun than Enobaria. She tells the Peacekeepers she needs to practice target throwing and gets us access to the grounds surrounding the gardens.

She nails the targets. I watch her throw axes at the targets wistfully.

"Where's your bow?"

"Hunh?" She's caught me staring at the splintered bullseye.

"Where. Is. Your. Bow."

"At home?"

"Then we better get you a new one." She marches over to the Peacekeepers watching us from the entrance of the hedge maze. She's speaking with the lead guard when I catch up with her.

"Absolutely not." The Chief Peacekeeper resolutely crosses his arms and shakes his head.

"She's supposed to be mentoring in two months. How is she supposed to stay current in her weapons training?"

"The young master's companion is not to be armed. President Snow was clear on this."

"But he's not even here!" Johanna shouts. "He's supposed to be flying hovercrafts or some crap."

"Absolutely not."

She sighs. She turns to me. "Want to try my axes?"

I glance at the Chief Peacekeeper. He purses his lips to a thin line. "I guess not."

She lets out an exasperated sigh and stomps back to the targets muttering to herself. I follow her.

"It's fine, Johanna. It's only been a few weeks, really. I was still shooting at home before..."

"Before you got snatched," she snarls.

"Yeah," I sigh.

She narrows her eyes at the target. A devious smile spreads over her mouth, as though she's been possessed by a wicked little thought. "Well. It's a good thing Blondie will do whatever you want then, isn't it?"

She takes a throwing stance and bracing her legs. She lines up her shot and stares down the bullseye. The axe flies with precision and pierces the heart of the target cleanly.

The next day Portia delivers a bow that is breathtaking in its beauty. The cherry wood gleams with a high polish that must have taken hours to achieve. The handhold is wound with soft lambskin to cushion my palm. Gold plating reinforces the wood where the bow is stretched tight. When she hands me the quiver of arrows, I spy the note tucked into the feathers. I know the handwriting by now.

Hope this is all right. If you don't like it, just give Portia the notes on what you want and I'll get it for you. Shoot straight. Peeta.

He'd drawn a heart with an arrow through it by his name.

"Please tell him it's perfect. It's beautiful."

Portia gives me a gap-toothed grin. "Don't tell him I told you, but…" she leans in. "He was saving it for your engagement party."

"What?"

"He had it made for you," she tells me.

Johanna reaches over and closes my open mouth. "Damn. Blondie's got taste."

"He consulted with a few of the weapons specialists that work for the Gamemakers," Portia says, leaning against one of the overstuffed ottomans the dot the room.

"I can't believe he went to all that trouble," I whisper, feeling its weight and balance in my hand.

"Really?" Portia's attempts at sarcasm are not nearly as biting as Johanna's.

"He's just…surprising me. Always," I blush again.

"He really does care for you," Portia says suddenly. She startles me with her frankness. She stands up.

"Katniss, I know this situation is difficult for you. It's not easy to be away from your family suddenly," she says with a familiar-looking pain on her face. "And I know…you've probably heard the rumors. About Amaranth," she stammers. "But he's not…Peeta's…He'll work very hard to keep you happy," she finishes.

The bow is shaking in my hand and Johanna reaches over and takes it from me. "Yes," I get out. "I know. I know he's a good man."

"I just," she shakes her head. "I should go."

She hurries towards the door. "I don't know the code," she says, flustered. "Miss Mason, please let me out."

"Portia," I begin.

"I shouldn't have said anything," she says while Johanna enters her security code. "I just…I know he worries that you're not happy like he is."

"Tell him I'm happy."

She searches my face carefully then nods before leaving us.

Johanna stands at the open door, watching me. She holds out the bow to me. "Let's go outside."

"It's the most beautiful gift I've ever received," I tell him honestly as the attendant pushes my chair in under me. "Really. I can't imagine anything more beautiful."

"I can," he gives me a mischievous grin. I feel my cheeks grow hot. I see Johanna roll her eyes as she spreads her napkin over her lap.

"And what has my boy spend a fortune on now?" Johanna stiffens as Snow appears in the doorway with his usual insidious smile. I know her anxiety well. He strolls over and the attendant hurries to pull his chair out for him. He settles in and the attendant slides the chair to the table.

"You must be Miss Mason," he says, extending his hand. She shakes it warily. "I understand you are the finest female Victor living today."

"That's a lot to live up to," she breathes. "I mean, I know I'm good…"

"Nonsense," Snow smiles. It makes my skin crawl to see his pink shaded teeth. "I've watched your tapes personally. I do think you'll be an excellent guard for my son's companion."

"Well, I'll do my best," she laughs nervously into her water glass.

"I do hope you'll do better than that." His tone is not humorous. She nods gravely.
"Now," he says, unfolding his napkin. "What have you given our guest that is making her blush so? Do I need to check our coffers? Or perhaps the jewelry chest?"

"An early engagement gift," Peeta stumbles in response.

"Of…?"

"A bow."

Snow is frozen, silent with his soup spoon gripped in his hand. I don't think anyone is breathing.

"A bow," he repeats quietly.

"To practice," Peeta says desperately. "Training her Tribute next year. Less than a year. She hasn't been training or anything since she came here and I thought, well, that's not really fair for the next Tribute from Twelve-"

"A bow." Snow repeats loudly, slamming the handle of the spoon on the table.

We are silenced.

"Of course!" He laughs loudly, a mirthless noise that echoes around the dining hall, creating a cacophony that rattles my brain. "A perfect gift for your bride. The only thing I would expressly forbid. I should not expect anything less from you."

"And where is this bow now?"

"With Peacekeeper Malloy," I cough out the soup I had shoved in my mouth. "He was going to keep it for me. I would only ever use it under supervision outside your home, sir."

He folds his hands. "And your axes?"

Johanna realizes he's speaking to her. "With Malloy."

"All of them?"

She glances at me. "No."

There is a slight rustle over my shoulder. I glance to the attendants and my heart stops for a moment. The both have firearms pointed at Johanna.

"Dad!" Peeta makes to stand but Snow stops him.

"Sit. Down." Peeta sinks down slowly.

Johanna looks back to him but her eyes can't stay locked with his. "I only kept one. To protect her."

"Present it."

She slides her chair back slowly, her eyes on the armed attendants. She slips her fingers in her right boot and pulls out a very small hatchet, roughly the size of a hammer. She stays crouched as she delivers it into Snow's hands.

"Beautiful." He admires the handle. I can see it's carved with a delicate design. It appears to be leaves, but I can't see from where I sit. He slips off the leather blade cover and the edge gleams in the light. He chuckles slightly. "And very sharp."

With sudden force he slams the hatch down on a teacup. I gasp as the cup falls neatly in two pieces.

"Made to cut bone?" He smiles at her.

"In animals. My uncle is butcher," she whispers. She lowers herself carefully into to seat.

"A formidable weapon," he murmurs, admiring it again. "Alas, I cannot allow you to be so armed in such close proximity to myself. Or my son." He holds the hatchet over his shoulder. An attendant darts forward and takes it from him. She disappears out the door with it. "It will be kept for you with the weapons stores until your assignment here is completed."

Johanna nods.

"And seeing as how despite any rules I make my son chooses to break them, I suppose I have no choice but to allow you use of your bow. Under supervision."

"Thank you," I begin, but he cuts me off.

"Under my personal supervision," he smiles without warmth. "I'd love to see your skills again. Whenever you wish to shoot, please send an attendant for me."

I stare at him. He's rarely home. And he's very busy. He might as well have said I could use it once a decade.

"Well then," he breathes. "Let's eat!"

"I'm always doing this," Peeta says, rubbing his face with his hands. "I have this idea I think is the best thing ever and the next thing you know I've completely ruined everything."

"It's not so bad," I say, eyeing Johanna as she gives me a look.

"Yes," smiles Portia. "It's not like you ran away with a hovercraft and kidnapped your assistant."

He looks at her over his fingertips. She laughs quietly. "Oh Peeta. You do have a good heart, but you need to listen to your intuition at some point. You can't have thought arming her was a good idea. Not after-" she stops herself and looks up at me. "You know your father's rules."

He looks at her miserably.

I stand from my chair and move to him. I brush his legs off the footrest for his chair and sit down. I take his hand. "It really is the most beautiful gift I've ever received. I love it."

He smiles as he looks at our hands intertwined. "Thank you for saying so."

"Gross," Johanna scoffs as she tosses back her brandy and sets the glass down on the tray by the door. "And your room is even more ridiculous than hers."

"This isn't his room, it's the drawing room. Or one of them," Portia says.

"Oh for the love of-"

"Where is your room?" I ask him. "Is it near mine?"

"I don't know where your room is, actually," he smiles. "I'm not to be tempted to…visit you."

"And you can't know where his is," Portia jumps in, glaring at Peeta. "You'll see it when you're engaged."

"Not so long now," Peeta smiles. My stomach flip-flops.

"So let me get this straight. You guys have never been alone together?" Johanna raises her eyebrows as we wander the hedge maze. We lost the guards about fifteen minutes ago and I can hear them calling for us. We ignore them.

"Just once," I say. "In District Twelve. Kind of how this whole thing got started. An engineer found a video of us kissing goodbye on the security cam."

"That was it?"

"What?" I ask her.

"Kissing. That was it?"

"Yeah," I say, trying to figure out what she means.

"So you guys have never…"

"No!"

She whistles through her front teeth. "Well that's going to be a fun wedding night," she laughs.

"What?" I demand.

"You're going to marry someone you've never been alone with. Forget not sleeping with him yet, have you ever had an honest conversation with him?"

"I don't want to talk about this," I say, turning left.

"No, let's go right," she says.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

I shrug and follow her.

"Do you think there are cameras in here?" she asks.

"No," I tell her. "Peeta says the automatic sprinklers shorted out the cameras in the greenhouse and gardens, they didn't get them fixed. The factory-"

"Caught fire?"

I frown. "Yeah," I answer slowly.

"Hunh. Well isn't that a coincidence."

I watch her.

"If you could leave now, would you?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"If you didn't have to marry him. If he offered to send you home. Would you go?"

I stumble and stop for a moment. I hear the guards calling and I keep moving.

"I couldn't."

"But if you could-"

"I wouldn't."

"But-"

I yank her elbow and pull her in close to whisper in her ear. "Snow knows where my family lives. He knows where my best friend works. If I leave they're all dead." I relax my grip and speak louder. "So no. I wouldn't leave." I turn to the right down a long corridor of greenery. "Besides," I mutter, "he already offered to send me home. When I first got here."

She says nothing for a long while. We wander the maze, listening the breeze rustle the leaves and letting the autumn sunshine warm us through our jackets.

"He's not much like Snow, is it?" she remarks finally.

"I think he takes after Amaranth."

"Our Lady of Patience, Virtue and Beauty," she recites the title we were taught to call her in school. She kicks a stone along the path. "Bet she never got a choice."

"I doubt it," I say again.

"Not like yours is really a choice, but…"

"But still."

"Not a bad guy."

"No."
"Almost don't want to see him-" She stops suddenly.

"See him what?" I ask. Her look is a mixture of fear and anxiety.

"So unhappy here."

She's holding something back but we've reached the exit of the maze and there are two irritated Peacekeepers waiting for us.

"That was easy!" she laughs at them. "Maybe you should build something a little harder for Victors like us."

She marches past them towards the greenhouse. "C'mon, Everdeen. Show me this greenhouse."

I catch up with her and we walk quickly to the greenhouse. The Peacekeepers struggle to keep up with us as in their heavy uniforms and weapons.

"I wonder what they'll call you."

"Hunh?"

"When you're married. What your title will be."

"Well, I'm not going to be First Lady until Peeta's in charge."

"Of course," she purses her lips in thought. "But they'd call you something."

"Lady Katniss?" I wrinkle my nose. "That sounds terrible."

"It does," she laughs. "How about our Lady of Indiscretion?"

I double over laughing. The Peacekeepers at the greenhouse door are watching us as though we are escaped mental patients.

"Please excuse us," Johanna laughs. "Our Lady of Awkward Dinner Conversation wants to show me the plants."

I wipe my eyes laughing. "Stop it, Johanna." I nod at the guards. "I have clearance for the gardens and conservatory."

The guards exchange a glance before stepping inside and letting us inside. I'm still giggling as we stumble through the door. Johanna stops short and covers her nose. "Ugh is that…"

"The roses."

We stand in the rows of roses. They stretch on and on. I look at her gagging.

"Let me show you something."

I lead her back to the platform. I wave at Pollux, who smiles and waves back. He nods at Johanna with a smile.

"You've met Pollux?"

"Briefly," she dismisses. "What are you showing me?"

"These," I announce.

But the bed is destroyed.

Shredded spiked leaves and tiny yellow teardrops are scattered in the upturned dirt. "Pollux!" I cry out, my eyes starting to burn in horror. "What happened?" I run to meet him as he walks over to the bed.

His eyes are sad. He shakes his head and holds up a single rose.

I take it from him. "Snow destroyed it?"

He nods.

"Why?"

He doesn't have to answer. "The bow," I whisper.

He destroyed it because of me. Because his son is disobeying him because of me. Because he has to punish Peeta for loving me. To keep him – us – under control.

I crush the rose in my hand and let the petals fall to the floor.

"What was it?" Johanna asks.

"A bed of dandelions."

"The weed?"

"Yeah."

"Does Peeta know?" Pollux nods his head. He makes a gesture that I can't quite follow. "Today? This morning?" He nods again. He bows another apology and then shuffles away, shaking his head.

"Still want to stay?"

I stare at the torn bed. "I couldn't leave him here. Not alone."

"Katniss." I look up at her. "Do you love him?"

I take long time to answer. "I will." She looks at me hard. "I don't have many other options, Johanna," I whisper.

"And if you did?"

"But…but there is no if…why do you….what is with the ifs?"

She searches my face, turns and walks away from me. She finds the purple and black leaves that hum and plays with the curling leaves. She smiles as they curl around her fingers.

"We had these in my Games," she tells me. "Stronger, though. Not so gentle. Guess these were an early breed." She pulls her hand back and the leaves release her and hum. "I used them to trap a kid from Two. He followed me up a tree by a river bank. They were below and in the water. I pushed him out of the tree and they pulled him under the water for me."

I shudder.

"Don't change the subject. What do you mean by-"

"Do you want to train the next kid to die in the Arena?"

"No," I sputter. "Of course not. I'll train them to win."

"To kill other kids?" I don't answer. "So if you had other options…?"

"There's no point in-"

"If you had another option."

I glare at her. "I'd take it." She smiles with a smug triumph. "Why?"

"Because I'm working on an option."