Victor's Crown: A Hunger Games Story

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 [𝟵]

By the time the interviews roll around to Caspia, Finnick has to concentrate very hard on not squirming in his seat. Instead, he focuses his attention on his district partner, who walks stiffly to her chair and sits down on it like it might bite her.

Caesar clasps his hands in his lap, sucking in a breath. Finnick finds this is a common occurrence preceding attempts to talk to Caspia. "Well, Miss Deltan, I have to admit: You come off as a bit of a mystery to me. I'm not sure if I know where to begin."

Caspia cocks her head. "Are you trying to say I'm strange and off-putting?"

Caesar's responding chuckle carries the slightest note of panic. "Of course not, my dear!"

Caspia snorts. "Too bad. That was the angle I was going for."

The tension in Caesar's hands eases a bit. "Really?"

Caspia nods. "Oh, yes. The stranger the better."

"But Miss Deltan," Caesar protests. "You might want to be stranger, but we certainly don't want you to be one to us. Why don't we start at the beginning? Tell us a bit about yourself. If my sources are correct, and they always are, you grew up inland, yes? Away from the coast of District 4."

"Yes."

Caesar hums, his tone laced with a sympathy that makes Finnick cringe internally. "And you've experienced your fair share of tragedy for someone so young: orphaned as a young girl, raised in a group home, found a job at the age of twelve to help support your fellow orphans—am I getting any of this right?"

Any idiot could tell that Caesar is throwing Caspia line after line, trying to tilt Caspia just the right angle to render her more appealing to potential sponsors. Just go along with the questions, Finnick begs her silently. Take the line, let Caesar pull you into the boat. Instead:

"Yes."

An urge to bury his head in his hands strikes Finnick then, who dearly hopes his face doesn't turn red under the unforgiving stage lights. Staring out at Caspia's less-than-impressed viewers, he better understands some of the District 4 elders, the ones who shake their heads and tut-tut at the younger generation.

Now, is that the way a student from District 4 should act? Mags would ask any child she caught misbehaving—Finnick included. Most times than not, the threat of embarrassment or social ostracization would quell bad behavior at the academy. But on the eve of the Hunger Games, in the face of certain death, Caspia doesn't seem to care how she represents herself or her district. The expression on her face has not changed the entire interview.

"And what kind of job do you do?" To his credit, Caesar is patient, even with someone as determinedly monosyllabic as Caspia Deltan. There has to have been worse interviews from District 4 in the past. Finnick tries to comfort himself with the notion, even if it isn't true.

"I work in a fish factory," Caspia replies, chin lifted. Even on the screens, her eyes are bold, defiant, daring someone to make a comment.

"Is that so?" Caesar says. "Forgive me, but I shudder at the thought. Seafood doesn't sit well with me, sadly. Can't stomach the smell." He wrinkles his nose and the crowd snickers. "I'd imagine your folks came home smelling fishy more often than not, eh?" He and the Capitol audience share a good laugh, louder this time.

Caspia's eyes are hard and cold as stone. "Well, when you're breaking your back in a processing plant twelve hours a day, six days a week, you learn not to care about your smell too much."

Finnick chokes back a cry of dismay. There's no way the audience won't recognize the insinuation behind Caspia's reply. And even if the remark flew over the audience's head, the Gamemakers will have caught and crushed it between their gritted teeth. Caspia will pay for every action or word of defiance in blood and tears—not now, of course, but in the arena. The Capitol will make an example out of her, just as they make an example out of every tribute in the Games. If the threat of a gruesome death isn't enough to deter a tribute from attempting oblique misconduct, threat of harm to one's district, one's kith and kin, is usually more than enough to keep even the most rebellious tribute in line. Even a Career district like 4 has experienced its fair share of Capitolite retribution.