Baird's girl

Chapter 10

May 1, 2018
Capitol

Arriving at the Capitol, the tributes found themselves alongside their mentors: Amber once again had Ethan as her mentor.
Ethan tried to approach Amber to restore her confidence, when she said to him:
"I was told you asked to be my mentor"
"Yes, that's right"
Amber, suspicious, but less suspicious than she had been last year, asked:
"Why?"
"Because I believe in you, because I think you can win like you did last year"
Amber was in a state of incomprehension and fear, so she said:
"I can't do it all over again"
Ethan replied sympathetically:
"We're going to have to Amber"
"No, I don't want to, I can't. I know all his people and I like most of them, I can't kill them."
Ethan wanted to take Amber's hand to calm her down, but remembered what she had told him the year before: she instinctively didn't trust him.
Then he said simply, with as much delicacy as possible:
"You don't have a choice, it's their life or yours, you can't have survived just to die a year later"
Amber remained silent.
"Listen, you're already a victor, you are their biggest threat, you're the one they're going to try to eliminate first, you can't let yourself be blinded by your feelings, not in the arena"

Amber stared at the floor, Ethan's words echoing in her head. She'd survived the arena once, but that didn't mean she was ready to do it again. The faces of the other tributes came back to him. How could she kill them for her own survival? She no longer had the strength to do so.

Ethan looked at her compassionately. He'd seen too many young people like her, broken by the cruel games of the Capitol.
Amber looked up at him, tears streaming down her eyelids.
"I'm not a killer"
"I know it can be hard Amber but you have to remember who you're here for, you wanted to protect your cousin, not let her go through what you've been through. You've got to come back from the arena alive, for her."
The pressure was unbearable, and Amber felt trapped between the walls of the Capitol and the horror memories of the arena. Ethan was right, of course. She couldn't afford to be blinded by her emotions. Not here, not now. She also remembered the promise she had made to her sister before she died: she had to live for her.
She was only now aware of the situation she had put herself in for the sole purpose of protecting her cousin. Then she said with a sad face:
"I'll try"
Ethan smiled slightly, before telling her:
"Do as you did last year, don't go directly to the center, and above all, hide from other tributes as much as possible"
Amber nodded slightly.
That was the end of the talks between mentors and tributes.
The tributes were brought to the room that Amber now knew: she and the others would have to wait here until the next day; when they would be brought into the arena.