𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄 ▸ HUNGER GAMES [ 1 ]

SEVEN

SEVEN -

Sidonia guides us up to our temporary new home with words spilling from her mouth that I can barely make sense of. Brutus has to give Hadley a quick shove on course before he tears his eyes away from the corner of the stables, and I find myself looking back at the District 12 tributes, and Sidonia's intoxicated friend with rage brewing in my chest.

My mentor was right – we were upstaged. Now Sidonia and Brutus will have even more work do to secure us sponsors. At least until the actual Games begin and the Capitol's new favourite ends up with an axe in her throat. She may look pretty, dressed up in fancy flames, but when it comes down it, will a girl from 12 be able to survive the initial bloodbath which normally occurs at the cornucopia during the first day. Something tells me its pretty unlikely.

The thought sets my mind at ease as we ride the elevator up to the second floor.

Tallulah is waiting to welcome us from the parade, arms outstretched in greeting. "Well I say the two of you were marvellous out there tonight!" She praises, ushering us into a large and garishly decorated apartment. Floor to ceiling windows cover one side, opening out to a view of the Capitol's glittering streets. A giant screen hangs on the adjacent wall, in front of which are grouped a selection of bright purple couches and pouffes, and a crystal dining table set for five stands on a raised platform in the centre of the room. More Avoxes, like those on the train, are stationed around the apartment at our service.

Hadley and I are sent off to our rooms to change out of our opening ceremony garb before we eat, and I opt for a simple black blouse and a pair of matching pants not unlike the ones I discovered on the train. When I loosen the braids from my hair, I'm left with the usual dark brown tangle, which I pull back into a feasible bun.

My eyes snag on to my sister's pendant again in the mirror, and I wonder what she made of the ceremony tonight. It's likely she got to watch it, most of the usual work carried out in the Districts is relaxed during Games month, and updates are even televised in the schools. If she went to the Academy today, did any of the other kids discuss it? Was she proud to let them know that the girl representing the District this year is her big sister?

By the time I make it to the dining table, everybody else has already started eating. Dishes are brought out by the Avoxes, platters loaded with meaty stews and bowls of rainbow soups and broths. Sidonia is downing glasses of rich red wine quicker than is probably necessary as she talks us through the next steps of the plan.

The Training Centre is where we will stay until the Games begin at the end of the week. Hadley and I will spend three days with the rest of the tributes, honing our skills in the basement studio. This time is the perfect opportunity for us to examine the field and take our pick of potential allies. I seem to have already made an impression on the blonde girl from 1 and her District partner, and I'm well aware Hadley has been eyeing up the huge dark-skinned boy from 11.

At the end of the third day, we will each have the chance to perform a private display of our talents to the Gamemakers. These will give us our scores, helping to convince sponsors to join our cause once we are in the arena. Most career tributes usually score between eight and eleven, but the latter is almost impossible, so much so that the last person to scrape one was in a Hunger Games almost two decades ago.

And that person just happened to be Darius Hadley. Every Hadley since then has managed at least a nine, so the pressure is on for my District partner to live up to the family name. Not that I doubt he'll manage it in any way. I've been watching the boy swing swords and launch spears across the Academy since I was eight years old, and I would never bet on him missing a target.