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ding would have given my figure. The hem falls just to my<br />

knees. Without heels, you can see my true stature. I look, very<br />

simply, like a girl. A young one. Fourteen at the most. Innocent.<br />

Harmless. Yes, it is shocking that Cinna has pulled this off<br />

when you remember I’ve just won the Games.<br />

This is a very calculated look. Nothing Cinna designs is arbitrary.<br />

I bite my lip trying to figure out his motivation.<br />

“I thought it’d be something more . . . sophisticatedlooking,”<br />

I say.<br />

“I thought Peeta would like this better,” he answers carefully.<br />

Peeta? No, it’s not about Peeta. It’s about the Capitol and<br />

the Gamemakers and the audience. Although I do not yet understand<br />

Cinna’s design, it’s a reminder the Games are not<br />

quite finished. And beneath his benign reply, I sense a warning.<br />

Of something he can’t even mention in front of his own<br />

team.<br />

We take the elevator to the level where we trained. It’s customary<br />

for the victor and his or her support team to rise from<br />

beneath the stage. First the prep team, followed by the escort,<br />

the stylist, the mentor, and finally the victor. Only this year,<br />

with two victors who share both an escort and a mentor, the<br />

whole thing has had to be rethought. I find myself in a poorly<br />

lit area under the stage. A brand-new metal plate has been installed<br />

to transport me upward. You can still see small piles of<br />

sawdust, smell fresh paint. Cinna and the prep team peel off to<br />

change into their own costumes and take their positions, leav-<br />

349

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