【饥饿游戏】22

In the deepening twilight 1, the firelight illuminates 2
our faces. We seem to be leaving a trail of fire off the flowing
capes 3. Cinna was right about the minimal 4 makeup 5, we both
look more attractive but utterly 6 recognizable.
Remember, heads high. Smiles. They’re going to love you! I
hear Cinna’s voice in my head. I lift my chin a bit higher, put
on my most winning smile, and wave with my free hand. I’m
glad now I have Peeta to clutch for balance, he is so steady,
solid as a rock. As I gain confidence, I actually blow a few
kisses to the crowd. The people of the Capitol are going nuts,
showering us with flowers, shouting our names, our first
names, which they have bothered to find on the program.
The pounding music, the cheers, the admiration 7 work their
way into my blood, and I can’t suppress my excitement. Cinna
has given me a great advantage. No one will forget me. Not my
look, not my name. Katniss. The girl who was on fire.
For the first time, I feel a flicker 8 of hope rising up in me.
Surely, there must be one sponsor willing to take me on! And
with a little extra help, some food, the right weapon, why
should I count myself out of the Games?
Someone throws me a red rose. I catch it, give it a delicate
sniff 9, and blow a kiss back in the general direction of the giver.
A hundred hands reach up to catch my kiss, as if it were a real
and tangible 10 thing.
“Katniss! Katniss!” I can hear my name being called from all
sides. Everyone wants my kisses.
It’s not until we enter the City Circle that I realize I must
have completely stopped the circulation in Peeta’s hand.
That’s how tightly I’ve been holding it. I look down at our
linked fingers as I loosen my grasp, but he regains 11 his grip on
me. “No, don’t let go of me,” he says. The firelight flickers 12 off
his blue eyes. “Please. I might fall out of this thing.”
“Okay,” I say. So I keep holding on, but I can’t help feeling
strange about the way Cinna has linked us together. It’s not
really fair to present us as a team and then lock us into the
arena 13 to kill each other.
The twelve chariots fill the loop of the City Circle. On the
buildings that surround the Circle, every window is packed
with the most prestigious 14 citizens of the Capitol. Our horses
pull our chariot right up to President Snow’s mansion 15, and we
come to a halt. The music ends with a flourish.
The president, a small, thin man with paper-white hair,
gives the official welcome from a balcony above us. It is 
traditional to cut away to the faces of the tributes during the
speech. But I can see on the screen that we are getting way
more than our share of airtime. The darker it becomes, the
more difficult it is to take your eyes off our flickering 16. When
the national anthem 17 plays, they do make an effort to do a
quick cut around to each pair of tributes, but the camera holds
on the District 12 chariot as it parades around the circle one
final time and disappears into the Training Center.
The doors have only just shut behind us when we’re engulfed 18
by the prep teams, who are nearly unintelligible 19 as they
babble 20 out praise. As I glance around, I notice a lot of the other
tributes are shooting us dirty looks, which confirms what I’ve
suspected, we’ve literally 21 outshone them all. Then Cinna and
Portia are there, helping 22 us down from the chariot, carefully
removing our flaming capes and headdresses. Portia extinguishes
them with some kind of spray from a canister.
I realize I’m still glued to Peeta and force my stiff fingers to
open. We both massage 23 our hands.
“Thanks for keeping hold of me. I was getting a little shaky
there,” says Peeta.
“It didn’t show,” I tell him. “I’m sure no one noticed.”
“I’m sure they didn’t notice anything but you. You should
wear flames more often,” he says. “They suit you.” And then he
gives me a smile that seems so genuinely sweet with just the
right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes
through me.
A warning bell goes off in my head. Don’t be so stupid. Peeta
is planning how to kill you, I remind myself. He is luring 24 you in
to make you easy prey 25. The more likable he is, the more deadly
he is.
But because two can play at this game, I stand on tiptoe and
kiss his cheek. Right on his bruise 26.