【饥饿游戏】21

Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls 
into the streets.
“It’s not real flame, of course, just a little synthetic 1 fire Portia
and I came up with. You’ll be perfectly 2 safe,” he says. But
I’m not convinced I won’t be perfectly barbecued by the time
we reach the city’s center.
My face is relatively 3 clear of makeup 4, just a bit of highlighting
here and there. My hair has been brushed out and then
braided down my back in my usual style. “I want the audience
to recognize you when you’re in the arena 5,” says Cinna dreamily.
“Katniss, the girl who was on fire.”
It crosses my mind that Cinna’s calm and normal demeanor 6
masks a complete madman.
Despite this morning’s revelation about Peeta’s character,
I’m actually relieved when he shows up, dressed in an identical
costume. He should know about fire, being a baker’s son
and all. His stylist, Portia, and her team accompany him in,
and everyone is absolutely giddy with excitement over what a
splash we’ll make. Except Cinna. He just seems a bit weary as
he accepts congratulations.
We’re whisked down to the bottom level of the Remake
Center, which is essentially 7 a gigantic stable. The opening 
ceremonies are about to start. Pairs of tributes are being 
loaded into chariots pulled by teams of four horses. Ours are 
coal black. The animals are so well trained, no one even needs 
to guide their reins 8. Cinna and Portia direct us into the chariot
and carefully arrange our body positions, the drape of our
capes 10, before moving off to consult with each other.
“What do you think?” I whisper to Peeta. “About the fire?”
“I’ll rip off your cape 9 if you’ll rip off mine,” he says through
gritted 11 teeth.
“Deal,” I say. Maybe, if we can get them off soon enough,
we’ll avoid the worst burns. It’s bad though. They’ll throw us
into the arena no matter what condition we’re in. “I know we
promised Haymitch we’d do exactly what they said, but I don’t
think he considered this angle.”
“Where is Haymitch, anyway? Isn’t he supposed to protect
us from this sort of thing?” says Peeta.
“With all that alcohol in him, it’s probably not advisable to
have him around an open flame,” I say.
And suddenly we’re both laughing. I guess we’re both so
nervous about the Games and more pressingly, petrified 12 of being
turned into human torches, we’re not acting 13 sensibly.
The opening music begins. It’s easy to hear, blasted around
the Capitol. Massive doors slide open revealing the crowdlined
streets. The ride lasts about twenty minutes and ends up
at the City Circle, where they will welcome us, play the anthem 14,
and escort us into the Training Center, which will be our
home/prison until the Games begin.
The tributes from District 1 ride out in a chariot pulled by
snow-white horses. They look so beautiful, spray-painted silver,
in tasteful tunics 15 glittering with jewels. District 1 makes
luxury items for the Capitol. You can hear the roar of the
crowd. They are always favorites.
District 2 gets into position to follow them. In no time at all,
we are approaching the door and I can see that between the
overcast 16 sky and evening hour the light is turning gray. The
tributes from District 11 are just rolling out when Cinna appears
with a lighted torch. “Here we go then,” he says, and before
we can react he sets our capes on fire. I gasp 17, waiting for
the heat, but there is only a faint tickling 18 sensation. Cinna
climbs up before us and ignites our headdresses. He lets out a
sign of relief. “It works.” Then he gently tucks a hand under
my chin. “Remember, heads high. Smiles. They’re going to love
you!”
Cinna jumps off the chariot and has one last idea. He shouts
something up at us, but the music drowns him out. He shouts
again and gestures.
“What’s he saying?” I ask Peeta. For the first time, I look at
him and realize that ablaze 19 with the fake flames, he is dazzling.
And I must be, too.
“I think he said for us to hold hands,” says Peeta. He grabs
my right hand in his left, and we look to Cinna for confirmation 20.
He nods and gives a thumbs-up, and that’s the last thing I
see before we enter the city.
The crowd’s initial alarm at our appearance quickly
changes to cheers and shouts of “District Twelve!” Every head
is turned our way, pulling the focus from the three chariots
ahead of us. At first, I’m frozen, but then I catch sight of us on
a large television screen and am floored by how breathtaking
we look.