It was later that evening, and Antonia, Marcia and I met up with the stylists to watch the Games. Settling on the couches, Roberta poured us all wine, and I drank it quickly to steady my nerves. We’d gathered several sponsors that day for Riley, but a lot had wanted to support Otto instead, which had left me feeling drained. We watched Riley and Elianna come to a stop somewhere in the middle of the arena, exhausted and drenched in sweat and rain water. Earlier on, just after they’d escaped, and the rain had mostly stopped, Elianna had stopped to revive Milo, using the resuscitation method. She’d clearly been one of the rare tributes who paid attention to that workshop during training, but he was still weak, and she persisted carrying him. When they stopped this time, however, the ground had soaked up much of the water and the tremors in the ground had gone. They were safe for a while. Elianna lay Milo carefully on the ground, brushing his hair off his face. He spluttered slightly, and Riley quivered.

 “Will he be OK?” she asked quietly.

 “I think so. He needs to get all the water out of his system, though. Help me sit him up.”

 They positioned him with his back against the tree for support and he coughed miserably, drifting in and out of consciousness. Riley sat close to him, rubbing his arms to try and get some warmth into him. Elianna stood, her stance strong, but her expression nervous. She turned and began to walk away.

 “Where are you going?” Riley asked.

 “I won’t stay here.”

 “Why not?”

 “I can’t have allies. I don’t want to get attached,” Elianna mumbled timidly. Riley stood tentatively.

 “Elianna, isn’t it? You’ve just saved our lives. I’m not letting you go. You must come and share a meal with us, at least. Please? We have plenty, and you don’t have much.”

 Elianna wavered, chewing on her lip. Riley smiled and reached in her pack, bringing out a soggy loaf of bread, waving it around to lure Elianna in. A peal of giggles escaped Elianna’s lips, and she blushed shyly, covering her mouth. Riley broke a bit off and threw it to Elianna. She caught it smoothly and nibbled delicately at it, before joining Riley at Milo’s side. Elianna watched Riley closely, observing how she leant her head on Milo’s shoulder and laced her fingers with his limp hand.

 “Is Milo your boyfriend?” Elianna said with a blush. Riley ruffled Milo’s hair and laughed.

 “No. He wouldn’t be interested.”

 “What makes you say that?” Elianna asked curiously. Riley blushed.

 “Well, I just mean…I don’t have the right qualities. Like, I’m not pretty or anything,” she replied, clearly unaccustomed to girl talk. She stood up abruptly and grabbed the axe that she had, swinging it skilfully.

 “This is what I’m good at. But boys don’t look for that.”

 “I think you have lots of good qualities, Riley,” Elianna said softly “You’re brave and selfless, strong and kind-”

 “Reckless and wild, manly and sympathetic,” Riley countered. She let out a small belch as though to prove her point about her masculinity.

 “What’s wrong with sympathetic?”

 “Nothing. But it’s seen as a weakness, isn’t it? Like you said, you don’t want to get too close to people in the Games because it’s a weakness when you start to feel attached to people. You know that you either have to lose or lose them…”

 Riley let her arms fall to her side, her axe swinging. The cameras zoomed in on her face, but if they were looking for a reaction, they weren’t going to get one. After all, Riley is a brilliant actress.

 “Well I think you’re beautiful,” Elianna whispered. “You’re everything a girl should be. Resilient. Strong willed. And no matter what you think, radiant.” There was a long silence, only broken by Marcia sniffing beside me and dabbing her eyes, ashamed of herself for crying. I smiled as a dark blush crept once more over Elianna’s face.

“Well that’s what I think, anyway,” she mumbled, ducking her head. The corners of Riley’s mouth twitched, her head held high. And past the crooked teeth, past the mass of wild hair and battle scars, it wasn’t hard to see how truly beautiful she was.

 “Would you like me to take the first watch?” she said as way of reply.

 “If you’re sure you don’t mind?” Elianna replied politely.

 “No, I don’t mind. I couldn’t sleep, anyway. Not with Milo like this…” she said, glancing back at him. “You’re welcome to use our sleeping bag,” she told her new companion. Elianna looked a little overwhelmed by the small act of kindness. As though she’d been deprived kindness all her life. It occurred to me that maybe she had been. How can someone with such innocent beauty be so shy, yet so fierce in battle? I knew very little about Riley’s new ally, but something told me there was more to her than the eye could see. She looked much younger than I’d seen her before as she crawled inside the sleeping bag, using one of the rucksacks as a pillow. Riley retreated once more to Milo’s side, and all was quiet. We waited a while, watching Riley’s eyes dart about in the dark, but nothing really happened. Roberta, Marcia and the other stylists headed for bed. It was the common custom in the Capitol to sleep when nothing interesting was happening, and set alarms on their televisions to alert them when a fight occurred, waking them from their slumber. Antonia and I waited, though, cradling steaming hot coffees in our hands in an attempt to stay awake. After a while, I rested my head on a cushion wearily.

 “I’ve never understood the entertainment value of this,” I muttered.

 “There isn’t any. The Capitol people just get bored easily,” Antonia replied darkly. Suddenly, Riley sat forwards abruptly, rigid and alert. She was listening for something, something I couldn’t myself hear. She waited a while, before slowly sinking back into her original position and closing her eyes. I squinted, trying to see if there was anything to fear. Venus and Claudius commented that there was a tribute about twenty metres away from her, and then the camera zoomed in on the boy from nine, hiding in the shadows. At the realisation that he was on his way to kill Riley and her companions, people in the street began to holler and shout, some simply thirsting for a fight and others willing Riley’s eyes to open again. The boy from nine was small and stealthy, moving through the fog with little sound. But I knew better than to think Riley was fooled. She’d heard him coming, and she was aware of him. If you looked close enough, it was easy to see that her eyes were half open. She wasn’t resting. She was waiting.

 The boy was moving slowly, his hands clutched to his sword, and it was taking him a long time to reach them. Which was his first mistake. Because as he wasted his time, Riley’s fingers slowly, but surely edged towards her axe.

 Antonia brought her knees up to her face to cover it, her eyes glistening, but I wasn’t afraid. I had faith in my little Whirlwind. In the streets of the Capitol, people were going wild. Things were hotting up a little.

 District nine’s boy was in clear view now, hidden only under a cloak of thin mist and masked by a cluster of trees. Riley was still, her fingers now enfolded over the handle of her weapon. Still she waited, allowing him to go to her. His step was careful, but what did it matter? Riley already knew he was there. Swiftly, then, he came out from the shadows and Riley came to life, gaining the element of surprise. She leapt to her feet, axe at hand and raised her eyebrow at the boy challengingly, as he stumbled back a little in shock. But he wasn’t deterred. He made a primal hissing noise back, stepping forwards against a girl half his height and at least three years his minor. But of course, with it being Riley she wasn’t fazed. She flashed him a glimpse of her crooked smile, as she darted away from his blade. He whipped his head around to see her several metres away, beckoning him with a mocking smile. She was winding him up like a clockwork toy, making him angrier and more aggressive. And hence sealing his fate. With a raged battle cry, he leapt once more at Riley, but no one moves faster than a whirlwind. With a mere flick of her wrist, she sent her axe flying at him. His eyes widened in panic just before the axe buried itself in his skull. But something odd had happened. At the same time the axe lodged itself in the boy’s skull, an arrow had pierced his neck. As he fell to the ground and his cannon fired, the camera and Riley both looked at Elianna, awake, alert and with a bow in her hand. She looked up shyly through a curtain of her hair.

 “We make a good team,” she said softly. Riley grinned back, heading over to Elianna to shake her hand. It was that moment when Milo woke up, spluttering and coughing. Riley rushed to his side quickly.

 “What’s going on? What’s happened?” he cried, taking in the dead body and freckles of blood on Riley’s face. He was panicked and disoriented, his eyes wide with fear. Riley wrapped her arms around him, as though he was a small child, her chin rested on his head as she soothed him.

“Shh, Milo, it’s okay. I’ll take care of you. Everything will be OK. I swear it, buddy. You’re safe with me.”