The day of the Games dawned bright and sunny, but my stomach was a tempest.
Sabine helped me bathe the night before. She used oils to soften my skin and hair, and herbs to scent them. Once or twice she seemed about to speak to me of something beyond the ‘what gown I was to wear’, or ‘what flowers she would weave in my hair’, but I distracted her with idle chatter. I could not bear to hear her ask how I was, mostly because I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t break down and beg her to help me escape, even knowing how foolish it was.
I found myself seated with Sabine and the four Alphas on a giant rock that served as a dais overlooking the Games. Brenna and Fleur were not going to attend. Brenna stayed home with her twin boys, and Fleur was recovering from her most recent fever. I almost envied my tw
