Exile || Gale Hawthorne

Chapter 11: A Strange Family

"But that hardly matters."

"Of course, it matters." Roan said, louder than he intended to. "It's a game of probability."

"Not a game." Katniss and Gale said at the same time, horrified that Roan even likened the Reaping to a game. "How could you compare it to a game?" Katniss carried on, horror on her face and voice as hugged herself. The girl's eyes wide in disgust. "It's not a game, Roan."

"Well to those people, it is."

"But not to us." Katniss fired back.

"That's what it is. The Reaping is a part of the Games. The game doesn't start until they have all their players. It's just the first part of the Games and it's based on how many times your name's in that damned ball." Roan's eyes narrowed, and he stood his ground. "For the Capitol people, it is a game. They watch it for entertainment. And let's not forget that the more tesserae we take, the higher the chances of being reaped. Gale, your name is in there more times than all three of us combined."

"Roan." Gale warned him, his eyes darkening as his grip on Carina's trembling hands tightened. He rubbed his thumb on her hand in circles trying to soothe her but she wasn't focusing on him but only on her brother. "Stop it!"

"I'm just telling you all how it works!" He shouted, immediately feeling awful. "I mean we know Carin's name wasn't in there that many times but yours was, Gale."

Gale's face contorted with anger. "Don't you dare compare yourself to me, Roan. You and Carina were lucky that your grandmother got something from her time growing up in the Merchant side and she wasn't thrown out into the street like some people. You had a family who could afford to feed you without resorting to the tesserae. Not all of us are as fortunate."

Roan's voice turned cold as he retaliated, "Maybe I won't get picked, but Carina, was almost reaped. And it's not like she had any say in this."

"But she wasn't!" Katniss fired back, anger rising in her. "And it wasn't Gale's fault or anyone but the Capitol's."

"I'm not blaming anyone!"

"But you are!" Katniss, who was usually calm and preferred to observe, couldn't control her anger anymore. She looked to Carina for intervention but she wasn't looking at her. She stared at her hands that Gale had in his while she tried to block out the noise. Katniss let out a growl of frustration. "It wasn't her and it won't be her. She doesn't take out tesserae for anyone like I do for Prim and like Gale does for his brothers and sister!"

"You never know. All it takes is one slip of paper." Roan said and Katniss' eyes darkened. "Who knows? Maybe next time it'll be Prim and then you'll understand—"

Carina felt annoyance rise within her. She couldn't bear the thought of her brother using her against Gale as a weapon in their argument. "Stop it!" she exclaimed, her voice quivering with emotion. "It wasn't me, and you know it." She swallowed hard, her shaky gaze meeting her brother's tired ones.

Roan clenched his jaws and nodded. His anger gradually washed away as he took slow steps back away from Katniss and Gale. He was blaming them even though they had nothing to do with what almost happened.

The tension in that room was suffocating her. She took deep pained breaths with Gale rubbing circles with his thumb on her hands to soothe her. She stood up, her legs almost giving out beneath her but Gale wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her. Roan narrowed his eyes on Gale but shut his mouth before he could say a word.

With a deep breath, Carina forced herself to smile. "The real tragedy is that our escort is a senile old man who can't even read." She said in a soft but playful voice, trying her best to hide her anxiety.