This woulda been hard enough to explain to a child at the best of times, and here the arena, it was that much worse. The Capitol watching and listening... what could he say to help her understand that wouldn't get her killed? Or him? Or Howard or Julie or R?

(If they weren't dead already.)

"We ain't the ones in charge here," he said after a long moment. "Even if we know what we're doin' is right, if they don't like it they can make the arena harder, make dyin' more painful. And just for you'an me, but for those we care about."