Primitive people with their primitive customs.

As if he were more a tribute than a mentor.

“Assuming anything more, a physical, mental, or especially a moral superiority, would be a mistake. That sort of hubris almost finished us off in the war.”

Surely people could see how at home Lucy Gray seemed in the Capitol?

the boy tribute from District 5 had passed away in the night due to complications from asthma or some such —

A second-class citizen. Human, but bestial. Smart, perhaps, but not evolved. Part of a shapeless mass of unfortunate, barbaric creatures that hovered on the periphery of his consciousness. Surely, if there had ever been an exception to the rule, it was Lucy Gray Baird.

There was no real rule book for the Hunger Games.

He’d loved the unfamiliar sense of safety that their defeat had brought. The security that could only come with power. The ability to control things.

Even if Lucy Gray was confused on the issue, in the eyes of the Capitol, she belonged to him. What point would there be in crediting a district tribute?