Leighton Morgan

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What was their childhood like?

The Morgan children, for the most part, did not want: they had. District Ten was a cruel place for most to grow up, but not for Leighton and her siblings. Because their father was the mayor, they lived in the nicest house, had access to the best schooling, and got to spend their lives, more or less, how they wanted to.

For Leighton, this meant following her mother around, a prim little shadow. Louise Morgan was the perfect politician’s wife, a role she bore exceedingly well, and she found in Leighton the perfect protege.

As the oldest daughter, Leighton was happy to take on that burden – and she bore it with a smile. After all, her mother’s life was perfect. She dressed well, ate well, and spent her days as she pleased; at least, this was what Leighton understood of what she saw.

Leighton was also fascinated by the Capitol and everyone in it. She devoured magazines, paying attention to the gossip that her mother helped her understand – See, that headline is a dig at what he did five years ago with his mistress. It seemed the world of the Capitol turned at a different speed, and the world of Ten moved sluggishly, as if through thick mud.

Leighton never felt worse than when she had to stand in a line with the rest of the District’s children. She dressed well and did her hair for the occasion, but nonetheless, she felt that the mediocrity of the children around her dragged her down. She wished that she didn’t have to participate in the Reaping ceremonies not because she feared being chosen – she was sure that she wouldn’t be, considering the odds, the amount of Tesserae other children took out – but because she felt it was the thing that set her the furthest from being the Capitolite she dreamed of.

How do they feel about the Games?

Leighton never enjoyed the Reaping ceremonies, nor did she relish what came after them. The Games were barbaric, though she understood this was the point. She was glad for her position in the world and didn’t want it to stop working the way it did; it was a well-oiled machine with the Games at the center.

She was comfortable enough with her existing safety net, but still, she did sometimes worry about the Games and the possibility, however remote, of being Reaped. So she began to pick out the boys in school who had the most to prove. Not necessarily the most powerful or muscular; no, the ones just below those, the ones who would do anything to move up in the world, to rise above their station. By the time she was sixteen, she had a whole list of boys who’d agreed to volunteer for her, should her name ever be called. She’d promised them plenty in return, for when they came back to her victorious – and she just hoped that they wouldn’t.

And so with this extra safety net in place, one of her own making, she watched the Reaping ceremonies with displeasure but not much discomfort. When the Games played, she grit her teeth through the gorier aspects and watched with a pleasant, neutral expression on her face.

For the 121st, she was standing several rows behind her sister when her name was called. Instantly there was a jolt to her system, a kind of shock that was felt throughout her body. It took until Greer had stepped out into the aisle in between the two groups of children to find the first boy in line, the boy who had promised to volunteer for her, should the need arise. The boy was looking at Leighton with fear in his eyes, and Leighton raised her hand just enough to signal to him to go, to skedaddle, to call out that he volunteered. But he shook his head, as if to say these weren’t the exact conditions of the agreement. As Greer moved toward the stage, Leighton found the other boys, locked eyes with them, pleaded with her own – but none of them spoke up, none of them made a move.

It was only when they were calling an end to the ceremony that Leighton realized that she could have, perhaps, volunteered herself.

What drove them to be an escort? Do they enjoy it?

Watching Greer in the Arena hardened Leighton. She didn’t imagine for a moment, not until the end, that her sister would survive. Because of this, she watched a girl she already presumed dead move through the Arena, fighting her way towards death. For five days, Leighton barely slept, though when she did watch the Games, it was with some glassy-eyed quality, as if it were not truly happening, and if it were happening, it wasn’t happening to her sister.

And when Greer emerged victorious, Leighton remained glassy-eyed, especially around her sister. She felt that she had somehow failed her, failed in her duties as eldest sister, and so as Greer pulled away from the family, Leighton, too, pulled away.

Suddenly, District Ten wasn’t good enough for her. She used a connection of her father’s to get a low-level government job in the Capitol – and while labor didn’t particularly suit her, this was easy, just filing for a government official (and reading through those files when he wasn’t looking). From this position, she was able to learn more about the world of Capitol politics, and what she learned intrigued her.

The official’s name was Salus Atala. He was a representative from some district on the edge of the city; he had very little actual power, and what he did was mostly placate his residents and pretend that he was bringing their concerns and interests to Snow. He also met with other officials – representatives, District mayors, the like – and discussed nothing of any importance. The levels of government, small as they were, meant nothing. This was something that Leighton realized quickly.

Another thing Salus spent his days doing was making what he called love to Leighton on his desk. Or his chair. Or against the wall, or against the door. And she let him, because when he left for the day – usually mid-afternoon, or perhaps mid-morning – she was able to read the files, glean what was happening (or not happening), what was to come, just how Snow held an iron grip around the country.

Two years ago, Salus proposed to her. He said they should take their relationship public though it would mean she’d lose her job. He said this was fine, that he’d get her a job doing something else – how’d she like to escort for the Games? It took some time and finagling, and a well-placed rumor, to get the District Nine escort fired, but he managed it. He had Leighton installed in the position for the 132nd Games, and when she decided, in the months leading up to 134, that she’d like to brave working alongside her sister if it meant getting the position to escort the tributes from her home district, she got the District Ten escort fired all on her own.

In the past two years, she’s been the perfect fiancee. She’s planned the perfect, over the top Capitol wedding with all the right people receiving invitations. She’s made friendships, kissed cheeks, had dresses made, yelled at designers who didn’t get them just right, and embraced the Capitol lifestyle she’s always wanted. And yet – she knows that the people of this city, those who were born and raised here, look down on her, just slightly. She may have had a good childhood, she may have been wealthy by District standards, but it’s nothing compared to the standards of the Capitol.

Still, it was all going to plan – until it wasn’t. Just a month before the 134th Games began, Salus’s face and the face of his newest assistant were plastered across the pages of The Capitol Voice. It was a public scandal, and so she made it public when she broke off their engagement as well, filming herself setting fire to the ring and sending it to the Voice.

How do they treat their tributes? How do they treat their team? Other Tower members?

Leighton tries her best, but she truly does not understand the plight of the tributes. She gets that they are, of course, going through a really tough time, and she wants to help them. She wants her tributes to win because, well, it’d be nice! But so far, they haven’t won. She is as helpful as she can be, though, and she’s kind if flippant to others around the Tower. She makes close friendships mostly if she feels they’ll benefit her in some way – a social climber to the very last.

What is their personality like?

These days, being on a team with Greer, whom she hasn’t spoken to sincerely in years, and having been publicly cheated on, Leighton is… a bit tender. Her fuse is shorter than before and she’s quick to anger. She’s also a bit lost, not sure what to do with herself now that her best plan to become the perfect politician’s wife – just like her mother – has failed.

Three strengths and three weaknesses?

+ Calculating, social, friendly

- Self-centered, vapid, materialistic

PENNED BY: VIRGINIA