The Last Dragon Rider (Book 1 of Rider Series)

Chapter 4

"You're late," my mother said when I ran into the small house that I lived with the rest of my siblings. She looked up from where she was stitching one of my sibling's pants. She frowned before looking back at what she was doing. "You don't have time to do your chores."

I internally winced, feeling guilty that I wouldn't be able to do them. "Sorry, Mama," I said, apologetically, causing her to hum in acceptance. "Martha gave me some coins." I walked over to her and handed the coins to her, causing her to stop her work. "You can get some sewing supplies. I know that you are running low."

Mom took about half of the coins and then tried to hand the rest back to me. "Take them," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Spend them on a new dress or skirt."

I shook my head and placed my hands behind my back. "I can't," I said. "Not with the food that we don't have. You need it more than me. I can get me a hot meal when I am out."

"Marini, take the money," she scowled. "I will be able to handle what I need to do."

I hesitated but took the money back from her. I didn't really want to take the money, but I hoped that I could use it to haggle something off of someone. "Just at least let me take some of the stitching for the kids. I know that they have ripped multiple things."

Mom hesitated but nodded. "Take out what you don't need from your basket and then you can get them," she said. "You are going to have to hurry, though. The gate will close soon." She glanced at the thing we told time and frowned in worry.

I nodded my head and took my basket to my room that I shared with four sisters.

There wasn't an orphanage around, so my mother tried to give them a warm place to stay. Unfortunately, there were more orphaned kids than not, and we didn't have that much space for them.

I had four real brothers and five real sisters, and I was the oldest. I hadn't been the oldest for long, because I had had two older brothers, but one died in a war and the other died along with my father when I was only twelve. I had been there with the attack, but I was the only one that had survived for whatever reason.

I shook my head and quickly gathered what I needed for the night as well as locking up the supplies that I didn't need to keep my siblings from getting into them.

"I have your stuff," Mom said, coming into the room. "And, I have a wineskin for water."

I nodded my head and stood, picking up the basket. "I am ready," I said. I walked over to the kitchen and placed the supplies that Mom had left for me into the basket. "Do I need to fix the roof again?" I asked, causing her to nod. "I'll get supplies for that then." I kissed my mother's cheek before starting to run towards the gate as fast as I could.

I prayed to the Gods that they haven't swapped out yet, because I have no idea what I would do if they did...

***

I ran as fast as I could, my heart pounding in my chest. I could see that the gate was starting to close and panicked a little. I gathered my skirts into my hand, making sure that someone couldn't see my pants and ran the rest of the way to the gate and out the other side just as it closed.

"You're late!" one of the guards called out to me. "See you in the morning."

I turned back to the guard and smiled up at him. "See you in the morning," I called back before running into the woods. I knew that the guards were going to search the woods for illegal traps and people, but I knew that they wouldn't find me nor the traps that I had set.

I didn't know why as to they could never find me because I had been doing this since I was around six years old with my father, but I was grateful that they never did. I shook my head and went down what seemed like a rabbit hole but really a hole big enough for a grown man and into the place where I spent most of my evenings when it got too hot, too cold, or too stormy.

Quickly, I made sure that I was alone before I took a couple of the coins that my mother had let me keep and placed them on the little shrine, about three feet off the ground for whoever owns the little place.

I sighed and leaned back on my haunches, debating if I should take a nap or get started on my work. I knew that I had two hours to kill before the guards left the forest, knowing that they wouldn't go very deep because of the fact that there were mythical creatures that could possibly kill them.

I huffed and shook my head. "I don't have time for a nap," I muttered before going over to my basket that I had discarded near the bed. "I might just try to sleep early." And with that, I started to work on what I needed to do. It would be better for my family and me if I did do it sooner rather than later.