A World Among Thieves: A Humble Beginning

Chapter 1

I begin getting dressed. Putting on my dress, stockings, shoes, and my apron. I put my long blonde hair into a braid, and wrap it around my head. I secure the braid in place with a hairpin that my grandmother gave me. I open my bedroom door quietly, as to not wake my mother and my siblings. I walk outside of our tiny cabin and grab the two buckets that are next to the door. I carry them to the river that is a few yards from my house. I kneel to the ground and dunk the first bucket into the river, the open end facing against the current. Once the bucket is filled, I remove it from the river and set it beside me. I do the same with the other bucket. Once both buckets are filled with water, I stand up, pick up the buckets, and begin walking back to the house. I set one bucket of water outside next to the garden, and I set the other just outside the back door which leads into the kitchen. I sigh and walk back inside. I dry my hands, that are slightly damp, on a nearby handtowel. I glance over at the clock that my father made, and it reads 6:30 AM. I walk up back up the stairs and go into my parents' room. I lightly shake my mother awake, and she sends me a glare.

"Is it that time already?" she asks.

"Yes, Mother. I promise that I didn't wake you up any earlier than is required," I said, lying through my teeth. 

I knew that she would take forever to get up and ready, so I wake her up about thirty minutes earlier. That way when she walks down the stairs and glances at the clock, it will seem like she got ready rather quickly.

"Are the twins up?" She asked, rolling onto her other side.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her laziness, "Not yet, Mother. I thought you would appreciate it if I let them sleep in for a little while"

"Go wake them up, Amathes! I swear you're worthless," she groans.

When she says that, it feels like a knife to my heart. I should be used to it by now, but for some reason, it still hurts. The name I was given when I was born is Amathes, but I have since legally changed it to Allison behind my mother's back with the help of my dad. 

"Yes, Mother. I will wake them up at once," I say.

I turn and exit my mother's room, closing the door behind me. I sigh and begin walking to the twins' room. I open the door and walk over to the two beds on the other side of the room. On the bed to my left, my little sister Mudril who is still asleep. On the bed to my right, my little brother Dimaethoron is sleeping soundly as well. I walk over to the window, which is covered by a thick curtain that blocks out all light. I swiftly pull the curtain, and light fills the room. I stifle a laugh when I hear my siblings groan.

"It's too early, Athes!" Mudril groans.

Since they are still so young, they can't properly say my "name". So instead, they call me Athes.

"Sorry! Mother said for me to wake you. I wanted to allow you both to sleep in late," I say, taking the covers from Dimaethoron as he covered his head with them to block out the sunlight.

"Dimae, Mudri, get up and get dressed. Mother may need your help today," I say, straightening Mudril's dark brown hair.

They slowly got out of bed and I left them to get dressed. I walk to the kitchen and grab the small wicker basket that I made when I was around the twins' age. Mudril and Dimaethoron are identical twins, and they are six years old. I walk out the front door and go to the small garden that is to the left of the door. I begin picking the vegetables and fruits that are ripe and put them in the basket. Once that's done, I bring the produce into the kitchen and set them on the counter. I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I turn my head and see Mudri walking up to me.

"Can I help you, Athes?" she asks, looking up at me with her dark brown eyes.

"Of course, Mudri! Why don't you start washing the produce while I do the laundry?" I say, grabbing the stepstool and put it in front of the counter. 

Mudril beams and climbs up onto the stepstool and begins washing the freshly picked produce with the water that I gathered earlier. I smile and gather the dirty laundry into a large, smooth, wooden basket from the twins' room and my room. I walk over to my parents' room and knock on the door.

"Mother? I'm doing the laundry. Do you have any dirty clothes in there?" I ask through the door.

Silence.

"Mother?" I call.

Silence.

I open the door quietly and see my mother staring at me with a stern look on her face. I jump slightly but quickly regain my composure.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asks, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I asked if you had any laundry, and I didn't get a response. I thought something was wrong so I came in," I explain.

My mother rolls her eyes and points to a rather large pile of laundry that is laying in the corner of the room. I really want to sigh in annoyance, but I resist and begin putting the laundry into the basket. When I stand up, I notice that my mother is nowhere to be seen. I walk down to the living room and see my mother tickling Mudri while Dimae laughs at his sister's squeals. I frown and walk outside to the river once again. I set the basket of clothes beside me on the ground, and begin washing each article of clothing in the river's rapids. When I'm done, I hear a pair of footsteps stomping up behind me. Thinking it was one of the twins, I turn around smiling. But to my dismay, Mother is behind me instead with her signature scowl on her face, that only ever shows up when I'm around. 

"What were you thinking?! It's MY job to pick the produce!" she yells, like a child who didn't get their way.

"Well, you weren't up yet, and since you were so tired I thought that I should do that for you. So you would have less to do today," I say, standing up and straightening my posture.

"So you think I'm not capable enough?!" she yells louder, her face turning red.

"No, I-!" I start.

Suddenly my head is forced to the side as I feel a painful stinging on my left cheek. I put my hand on my cheek and wince.

"You are such a worthless brat!" Mother yells. 

She turns and stomps back into the house. I sigh and shake off the pain. I pick up the basket of now clean laundry and walk over to the clothesline. After I'm done pinning the wet clothes on the clothesline to dry, I turn around and see the front door close. My eyes light up and I jog into the house. As I enter, I see my father standing there hugging the twins. Past him, I can see my mother scowling at me once again. My father must've sensed my presence and turns around. 

"There you are, Athes!" he says, hugging me.

"Hello, Father. How was work?" I ask, pulling away from the hug.

"It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, as usual," he says. 

I smile at him, but then I see concern filling his eyes.

"Why is your cheek red?" he asks.

"O-oh! I just scratched it," I said, once again lying through my teeth.

Father grabs my arm and gently guides me into my room upstairs. Once we arrive, he closes the door and grabs my shoulders.

"Did she hit you again?" he asks quietly.

I hang my head and nod.

He suddenly pulls me into a hug. I begin crying into his chest.

"I don't know why she keeps doing this to you," he says, "I'll talk to her about it after dinner, okay?"

"O-okay. Thank you, Father," I say.

He releases me from the hug and puts his hands on my shoulders.

"Take the rest of the day off. Do whatever you want," he says.

"Can we spar later?" I ask hopefully.

"Of course, Athes."