The Hanging Tree

by fleurilia

Rowan Casterly is going to die. Or, at least, that what she thinks when she's reaped for the 73rd Hunger Games. A fox in a world crawling with wolves, she's faced with the inherent reality that if she wants to be a contender, she will have to battle even herself to survive. But sometimes, the distinction between friend and enemy can be a thin one and it might just cost her own life

1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am not Suzanne Collins or am in any way affiliated with her. I do not own the Hunger Games or anything else that you may recognize. That being said, let us just entertain the fantasy that I, in fact, do and am an astronomically successful woman and author of a multi-million dollar franchise.

Chapter One

Hung for a thief with my bones cast to the starving fingers of the mudlarks. I could imagine the sickly feeling of the cold, foul fingers as they would dig at my skin and break apart the brittle bones hidden beneath.

I clenched my fists and squeezed my eyes shut to get the image of Astrella's broken body and empty eyes out of my head.

I took a breath to steady myself before reaching out a hand and gently rubbing the horse's head.

"Hey, boy," I said as he nudged his nose toward me, looking for food.

I slipped a carrot out of my pocket and held it out for him to eat. "Are you ready?"

When he heard the familiar creaking of the stall door opening, he let out a soft neigh and I urged him to quiet down, offering him a second carrot to give his mouth something else to do.

"We've got to be quiet, Jax," I whispered as I patted his back before slipping a halter on him and attaching a rope to it.

I urged him forward, hurrying him out of the dark, eerie stable and into the cool, night air.

He whinnied again, wanting more food and I shushed him.

"Later, Jax," I promised but he lowered his head and found the rest of the carrots in my pocket and pulled them out and neighed again, pleased with himself.

I was exasperated but had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the whole thing.

I let him eat another one before pocketing the rest so he wouldn't get a stomachache and then, when we'd left the abandoned ranch behind and reached the dirt path, I pulled myself up onto his back.

He shifted, waiting for my signal, as I leaned forward and when I lightly urged him forward, he took off like a bullet, shooting forward so fast I'd almost fallen off but I retained my grip and grinned against the wind that whipped my pale blond hair around my face.

I flew down the road, passing the lake and my family's ranch and leaving them far behind, before veering off of the path and heading toward the plateau in the distance.

When we neared the plateau, I urged Jax into a light trot and then a walk, stopping at the edge of the crowd of people, shouting and laughing amongst one another.

I slid off of Jax, guiding him forward to a water trough set up at the edge of the group in an patch of grass and loosely tied the rope to a nearby wooden pole hastily stuck up, letting him rest.

I offered him another carrot and had just begun to pat him on the back when someone emerged from the rowdy sea of bodies and jogged toward me.

"Rowan! It's about time!" My brother shouted, wearing a crooked grin. He threw something toward me - a bottle - and I caught it, sniffed it, recognized it as alcohol and then, when he'd turned away, abruptly tossed it behind me.

"Kota! Kota, where did you go?" A voice yelled from behind him. "Kota, you son of a -,"

Mieka approached from behind him and jerked to a stop at the sight of me.

I stared at her for a second before bursting out in laughter.

"I'm impressed," I told Kota. "What'd you do to get her to come? Tie her up and drag her here?"

Kota laughed but before he could say anything, Mieka crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"He might as well have," She muttered.

Kota snorted. "Oh, please. That is not what happened -,"

"Well, in any case, he gave me no choice -,"

"Well, technically, I did give you a choice -"

Mieka turned to me, exasperated. "He climbed onto my roof and said that if I didn't come, he'd jump off."

I rolled my eyes. "Mieka, you live in a one-story house."

She threw her hands up in the air. "I wasn't thinking straight, okay!"

I raised an eyebrow and Kota grinned, throwing an arm over Mieka's shoulders.

"What she means is that she was too overwhelmed with worry for me, that she couldn't think about anything else except my safety and -,"

Mieka shoved him away. "That is not true, you - you self-absorbed, arrogant -,"

Kota clamped a hand over her mouth. "Caring, kind-hearted and all around good looking specimen of a man."

"Man?" Mieka repeated incredulously after prying his hand away. "You're hardly seventeen."

Kota waved her away. "Seventeen? Twenty-five? What's the difference?"

"Eight years," I supplied.

Kota glared at me, the hint of a smile playing on his lips. "See, Ro. This is why I like Jax more than you."

There was a roar of laughter behind us and Mieka flinched.

"This is a bad idea," She said. "This is a very bad idea. We're all going to get caught."

I pretended not to hear her.

"Rowan, listen to me," She said, quickening her pace next to me. "Do you know what will happen if you get caught? They'll cut your tongue out and -,"

"I'll be an Avox for the rest of my life," I cut her off. "I get it."

"No," She said desperately. "No, I don't think you do."

"Oh, lighten up, Mieka," Kota said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, I will not lighten up!" She snapped, nudging my older brother off of her. "And I can not believe that I'm here! If anything happens, then -,"

"I'll swear you had nothing to do with it and that I forced you to come by holding you at knifepoint," I promised.

Someone shouted, coming near us.

At the edge of the bonfire with only the light of the moon, it was hard to make out much except for the flat expanse of land that stretched out around us and the looming outline of the plateau in the distance so it took a moment to recognize the boy who'd jogged toward us, with his patched shirt and scruffy jeans, as Lark Haverell, who worked on the ranch behind ours and was one of Kota's friends.

When he noticed me, he snickered.

"Nice dress."

I scowled. "Shut up."

I'd forgotten to hide spare clothes under my pillow and so hadn't opened the chest at my foot of my bed to get any before I snuck out of the window in my room, in fear of waking my younger sister Cassia, who had been asleep across the room.

The hem of the cotton nightgown brushed against the skin just above my knees and probably looked ridiculous paired with my father's rubber boots that were much too large for my feet.

Lark took one glance at Mieka and burst out laughing.

"Farrow?" He asked, clearly amused. "I didn't take you for much of a gambler."

Mieka glowered at him. "Neither did I."

I could hear Kota laughing beside me.

"Did you bet?" He asked Lark, who stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels as he nodded at me.

"Yeah, on Rowan," He said. "So she better win or your sister here's gonna owe me."

I snorted.

The sound of shouting and shattering glass rose up from behind us and Lark peered over his shoulder.

Lark groaned. "I thought that not making a mess was a universally accepted rule when it came to illegal gatherings," He complained. "But apparently, some people still need to be reminded."

He excused himself, hurrying off toward the two fighting men and shouting at them

Mieka's eyes widened at the sight of the brawl. "We should just leave, Rowan. If my father knew I was here -,"

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Kota said to Mieka, nodding toward a cluster of men on the far side of the circle. "He's over there."

Mieka's eyed widened as she whirled around.

It was true, actually.

Horse racing in District 10 was banned years before I was born, but the gambling over it - despite that it was terribly risky - was so popular and could prove to be so rewarding that the races were still held in secret.

District 10, with its patches of rough desert and stretches of land, was too vast for the Peacekeepers to patrol every corner of it so it wasn't hard to arrange the races at night, in some secluded area away from the eyes of Peacekeepers.

Besides, Kota and I needed the money. We were better off than most in our district, considering that our family owned one of the larger ranches, but District 10 was still a vastly poor place and the medicine we needed was too expensive.

Our mother got sick two years ago and we thought it was just a passing thing but when she failed to get better or respond to any of the medication we'd tried, we realized it was something much worse.

So we paid some haughty Capitol doctors who came once a year for a health clinic to look at her and they told us there was something wrong with her heart and the medicine was only available in the damned Capitol.

So, naturally, it cost more than we had and, even with the ranch, we've been struggling to afford it, which makes the racing all the more necessary.

Lark was the one who arranged it all. Every other week or so, whenever he could manage it, the date and location was spread through District 10.

Everyone knew about it, though they pretended not to.

There were nearly two hundred of us that always showed up and although it was supposed to be a quiet event, the older men and women always made it a big ordeal, starting a large bonfire and passing around drinks.

Mieka's father was one of them but it was something that neither of us addressed when we saw one another.

"Dad!" Mieka cried at the sight of him doubled over in laughter at something the man next to him was saying.

He looked up at the sound of Mieka's voice and paled.

"Mia!" He shouted, clearly bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" She roared, marching off toward him, her arms flying up in exasperation. "What are you doing here?"

As she began to berate her father, Kota fought back a grin.

"You didn't have to point that out to her," I said. "She probably never would have noticed."

The corners of his mouth twitched and his green eyes danced with amusement. "I know."

Unlike Kota and I, who had been sneaking out to the races for a few years now, Mieka, who'd I'd been friends with as long as I could remember, had never been to one.

I'd tried to get her to come on multiple occasions before but she was adamantly against it, which was why it was so surprising that Kota had gotten her to come tonight.

"I guess that's my cue," I said, reaching for rope I used to lead Jax.

Kota leaned over to ruffle my hair, because he knew how much I hated when he did.

"Good luck," He said.

Kota used to race but I was faster than him, because I was smaller and lighter, so now he was the one who placed the bets.

There weren't many of us that raced. Nine or ten, usually. It had started out with a larger amount but had wheedled down to the fastest.

I slid my father's boots off, leaving them on the ground because it was easier to ride without them.

I began to lead Jax over to the crowd of people, who were forming a half circle around the starting point, with Kota falling in step beside me, muttering about who else had showed up to race under his breath.

"Why is Arlen here?" He was saying. "He's been last for months. And Bran's horse has a limp. If you don't win, Ro, I may disown you."

"But Theron and Elvira are here," I pointed out.

He waved my comment off. "Jax can outrun their horses in his sleep."

"For someone who has a lot of money riding on this, you're pretty confident," I observed.

I led Jax to a stop beside Ashlar, a boy I recognized from school because of his injured leg that consequently made him walk with a limp, and his horse.

I slipped the bit that Kota handed me into Jax's mouth and adjusted the reins.

Someone shouted for Kota from behind us. A group of boys from his class at school.

"Alright," He said as I pulled myself up onto Jax's back. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That's terrible advice," I said as I tied my hair up with a ribbon.

Kota only laughed, taking a few steps back as he went to join his friends.

"Just don't lose!" He shouted over the sound of the clamor of people. "Catch you later, kid!"

Then I lost sight of him in the crowd that was forming around us and sighed, turning to face forward just as Theron Halstead shouted something from the other side of Ashlar.

"Rowan!" He shouted. "Mind if I borrow that dress sometime?"

"Shove off, Halstead," I called back as Lark materialized in front of the line of horses, carrying a torch.

"You know the rules!" He shouted. "No foul play! And don't try to cheat yourself out of the course. Talon's at the other end to make sure you turn around there."

There really weren't any rules aside from not pushing anyone off of their horses or sabotaging one another.

Just ride straight, turn around and try to cross the finish line first.

Judging by the light in the distance, where Talon, one of Lark's friends, was waiting - the race wasn't a very long one.

I shifted on Jax's back, leaning forward and gripping the reins tightly in my hands.

It wasn't a rule but it was generally accepted that none of us would use saddles. The social classes in 10 varied considerably and with regard to that, we all had opted to ride without one - even those, like myself, who had saddles - in order to make the race fairer.

Lark started the countdown and melted back into the crowd, out of the way of the horses that would have ran him down.

The chant was taken up by the rest of the people, who had crowded around the horses, forming lines on both sides.

I could see Kota, next to a fuming Mieka, and he shot me an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Then the countdown ended in a roar of cheers and shouts as we all flew forward.

The thundering of hooves slamming against the hard earth was deafening.

Clouds of dust billowed around us and I had to squint to be able to see Theron, just ahead of me.

The light in the distance was growing closer and I couldn't see Ashlar beside me anymore.

"Come on," I pleaded with Jax.

Theron reached the boundary moments before I did and had shot back toward the line as I reached Talon.

I cursed under my breath as I took off after him.

I took a deep breath, leaning further forward and squeezing my legs into Jax's sides as he picked up speed. The momentum it whipped the ribbon out of my hair, sending my hair flying behind me with the force of the wind.

I could see the end of the race, a line marked by two barrels.

Jax rocketed forward and suddenly, we were neck and neck with Theron.

I pressed my toes down further and then Jax was inching ahead, unearthing chunks of dirt around us by the force of his hooves digging into the ground.

And then, for just a few moments, the world blended into a muted blur of sound and color.

It was only this. It was always this.

I was the wind. I was flying.

I wanted to laugh and cry all at once. The feeling was intoxicating.

I hadn't realized I was grinning until we shot past Theron, charging for the finish line where I pulled back on the reins and Jax skidded to a stop.

First to finish.

It was only then that I became aware of the sound of the crowd's tumult of shouting and screaming, pulling away from the state of determination I'd been in.

And then Kota was there, pulling me into a hug as soon as I slid off of Jax.

Kota was saying something that I couldn't discern with the uproar of the people around us, who were still cheering on the rest of the riders.

I looked up just as Ashlar finished fourth, after Elvira.

Kota had taken to shouting something at a boy I didn't recognize, who glumly handed him a pile of wrinkled bills he pulled from his pocket.

After the last horse crossed the finish line, the crowd exploded in a frenzy of movement, collecting and handing out money and shouting after one another.

I wasn't as social as Kota, who was already plunged into the center of a crowd of people, laughing loudly at a comment Lark made, so I walked Jax over to the edge of the circle, sitting beside him for a while as he ate grass.

Eventually, those who were more wary about being caught had since cleared away and the crowd had dwindled to a few dozen, maybe fifty or so, who settled in small groups around the large bonfire blazing in the center.

It was things like this that made me believe the Peacekeepers had to know about all of this. It was blatantly obvious that something was going on by the noise and the bright blaze of the flames but nobody ever bothered us about it.

I knew a few of them partook in it themselves. I'd seem them a few times, but they went to great lengths to conceal it.

As I made my way toward the group, I nearly bumped into Mieka, who was staring at the spectacle around us with wide eyes as a few men lined empty bottles up on a propped up log and took turns trying to knock them off with knives.

It was a game Kota and I had grown up playing. My mother had hated it, but we would still spend hours trying to see who could hit the most bottles.

"This is absurd," Mieka commented and the light from the flames twisting out of the nearby barrels made her red hair look like fire. "I can't believe you do this."

I bit back a smile, nodding at the men throwing knives. "Want to play?"

"No," She cried in astonishment. "I certainly do not want to play -,"

But I had already grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

"Rowan!" One of them called, a hand on my family's ranch named Thom. He lifted his drink toward me, in a sloppy imitation of a toast. "You just made me rich, girl. I could kiss you!"

"Please, don't," I said, squeezing around him. My remark was met with a roar of laughter by the cluster of men.

"Mieka wants to play," I announced with a grin, pulling her in front of me.

"No, I really don't -," She started to say but Thom laughed and pressed a knife in his hand.

"Of course you do!" He called out with a grin. "Alright little lady, you can be on my team. You're up."

Mieka looked at me, her face contorted with horror.

I shooed her forward. "Go on, make some friends."

As Thom set up a row of bottles, someone nudged my shoulder.

Kota had had too much to drink and I wrinkled my nose at him.

He looked past me, to where Mieka looked stupefied, gaping at the bottles, and burst into laughter.

"Well, go on!" Thom shouted at her.

Mieka looked from the knife in her hand and then back at him.

"How do I hit it?" She asked.

The men gathered around the game roared with laughter. Mieka scowled at them.

"Just aim and throw!" Thom instructed. "It's as easy as riding a bike."

"I've never ridden a bike," Mieka cried in exasperation.

Thom's brows knit together, before he shrugged. "Ah, well. What's the difference, really? You'll be great. Just go for it."

Mieka, looking characteristically uncomfortable, fumbled with a moment of indecision before taking a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and sending it flying toward the bottles.

She looked away in fright as soon as it left her hand, squeezing her eyes and turning her head away.

It flew toward Thom, narrowly missing his ear. He shouted something and fell backwards.

"Did I make it?" Mieka asked in a small voice, opening her eyes.

"Yeah," Thom said, clambering to his feet, the knife in his hand. "If it was my head you were trying to hit."

Mieka's shoulders slumped and she sighed in obvious annoyance.

"This is stupid," She said, marching toward the bottles. She pulled the knife from Thom's grip and reached out and slashed at the bottles. They all fell to the ground and shattered.

"That's cheating!" One of the men yelled out. "Foul play."

Mieka shrugged. "I didn't cheat. I just made it easier."

She pressed the knife back into Thom's grip and then stormed toward me. "I hate this game. Let's leave."

"But Mia, you're a natural," Kota protested with a grin.

Mieka ignored him. "What do you see in that game anyway?"

I shrugged. "It can be fun."

Kota threw an arm over my shoulder.

"Ro and I are on a thirteen month winning streak," He boasted.

"Then you two clearly need to find some other hobbies," She snapped. "Other than throwing pointy things at empty bottles."

"But I like throwing pointy things at empty bottles," I defended. "Also, I can ride a bike."

Mieka pressed the knife into my hand. "You go then, if you're so fantastic."

I shrugged and spun to face Thom, holding out a handful of bills as a wager. "I bet you double or nothing that I can take them all out in one go."

"I know you're good, Ro. But you're not that good," He snorted. "I'll take that bet."

I grinned, turning and facing the line of bottles, bouncing on the balls of my feet as I lined up the shot.

I curved my wrist, throwing the knife in a careful arc to the side and it curved toward the bottles, smashing through the one on the end and knocking the rest down.

I gaped at the bottles in disbelief for a moment. I wasn't actually that good, it was a lucky throw really that I'd only made a few times before but then, a moment passed, and then I threw my arms up in the air in exhilaration as Kota whooped in the background.

The men all stopped to stare at me and then Thom and then back at me before bursting out in laughter.

"I've been practicing," I told Thom sweetly as I held my palm out and he grudgingly dropped some bills in it.

Mieka scoffed, folding her arms over her chest in a display of obvious annoyance.

"I'm going to pretend that I'm not impressed," She muttered. "And say that we should go."

"Alright," I said with a half-laugh. "I'll get Jax and -,"

"What?" Kota roared. "But we just got here."

"Three hours ago," I said as Kota opened his mouth to say something else, I grabbed his shirt and started to lead him away. "Oh, come on. We've made Mieka hate us long enough."

Kota sighed but didn't protest as I pulled him away, stopping to jog over and grab Jax before joining Mieka and Kota again.

The walk to Mieka's house was far, considering she lived in town but I didn't mind it so much.

My family's ranch was on the outlying edge of the district, with the other larger ranches, and as we reached the fence marking the perimeter of the property, Mieka turned to me expectantly.

But I only stared at her.

"Well," She said. "Aren't you going to go home?"

"Actually, there's something I have to do first," I said, glancing at Jax.

"What do you mean?" She started to ask but cut off as her eyes widened. "Oh, Ro, do not tell me that youstolethat horse -,"

"I didn't steal him," I retorted and she sighed in obvious relief. "I borrowed him."

Her face contorted into one of rage.

"Rowan! How could you do that? Do you know how many laws you've broken tonight?" She looked up toward the dark sky and rubbed her temples with a deep sigh. "You're insane," She muttered to herself. "You're actually insane and you won't make it to twenty without being arrested -,"

"Mieka," I said but she ignored me, continuing to ramble about how I was going to end up as a convicted felon and how I was going to bring her down with me. "Mieka!"

She broke off at the sound of my shout.

"You're not going to get in any trouble," I assured her. "Look, Kota can walk you home and if anyone catches you, he'll take the fall."

"I didn't actually agree to that," Kota said. "But anything for you, Mieka."

He made a mocking flourish with his hand that was half a bow and she scowled at the sarcasm that had seeped into his tone.

She looked as if she was searching for something to say but clamped her jaw shut and spun on her heel.

Kota shot me a loathing look, though he was clearly suppressing a grin, before turning and jogging to catch up with her.

After they disappeared from sight, I pulled myself onto Jax and took off, riding alongside the outer fence of my family's ranch and then looping around the lake that separated my family's land from the ranch next to ours.

It belonged to the Aplin family, but then their oldest son, Levi, won the games and they moved into the Victor's Village.

After he won, they had left it behind. They sold most of their cattle, aside from a few cows and some sheep, and there were still a few horses in the stable but other than that, it was mostly empty.

I didn't know why the ranch hadn't just been sold off to someone else, but someone must be looking after it from time to time if it hadn't fallen to complete ruin.

If there was someone who watched over it, I never saw them around on the few occasions I rode out that far from my ranch which generally involved borrowing Jax or sneaking food to him and the other horses.

My family's horses weren't as fast as theirs, whose were built for speed - something I'd found out when I ventured to the abandoned ranch after they'd left it behind.

I had been driven by curiosity, to see what had become of the ranch and I'd ended up in their stables.

I didn't know the family. Even though I'd grown up near them, our ranches were miles apart.

The Aplin family didn't talk to many people nowadays. They merely distanced themselves away from the rest of the district. Especially after the parents died.

I remembered hearing about it. It happened a few months ago, a result of some freak accident, and there was a big funeral procession through town that I hadn't gone to.

When I reached the fence surrounding their lands, I slid off of Jax's back and moved to open the gate.

Even if there was someone who looked after the ranch on occasion, it wasn't as if they'd hang around it in the middle of the night.

The hinges creaked as I swung the gate open and led Jax inside.

The stables were behind the dark house, which had adopted an eerie quality without its owners to take care of it.

Long vines of ivy snaked up the sides of if and the paint on the shutters was cracked and crumbling. The windows were dusty and one was shattered.

I veered away from it, following the worn down dirt path around the house and toward the stables - a long, rectangular structure with battered wood siding.

I pulled the doors open and moonlight flooded the dark space. I still had to squint to find Jax's stall, the nearest one on the right, and my fingers fumbled to undo the latch in the dark.

After I managed to slide it open, I led Jax inside, shutting the stall door and leaning over it to pet him as I slid the halter and reigns off of him.

He whinnied and tossed his head to the side, nudging my hand with his nose, like he usually did when he wanted food.

"I don't have anything else," I explained softly. "But I'll bring you more carrots tomorrow, I promise."

He let out a high-pitched neigh and snorted, obviously not pleased with my lack of food.

I scowled at him.

"Fine. I'll look around," I muttered before flashing him a stern look and a pointed finger. "But don't get your hopes up."

It was hard to see in the dark, with only the faint moonlight to see by, and I searched around in the dark until my fingers closed around a match.

But by the time I lit it, it was too late to stop myself from smashing into the pile of stacked, wooden boxes, and they tumbled to the ground with a loud, thundering crash.

I had landed uncomfortably on top of one but before I could clamber to my feet, I heard a faint groan underneath the boxes.

My eyes snapped wide open and I froze.

Someone else was in here.

And suddenly Mieka's voice was echoing in my head.

Do you know what will happen if you get caught?

I realized I didn't want to find out, so I scrambled to my feet - albeit very clumsily - and made a wild dash for the open door but before I could slip through it, I ran straight into something blocking the entrance.

No, someone, I realized with horror.

When I looked up, Levi Aplin was staring at me in confusion - his messy, chestnut brown hair tousled and his bright eyes blinking as he yawned, scratching the back of his neck.

He noticed me and his eyes widened as he tried to blink away sleep, fumbling for words.

He looked from me, to Jax, and then back to me and his lips parted in surprise.

"You," He said, clearly piecing the story together, as he pointed an accusatory finger at me.

"Me?" I asked, trying to slowly step around him but he was faster and moved to block my escape.

"You're the one who's been stealing my horse," He said.

I took a hesitant step back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The look on his face told me he didn't believe that for a second.

"I never really understood why," He went on to explain, ignoring my weak defense. "Because after I noticed he was missing, I always found him right back here in the morning but I figured I'd catch you eventually and then I fell asleep and well-," He trailed off with a shrug and grimaced, rubbing his shoulder. "You sure know how to wake a person."

"Sorry," I muttered sheepishly then immediately scolded myself for addressing that I'd been the one to knock the boxes he'd evidently fallen asleep on over."I mean, that you fell. Not that I did it. Because I didn't. I heard it from outside. I was just walking by. I came in to see what happened."

He looked at me incredulously as I rambled, spewing out an excuse.

"What were you doing outside?"

I cursed myself for not having thought this far ahead.

I bit my lip. "I lost my dog. He ran over here, I think. I was just looking for him."

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, taking a slow step to the side. "So if you're alright then, I should really be going -,"

But he moved in front of me. "You stole my horse."

He said it without an ounce of doubt and I realized I couldn't really explain myself out of this one, so I did the only thing I could think of.

"What's that?" I asked, motioning behind his shoulder.

He made the mistake of glancing behind him, for merely a second, and I ducked around him and sprinted out of the stable.

He shouted after me but I had already reached the edge of his house.

I paused, just before I rounded the corner, to turn back around to do arguably one of the stupidest things that I could've done.

"He rides great!" I shouted, before making a run toward the edge of the ranch and darting out the gate.

If he was following me, I couldn't tell.

The road between our ranches was merely a dirt pathway large enough for one cart to pass through and even though I didn't think he had come after me, I stayed off of it anyway - opting to jog a ways away from it until I neared my house and ducked under the fence, not bothering to use the gate, to get to my house.

What was he even doing there, in the middle of the night? Was he the one who still took care of the ranch?

But why would be bother when he had his large house in the Victor's Village to live in and more money than he probably knew what to do with.

From what he let on, it was evident that he'd known for a while someone had been borrowing Jax, but most bizarrely, he hadn't bothered to alert any Peacekeepers about it.

I doubted he recognized me. My parents used to be friends with his and when we were younger, he had come over for supper with his siblings a few times but that was years ago.

I thought about what Mieka would say, if she knew he caught me there, and vowed never to tell her.

I was still breathless as I slipped inside my house and pulled off my father's boots, dumping the money out of them and leaving them neatly by the door, where'd I found them.

I'd just begun to creep up the stairs when I heard it - the soft, muffled shifting coming from the kitchen.

I slowly slipped back downstairs, careful to avoid the step that always creaks when you put weight on it, and with soft footfalls, paused at the kitchen doorway.

My father sat in front of the stone fireplace, staring rigidly into the flames.

I sighed, moving to the cupboard in the hallway and pulling out a wool blanket.

I was quiet as I slipped into the kitchen and fetched two mugs from a cupboard, putting tea bags in them.

I crossed the room and left the two mugs one of the long benches of the table a few feet away so I could drape the blanket over my father's shoulders.

He turned to glance at me and placed a gentle hand over mine with a reassuring squeeze before looking ahead again.

I used the water from the kettle over the fire to fill the two mugs and then set them down in front of us and I sat down beside him.

"Here," I said, pushing one toward him.

He gave me a small smile in gratitude and picked it up but didn't drink out of it.

"You should get some sleep," I said quietly as I watched the flames flicker and twist upwards as if they were dancing.

My father nodded, gently padding my knee. "I will. Don't worry about me."

"You make it hard not too," I admitted sheepishly.

He turned to look at me. "Now you sound like your mother."

"Weird," I muttered with a grin. "It's like we're related."

My father rolled his pale green eyes, some humor leaking back into them as he lightly nudged me with his shoulder. "Oh, shut up."

I smiled and then paused, biting my lip.

"You shouldn't worry about her so much," I said about my mother in a quiet voice, reaching up to poke my father's forehead with a tiny smile to lighten the impact of my words. "You'll get wrinkles."

He swatted my hand away. "More wrinkles, you mean."

In truth, he didn't look very old. Sure, his blonde hair was fading and he had the creases of laughter lines but there was a certain air of youthfulness around him, even as he sighed and slumped his shoulders over.

"I'm scared, Ro," My father finally admitted after what felt like a lifetime of silence.

"Me too."

He shifted, laying the blanket over my own shoulders. "You were racing tonight, weren't you?"

I waited a moment before nodding. There was no sense in denying it, really.

"Figured as much. I thought I heard Kota fall as he tried to climb up to his room," My father mumbled. He used to race too, when he was younger, but stopped when he met my mother because she wasn't comfortable with it. My father missed it, I could tell. We sometimes raced around the ranch but it wasn't the stakes weren't as high. There was no pounding pulse and the thrill of excitement from partaking in something illegal.

But he didn't want any of us getting into trouble or feeling like we were obligated to find money for our mother in any way we could and really, that was why we did it.

"You shouldn't have gone tonight," My father said. "The reaping's tomorrow. There are Peacekeepers everywhere."

"Ah," I said. "But they always leave us alone the night before the reaping. There's no better time to do it."

My father raised a brow. "Capitalizing on their pity?" Then he offered me a small smile, ruffling my hair as I batted his hand away. "I've taught you well, little fox."

I grimaced as he used the annoying nickname he'd coined when I was two and I'd conned the baker into giving me a free loaf of raisin bread.

I pushed the money toward my father. "Kota has the rest. It should be enough for a while, right?"

My father looked as if he'd aged twenty years when he turned to me.

"Rowan," He breathed with a heavy sigh. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do this to help your mother. You're brave, fox, but this isn't your responsibility. You're only a child."

"I want to help."

"You're as stubborn as your mother, too," He grumbled. "I guess if I tell you to stop racing, you'll just do it again, won't you?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"Can you promise me something?"

"Maybe."

"That you don't only do it because you feel that you have to. I don't think I could live with myself if you forced yourself too."

I let out a soft laugh.

"No," I said. "I suppose I love it. I am 'The Great Galloping Gabriel's' daughter, after all," I finished, using my father's embarrassing nickname that he'd tried to spread around when he was younger but, to his surprise, it hadn't caught on much.

My father jokingly winced at the nickname and then smiled but his eyes were still sad. "You should sleep, Rowan. You wouldn't want to be tired tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, reaching for my cup but he waved me away.

"I'll get it," He assured me.

I nodded. "Goodnight," I said and leaned over to kiss his cheek before leaving the blanket with him and getting to my feet.

"Go to sleep soon, okay?" I said before slipping out the door and up the steps, with a bit less care then before because what was the use? He knew I'd been out anyway.

There were three rooms upstairs - my parents bedroom, Kota and Oleander's and the one that I quietly snuck into - Cassia's and mine, where I slid into bed and pulled the covers up over my head but I could only stare at the stars out of the open window and wait for sleep to come.

Author's Note

I FOLLOWED NO NAME SCHEME WHATSOEVER BUT YOU CAN'T STOP ME

Also, if would be very cool if anyone would leave me a comment or whatnot. Anyway I have a few more chapters written but i'm not sure when I should post them so I guess I'll just wing it. I'l probably put the second up sometime this week, I don't know.

okthankyouforreadingiloveyouhaveaniceday!