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Disclaimer: We don't own Percy Jackson… Annabeth Chase does!

Annabeth's POV

I tossed the chicken feed onto the ground without ceremony, lost in thought. Today was tax day, and my village was going frantic with worry. We'd barely scrapped by before, but this time we just didn't have enough. Our village was starving- there was no way around it. We'd already given everything we could to Queen Athena, and the village leaders were to the point of begging for relief from the overbearing taxes. No doubt there wound be quite a show at the village main house today- not that I would see it. The palace guards would be there, so naturally I wouldn't be allowed to go.

As long as I can remember, it's always been that way. My "adoptive parents", Fredrick and Susan Chase, used to come up with excuses to keep me away from town meetings. It was always "have the floors been cleaned, Annabeth?" Or "have the animals been fed?" When I'd turned 13, I'd begged them to let me go, and they'd told me flat out that I was never going to go to a village meeting. I was 16 now, and the rule had never changed. "Too dangerous," that had been their excuse, even though Matthew and Bobby, their real kids and my younger half-brothers, were always allowed to go.

I was their stepdaughter, in a way. They tell me that they saved me from a slave trader when I was just a toddler, and that I should be thankful. I was, too, even though I got all the chores around the house and was never allowed to go anywhere.

"Annie!" Called a voice from the house, jerking me from my thoughts.

"What?" I called back as Matthew emerged from the little hut.

"Bobby slipped," he informed me.

"Athena's crown," I cursed under my breath. "I'm coming," I called to him, throwing out the last of the chicken feed and heading back to our little house.

Once I was inside our little one-room hut, it wasn't hard to find Bobby. He sat smack in the middle of the dirt floor, crying and holding his scrapped knee with both hands. I picked him up and balanced him on my hip, murmuring reassurances to him while I searched for some bandages.

Sitting down on my straw mat, I gently washed out the scrapped knee with some water Matthew ran and got, making Bobby cry even harder.

"That hurts!" He screamed, trying to twist away from me.

"Bobby, do you want it to get infected?" I snapped. I was normally more patient with my brothers, but today I was in a bit of a bad mood. And no, it had nothingto do with the fact that I was missing yet another village meeting.

I finished washing Bobby's knee and wrapped it up in a white bandage.

"There," I said. "See? You're ok."

"It still hurts," he sniffled, and I sighed.

"Give it some time, it'll stop soon," I said, more gently this time.

"Are you coming to the village meeting?" Asked Matthew suddenly.

"No, not this time," I replied tightly.

"Why not?" Whined Matthew. "It's so boring without you there. You never go," he grumbled, like it was my fault.

"I know," I said, sighing again and ruffling his hair. "Maybe next time."

"Bobby? Matthew? I'm home!" Called Susan from the door as she walked in.

"Mom!" They cried happily, both the town meeting and Bobby's scrapped knee forgotten.

"Hey, boys," she smiled. "Bobby, what happened to your knee?"

"I fell down," he said seriously.

"I bet that hurt," she cooed. "I know what'll make you feel better, though!" The two boys immediately began to jump up and down in anticipation.

"What? What? What?" They cried in excitement.

"In the cart there are some chocolates for two little boys who will put the donkey in her pen…" Susan trailed off and Bobby and Matthew shot out the door, eager to get their hands on the sweets.

"Hello, Annabeth," Susan smiled. I smiled back uncomfortably. Susan and I had a fragile relationship, although we were trying to improve it for the sake of Fredrick. (Or, as he insisted I call him, "Dad.")

"Hi, Susan," I said. "Where were you today?" I asked, both trying to make conversation and out of genuine curiosity. After all, Susan didn't work; she normally stayed home and watched the boys.

"I was out looking for possible suitors," she said, not looking at me. I groaned and flopped back down on my straw mat, covering my face with my hands.

"Susan…" I moaned.

"I know, I know. You don't want to get married," Susan said dryly. "But you're 16! 16, Annabeth, and you haven't made any marriage plans! Aren't your friends all married by now?"

"What friends?" I grumbled. "You never let me go anywhere."

"Annabeth…" Susan warned.

"It's true," I argued.

"We've been through this before. It's far too dangerous."

"Dangerous? How?!" I cried, frustrated. "Just let me go, just this once! Please!"

"Annabeth!" Susan snapped. "The answer is no, just like it's always been."

"Bobby and Matthew get to go!" I objected.

"This conversation is over, Annabeth. The answer is no."

I stormed out of the house, furious. I could be helpful at those meetings! I'm pretty intelligent- I'd have a change reasoning with those guards, unlike most of the uneducated village leaders. I walked to the large oak tree in our backyard, climbing as high as I could go, where the branches bent under my weight and the wind swayed me back and forth.

From my perch, I could see our entire village. From so high up, the small cluster of huts looked insignificant. Was that how Queen Athena viewed our village? Insignificant and tiny? I had no idea. I didn't even know what her castle looked like, or how big it was. I was never allowed to visit the Queen's City, naturally. The Queen's City was like her capital- where all the rich people lived and where the castle was. I'd thought about it so much it even popped up in my dreams, me running through stone corridors and waving to chain-mail clad guards.

From below me my family leave the house and load into the cart, ready to go to the village main house. I watched as they stopped in front of the largest hut and walked in, closely followed by small silver figures- the palace guards.

I sat there and watched the hut, wishing I knew what was going on. It was easy to imagine Astor Grey, one of the elderly village leaders, apologetically informing the guards that we couldn't cough up the taxes this time. But the guards' reaction… would they simply return later? Burn down out village? Sell us as slaves? As extreme as they sounded, they were all valid possibilities.

Suddenly the door to the large hut burst open and a small form- Astor Grey?- was thrown forward. The village people pooled out of the building, and everyone was obviously unhappy. The silver clad guards surrounded the swarming crowd, and some soldiers split off and began entering houses.

I watched as one guard entered our house, promising myself that if he tried to set fire to our hut, I would go down and stop him in any way possible. But none of the huts- our included- started to smoke. They weren't setting fire to our village- so what were they doing?

I felt my stomach turn as a guard exited our house, carrying a familiar sack. Our food. They were taking our food in place of the money. Our village had been on the brink of starvation before- now we were guaranteed to starve. I felt a surge of anger run through me- toward the queen, toward the guards, but most of all, toward myself for not being able to stop any of it. We had no food, and no money to buy more food.

I made up my mind right there that this was the last time I would ever feel so helpless- I was going to save our village if it was the last thing I did.

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