1 Chapter 1

Artemis looked out of her window and admired the crisp copper leaves falling off the trees, swaying gently in the Autumn wind. The clouds overlapped each other, making the sky a gloomy gray. Downstairs, Artemis could smell the sweet scent of oats for breakfast. She laced up her climbing boots as she ran down the stairs.

Today was the day of the harvest in district eleven meaning everyone had to wake up an hour early to get a head start. The only people exempt from the harvest were the elderly and the victors; Seeder and her Uncle Chaff.

Artemis sat down at the table and shoved her oats down her mouth at an alarming speed.

"Arti slow down you're going to choke." Said her little sister Calliope

She swallowed her mouthful of oats quickly. "Sorry Callie, I just can't wait for the harvest. Uncle Chaff said he was going to stop by and teach me how to harvest with a scythe."

Callie sighed exasperatedly at her older sister's enthusiasm but as much as she hated weapon training she knew that these sessions with her uncle could be life or death in the arena.

The odds were somewhat in their favour considering that their uncle was a past victor and that they didn't need to take out tesserae since their father owned the only butcher shop in district eleven. Artemis had just turned seventeen and Callie was fifteen meaning that Artemis only had her name in seven times while Cassie was only entered five times.

Therefore Artemis had come to the conclusion that they were completely and utterly safe. She constantly reassured her little sister that she only trained with her Uncle because it was something to take her mind off the harsh conditions of eleven.

Artemis seemed to always be in some sort of trouble. She was never one to stick to the rules and was often on the receiving end of a flogging. Beatings were a regular occurrence in the district square of eleven and from the tender age of twelve Artemis had ended up beaten. She usually got off lightly because her family was better off than most others. Although even now, five years later it still came as a surprise when she was beaten but Artemis had a bit of a hero complex and would end up taking the blame for most of the younger kids who only stole food to stop themselves from starving.

Calliope hated the floggings. She'd never experienced one, Artemis made sure of that but calliope knew that they hurt. She shivered as she remembered the first time Artemis was beaten.

It was a cold day in the middle of winter. Calliope and Artemis were heading to the market square to buy some bread for dinner. Artemis was dragging Calliope through the crowds when suddenly they heard a shout.

"Who stole that! Where's the pail of apples!" The head peacekeeper roared looking around.

He stormed towards the crowd and pulled out a child who barely looked ten years old. Calliope tugged on Artemis' sleeve.

"Arti, I think we should go." She said softly

Artemis watched as the peacekeeper pulled out a whip and suddenly she was rushing forward straight into the path of the whip.

"Stop!" She cried out as the whip came down onto her arm. Calliope yelled in fright and stepped forward but a kind looking lady held her back.

"It — it was me. I stole the apples!" She stammered shielding the boy from the whip as she clutched her bleeding arm.

The peacekeeper looked down at her and sneered.

"You're the butcher's daughter aren't you?"

"Yes I'm Artemis." She replied holding back tears

Calliope was struggling in the ladies grip trying to get to her sister.

The lady bent down and whispered

"Honey if you try and run to her the peacekeepers will punish her even more. So why don't you tell your parents to get some healing supplies ready and call your Uncle Chaff over to carry her home."

"How'd you know my uncle?" She asked craning her neck to try and see Artemis.

"I'm Seeder the female victor. Now hurry along and get your Uncle while I try to stop head peacekeeper Daul from inflicting too much damage."

Artemis had endured many more beatings after that and now it was almost routine for Callie to run off and fetch Chaff and her father while Seeder tried to stop head peacekeeper Daul. Artemis and Daul had a mutual hate for each other and Artemis spent a good deal of time making his life hell.