The Caged Dragon (Cycle of Dragons Book 1) by Dan Michaelson (websites to read books for free txt) 📕

She looked up at me. “Ashan. Where’s Alison? I need her help with your brother. He had an accident while the two of you were gone, and I’ve been busy with your father.”

I glanced over to where my father sat, frowning to myself. “You just left Thenis alone while we were gone?”

“I didn’t leave him. I needed help.”

“But you didn’t know how long we were going to be in the city.”

“I doubted you were going to be gone that long,” she said. “I realize it’s the selection right now, but—”

“You knew?” I asked.

She turned to me, dusting her hands on her apron. Flour smeared down the apron, leaving handprints that stretched along the length of her. “I heard the rumors. I didn’t think it would be today, but with your sister wanting to go into the city… ”

“We didn’t think you’d known,” I said.

“I get into Berestal often enough that I heard some rumblings of it.”

Alison had mentioned she had been going to the city more often. “You’re going to have to take care of Thenis on your own,” I said, more harshly than I intended.

“ Tell your sister she needs to help. When she’s done with whatever she’s doing, the two of us can get him changed and back into bed. She’s been gone long enough.”

“Alison isn’t coming back.” She looked over to me, wiping her hands on her apron again. “What?”

“When we went to the city, we happened upon the Academy selection. Alison was chosen.”

My mother stared at me for a long moment, saying nothing.

“I tried to get to the caravan— the same one that came by the house the other day—but it left the city before I had a chance to reach it.”

She looked down, tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t do this alone, Ashan. I’m just so tired.” She looked up, swallowing. “I’ve been asking her for more help—”

“Too much help,” I said. “She needs a life of her own, Mom.”

“This is her life,” she said.

“This isn’t a life. At least not for her. Did you even know how unhappy she’s been? Have you paid any attention to it?”

My mother squeezed my arm. Her hand whitened as she gripped me, anger coursing through her. “Have I paid any attention? How could I do anything else? I’m here every day, day after day, taking care of your brother, your father, chasing both of them around—”

“Alison told me you head into the city several times a week. Leaving her to handle everything by herself,” I said. I tried to keep my voice calm. This was my mother.

“I needed supplies,” she said, releasing my arm. “This household doesn’t run itself.”

“She also said you never let her go into the city.”

She frowned at me. “I never let her? She was needed around here.”

I look toward the door. My father was still outside, and I wondered what he was doing out there. What trouble was he getting into now? I wasn’t in the mood for any of it. All I wanted was to finish my chores and get some rest.

“We are all needed around here, aren’t we?” I asked.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I shook my head, heading to the door, pushing it open and looking outside. My father was there standing in the yard, staring at the road. He wasn’t going anywhere. He had the same lost expression he had before.

A soft moan from the back of the house caught my attention, and I turned, hurrying over to Thenis’s room. The room stank, a mixture of sweat and urine. “I can’t believe you left him like this,” I said, reaching his room. Thenis had rolled, and he lay at the edge of his bed, almost tumbling off the side. I shifted him, sliding him back onto the bed, but he was completely rigid against me.

I looked back behind me. My mother had left him like this.

It sent a new wave of frustration surging through me. I knew better than to let this get to me, but I couldn’t help feeling irritated with her, angry at the fact that she had allowed him to remain like this.

He deserved better.

“Just relax, Thenis,” I said.

He moaned.

That was new, as well.

Even though he was ill, Thenis usually had a clear mind. That he would be this off bothered me. Worse, I didn’t know if there was anything that could be done for him.

I pressed my hand against his forehead. It was incredibly damp, slick with sweat.

“Get in here. I need your help with him.”

She stepped up to the doorway, standing there for a moment. She seemed to hesitate, lingering in the doorway as she looked past me and to Thenis. As I watched her, an expression of disgust crossed her face.

“You need to get help. He’s sick.”

“He gets like that from time to time,” she said.

I waved my hand toward my brother and shook my head. “He doesn’t get like this. I’ve been around him enough to know.”

She frowned. “ You keep yourself so busy with chores outside that you wouldn’t know what happens with your brother.”

I straightened and wiped my hands on my jacket before turning to her. “We aren’t going to get into this right now,” I said. “He needs us.” I glanced back down. His whole body was rigid radiating heat. The sweat streaming off his brow was even more pronounced now. “Can you help me?”

“Help you with what?” she snapped.

“Help me get him out to the wagon.”

She tensed. “Why would you need to do that?”

“Look at him,” I said, motioning to Thenis. “He needs a healer.” I hated the idea that we would have to take him into the city, but what choice did we have at this point? Hopefully with the caravan gone, regardless of whether or not Alison had gone with it, the city would empty out a little bit. Just enough so that we would be able to find a healer relatively quickly. There were several within the