"It looks like rain" I grumbled while shooing the chicken away from the roost. They merely squawked back at me and tried to peck at my fingers before I could take their eggs. It was the same every morning, only changing once the raids started. I shivered thinking about the destruction each time.

Looking around the farm I could still see the damage from last seasons. The barn was still black from the fire on one side; half of the cows didn't make it out that time. The fields still had large indents from where they landed, I couldn't move enough dirt on my own to fill in the holes. I shook my head trying to clear the memory and closed the chicken coop heading towards the kitchen. Thankfully they had left our house in one piece, though not before some large man had gone through everything. Not that we had much, a few gold pieces, grandmothers' wedding ring, and the family bible. These they left, but they took all the livestock and food we had stored for winter. Ma and I hid under the floor thankful for the secret room father had built after the first raid. Silently we had waited for the large man to leave grateful when he didn't set the house on fire. Winter had been hard but our community pooled together and everyone helped with what they could.

"Astrid did you get the eggs?" Ma called from inside.

"Yes, I'm coming in," I smiled as I took off my brother's cloak. I fiddled with the clasp, running my fingers over the royal seal before hanging it near the fire to stay warm.

"The brown one only gave us two eggs this week. I knew she was older than Faldar said. We will have to replace her soon." Ma looked up at me from her baking. Worry written clearly across her face. Chickens weren't easy to come by these days, and a chicken that wasn't producing eggs was worth even less. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to trade for one. Maybe I'll sew the blacksmiths wife a new dress. She always compliments my needlework."

Ma shakes her head, knowing I'll work day and night to keep this farm running. It's what my Da would have wanted. And Peter. They poured everything into this farm and I refused to let it go.

"Your Da would be real proud of you, Peter too" Ma smiled sadly. Da died after a raid last spring, he got the horses out of a neighbor's barn but the smoke was to hard on his old lungs. He died two days after the raid. Peter went off to join the local militia. The say he died in battle. I tried to smile back at her before quickly shifting my gaze out the window but she caught the sad look in my eyes. Peter was only 13 months older than me.

"I think I'll take a walk, check on the fields." I moved back to gather my cloak and checked the ties on my boots before ducking out of the kitchen. Ma could handle the bread making by herself. I crossed the yard in a matter of minutes, my feet knowing where I wanted to go without my brain. I had walked this path for years to my favorite spot on the beach. It wasn't long before the smell of the sea pulled me out of my musings.

I was here when the last raid begun. I had seen the ships farther up the shore. Giant black things with round domes in their centers, taller than the trees there were nearly a dozen of them lined up on the shore. A burst of fire shot off of the deck and if I had been uncertain before about who had come, I wasn't anymore.