"When I left, there were over a dozen half-siblings" Rhiga replied. "While I haven't asked her, I know that mom would definitely have made more." As she spoke, Rhiga stretched her lithe body and sighed.
She thought back to earlier days...
(flashback)
Rhiga ran down the streets of Hekaga, across the hard pavement, and through the bustling crowds of the bazaar. As a poor youth, there was much temptation for her to steal from them... her family could never afford even the most basic items at the stands, but her mother had told her not to steal from them, as the city guards would not think twice about taking her away, regardless of whether or not she was a child.
She passed by stands filled with clay pots, some with scenes of ancient myths painted on them, she passed merchants hawking bronze plates and cups, and vendors selling beads and glass. Various goods, silver, gold, rugs, ivory, and dozens of other articles, common and gaudy... she took none of them... but the greatest temptation lay ahead of her...
Food. Her mother had once told Rhiga that everything was food for something... but that most of it was not for her. Walking by stands selling fragrant bread, smoked meats, succulent melons, and fresh fish... it was too much for her to take anymore. She hadn't eaten anything but one meal a day for three days, and even then, it was nothing more than some stale bread her mother could get. When Rhiga protested, Vaeri said it was all she could afford to get. When Rhiga had complained that her mother was eating a whole meal while her children ate so little, she was scolded and told that a dancer needed energy to bring in money, and that her youngest children would starve to death if her body was unable to produce milk for them, which took much energy.
A six year old girl needed more to eat than old bread. Vaeri had been teaching the girl how to dance, but Rhiga was still far too young to make money that way, so she was hired out with hundreds and hundreds of other girls to a variety of different tasks, most of which involved textiles, including many of the rugs sold at the markets. Even with a trickle of extra money, there was still not much left; Vaeri needed that money to cover the extra costs of the new children...
Eventually, Rhiga could bear it no longer. Surely, one melon missing meant nothing... no one would notice... no one would care. Was there not a god of thieves in some pantheons? Surely the gods would not hold it against her if she took just one melon from the stands. Hiding behind a large pile of fruits, the Dracon girl grabbed one...
No one had noticed her, no one had cared. She ran to a back alley and quickly ate the fruit. Tearing it open with her claws and fangs, she ate all of the sweet orange flesh of the melon. Within three minutes, her snout and teeth were covered in the fruits' sweet juices. Licking it up, Rhiga wondered if she would be doing the wrong thing if she got some for some other hungry children. After all, her family was quite large... and underfed. Maybe an easier to move fruit this time... aha! She found a stand of pomegranates!
Just a few of them... she would not take many... just to feed her family. After taking a couple she ran, but failed to take into account three things. First, the vendor that was busy serving another customer could still see his stand, second, that running carrying so many fruits would not be easy, and third, that an adult dracon was faster than she could ever hope to run...
After her capture, Rhiga was sent into a sweatshop belonging to the king of Hekaga... to make textiles for the palace... there, she would work off her debt. Her mother was told nothing; they didn't ask her for her name or anything... and they didn't feed her anything but a thin cereal of millet the whole time. After three days of almost nonstop work, they sent her home, with a warning that had she been older, the punishment would have been worse; they would have given her the mark of the thief; a tattoo placed on her arm which every Dracon is Hekaga who would ever employ her would think to check for.
Vaeri was relieved to see Rhiga alive, but angry that she had missed three days of work. Instead of getting rest, the poor girl was sent back out to labor... resulting in her becoming so ill, she had to be rushed to a temple and be healed in a charity ward. The girl Rhiga would not steal again, but when she grew up and gained the ability to bear children, the female could no longer be called a "girl" anymore... at least, not in the strictest sense. She would steal again...
(end flashback)
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