The Price {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Hannabella awoke me the next day after everyone else had gone off to work or report to their commanders. She offered me a bun and two stripes of bacon, which I devoured without even pausing to breathe. Meat hadn't been in my diet in months, and the bread was only just barely stale. It was a perfect breakfast and I licked my fingers clean as Hannabella sat on the edge of the bed with her own bun.

"I have some good news, Nadia."

I looked up sharply. I knew better than to hope, but still a small part of my heart leaped at the thought of Hannabella telling me that she'd managed to locate Ferdinand.

Perhaps seeing the excitement deep within my eyes, Hannabella shook her head shortly. "Not that good, I'm afraid. It is merely that I might have a way for both of us to leave the city tonight."

"What?" I asked, eyebrows drawn. Rumonin was encased in fighting. Those leaving the city did so with difficulty, and the Vigilant Men were ever watching the borders to make sure that potential soldiers could not leave their ranks and join the royalists. "How?"

"My queen made it her mission to retrieve me," Hannabella said, unable to hide her proud smile. "She has managed to send over a small group to bribe a few officials to look the other way when I arrive at the train station tonight. I have a ticket for Flauns, and with any luck I will be home with my husband soon enough." Her smile grew, and I envied her for that hope of returning home. She had a family waiting for her, a queen on her side, and a future in her sights.

"I wish you luck, Mrs. Lephard," I said. "I'm so sorry that your visit to our company ended in such tragic circumstances."

"It's of no fault of yours, child," Hannabella said, arranging my curls behind my back. "Now, I was in contact with the Flaunsians this morning while I was fetching breakfast, and they assured me that they would try their utmost to secure your passage as well. You may have to travel in another train car than me, but we will be headed to the same destination. Flauns will offer you asylum."

My hands shook with the thought. By tonight I could be on a train headed for the safe haven of Flauns, where dancing was allowed and Hannabella would make sure I was fed and safe. I could be living the life I'd only just started before the war broke out. I might even make my way into the Flauns official company, and dance real ballets once again. It could be the start of a new life, one without fear or oppression. It sounded like a dream come true.

Only, there was one crucial part to my life that would not be in Flauns, and without it...

"Ferdinand," I said, looking up at Hannabella. "I can't leave him behind."

"We don't know if he is alive," she responded. "You might be giving up a chance at safety for nothing."

I shook my head. "I can't believe he is dead, and I won't leave him here alone. If I go to Flauns, I know I will never see him again. I can't do it."

Hannabella sighed and covered her mouth with her hand. "I understand, but I really wish you'd think better of it, Nadia. Ferdinand would want you safe."

"I know," I said. "But I think it's about time I start doing what I want. And I want him."

Hannabella stood and walked to the exhaust-pipe against the wall. She reached behind the steaming pipe and pulled out a small leather pouch, which she opened as she walked back to my side. Reaching in, she pulled out two copper Ruma and dumped them in my palm. "It's all I can spare, but it will keep you fed for a couple days, at least."

I stuffed them into the seam of my stocking. Hannabella offered a sad smile, and leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"You're a darling girl, Nadia, and I hope you can find Ferdinand after all. But, in case you have a change of mind, I want to let you know that the train leaves from the Sturmfife station, at the other end of the city. It is a supply depot for the Vigilant Men, and so the fighting should be kept at bay up there. Just make your way there by eight tonight, if you want to join me."

I nodded and returned her kiss to her cheek. "Thank you," I said. "You've made everything so much better than I ever thought it could be."

"I have to depart now to meet my Flaunsian contacts so they can prepare me for the journey tonight, but I want you to stay in this room as long as the landlord will let you. No doubt, when he finds I am no longer here, he'll kick you out, but you may still have a night or two in it."

"Write me, when you're back in Flauns. Address it to my old theater, and if the war ever stops and I'm still here, I'll keep checking every day until it is delivered."

Hannabella nodded. "Of course. And you write to me whenever the time is right. Let me know if you find your prince."

She gave me one last hug before we set about packing her to go. She had a suitcase stuffed under her bed, but there wasn't much to place in it. She left the blanket for me, and a pair of gloves for my chapped hands. The rest she was able to fold neatly away, and her brown fur cap which once might have been so fashionable covered her pinned hair. For that moment, I could imagine her back in the glory of it all, the beautiful and talented Mrs. Lephard, ready for an aria, and I couldn't believe my luck that I was even in her presence. With the grace of a swan, she said her goodbyes to me, and I walked her to the front door of the house. I couldn't follow her, as she was supposed to be meeting her contacts in private, but I watched her from the doorway as long as she was in sight. She turned only once, to offer a wave and a smile, and I waved back with the sinking feeling that in order to once again see Ferdinand I was giving up the chance at ever seeing Hannabella Lephard again.

---

The officer found out about Hannabella's departure from his jurisdiction faster than I thought he would. By the time dawn broke on the next day he had sent a soldier to knock on my door and inform me that the room had been given to one of the women who actually fought for the Cause. I knew not to argue, and only just managed to smuggle the blanket out under my skirts. I walked out of the house and back onto the streets on a gray day with flurries of snow that took everyone's breath away with the cold.

I trudged my way through the streets with the blanket from Hannabella's room draped over my shoulders, wondering how long I could manage to stretch the two copper coins she'd given me. If I did nothing, I could have three meals a day for two days. If limited that down to one day, I might have a week. But it was only a matter of time before I used my tiny stash of coins and would have to search out some new job. It was by this reasoning that I decided to simply continue the one I'd had before. Namely, searching the bodies in the dumping alley.

I waited until the stretch of hours that the pickpockets reigned, and then approached the woman in charge. She gave me a once over, but gave no objection when I indicated that I wanted to scrounged for them once again. She pointed to a spot I could start at, and I climbed up to picked through the bodies there.

There must have been a big battle, as there was an unusually large new crop of bodies in the pile. The old ones had been cremated in the bonfires the army used to try and keep some hygiene in the city, but even so the pile of corpses rose above my head when I stood on the ground. I couldn't believe there had even been this amount of men and women in our city. How were there any of us still alive?