The Price {Completed}

Chapter Twenty

Ferdinand slowed when we reached a row of brick houses with red doors. He bit his lip, pausing for a moment before approaching one of the houses. He knocked on the door and a moment later a woman with a child on her hip answered. A white rose adorned her apron.

"Does Mr. Parpet live here?" Ferdinand asked, after dipping his head in lieu of doffing a cap he didn't wear.

The woman rolled her eyes and adjusted the child. "That preening peacock was forced out weeks ago," she said. "We were given his house by the Common Army, but we don't know where he's gone off to."

"Oh," Ferdinand said. "I'm sorry to bother you." He stepped down, reaching for my hand. The woman watched us. There was not the suspicious slant to her eyes that normally followed us, but more one that seemed almost wishful.

"Be careful out there," she said, glancing at a group of men down the street. "My brother is one of the Vigilant, and he says that everyone not on the side of workers is an enemy. So get a white rose."

She shut the door with that, and Ferdinand and I made our way away from the group of men.

Our steps were now aimless. With Ferdinand's old ballet master no longer anywhere where we might find him, and my new apartment out of the question, that left us without any goal for the night besides not wanting to stay out in the snow as the air got colder and colder.

"Perhaps we could try the old boarding house that we used to live in before the king's funding?" I said, my breath fogging.

"That might be our best bet. I don't like the idea of going anywhere that Lennox was associated with, just in case the Vigilant Men discovered it and went there as well, but we're running out of options," Ferdinand said. "We'll go check on the building, and see if it's safe before we go in."

The idea was a very risky one. Neither of our faces were very forgettable if the person doing the looking was at all familiar with Mr. Lennox. I was the girl always at his side, and Ferdinand was a celebrity and star. Any Vigilant Man that had the privilege of ranking high in the Common Army would know us for certain. Going to the old boarding house was not the best, but the cold drove us to accept anything that might be of help.

We started our journey to the impoverished side of town, but we got no more than a mile before we were halted at a crossing by a familiar voice.

"Nadia? Ferdinand?" the soft voice said.

My first instinct was to run, and from the tension in Ferdinand's arm I could tell his was the same. Anyone who knew our name would know that we were connected with a perceived enemy of the Vigilant Men. But just as our legs were ready to spirit us off, a woman stepped out of one of the side streets and held up a hand in greeting.

"Mrs. Lephard?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm so glad it's you," she said, a smile creeping up on her lips. They seemed strangely naked looking, lacking the prominent red stain that she normally wore. In fact, her whole face looked paler and tired without the stage makeup on. She still bore a commanding aura around her. She walked like a star even while she had to hike up her skirts to avoid a large pile of horse dung on the road between us and her.

"What are you doing out here?" Ferdinand asked, glancing around to see if anyone was falling her. Her guards were absent, and she stood there as alone as could be.

"I was out getting a few essentials," she said, pulling back a corner of the handkerchief she held bundled between her gloved hands. Buried within was a handful of bullets, all shining and silver. I looked up at her face and she quickly covered them again.