The Price {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Three

She bent her steps toward this group, and I trailed behind.

"Hello, sisters!" Rachel called, raising her hand to tap the flower she wore pinned to her lapel. The women glanced up and then smiled, beckoning her closer. I kept my distance, slowing my steps until I could casually stop a few feet away and not be drawn into their conversation. While Rachel loved to chat with other Vigilant Men, I found that their good will was lost as soon as they figure out that I had not yet signed up to join their ranks. And they always found out.

"What news is circulating?" Rachel asked, bumping her arm up against the brick wall. One of the women offered a shared cigarette and Rachel took a long drag. She filled the air with smoke as she handed it off to the next woman in line.

"The royalists just got in a new shipment of guns and ammunition from their trading allies," a sturdy woman said. "Food as well."

"Is there any news of the Vigilant in Lenotskaya and Prest?" Rachel asked. "Surely they've gathered enough support to raise up by now? Our example has to have set a fire in the breast of any man or woman who wishes to be free."

The sturdy woman exhaled. "Their kings give them just enough to make the people hesitate. The Vigilant in those cities find it hard to entice men to their ranks when their families have food on the table for dinner. Never mind that it is moldy and barely sufficient to keep anyone alive and breathing."

"Obviously the Lenotskaya and Prest Vigilant are not be trusted," Rachel said. "They need leaders from our city to show them what true commitment to the Cause is. Has anyone suggested that we send Matveev? He'd soon set them on fire."

The sturdy woman laughed. "Oh, he's been begging to be sent to help our brethren rise up to further strengthen the cause, but with the kings' men posted at every road leading out of the Rumonin, he's having to organize an extensive stealth mission."

"And the Common Army?"

"Mostly killed by now, though a few are holed up the corners of the city. Our men and the kings' men haven't much use of digging them out at the moment."

One of the other women leaned forward. Her skin matched the overcast sky overhead, and the wrinkles that creased near her mouth and eyes had not been earned by age. A skittishness was about her, as if she was always one second away from bolting into the shadows.

"I heard something while I was washing the clothes of the Cause," she said, showing a gappy grin. The other women looked at her with slight annoyance, their lips thinning and their arms crossing.

"Come off it," the first woman said, taking the cigarette and expelling a cloud of smoke. "You never hear anything in the laundries."

"I did this time. Heard that the Vigilant are going to let us women fight in their ranks."

The other women looked skeptical at first, but the news was apparently too good to ignore. They hid secret smiles, trying to play uninterested so that the women with the gray skin couldn't have the satisfaction of delivering something useful.

"It's true," the grey-skinned woman insisted. "So true, in fact, that I've already been to give my name."

"Really?" the first woman said, finally dropping the charade of disinterest in favor of fevered excitement. Her eyes gleamed and she flicked the cigarette onto the ground. It was little more than a small white nub at the moment, but one of the other women still snuffed it out and hid the remains in a pocket.

"I'm going now," the first woman said, pushing away from the wall. "It's about time the women were allowed to fight for the Cause. We give our husbands and sons, so it is only right that we give ourselves."

The others murmured in agreement, and the conversation ended as they moved off down the road. Rachel came back to my side, silent, and we headed back the way we'd come. As we walked, I couldn't help but wonder if adding women into the fighting force was a desperate move, or simply one meant to end the war before any more damage was done. Unfortunately, news about the tides of the war was either never given, or changed to such drastically positive victories against the rich scum that it obviously was more fiction than fact. I just couldn't tell how much of the narrative had been manufactured. At any rate, I could only hope that the draft that had taken all the reluctant young men wouldn't then be imposed on the unwilling young women in the city.

When we reached the headquarters to deposit our findings, I hung back as I usually did while Rachel did the transaction. This meant I wasn't paying attention until I heard my name suddenly said with the hint of annoyance that came with many repetitions.

"I'm sorry?" I said, looking up to see Rachel and a man with a sheaf of paper and a pencil.

"He needs your date of birth," Rachel said, jerking her chin toward the sour looking man in his pinched suit.

"Why?" I asked. An uneasy feeling sped up my heart, and I took one little step backward. Up until this moment, those in charge of paperwork had paid me no attention. They always dealt with Rachel, and no one had bothered to inquire about me or my reasons for being there.

"They have to know our ages in order to place us in the most useful position."

"Useful position?" I parroted. "They're having us moved to new streets?"

Rachel laughed sharply, her eyes cutting to the man, who now sighed heavily and lowered his papers as if we were using all his precious time. "No, for the army. If we're young, and we pass the fitness examination, then we will be put on the front lines so that we might fight for our Cause."

"What?" My mouth went dry. "No. No, I said nothing about signing up for the army, Rachel."

Rachel huffed. "It's your duty, Nadia."

"It isn't, and I don't want to."

The man stiffened at this blatant selfishness in the face of the Cause. His eyes flickered to the two men standing by the front door with rifles over their shoulders. I followed his gaze, noting that if an alarm was raised, it would be only a matter of seconds before I was apprehended. After what happened with Ferdinand, I had no doubt that my services would be utilized in the army whether I wanted them to be or not.

"Nadia, don't be difficult," Rachel said, edging closer. The man with the papers began to cut to my left, trapping me between them a desk.

But I was faster.

With my legs that were conditioned to sharp turns and long leaps, I squeezed between the man and the desk, sliding into the open, and then ran for the front door. The two soldiers spotted me immediately, but I grabbed a handful of papers as I passed a desk and tossed them into the air. As they snowed down, the soldiers hesitated opening fire, not wanting to kill any of their own kind, and I slammed my shoulder into the door. The waning light of afternoon flooded into the dim room, further aiding in my escape, and I flew toward the nearest alley that I could remember leading to another street.

I couldn't hear if Rachel or the Vigilant Men were pursuing me, but I never stopped until I reached the Wellington Inn and slammed the bedroom door closed. My hands shook as I fit the key into the lock, and then I stumbled back to slump into my pitiful bed of crumpled clothes.

However much relief I felt at being off the streets, however, would not last long. Rachel knew that I only had one place in all the city to return to, and no doubt soldiers were on their way even now. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I fought the tears that I was afraid were going to become a permanent companion. My legs ached from all the running, climbing, and walking I'd done that day, but I ignored the pain and got to my feet to gather what few things were left to my name so that I could start all over once again.