The Price {Completed}

Chapter Forty-Six (FINAL)

Ferdinand was still where I'd left him. He'd huddled up, trying to hide as much of his prisoner's uniform as he could, and I startled him when I dropped to his side. He looked up sharply, his eyes wide, and his hand straying to the spot on his waist where a gun usually sat.

"This way," I said, giving him my shoulder to lean on as I helped him to his feet and away from the soldiers that were now dispersing from the train station and into the city.

When we reached the house that touched the fence, Ferdinand forced the door open with an effort, and we spilled into the empty interior. It was frozen and the tiled floor was covered with snow from holes in the ceiling. All the furniture was gone, and the stairs lay in ruins. Once grand wallpaper now hung in peeled sheets, and carved doors swung on their hinges. I swallowed at the sight of someone's home so deserted, but I couldn't linger on it. We needed to be over the wall before the full light of morning.

The window was in the kitchen in the back, and we had to climb over the icy range to reach it. Rat droppings littered the sill and pressed into my knees as I maneuvered my way through the small opening in the boards. Ferdinand watched as I grabbed the ledge on the outside and then let myself down to dangle against the fence. The barbs in the wire caught my coat and dress, and when I let go of the window it ripped the fabric in long shreds. I hissed at the damage, but was thankful that it wasn't my skin.

Moving back, I waited for Ferdinand, who landed with a heavy thump and a muffled curse as his bad leg twisted badly under him. I caught him before he fell over, and he hissed in pain with his eyes squeezed shut and his hands made into fists in the back of my jacket.

"Are you all right?" I asked, struggling under his weight.

"Fine. Just a moment," he coughed out, adjusting so that he stood on his good leg and only used me as support.

We waited two minutes for Ferdinand to recover, and then he nodded that he was ready.

Before us stretched the moors, quiet as a graveyard and just as bleak. We tromped through the frozen mud and water, dodging holes and tufts of dead grass that threatened to twist our ankles. As the sun rose, so did the temperature, and Ferdinand was able to walk a little faster with the marginal warmth. Soon we were far enough away that I could risk a glance back at the city and see the buildings in neat rows, penned in by the wire fence. It was an uneven skyline, with walls tumbled down and whole buildings missing, and I marveled at how different my city looked now. Ferdinand followed my gaze, his eyes mournful.

"There's nothing there anymore," he said.

Our city. It had survived one revolution, but not the second. The once beautiful Rumonin lay in ruins and smoke, and it was only a matter of time before its people joined it. "I know. It just seems strange to leave it behind. Our lives."

"No. We leave our deaths behind. Our lives are out here. Together." He offered his hand, and I took it. Our fingers interlocked, and when I glanced down at them I caught a glimpse of the blunt glint from my wedding band. It still clung to my finger, tight and cold. I gripped it, forcing it off, and held it in my palm. Mr Lennox.

"Can you wait here for a moment, Ferdinand?" I asked. He looked at me with furrowed brows.

"Where are you going?"

I made sure he could stand on his own and then kissed his temple. "Don't worry. I won't be long."

I walked into the moors, the frozen bogs crunching under my boots as I found a suitable spot. It faced the city, somewhere I could imagine the lodging house and our old theater. The things of my past. I closed my eyes, calling to my mind the ballet corps and the faces of the girls I'd never see again. Then I let myself remember Mr. Lennox.

I thought I'd be sad. I thought I'd feel shame at locking him in that room to burn. But all I felt was a cold emptiness in my heart where he'd once been. For so long he'd been the only family I'd ever known, and yet I couldn't bring myself to mourn the man dressed like Death. I simply wanted to wash my hands of him forever.

The ring weighed heavy in my fist, and I brought it up to my face. My breath fogged the golden sides. "I dance for myself now," I whispered. "My life is my own."

I pulled my arm back and sent the ring arching through the sky and into some distant part of the moors. It landed somewhere I could not see, and I didn't care where it was. It was the only burial Mr. Lennox would receive.

I walked back to Ferdinand and wrapped my arms around him. He rested his chin on the top of my head, and I felt his heart beating near mine.

"I love you, Nadia," he said.

I looked up at him and smiled. "And I love you, Ferdinand."

I propped him up with my shoulder and we looked out at the expanse of the moor we still had to cross to freedom. It would be days yet until we were safe. But we'd get there.

Ferdinand leaned into me, and we started our new journey. Together.

THE END