All For Bread.

1 - In Which We Meet Our Heroine.

My barefeet slap the cobblestones. The shouts behind me let me know that they have begun closing in. I feel, briefly, like I've done this a few too many times before. Then, I smile, push myself a little harder and launch myself over a rotting fence. My bells and various bangles crash violently against each other from the movement.

"Get that damned gypsy woman!" a voice I've heard numerous times urges the other soldiers. General Ledoux: what a man.

I run down to the river, jump across some rocks protuding out of it and am on the other side before the men have managed to get off their horses and down to the water's edge. A few of them swear loudly. I wipe off my skirt, reveling in the jingling sounds.

"Come back, Mira!" Ledoux yells at me.

A few of his men mimic him. "Mira! At least give the bread back!"

"You're just not fast enough!" I laugh heartily as they all shake their heads and trudge back up the bank.

The general's scowl manages to make its way all the way across the river. "We will get you, Mira. It's only a matter of time. One day, you will not make it to the river."

I continue to laugh and dance at the water's edge. "Oh, I highly doubt that, sir."

Gypsies. We're 'fiends'. We steal, we are but one step above the lowest class in society; some wouldn't even go so far as to call it an entire step. Some wouldn't even put us in with society. The only thing that sets my band apart from other vagabonds? We refuse to kill. Only in great times of need will we even harm another human. I suppose, in a way, we are pacifists. But, no, that's not the right word. We are, quite simply, opportunists.

"Mira!" Karan scolds the second he sees me. I waltz in, my skirt swishing around me as I nibble on a piece of cheese. It's always the bread that gives me away. They sell such large loaves, I never know where to hide them. Add that to the fact that most of the bakers know me -- "You could have been caught!"

I roll my eyes, pop the rest of the cheese into my mouth and walk, nonchalant, over to him. "I've never been caught, and I believe that's more than you can say," we both remember the time I had to save his sorry behind while trying to get his hands on some flour.

The man -- a boy, really, as he's only a few years older than I -- scowls. This is quickly becoming the facial feature of the day, it appears. "You know that if you and I--"

I interrupt him. "Ah, but there lies your mistake. We're not. And you know that perfectly well."

"Your mother..."

"My mother is dead. As is my father. Please, pray tell, what messages have they been sending you from the great abyss that they didn't think to tell their own daughter?" I say haughtily. This boy really does get on my nerves. For him to bring up my mother in a conversation about our impending marriage.

People are singing and laughing around the fire. I manage to place my bag of goods on the ground before Karan pulls me away from the group. "I know why you go into town, Mira. Don't think I don't know what lures you there day after day."

He says it menacingly and I match my tone to his. "I don't care. I am not going to marry you. You are not anyone that I have to listen to."

I try to turn away, but he grabs my arm. "That soldier doesn't even know who you are. He would tie you to a post and burn you just as soon as the general would. He only let Kiera go because she paid him, Mira."

"That is not true," I spit, wrenching my arm from his grasp. "And there are no laws against me looking, so why don't you find a nice girl who actually enjoys your presence? I must say there has to be ONE in the entire world."