[ 5 ]

Cade and Paisely got on the aircraft that would get them to the poorest province in the country soon after their meeting with the king. From there, they would take a military sanctioned car into Porpra, since it was an impoverished town which had no airport or landing pads for jets. The only ways to get in from the province's capitol were by car, or train. 

Paisely grinned at the warrant paper in his hands like a child in a candy store. He was more than excited to be going there. With no actual war to fight on any fronts, the military spent their days testing their gadgets and training their soldiers for a battle that seemed it would never come. Sometimes they used the gadgets on the soldiers for fun, mostly on the violet soldiers as there was an abundance of them on base. They would never dream on using them on the blonde or brunette volunteers. Others, like reds or greens were scarce. But they were experimented on as well.

"I really hope they're hiding him so we can use the entire family as an example." He grinned at the thought, his mind already picturing how he would do it. "Take them all into town square and teach them a lesson."

Cade remained silent in his seat beside him. He really hoped they wouldn't find Indigo Raine at his family's house because he knew what it would mean for all of them. If he was smart enough and wanted to save them, he was probably hiding out somewhere in the forest by himself. Or if he didn't know where to go and went to them, Cade was hoping they were smart enough to have hidden him well by now, somewhere far away from where they lived. If the king's suspicions were accurate, they had to be smarter than they led onto be. Otherwise, how could they orchestrate and lead a rebellion under the noses of the entire kingdom?

"It says here," He scrolled through the family files on a government issued tablet. It was his means of entertainment until they could reach the province's capitol where there was a car already waiting for them. "Its mom and dad, then Indigo, and...he has two younger sisters." He became immediately more interested as he reached the personal files of the criminal in question's younger sisters. "Violet Raine. Purple hair, lavender eyes, pale skin, seventeen years old. Despite being a filthy violet she's actually not ugly." He glanced at the picture provided in the files. Each year on their birthday, they were required to take a new ID picture for the crown to have as a point of reference. Violet's current one was from school, wearing her purple uniform and a serious expression on her face. Paisely tilted the screen and showed it to Cade. 

The young general felt his hand ball up into a fist as his subordinate continued making out of line comments about Violet. But he pretended as though he had never seen her before. Didn't want to arouse any suspicion in his colleague. 

"Maybe they'll give us a moment alone with her before we execute the family, huh Cade?" He said with a grin, nudging the boy next to him. They were both boys after all. Cade had to really take in a deep breath to prevent himself from giving Paisely a black eye like the one he had given the red boy the previous night. His knuckles were still sore from the force in which he had hit him, tiny red bruises adorning his skin.

When he scrolled to the next and final profile, his thoughts on Violet flew right out the window.

"Never mind." He said quickly, changing his mind in a matter of seconds. "You can keep the violet one. This one is much prettier." The picture of Ruby Raine came up on screen along with her personal details. Sixteen years old, red, crimson eyes, pale skin. So different from her sister in all of her features, but somehow also the same. They had the same soft eyes and similar facial features, although Ruby was considered prettier and better status because of her hair color. Still, Cade thought Violet was a thousand times prettier than her younger sister.

"How a violet and a red could make someone so pretty is beyond me." Paisely finished saying about Ruby Raine and Cade could feel his anger subsiding in the slightest. At least, he didn't have to deal with Paisely making inappropriate comments about Violet anymore. He was more focused on scrolling through the various ID pictures Ruby Raine had taken every year for sixteen years. Included were her school achievements, which were plenty. Violet's own list of academic achievements ended in middle school, like she had given up on her life before it even began. But that was the life of violets. Most of them ended up working in the factories anyway. There was no escaping their fate.

"We're here to do our job." Cade reminded him.

"I know." Paisely nodded in agreement, finally putting the tablet away. "But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun while we work. Besides, I dare you to tell me you didn't think those two sisters were hot." He winked at the young general. They were both men, and they were young after all. Cade was only seventeen, while Paisely was nineteen. Paisely thought it was only natural to think of women at his age. 

Cade heaved a sigh, confessing. "She is pretty."

"When we get to their home, I'm going to find any excuse to get that little red girl alone." The lieutenant licked his lips hungrily.

-

Violet decided to stay home that afternoon since Dieter promised he would be dropping by to talk to her parents. Violet informed her mother of his coming presence and she saved a spot at the table for him, scraping at the pots and their day's rations to split the food five ways. They had to admit that Indigo leaving gave them one less mouth to feed. But his parents would have much preferred having him home and eating, with the whole family struggling, than him wasting away with the army. 

As promised, the family was already sitting at the table together when there was a knock on the door. Violet felt her heart drop for an instant, thinking it might be the army coming to look for her brother, and she swore in her mind she would never tell where he was. Granted, she didn't know where he was anyway. Her mother made sure of that because she knew if the army were to interrogate, she didn't want any of the others cracking under pressure. She also knew of special gadgets they might have to get the truth out of them and she didn't want her family tortured. 

Her mother went to get the door and when she opened it, she smiled nervously at a boy with red hair to match hers. If Violet hadn't known any better, she would have thought her mother was Dieter and Ruby's mother, not her's and Ruby's. Mrs. Raine invited the teenage boy inside and he nodded his head respectfully as he walked past her. He greeted Ruby and Mr. Raine next with a few shy mumbles and a nod of his head.

Ruby looked down at the food on her plate shyly after muttering a hello in his direction.

Dieter sat next to Violet and Mrs. Raine quickly moved to serve him some food. But Dieter raised a hand quickly, refusing. "Oh, not thank you, Mrs. Raine. I ate at home. Please don't worry about me." He told her, and Violet appreciated it. Not because of the extra food that was now left over but because Dieter was aware of her family's struggle to even eat each day, and he didn't want to burden them any further. Especially when he had the means to eat well in his own home. 

"Are you sure?" She asked him.

He nodded his head.

"I just came to you with a proposal tonight." He said, his nervous crimson eyes looking towards Violet for reassurance. She in turn shot him a look. I really appreciate what you're doing, but you don't have to--her eyes told him. Violet's parents only looked at each other as they waited for him to continue. "In a couple of months Violet will turn eighteen and she will need to sign up for the army."

Her parents flinched at the thought. Indigo hadn't been able to handle it, and now they had to see another of their children leave them for three years. They didn't even want to think about it. But they had to.

"But I found a loophole." He informed them, instantly grabbing their attention. Now they were all ears to his proposal. "I read somewhere that if a violet woman marries a red man, she may be exempt from the army."

The room fell absolutely silent. For the better of two minutes, it seemed like the news had taken a while to sink in for them. When it did, it was her mother who spoke. She was in disbelief that a red boy, who had nothing to gain from this, was willing to marry her daughter. She was also in awe with Dieter Park. He really was as good a person as he seemed to be. "So...are you saying that...you will marry Violet in order to save her from the army?"

Dieter gave a nod of his head. 

"I told him he didn't have to." Violet spoke up.

Her friend opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by another knock on the door. This time, the entire family jumped in their chairs. They were not expecting anyone else that night. Indigo was safely taken care of in the underground, and Dieter was already sitting at the table with them. Violet tried to calm herself by thinking that it was probably his older brother Finn, sent by his parents to pick up Dieter. The seventeen year old red boy probably didn't have their permission to be there and had gone without their knowledge.

Mrs. Raine stood up from her chair once again and went to the door. This time, her eyes widened in fear and her own heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who was there. Two very young and handsome boys in military uniform. Both of them brunette, with brown eyes, wide shoulders, tall, with a strong build from years of training like the soldiers they were. They wore name badges stitched onto their expensive uniforms along with their medals which had probably been earned without even lifting a finger. General Hood and Lieutenant Paisely. 

Paisely pushed past her to get into the house without even so much as a greeting. "We have a warrant to search your house for army deserter Indigo Raine." His brown eyes were already searching the house for clues.

Cade nodded slowly in her direction, more politely, and followed his colleague into the house. Not that Mrs. Raine could have stopped them from entering the house, even if she wanted to. She tried to sound positive about the whole situation, and everyone else in the room tried to act surprise. "We have not seen or heard from him since he left for the army months ago. We have nothing to hide, but please come in. You can join us for dinner if you'd like." The fear reflected in their eyes could easily be seen as surprise. Only Dieter was genuinely shocked to hear the news, since he didn't know about it until that moment. 

"Finally, some courtesy around here." Paisely said, and then nudged his colleague. "It was a long plane ride from Crown City. You hungry, Cade?"

They walked up to the kitchen with Mrs. Raine as he said that and Violet's jaw fell open when she saw him. The same boy from the woods, the one who had saved her from Finn. He was there, in the flesh, but dressed in military uniform. His eyes seemed apologetic as they locked with hers for a brief instant.

"Not really." Cade replied to his friend's question.

"Well, I am. So let's have some dinner before we start our little search." Paisely said smugly, and immediately took the empty chair that had been left by Mrs. Raine. It was right next to her sixteen year old daughter Ruby who he noticed from the moment he entered the house.

Scarlet Raine quickly moved her plate of food away, and went to serve the lieutenant some food. While she did that, Cade remained standing, and her father shot Violet a look. "Vi, dear, why don't you let the general sit down?" He of course didn't feel like they owed the pair anything, not even respect. But they were the authority and Mauve Raine knew they needed to pretend, keep up a charade if they wanted to survive the night.

Violet dropped her fork on her plate, and it clanked heavily. "I don't owe them anything." She said. But she did owe him. She owed him a lot because if he hadn't been around that night, something unspeakable would have happened to her. Neither of the two brought it up though. 

Instead, Dieter seeing that Violet would not budge, quickly rose from his chair. "Please, take my seat, General." He practically pleaded.

But Paisely raised a hand to stop him with a command as though he were nothing but an animal. "Stay, red boy. My general will sit in her chair."

Though she knew she was in danger if she refused, she could not stop her words of defiance as they left her lips. "He will not."

"What did you say?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I said he will not." She challenged.

"Violet." Her mother pleaded now. If she would just cooperate, things would go smoothly. But Violet had her pride, and she would not give up her seat at the table for two military people who were probably the ones who had tortured her brother.

Mrs. Raine set a plate of food down on the table before the lieutenant, and he scoffed at the meager helpings of a casserole put together with whatever items they could afford that day. It didn't look very appetizing, but it was the closest thing to food they could make. Paisely didn't even taste it, only growled in disgust as he tossed the plate of food onto the floor. "Don't you people have something better to offer me? I'm a brunette lieutenant from Crown City. I don't eat garbage." 

"Its what we can afford--" Mrs. Raine started to explain.

But Violet had enough of him. She shot up from her chair, hands balled up into fists of anger. Of course he didn't know what it was like to struggle, to starve. But she knew it well. That food he had just wasted was food they could have split as a family. 

"If you don't like it then you can fuck off." She said fearlessly.

Paisely gave a sarcastic laugh. "We have a smart ass in the family, don't we? Well let's see if we can put that little mouth of yours to better use." He said and he stood up, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away towards the darkened hallway. 

But Violet didn't care, she would never submit.

-

another chapter for you all today. 

i have the day off from work, but i'm going to my music class this afternoon, so that should be fun. i'm gonna try to go an hour early so i can practice the piano as well. 

thank you all loads for reading and supporting this story. i know i keep adding and adding new chapters. but i think they're good and they help show the development of the story. i promise the old chapters will be included as well, so please stay tuned for that.

have a wonderful day!

-clary