I collected one copper coin from the woman in charge, and then made my way out of the alleyway. I had to stop by the marketplace in order to buy some bread to sate the empty gnawing in my stomach, and I hurried in that direction. It was late, but market never really slept. Jobs and the army didn't keep regular time, and everyone was hungry enough to hang by the food vendors whenever they had a spare bit of time.

Orange puddles fell from the few lamps allowed to burn during the night in the market. Fuel was precious, and only the most necessary of lamps were ever burning the dark away. I dodged these circles of light, aiming for the back wall where the blackmarket men sold their moldy crusts.

With my chin down and my hands in my pockets, I was confident that no one would even notice me as I cut through the crowds-- yet a hand landed on my shoulder. I startled and tried to duck away, but the hand held tightly. Whoever it was began to steer me toward a dark alley and I wished I had saved my money to buy a knife off a peddler. I struggled to stand still, knowing that no one would be able to see us in the alley. Not that anyone would do much even if I were being killed in front of their eyes, but perhaps my assailant would grow discouraged if I fought.

When I dug my heels in and wouldn't budge anymore toward the alley, I felt the person behind me lean in. Warm breath stirred the tendrils of hair that stuck out from under my scarf, and I heard a soft voice in my ear.

"Nadia, it's me."

My heart slammed against my ribs. "Ferdinand?" I choked out, wanting to spin around right then and see if this truly was him. His hand kept me still, though, and pushed me toward the alley again. I walked this time, wanting to get where I could see his face.

As the shadows hid us from the view on the road, his hand left my shoulder and I spun to see him staring at me. Before even really taking him in, I threw my arms around his neck and began to sob into his neck. He was really here, really standing by my side and not laying dead in some field of corpses like all the others. My knees gave way and he had to hold me up until I could find my strength again.

I pulled back and kissed him hard and long, wrapping my hands in his jacket. When we finally had to break apart to breathe, I wiped my tears from his cheek and cradled his head between my hands. My tears took with them some of the grime that was caked so heavily into his skin.

Now that I properly looked at him, I found it hard to recognize him. His cheeks sunk in and dark bruises of sleepless nights covered his eyes. His lips were scabbed and chapped, and multiple nicks and scratches covered his entire face. He bore a beard, and his hair was long and greasy. He looked years older, and so gaunt that I wondered if he'd eaten anything recently. His clothes were tattered and coated in mud, the hem of his jacket soaking wet from the snow. It was not the uniform of a foot soldier in the Vigilant Men's army.

"How did you-" I asked, smiling and laughing and crying all at once. "I-" The words wouldn't come so I kissed him again until my lips hurt.

He pulled me away so he could see me. "I can't stay long," he said, his eyes darting to the road way where people were passing by only feet away. "It's too dangerous here."

"Dangerous?" I asked, my hands gripping his collar as I stared at that face I'd missed so much. "What's going on?"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, his hands shaking just slightly. As his jacket lifted with the motion, I noticed a gun tucked away in his belt under her jacket. It, also, wasn't the kind given to soldiers.

"I've spent weeks looking for you everywhere," he said. "The Wellington was gone, and no one I could find even knew who you were. I thought you were... dead for a few days. But then I saw Rachel on the field and she said that you were still here."

"She turned you in," I replied. "She tried to have me recruited, but I ran away. I couldn't stay at the Wellington any longer."

He shook his head. "I can't worry about Rachel right now," he said. "Oh, Nadia. I couldn't stand fighting without knowing where you were."

I smiled and leaned into him, kissing the underside of his jaw. "You're here now," I said.

"Yes, but..." He ran a hand absently down my back. "I sneaked out of camp a month ago, and ran as far as I could. I found some civilian clothes and buried my uniform, and I've been trying to find you ever since."

"You deserted."

"I had to. You don't know what it was like there," he said, his voice cracking. "We would just line up in the street, and the king's army would pick us off like target practice. Our commanders are just men that were promoted from nothing, and they had no idea what they were doing."

"I don't blame you. I saw the aftermath," I replied. "I felt certain one day I'd find you amongst the dead."

"I almost ended up there many times," he said. "The men around me dropped like pebbles through water, and I was just left standing there in puddles of their blood. It was horrific. I couldn't-- ."

"You're here with me now," I said. "You don't have to worry about it anymore."

"They're coming down on deserters hard, Nadia," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "I saw them kill two men heading out to do some maneuvers because they thought they were trying to leave the camp. I can't stay for very long."

"All right," I said. "Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

He pulled out a bank note from his pocket and pressed into my palm. It was more money than I'd ever seen all together in all my life, and I nearly dropped it in shock. "How did you get this?" I asked, staring at it in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter. Just use it to buy some supplies, and then meet me at the train tracks at the north end of the city in two hours," he said. "I need to see someone about procuring some documents so that we can get out of the country."

"Out of the country? Where are we going?" I asked.

"Anywhere but here. Both sides are losing," he replied. "There was no money to begin with, and with this war the coffers are empty. There will be no saving this city, and we had best leave before it's too late."

"Hannabella said there were supplies by the train," I said.

"You found her?"

I nodded. "She's left for Flauns, by the same route. If it was possible for her, then it should be for us as well."

He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss onto my lips. My hands were pressed between us, and he held onto them as he began walking backwards out of the alley. "I'll see you there in two hours." He brushed my knuckles with another kiss, and then stepped out into the crowd to disappear only seconds later. I waited a few moments before walking out as well, and tried to act as normally as I could. Despite my efforts, I had the crawling feeling on my spine that a gaze was on me. I kept glancing over my shoulder but couldn't see where it was coming from. I only felt the weight of someone's eyes, and it felt strangely familiar. I shrugged it off, not having the time to think about it, and worked my way through the crowd and to the road that led toward the train and supply depot.

It took me more than an hour until I came upon the large warehouses that held supplies. I paused and scanned the shadows, knowing that men who sold to those without permits often hung around the supply depots. Their escape routes, should the Vigilant decide to bust their establishments, were easy to access with the trains constantly pulling into the station. It was a prime area to break the law in.

Finally, I spotted a man half hidden under a canopy between two buildings, and inquired after his wares. He showed me various foods, and some clothes. I picked some bread and jerky, things that I thought might survive a long trip, and bought some new socks, gloves, a scarf, and a new jacket to replace the tattered one that Ferdinand wore. When I handed over the bank note, he raised his eyes, but counted out my change and dumped a handful of coins into my hand.

"Be careful out there, lass" he said.

"You as well," I said, tying up my purchases into a bundle and slinging it over my back.

It had already been an eternity getting to this place, which left me not very long to get to the train station which lay just down the street.

There was almost no one on the streets in this section of the city. I passed a few men in uniform, heading back to the barracks after a night off, and a few women bundled against the snow heading toward their jobs in the laundry. But otherwise it was quiet. Such places were dangerous to travel, and most tried to avoid it. King's men hid in shadows, and the Vigilant Men were no better. Each had soldiers low on sleep and high on nerves. They did not always think before pulling the trigger.

I stayed on one side of the street, and kept my head bowed against the whipping wind that always proceeded a snow storm. I looked purposeful, but not too determined. Like a girl on her way home or to her job. No reason for anyone to bother me.

After just a few feet, I began to hear another pair of footsteps behind me, echoing against the walls of the buildings. I resisted the temptation to turn and inspect my follower for a few moments, but then I could handle it no longer and peeked over my shoulder. No one. The footsteps did not appear again, and only mine disrupted the silence of the snow covered world.