Ferdinand jerked his head back, smashing into the soldier behind him, and gaining enough time to pull his other arm from his jacket. Just as he freed himself from the jacket and took a few steps toward me, the soldiers leapt on him from behind and tackled him to the ground. His chin hit the wood with a sickening smack, and his eyes unfocused for a moment at the impact. One of the men drove a knee into his back and slapped a hand on his face to keep it pinned to one side on the ground. Ferdinand bucked and fought, but the other soldiers pinned him.

"Nadia! Get out of here!" he shouted, his voice muffled into the ground.

"But-" I started toward him, somehow thinking that I could help him get free, but he jerked sharply to the left in order that I could see his face.

"Now, Nadia!" he shouted, before the soldier shoved his head back down.

With a groan, I turned and flew down the two flights of stairs left to the common room. The old man behind the desk ducked out of sight as I dashed to the front door and threw it open to the frozen sunlight.

As I dashed across the road and through one of the alleyways toward the heavily crowded bridge, I heard the sound of a soldier in pursuit. From the sound of his boots on the cobblestone I could tell he was lagging, but I didn't want to risk the chance that he would stay winded from his battle with Ferdinand for long.

The alleyway spilled into a crowd and I slid through the bodies until I found a group of women trudging toward work.

"Can I borrow one of your scarves?" I gasped. One of the older women, her young face lined with too many wrinkles, pressed her lips thin. I glanced behind me, seeing the soldier entering the crowd and slowing as he scanned for my face.

The woman's gaze followed mine. For a moment I had the terrifying realization that she could raise a hand and signal to the soldier where I was. She wore the flower of the Vigilant Men, just like everyone else in the city, and her Cause was more important than a skinny girl with wild eyes.

I moved to dash between the women and disappear into another group, but the woman gripped my arm. She stared at me with eyes sunken into her skull, her skin thin and yellowed. I balked, already wrestling to be free, but she only tightened her grip.

"Keep quiet and do as we do," she mumbled, whipping her headscarf off and quickly securing it around my hair. Another woman volunteered her ragged coat, little more than a strip of fabric with sleeves. She wrapped it around my shoulders, hiding my dress. The others filed in around me, their skinny shoulders blocking my view of the soldier as he searched through the crowd.

We walked at a slow pace, that of the bone-tired and exhausted, shuffling with glazed eyes. It took everything I had to not bolt when the soldier sauntered right up to us, peering at the faces of a group of school girls a few feet away who giggled at his attention. My heart hammered against my ribs, my hands twisting in the fabric of my skirt. The soldiers turned, scanned our group...

And then kept walking.

Just to make sure, we walked to some of the vendors and picked through their wares. I glanced over my shoulder to see the soldier throw his hands up in frustration and turn to head back to his fellows. I let out a sigh of relief and sagged against a nearby wagon.

The women edged toward the road, their eyes darting. What they'd just done could cost them the highest price. I swiped the scarf from my head and the jacket from my back, and offered them back to their owners. They took them without a word, just nodding before slipping back into the crowds in the direction of their work. I wanted to run after them, let them know how much I appreciated their risk, but I knew it would only make it worse for them.

Alone once again in the city, I crept to an inn and offered to do their kitchen work in exchange for a meal. It was far cheaper than anyone else they might find, so the owner agreed. He set me up with another girl, working for her normal salary, but we didn't talk. I kept my eyes down, doing my work while my mind floated far away.

It could have been a normal day. This is what we'd started out to do in the morning. I would've found somewhere to work, then gone home in the evening to make dinner for Ferdinand before he came back from the docks. We would've laughed, talked about our days, gone to bed and tried not to freeze.

It could've been that day. Only it wasn't, and Ferdinand wouldn't be at the room. I didn't even know where they'd take him. To jail? The barracks? An executioner's gun? My hands stilled as I wiped down a plate, and suddenly my legs gave out. I sunk slowly to the floor, staring at nothing as I realized I'd left him. Just left him to the mercy of the Vigilant Men soldiers when I knew for a fact that he would've stayed and fought to free me if our roles had been reversed. He'd never have run if I was in danger. I'd barely waited a few seconds before abandoning him.

Shame like boiling oil burned up my throat, and before I knew it I'd emptied what little was in my stomach onto the scrubbed floor. The other girl glanced my way, frowning.

"I just cleaned that!" She stomped over to my side, hands on her hips. "Are you sick? We don't want anyone ill to be working with our food."

I reached up and grabbed the edge of the table, pulling myself to my feet. The girl watched me, backing up a few feet as I swayed and tried to orient myself. My mind was a blur, a numb and empty shell that thought only of Ferdinand's face right before I'd saved myself.

"I- I have to go," I muttered.

The girl watched me without a word as I shoved my way through the kitchen and out the front door. They hadn't paid me my meal yet, but I didn't care. I deserved an empty stomach. I deserved so much worse.

Somehow I made it back to the Wellington. I wasn't even aware of walking there, though when I looked up and saw the sagging wooden roof, I knew there was really nowhere else for me to go. If the Vigilant Men were still waiting for me inside, well, then I'd at least have the opportunity to find out where they'd taken Ferdinand.

I had to knock, and when the old man answered it he looked vaguely surprised to see me.

"Thought you'd be long gone by now," he said, stepping back and letting me in.

No one would call the Wellington a cozy place, but the old man had lit a fire in the tiny hearth behind his desk. My fingers tingled as warmth edged back into my skin. My teeth wouldn't stop clattering together.

"Here's the key. Soldiers were good enough to return it to me when they carted out your boy."

I took it without comment, the metal teeth cutting into my palm as I curled my fingers tightly around it.

They'd left Ferdinand's jacket in the hallway on the third floor. I bent to pick it up, biting my lip as I held the fur up to my mouth and closed my eyes. It was slightly surprising that none of the other residents hadn't stolen it, but perhaps they were too frightened to take something from someone who the Vigilant Men had grabbed.

I took the coat in with me to our room and slid my arms into it as the full chill of the late afternoon air hit my skin. It smelled like the dust of the floor, but it was warm and I could imagine Ferdinand wearing it as clearly as if he stood before me.

There was a little food left over, but I didn't feel like eating. I sat in our pile of clothes that made such a pitiful bed, and stared out the grimy sliver of window as the sun set and the sky darkened into a deep black. My back ached and my hands were terribly chapped, but I didn't move. If I moved, I'd feel that empty spot to my side, where Ferdinand should be laying and breathing gently against the back of my neck.

At some point I fell asleep, though it was a short lived relief. I awoke with a start with the moon shining on my face and cold sweat soaking through my dress. Sitting up, I stuffed my hands into the pockets of Ferdinand's jacket and bit down on my lip hard enough to stem the tears that welled into my eyes.

By then I'd forgotten the dream that awoke me, but I knew it had to do with Ferdinand. Everything had to do with him.

The emptiness turned into a fullness. The nothingness expanded into a heavy something that pressed down on me until my head pounded. For ten minutes I waited in the deafening silence before I surged to my feet and unlocked my door.

Rachel opened on the second knock to her door, her eyes bleary from sleep and her hair tangled on one side. Her collarbones showed over the neckline of her nightgown. They stood out in sharp ridges, and I realized for the first time that she might not have had a decent meal in a long time.

"Rachel, tomorrow we're going to see if we can get your money back for your room," I said, surprised at how even and steady my voice sounded.

"What?" She rubbed her eyes with a palm.

"Ferdinand's gone. We're all that's left," I said, extending my hand. It hovered in the air, palm up. "We'll stick together from now on. A team."

Rachel twisted her lips to one side, eyeing my hand. She shifted her weight with a grace now useless without a company to dance in. But, finally, she placed her hand in mine, warming my frigid fingers with her sleep-warm skin. "Deal."