HIDING- Part 2

CHAPTER 2: HIDING- PART 2

Thin layer of snow covering the frozen ground, Hailee's fur-laced boots crunched with each step and added to the polluted noise of the busy street. The aggressive wind whipped about the voices of early morning vendors hawking their wares to any who'd stop and listen, the rhythmic clops of horses and their dutifully drawn carriages, the crackling of metal picks breaking away at the ice gathered around shop fronts, and the frequent grumbles from the many beggars left to shiver in alleys. The wind also made sure there was no sound reprieve from the environment even to the girl's ears tightly covered under a thick wool hat. Along with the dark blue jacket held tightly against her and the many layers of cloth and furs underneath, the weather battered her to the point of numbness.

There was no sane reason that Hailee could give to explain why she was currently braving the ridiculous cold, no reason aside from the harsh reality she found herself in.

Before and behind her stood a slowly moving line of her numerous neighbors. The line behind her wrapped beyond her line of sight, disappearing into the twists and turns of the shabby wooden town. The line ahead of her ended just before the next turn of the street, in front of a single unmarked building.

Guards in rusty iron armor, dirt-stained green robes covering the hard leather and chain mail beneath, stood at the front of the line and to the side every ten or so meters with dull metal pikes and glaives beside them. Sewn onto the center of the green robes was a hastily printed raven, mid flight with wheat between their beaks, and surrounded by the patch's red circular border. Some of the guards were yawning, others leaned heavily on their respective weapons, but all had dark circles under their eyes and hardly shook their gaze from the long line of civilians.

Each individual in line, including Hailee, only shrunk under the intense scrutiny.

Tall or short, tusks or none, wide head or thin, none made a sound aside from their slow footsteps.

While the world and street carried on around them, the bloodied bodies of both live and dead aggressors reminded them of their place each time the members of the line had to step over them to continue forward.

Hailee could only frown as she gingerly circumvented one of these so-called aggressors.

The tear stains were yet to even be frozen against the little boy's cheeks.

Hailee knew the child as Cal.

Cal lived a few shops over from her. The boy's family were bakers. His father had just helped him make his first loaf of bread last summer. It was burnt and a little uneven, but Cal was so proud and eager to improve that Hailee promised to check in and see his latest batch soon.

She had forgotten to go before the winter season began, before the crops froze.

The girl wasn't there when the light drained from the boy's eyes, she only heard the broken family's wails slowly fade as they too were forced to continue walking with the line.

"This whole thing is horseshit."

The nearest guard was luckily out of earshot of the boy's whisper, though the girl sent an intense whisper towards the one behind her.

"Shut the hell up, Qiaren!"

The boy only scowled as he also stepped over Cal's body.

His yellow tusks nearly matched the color of his short hair. Thin grey leather unevenly wrapped around his defined form, although it was partially obscured under the feathery tunic and brown hood that currently refused to stay on his head with the wind.

Qiaren readjusted the pack looped around his waist while mumbling to himself about the letters still needing to be delivered today.

Snow began to fall again by the time the two made it to the building's entrance. The windows were barred with boards that squeaked and rattled with each gust of wind and the exterior paint existed more as random splotches than an even coat of dark blue. Yet despite its appearance, a stream of black smoke rose from the chimney that was far steadier and thicker than any of the small grey puffs that drift out of the town's other chimneys.

It wasn't until the frail woman that was in front of Hailee was let out that a call was yelled out from the inside.

"Neeeeext!"

Hailee took a deep breath of the cold air before following the guard's nod and entered the building.

After adjusting to the dim light, Hailee walked towards the small table at the far end of the main room. The entire left wall was taken up by a large and well-fed fireplace, while on the right stood a line of similarly dressed guards but with significantly less rust on the iron parts of their armor. The table was covered in stacks of parchment and ink, and headed by a small brunette man in an even smaller shiny red tailored suit. His bulging black orbs for eyes dwarfed the tiny spectacles balanced precariously on his upwards-pitched nose. The man waved for Hailee to come closer to the table as he kept writing on a yellowed paper bound for one of the neatly stacked piles.

"Transaction bill, and please make sure it's legible. I can't process anything that isn't."

The man spoke to the girl in a nasally tone as he gingerly added the finished paper to one of the piles and extended his hand to her.

Hailee nodded and removed her hat, letting her curly auburn hair flop down against her forehead and shoulders. The girl removed a folded parchment from her hat and shakily handed it towards the man. He snatched it out of her grasp and quickly unfolded the bill. In a few moments and wiggles from his eyes, the small man read the paper. Though with a small shake of his head he stamped the top right corner of the paper before wordlessly writing on another piece he grabbed. The shift from the cold outside to the heated interior left Hailee sweating beneath her many layers, and the silence within the room save for the crackle of the fire and scratching of the man's fancy stylus hardly helped in the matter.

Eventually the bespectacled man knocked twice on the wooden door behind him, which quickly opened up to another green clad guard to whom the man handed the stamped and amended bill Hailee brought. The guard took a moment to read the paper before disappearing behind the door, bill in hand, and then soon returned with a small cloth bag. The suited man took the bag before he wrote more on the second parchment and stamped the document a few times.

"Here's your portion, girl. Neeeeext!"

The man tossed the light bag to Hailee and waved for the guards to bring in the next person. Though one glance into the bag after barely catching it made her eyes go wide.

"Are you serious?! We got double this amount last winter!"

Hailee raised her voice at the man while two of the guards immediately went to grab her arms and pull her towards the door, though the man sighed and lifted his hand for the soldiers to pause.

"I don't see any other peasants here but you here girl. That's the amount a single person gets, if you want more go pop out a few kids."

Hailee only struggled more against the arms holding her back.

"I live with my ailing father, you ass! That bill was stamped by the House of Count Kresk!"

The man clicked his tongue as he set his stylus down on the table and walked over to the struggling girl with his head held high.

"Young lady, a... beautiful woman like yourself shouldn't resort to lies just to get a few extra loaves of bread. Lying is against the Word, you know?"

The guards chuckled to themselves as they forced her head down enough for the man to reach her. The man lowered his tiny glasses and brought his oily black eyes inches from her face and ran his sweaty hand through her curly hair, not even stopping as his fingers snagged and pulled at every tangle it went through.

"If you really want some money, this building turns into a real fun show at night. I'm sure my men here would just love to help you out."

The man licked the hair that clung to his fingers.

Hailee spit in his face.

Yet the man only laughed and strolled back to his seat at the table while the guards holding her back tossed her out the front door.

"Next!"

The man's nasally voice called out from inside again as Qiaren sheepishly entered and spared the girl only a glance.

Hailee was slow to pick her dizzy self up from the snow and dirt, and earned herself a swift kick in the ribs and a loud warning from one of the outside guards. The small torn up bits and pieces of bread spilled out from the bag that flew out of the redhead's hands, and half were consequently squished by passing wagons or immediately picked up by roaming rats. The already light sack was mostly empty by the time Hailee had staggered away from the building and into an equally empty nearby alleyway.

Tears mixed with the snowflakes falling down her face.