Cress

     Cinder pulled back the drapes  and  stepped  into  the  shop, holding  the
curtain for jain as  she  surveyed   the  shelves around   her. Jars  were  filled 
    with    assorted herbs and liquids, many of them labeled   in a   language 
    she   didn't   know,  although if she stared at them  for  too  long  her  netlink
would   begin   searching  for  a  translation. These   exotic  ingredients  were
scattered  among  boxes   of   drugs and  bottles of  pills  that  she  recognized 
    from   pharmacies   in the Commonwealth, along with  bundles  fog  gauze 
   and   bandages, pasty  ointments,  portscreen  accessories designed  for  taking
various  vital  stats,  massage   oils,  candles,   and    anatomical models.
    Flecks of dust caught on a  few  streams  of  light  that  filtered  in from  dirty
   windows, and a fan spun lazily in the corner, doing little to dispel the
   dry heat. In the corner, a holograph displayed the progression of internal
   bleeding  due  to  a side injury, occasionally flickering.
       Jain   meandered toward   the    back   of the shop, still walking with a
      slight limp.
       "Hello?" Cinder called. Another curtain hung over a doorway on the
   far  wall, alongside and old  mirror and a  standing  sink  that  was  overgrown
      with  a  potted plant.
          The curtain swished and a woman ducked through, pulling an apron  
         on over plain jeans and a brightly patterned top. "Coming, com—" She
spotted Cinder. Her eyes  widened,  followed  by  an  enormous  smile  as she
   yanked the   apron strings behind  her. "Welcome!" she said in   the thick 
       accent  that  Cinder  was becoming familiar with.
           "Hi, thank you." Cinder set a portscreen down  on  the  counter  between
    them, pulling up the list that  Dr. Erland  had  recorded  for  her.  "I'm  here
  for some supplies. I was told you would have these things?"
           "Cinder Linh." She raised her head. The woman was still beaming. "Yes?"
    "You are brave and beautiful."
      She tensed, feeling more like the woman had threatened her than
          complimented her. In the moments following the unexpected statement,
   she  waited  for  her  lie  detector  to  come  on,  but  it  never  did.  Brave,
            maybe.  At least, she could comprehend why someone would say that
      after they'd heard the stories about the ball.
          But beautiful? The woman kept smiling.
              "Um. Thank you?" She nudged the portscreen toward her. "My friend
      gave me this list—"
              The  woman  grabbed    her hands   and squeezed. Cinder  gulped,
      surprised not only by the sudden touch, but at how the woman didn't flinch
          when she took her metal hand.
              Jacin leaned  over  the  counter  and slid   the portscreen  toward  the
      woman  so  suddenly  that  she  had  to  release  Cinder's  hand  in  order  to
      catch it. "We need these things," he said, pointing at the screen.
          The  woman's  smile  vanished  as  her  gaze  swept  over  Jacin,  who  was
             wearing  the  shirt  from  his  guard   uniform,  freshly  cleaned  and  patched
              so  that  the bloodstains  hardly  showed  on  the  maroon  fabric.  "My  son
             was also conscripted  to  become  a  guard  for  Levana."  Her  eyes  narrowed.
            "But he was not so rude."
      Jacin shrugged. "Some of us have things to do."
              "Wait," said Cinder. "You're Lunar?"
          Her expression softened when she focused on Cinder again. "Yes. Like
          you."
            She buried the discomfort that came with such an open admission.
          "And your son is a royal guard?"
         
              "No, no. He chose to kill himself, rather than become one of her puppets."
              She flashed a glare at Jacin, and stood a little taller.
                  "Oh. I'm so sorry," said Cinder.
                  Jacin rolled his eyes. "I guess he must not have cared about you very
              much."
                  Cinder gasped. "Jacin!"
                  Shaking his head, he snatched the portscreen back from the woman.
                    "I'll start looking," he said, shouldering past Cinder. "Why don't you ask
              her what happened next?"
                  Cinder glared at his back until he had disappeared down one of the
                  rows. "Sorry about that," she said, searching for some excuse. "He's ...
              you know. Also Lunar."
                  "He is one of hers."
                  Cinder turned back to the woman, who looked offended at Jacin's
                     words. "Not anymore."
                      Grunting, the woman turned to reposition the fan so Cinder could
                    catch most of the gentle breeze. "Courage comes in many forms. You
                    know about that." Pride flickered over the woman's face.
                  "I guess so."
                  "Perhaps your friend was brave enough to join her guard. My son was
                       brave enough not to."
                      Rubbing absently at her wrist, Cinder leaned against the counter. "Did
              something happen? Afterward?"
                  "Of  course." There was still pride on her face, but also anger, and also
              sadness. "Three  days  after  my  son  died,  two  men  came  to  our  house.
                    They took my  husband  out  into  the  street  and  forced  him  to  beg  the
              queen's forgiveness for raising such a  disloyal  child. And then they killed
                    him anyway, as  punishment.  And  as  a  warning  to  any  other  conscripts
              who were thinking of disobeying  the  crown."  Her eyes were beginning to
                  water, but she held on  to  a  pained  smile.  "It took me almost four years to
                  find a ship that was coming to Earth and willing to accept  me  as  a  stow-
              away. Four years of pretending that I didn't hate her.  Of  pretending  to  be
                    one more loyal citizen."
                  Cinder gulped. "I'm so sorry."