I paid the bill and stood up, steadying myself with the edge of the table. “Woah there,” Nico said, reaching out to keep me from stumbling. As he had warned, I could feel a hint of a stomachache coming on. Still… I regret nothing.

I stretched, shaking off my food-induced wooziness. Together, we walked out into the square and re-joined the throng of people. I looked to Nico for direction, but he was staring at a point in the distance. Something in his gaze made my blood turn cold.

Without warning, he gripped my arm and pulled us between two shops, into an alleyway. “What is it?” I asked, panic creeping into my voice.

His eyes narrowed. “Look around.” Apprehensive, I peered out from behind the building and let my eyes comb over the crowd.

“I don’t-” I froze. Only ten meters away, a uniformed soldier was weaving through the square with an assault rifle hanging across his back. As soon as I noticed him, more soldiers seemed to come out of the woodwork. Why didn’t I see them sooner? I wondered uneasily. Did Westborren enchant me so much that I forgot to be careful? I shook my head. Nico didn’t notice either–something isn’t right.

I re-adjusted my mask and pulled my hood more tightly over my face. Nico’s eyes continued to trace the soldiers, and he seemed to relax. “It’s just a routine patrol. But it’s very odd that none of my informants thought to mention how much the army’s presence has grown. Westborren used to be much safer for outlaws and travelers.”

“Can you still trust them?”

Nico’s eyes seemed to darken as he slipped back into the crowd. He lowered his mouth to whisper in my ear. “I don’t know. Westborren seems to be cursed. Whoever is stationed here, whether they be enemy soldiers or our own spies, eventually turn their loyalties to the city itself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s like a safe haven here―no rations, no riots, clean air―and they’re loath to let it go. Anyone who would draw Keon’s attention is pushed out. It’s the same for the locals. They’ll report you in an instant if they think you’re disturbing the peace.”

Goosebumps formed on my arms. “Is it really safe for us to stay here for two nights?”

“As long as we're out in a few days and keep a low profile, we shouldn't have any trouble,” he replied, although he didn’t seem convinced.

Even the walls have ears, I thought anxiously. I walked a little closer to Nico as he led me to the general store. Luckily, the soldier’s eyes seemed to pass right over us, and in time, I was able to relax slightly.

The store was smaller than the grocery stores in Karakul, but the aisles were filled with foods I’d never seen before. As Nico had said, there wasn’t a ration card in sight. He navigated the store quickly, filling a basket with raisins, crackers, dried berries, and canned foods. I read the labels as we walked, pronouncing the new names under my breath to distract myself from the threats outside.

While Nico shopped, I grabbed a basket of my own and picked out a couple of personal items. After a few minutes, he waved me over from an adjacent aisle. He gestured at a shelf with a pair of scissors, and I grimaced; it was the section for boxed hair dyes.

I glanced at Nico, but the message was clear: the farther south we traveled, the more important it was to conceal our identities. I had kept my hair concealed under caps, but if anyone caught a glimpse, they’d easily be able to identify me from any photos in Karakul.

After a minute of internal debate, I selected the dark brunette box. Nico chose a light brown, the same color as his colored contacts. Instead of putting the dyes in the basket, he slipped them into his pocket. Smart, I thought, If the cashier saw us buying scissors and dye, she might be suspicious.

We spent the majority of the remaining daylight in Westborren. We bought new clothes and visited a mechanic's shop, where Nico spoke with the owner for almost half an hour. The more of the city I saw, the more it drew me in, although I remembered to stay alert.

It was mid-afternoon when we returned to the boarding house. As I rinsed off, Nico combined a can of flour dumplings and beef broth into two bowls and heated it in the microwave. Although the food lacked finesse, the smell made my mouth water, and when we finally sat down to eat, I found the flavors utterly delicious. Even though the food was canned, it had an air of freshness and novelty.

As we ate, Nico and I settled into light conversation. He asked me about my favorite parts of the city, and we discussed the card game I had seen the family playing in the lobby when we first arrived. If anyone was listening, they would have no idea that we were both on Keon’s hit list—although part of me hoped that Nico was talking to me out of genuine interest, not simply to pretend like everything was normal.

When we were finished, I washed the dishes and packed my bag for the next day. If all went as planned, we would leave first thing in the morning, and there may not be time to clean up the room. After a few minutes, Nico interrupted me, waving the scissors from the bathroom doorway. “Come on. And don’t look so concerned.”

I winced. He’s going to cut my hair?

He urged me forward again. Without protest, I followed him into the bathroom and took my hair out of its bun. “I can do it myself,” I said as Nico opened the dye.

“It’s not my first time, don’t worry.” After looking at me for permission, he ran his hands over my hair as if to test out the texture. The sensation was so unfamiliar, I nearly flinched away. “This won’t take long,” he assured.

He examined my hair a moment longer before making the first cut. In the silence, I wanted to ask him a host of questions about the rest of our journey, but I resisted the urge in case the room was bugged.

Nico dampened my hair and I felt the first snip of the scissors. I wasn’t nervous, as I’d never cared much for my appearance, but I was curious to see the end result. Nico was thorough and gentle, and I wondered what he might be thinking.

When he was finished, he wrapped a towel around my shoulders and told me to sit in the bathtub. The kit came with gloves and a small brush, which he used to apply the dye to each section of my hair. “Done,” he finally announced. I stood up, shook off the towel, and looked in the mirror. My breath hitched with surprise–I looked like a different person. The cut was a little crude around the edges, but surprisingly stylish. My hair, now a dark brown, hung just below my shoulders and framed my face. The ragged ends had been cut off and lay beneath my feet.

“Thank you,” I said, giving Nico a genuine smile.

He nodded, then shook the other box of dye. “Help me with this, okay?”

***

I wiped the beads of sweat off my face and stretched again. It had been a long couple of hours, but our transformation was complete–Nico and I were almost unrecognizable. His newly light-brown hair was less than an inch in length and lay close to his scalp, making him look even more like a soldier.

It was warm inside the room, so I opened the back door, letting the cool night air flood inside. Behind me, Nico’s footsteps plodded back and forth as he paced. Eventually, I grew tired of watching him. “You’re worried,” I said, careful to avoid mentioning any key words.

“I am… concerned about my old friends,” he replied, and I nodded. His meaning was clear: while we were in Westborren, we had to trust his contacts (like the mechanic, presumably) to keep us informed and help us procure our next method of transportation. If they betrayed us, our only escape route would be compromised.

I took a deep breath. Worrying won’t help us now. We will simply have to wait until morning.

As I glanced outside again, an idea occurred to me. I pulled the pillows and comforters from the bed and dumped them in the doorway, then turned off the lights and sat on one side of the arrangement.

“What are you doing?” Nico asked, looking at me strangely.

“You’ll see. Come here.” For a moment, I thought he would refuse, but the comforter wrinkled as he finally sat next to me. “Back home,” I explained, “in… Oxver, I often watched the stars at night. It reminded me how temporary we are, in the scheme of things.” I bit my tongue, holding back the rest of what I wanted to say: “Even dictators die. And the world moves on.”

Nico seemed to understand what was unsaid, and he tilted his head in acknowledgement. Then, he looked skyward, toward the stars. I took a deep breath and followed, hoping I hadn’t convinced him to sit down just to look at a cloudy sky.

At once, the breath disappeared from my lungs. Overhead, stars shone like beams of light through a blanket of darkness. Across the farmland, the cornstalks rustled with the wind, and a few solitary cottages sat like sentries atop the hills. Without mountains in the distance, the expanse seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. I reached out a hand as if I could balance the stars on my fingertips.

“Well, it didn’t disappoint,” I breathed.

Nico leaned in, so close that his breath tickled my ear. His voice was so light, it almost seemed a figment of my imagination. “The view is even better where we’re going.”

I smiled slightly, leaning back on the pillows and imagining someplace far away.