Honored

Chapter 8: A Vision of Honor (Part 1)

Henry and Dan had both finished picking out all the armor they wanted from the chested, putting it on themselves, and Henry had even left to go check on his men by the time three cloaked figures came bearing piles of capes.

"I hope this is enough capes for you," A familiar voice came from one of the figures.

"Maybe. I might need more in the future. Who should I ask for when I need more equipment?" I asked. All I knew was this man's voice and that he was my contact. Other than his voice, I couldn't tell him apart from the other two figures.

"Say, 'Mr. Repair Man', and I will come." He chuckled, "The title fits me more than a name."

Great, he wouldn't even tell me his name. And did the title mean he was the only one, or just he was the repair man who would help us?

"I do have one more request right now." I said, thinking about the pamphlets.

"Another request? You are a demanding woman." His voice mocked me with the breathiness that sounded like contained laughter.

"Yes. I need a pamphlet made to pass out to be people." I responded with complete sincerity. I didn't feel like joking about my requests.

"A pamphlet." He sighed, the breathless sound gone from his voice. "Ok. Do you expect me to write this pamphlet for you and pass it out for you?"

"No, I will write it. Henry's men will pass it out. All I need from you is for it to be printed and brought to me. Oh, and I will need paper and a writing implement to write with."

"You do realize we have a limited amount of paper? Only so much bamboo can be grown in the stacks every year. And the city uses bamboo for a lot of things. We get very little of it."

"And, this is a good use for that paper. Wall sanctioned rebellion."

"Fine." He gave in quite easily.

I smiled knowing that he was probably told to comply with any requests I made as long as they were for things the Wall could provide. He didn't really have much room to negotiate here.

He was still standing there holding the pile of cloaks and making no move to set them down, so I reached out and grabbed one of the cloaks of the pile he was holding. "Time to transform into a Wall person," and with that the cloak swished beautifully as its lengths unfolded and wrapped it over my shoulders. For a plain brown cloak it did look quite nice and flowy. Special Wall material fabric. The hood was much more difficult to figure out. I couldn't get the black part to come up over my face.

Mr. Repair Man sighed and set down his bundle of cloaks on a chest. "It's not a normal hood. You have to lower the hood part of the cloak on to your head like you are putting on an executioner's hood."

A shudder rippled through my body and I suddenly felt cold. "Why do you compare it to an executioner's hood?"

"Because I am certain you've recently seen one," he pulled on the top of the cloak as he said this, lifting the silky material off my shoulders, and then lowering it, the black screen darkening my vision as it lowered.

When it was fully lowered, I could still see the things around me, but it was like they were apart from me as I was condemned to this shadowy black world. Did this separation from the world make executioner's less connected to the death they brought? "I guess it is an apt description for this hood."

He tied the neck of the cloak over the edge of the black screen hiding the edge from view, and hiding my armor from view. "Now you can pass as one of the Wall's repair division."

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and I tensed, worried that somehow the guards had already found us. I looked at Dan, and though the hazy blackness I could see he had pulled out his pistol and had it aimed at the stairs.