Faith of the Fallen

He stepped first to one side and then the other to avoid bumping into the river of people swirling past, making their way in the opposite direction while trying to stay out of the mud of the street. He considered again staying outside the city-a lot of people did that. But there were outlaws and desperate people aplenty who preyed on those who were forced to stay out in the open where there were no city guards. Were Nicci not opposed to the idea, Richard would have found a place farther out and built a shelter, perhaps with some other people so that they could together discourage trouble.

Nicci wasn't interested in the idea. Nicci wanted to be in the city.

Multitudes came to the city looking for a better life. There were lists to get on, and lines to wait in to see official people. You had a better chance of doing those things if you had a room in the city, she said.

It was getting late in the day. The line at the bakery was out the door and partway down the block.

"Why are all these people in line?" Richard whispered to Nicci. It was the same every day when they went to buy bread.

She shrugged. "I guess there aren't enough bakeries."

"Seems like with all the customers, more people would want to open bakeries."

Nicci leaned close, a scolding scowl darkening her brow. "The world isn't as simple as you would like it to be, Richard. It used to be that way in the Old World. Man's evil nature was allowed to flourish. People set their own prices for goodswith greed being their only interest, not the good of their fellow man. Only the wellto-do could afford to buy bread. Now, the Order sees to it that everyone gets needed goods for a fair price. The Order cares about everyone, not just those with unfair advantages."

She always seemed so impassioned when she spoke about the evil nature of people. Richard wondered why a Sister of the Dark would care about evil, but he didn't bother to ask.

The line wasn't moving very fast. The woman in front of him, suspicious of their whispering, scowled back over her shoulder.

Richard met her glare with a broad smile.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." Her somber scowl faltered in the light of his beaming grin. "We're new in town"-he gestured behind-"my wife and I. I'm looking for work. We need a room, though. Would you know how a young couple, strangers to the city, could go about getting a room?"

She half turned, holding her canvas bag in both hands, letting it pull her arms straight as she leaned her shoulders against the wall. Her bag held only a yellow wedge of cheese. Richard's smile and his friendly conversational tone-artificial though they were-were apparently so out of the ordinary that she seemed unable to maintain her gruff demeanor.

"You have to have a job if you hope to get a room. There aren't enough rooms in the city, what with all the new workers come for the abundance provided by the wisdom of the Order. If you're able-bodied, you need to have work, then they'll put your name on the list."

Richard scratched his head and kept smiling as the line slowly shuffled along. "I'm eager to work."

"Easier to get a room if you can't work," the woman confided.

"But, I thought you just said you had to have a job if you were to have any hope of getting a room."

"That's true, if you're able, like you look to be. Those folks with a greater need, because they can't do for themselves, are rightly entitled to benevolence and to be put higher on the list-like my husband, the poor man.

He's afflicted terrible like with consumption."

"I'm so sorry," Richard said.

She nodded with the weight of her burden. "It's mankind's wretched lot to suffer. Nothing can be done about it, so there's no use trying. Only in the next life will we get our reward. In this life, it's the duty of every person with ability to help those unfortunate souls with needs. In that way the able earn their reward in the next life."

Richard didn't argue. She shook a finger at him.

"Those who can work owe it to those who can't to do their best for the good of all.

"I can work," Richard assured her. "We're from. . a little place.

We're simple folks-from farming stock. We don't know much about how to go about things like getting work in the city."

"The Order has brought the people a great abundance of work," a man behind Nicci said, drawing Richard's attention. The man's oiled canvas coat was buttoned tight at his throat. His big brown eyes blinked slowly, like a cow as it chewed its cud. The way his jaw wobbled sideways as he spoke only added to the impression. "The Order welcomes all workers to our struggle, but you must be mindful of the needs of others-as the Creator Himself wishes-and go about getting work in the proper fashion."