Crowns and Guns.

Water (part 2)

I open my locker and take out my ORCHID-approved casual wear. For women, this is a long blue dress, with short sleeves barely covering our upper arms, and a skirt that reaches halfway my lower legs. Over the dress, we wear a brown leather sleeveless jacket. No shoes or socks, we only wear them if we need to go outside for work or are on active duty. I guess my mother's promise of me having as many shoes as I can probably dream of died with her.

Men's clothing prescription is similar, except that instead of a dress, they receive a short-sleeved shirt and knee-length pants. ORCHID's guidelines specifically say lower arms and lower legs have to be kept visible, as infection by elven toxins will show as dark lines on the skin of the arms and legs first. While I understand ORCHID's decision to want to catch these infections early, it is very uncomfortable to have to walk around like this in the cold. And besides, I would prefer people to not ask about my scars. At least it covers the giant scars on my shoulder and midriff.

I also take out my band with insignia, depicting a triangle with two leaves, the rank of Lieutenant.

I look around. While some people seek the privacy of the old shower stalls to get dressed, most people create some privacy using blankets or towels are makeshift curtains while dressing themselves or their kids. Some people even resort to wearing their day clothes on top of their nightclothes, and then they squirm and wiggle until they can remove their nighties from under their dress.

A handful of people even have no shame and just openly undressed. While not explicitly forbidden, I always consider it very distasteful. There are kids of all ages present in the barracks after all.

I look at the long line in front of the bathrooms and decide to go for the "put dress on over nightgown" trick. The moment I put it on, I see June, wearing a bright green dress, running towards me. She slams into me at full speed, almost knocking me back. She steps back, unfazed, and looks up to me. I can see large rust-coloured, smudges on her face.

"Oh, I am sorry, Skye." She says.

I kneel in front of her. "Darling, what happened to your face."

I look up and see May, June's older sister walking towards me, panting. "Hi, Lieutenant." She says, slightly out of breath.

"When we are not training, you can call me Skye." I say. "I am Lieutenant on the field."

May smiles. "Okay Skye. When getting dressed, June pulled on a rusty pipe and somehow got dirt all over her face and hands. Do you have anything to clean her? Some water? A handkerchief? Some paper towels? Anything? I am quite desperate. My rations are too depleted, I really can't afford anything.

I smile as I take a towel and a bottle of water from my locker. I pour a bit of water on the towel. "Let's get you cleaned up, June."

The little girl smiles, as I use the towel to wipe the dirt off her face. I grab her hands and do the same.

May offers me a smile. "Thank you so much." She puts a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What do we say?"

"Thank you, Skye," June says.

"Don't mention it."

I stand back up and look at May. "Make sure to check her arms and legs every hour for signs of infection. If there were any elven toxins in there, and they got into her nose or mouth, she could get sick."

May nods. "I will. And thank you so much. After Mom and Dad died. Things have been hard."

"Look, May," I say. "If you need some time off, you can skip combat training. I understand."

She shakes her head. "No. I need to learn how to defend myself. And June."

I watch May and June walk away while I put my jacket on. A large horn sounds, indicating it is time for breakfast. I walk down the stairs, into the canteen and notice that I am one of the first.