Haven

Four

This particular part of town was a bit dumpier than the rest of Perm, which made Sanctus even more vigilant than usual. Their journey back home would be considerably shorter if they cut through the worst of it, but Sanctus wasn't so sure he wanted to do that with Alonya by his side.

The area was rumored to be one of the more violent places in the city, and most people had the tendency to avoid it even when the sun lit their way and the streets looked clear. Both Sanctus and Alonya had been told many times in their growing up years to avoid the people who came from this area. This had been cemented into them especially during the one year they had attended the single public school in the city at the time.

There had been an unexpected shortage of teachers that year, due to a sickness that had swept through the city and killed many and driven even more away in fear of contracting it. There were hardly enough left to keep the public school running, much less the higher class establishment he and Alonya had attended throughout the previous years.

Sanctus could remember that their mother had been quite bothered by the thought of sending them off to school with the middle and lower class kids. She had tried to arrange a private tutor for them so that they would not have to mingle with such "scum"-as she had once put it when she thought no one was around-, but none were to be found. At a loss, she had finally given in and done the only thing that was left to do; warn them against speaking to or playing with the lower class kids except for when absolutely necessary. It had made him briefly happy that she might worry for them like that, less so when he realized that she was probably only doing it to save her own image.

None the less, he and Alonya had obeyed her. They kept well away from the kids whenever possible. It had made Sanctus feel kind of guilty, though he never let on to that fact to avoid a harsh scolding. There had never been anything prominently wrong with them. Sure, they were a little bit dirty and their hand-me-down clothes hung oddly off their bodies, but he could never find anything wrong with the way they acted. Most of them were nice, quiet little kids that spoke only when asked to and worked hard on their studies. In fact, it hadn't taken Sanctus long to see that they were much nicer than his fellow upper class mates. He had always found the kids he was expected to socialize with to be full of themselves, to put it plainly.

They were always awful to the lower class kids, calling them names and tripping them up and sometimes even going as far as to bully them in more physical ways. The kids never fought back, because they knew that that would do them no good. The teachers turned a blind eye to such events. Sanctus had never figured out exactly why, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with what the mothers of the bullies would say if a teacher dare accuse their "perfect" children of such deeds. Getting on the wrong side of such people could easily destroy a career.

These thoughts stuck with Sanctus as he glanced over the street. Aunt Esfir wouldn't be pleased if she found out that he was going to take Alonya through this part of town. Scratch that, she would be livid. Not only had they snuck out, but now he was about to lead her in through a lower class part of town.

He had been through here multiple times on his own, during both the day and the night, and he had never come across anything that supported the upper class's beliefs that the people who resided here were, more or less, uncivilized monsters. Sure, it had it's fair share of shady people and places, but they could be easily avoided if one simply knew how to navigate the neighborhoods. Other than that, this section was more or less the same as all other working class partitions of the city.

Sanctus was quick to recall and correct this thought. No, it was probably safer. Because of acts of revolt that this particular neighborhood had displayed, a district wide curfew had been set and regular militia patrols arranged.  Anyone caught outside after 10 PM was brought in to spend the night in the city jail, no questions asked. This might have posed another threat to him and Alonya's passage through the area, but once again due to his extensive knowledge of the back streets and hidden shortcuts through the district, he wasn't too worried about that. Of course, if he had managed to figure such things out surely others must have as well, but once again he failed to worry over this. He had never run into anyone else whilst taking the back paths. He had faith that tonight would not mark a change in that.