Worse Glares

Clump. Clump-clank. Clump. Clump-clank. There was a sharp intake of breath as Levy prayed not to be found out. If she was found again, it would be the third time this week. Her mother would surely beat her. But Levy was a smart girl and she knew the steps were too heavy to be her mother's. She thanked whatever force drew her to wear her dark clothes today, yet cursed them all the same. She was wearing men's trousers with a corset and jacket only. She was just below her father's study- next door to her own room. She didn't need to be wearing much to walk down the hall. To be precise, down the hall a bit and into a dark cellar room. It was six by four feet which belonged to her father- hidden four feet under his rug he passed it to Levy when he died. She read all the books in it at least three times each.

Clump. Clump-clank. She hoped the man- it had to be a man from the heavy steps- would be stupid enough to go another room and not search under the rug. Swish, plop. No such luck. She put her book back on the stack and turned off her steamlamp. Levy took off her jacket and folded herself into a small alcove. She flung her black jacket on top of her to hide herself into the darkness. She silently thanked her mother for the one good thing she gave Levy- her small stature. Levy's father gave Levy her blue hair, her brown eyes and her books, but she looked just like her mother. Levy could easily fold herself and fit into the smaller hole and hide.

Levy just got situated on the dirt of the seller when the trapdoor to her secret spot was opened. She didn't dare look, but Levy knew from the jangle of keys and the crash of a large body against the dirt that this was a large man she was dealing with. Definitely not her mother.

"Well, well, well," the man snarled and Levy's thoughts came crashing down on her at once. What if she was caught? Would she go with this man willingly? Would she put up a fight? What would her punishment for this be? What if she wasn't caught? All her precious books would be taken away and she didn't know how to get any new ones or she would have done that years ago. A world without books would almost be more of a punishment than death or imprisonment.

The man- undoubtedly a guard, Levy thought- started picking Levy's books up and dropping them on the floor of the study. There were four thuds, then more jangling of the keys.

Then, suddenly, Levy's jacket was ripped off her body. In a split second decision, she decided to be brave, for once. She decided to act like a heroine from her books and be strong- but no before he caught a glimpse of the fear in her eyes.

The man was definitely a guard, for he smiled at her fear. Or at the fact that he would probably get paid a bit extra for getting a criminal, not just paraphernalia. This man wore black boots with metal soles, navy blue trousers, a tan shirt and a navy blue vest with a black overcoat. The feathers coming off his right shoulder marked him as one of the Queen's guards. At the moment, Levy could not see all this, nor could she see many of the other markers that told exactly what type of guard this man was. All Levy could see was the face of the guard stooped before her. She stared back into those blood red eyes of his and only wavered to look at his evilly happy grin widen as he snagged the dirt streaked girl in almost no proper clothes.

As he pulled her out of her nook, she felt his brass knuckles pressed into her fair skin. She was sure it would bruise, but it was the least of her problems.

"Ha!" he spat, "Stupid girl. You'll get a life sentence for this! Don't you know reading unregistered books is illegal?" The guard still held Levy and, instead of using his whip most guards carry, the man got out shackles and put them around Levy's wrists behind her back.

Knowing his comment was rhetorical, Levy kept her jaw clamped shut. In one arm, the guard grabbed his bag with the books in them and used his other hand to grab a handful of Levy's hair and yanked her out of the study.

"Ya idiot- you'll die for this, and I'll get paid enough for a year with the lot you've got here. You really think you'd be able to get away with a Bible and three classic As? Plus you're practically naked and in half men's clothes to boot!" The guard was positively gleeful.

Levy lived in the kingdom of Fiore, a place ruled by a queen who outlawed books years before Levy was born. All books were taken from every home, but there were some who resisted the ban, like Levy's father. And Levy was oh so lucky to live in Magnolia- the city which housed the Queen's palace. The Queen cracked down on everything- chivalry was practically law for the proper, the Queen was nearly God (all religion was banned), and ladies' code was a law for women. If anyone were to be caught cross dressing they would be thrown in jail.

Anyway, the book ban was met with rebellion, and to quell that, many guards were hired and laws were made and enforced much better. Books were sorted into categories based on the Greek alphabet. The closer to the beginning of the alphabet, the worse the punishment for reading or even possessing them. Alphas, or classic As, were books like Beowulf or Romeo and Juliet. These were what the regime called "classics"; hence the term classic As. Betas, or cat. Bs were books like Anne of Green Gables or To Kill A Mockingbird- books that were nearly classics. Gammas were powerful books like 1984 or Fahrenheit 451. Deltas were history texts and biographies. Epsilons were "modern" novels with a message like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Thetas were science fiction or adventure novels. Iotas were romance novels. Kappas were rags to riches stories. Lambdas were unregistered educational textbooks. Sigmas were any other kind of novel or novella. And Omegas were books that another citizen of Fiore wrote. For all these different kinds of books you can get put away for between 6 months and 20 years- not to mention the Half Punishment Rule. This rule meant that if you got a six month punishment for having an Omega, you'd get three extra months for just reading it.

Then there were Books Zed. A Book Zed would be a religious book, like the Bible, the Torah, the Quran. For possession of a Book Zed you would most likely be put to work at a Workshop or thrown in jail for life.

Back to our 'heroine', though. The guard pulled her through her house, which seemed to be deserted, and out to the steam engine carriage waiting for them. Her neighbors stopped and watched under umbrellas as the guard threw his bag into the carriage and Levy was tossed in beside it. She could feel the stares through the now closing door. There were bars on the window in the door and the reality of all this was actually sinking in. Waves of emotion crashed over her. First sorrow, for she knew she was going to jail for the rest of her life- if she wasn't sentenced to death. Then anger at her mother who had no longer been in her home. She fled and left Levy there to get carted away. Mrs. McGarden was abusive and always harsh towards her only daughter. Levy should have seen this coming, but she was easy to forgive and did so to her mother all the time. So, this was quite the shock.

She could hear the rain on the roof and got a chill from the few seconds the downpour had drenched her. Then she thought of the man still in the rain. He was driving under a small roof. She became angry at him as well. Why did he have to find such pleasure in this? she thought, Sure, he'll get a bonus, but what kind of person would be this happy? She then remembered the differences between this man and many other Queen's Guards she'd seen. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Most guards carried the standard whip with them, and it could double as a constraint to tie back one's hands. However, this man had brass knuckles over his standard issue fingerless gloves as a weapon and used shackles as a constraint. All of these seemed to be made of some silvery metal- iron maybe? Also, the guard had long unkempt black hair. Most guards had their hair cut to a certain length because of the gender swapping laws. He also didn't carry a timepiece with him, nor did he have green goggles around his neck. He had red goggles instead and piercings on his face.

All this meant he wasn't a regular guard. He's either specialized or just does random jobs, Levy thought, No normal guard gets that much free will. The carriage came to a halt and the guard came to the door to unlock it. Levy gave him her angriest glare, he only chuckled.

"I've gotten worse glares from worse people. You don't scare me, Shrimp," Levy winced at the name. Her father used to call her by that nickname and she didn't like it when the guard called her that. He had no right to say use such a cherished name for her. The guard grabbed her again, this time by the arm. He hauled her and the books into Magnolia City Hall. They got to the back hall, where the holding cells were. The guard unlocked the door, then threw Levy inside. She fell to the concrete floor.

"Have fun, Shrimp," he said before walking away. Now's the time to be brave or never, Levy thought quickly.

"Don't call me that," Levy said from the floor. She was a bit quiet- still unsure of herself.

"What was that?" Levy stiffened at his words, then pulled herself up a bit more. He looked angry and Levy pulled back a bit as she saw him. Fear may or may not have flashed before her eyes, but she definitely felt it. And it only made her want to speak up more.

She repeated herself: "I said, don't call me that." Levy said it louder, almost with conviction. He looked at his feet for a moment. When he looked back at her, his hair covered his eyes so she couldn't see them. A grin unfurled on his lips and he bent down on his haunches to be at her level.

Before she even saw it, his left hand shot out and smacked her. Pain shot up her jaw and blossomed in her cheek. She tried not to scream, but it came out as a strangled yell. Before she could put a hand to it, his fingers gripped her chin and yanked her head back to face him. His red eyes were practically glowing in the dim cell.

"Listen up, Shrimp," she winced his emphasis on the word, "I'm the one who brought you in and I'll be paid in an hour or two, so I own you. I'll call you whatever I damn well please." The guard pushed her head back as if he was disgusted to have it touching his hand. He left the cell, slammed the door and left her there.

Levy looked around her and took in the holding cells. She was in the back of City Hall- a building that looked so beautiful from the outside. There were eight cells, only one of which was occupied. The cells had concrete floors, cinderblock walls, and rusting bars serving as a fourth wall. The place was lit by steamlamps. They burn with as much light as five candles. The lamps were put every three feet and there were no windows. In Levy's cell there was only a blanket and a bucket. Levy never had the shackles taken off her, but she knew she needed to get the blanket over herself, or she might freeze. The cell was damp and cold and Levy was covered in rain. Her hair was so wet and the chamber so dark that her hair was more of a navy blue than it's usual sky blue. Gotta free my arms. I'm not using my teeth to drag that on me, she thought. The blanket was to her left against the wall. So she tried the only thing she could think of and again her mother's tiny figure helped her a lot. Levy scooted on her butt to put her back against the cool damp wall. She used the wall to help her stand up. Then, she attempted to pull her arms down around her ankles to get her arms in front of her. She struggled when she got to her backside, but finally figured it out. If the shackle chain was any smaller or Levy any larger, there would have been no way that worked without dislocating her shoulder. She pulled her arms down to her heals and stepped over the chain. She stood up straight and smiled at her achievement, despite the ache in her wrists and shoulders. Levy walked over to the blanket, picked it up, and walked to the left corner of the cell. she sat down and huddled into the blanket. Levy missed her own house and the heat it brought with it. She missed her bed and blankets at home. She would even settle for her own coat. She loved that black coat. It was her father's black trench coat from years ago.

For two hours, Levy huddled in that corner. She had just began flirting with the idea to use the bucket when she heard a door slam shut. She looked up and the guard who brought her in, who "owned" her, was with another guard one who had the appropriate dress on.

"Oi! You, come 'ere," 'her' guard demanded. She stood up and let the blanket fall to the floor. Levy walked over to the two men on the opposite side of the bars. The new guard reached through the bars and grabbed Levy's face, much like the other guard did before. He yanked her head to one side, looking at the bruise her guard left on the left side of her face.

"I'm surprised at you, Gajeel. This little damage on such an easy target. It's not like you," the guard observed Levy further.

"Don't lie. It's just like me. She's trying not to show fear. She's trying not to scream or cry and that's no fun until you have the time to break 'em. Call me when it's time for the torture and I'll gladly do worse," her guard - Gajeel said.

"Understood," the second guard replied as he let go of Levy's face, "but you'll only be getting a hundred jewel for her capture."

"What?" Gajeel barked. He was angry and it was obvious he was originally promised more.

"Oh, come on. Look at her! She's tiny and she wasn't even posted as wanted. She obviously wasn't that difficult to bring in and that slap you gave her was obviously for backtalk."

"Listen. I was told-" Gajeel poked the other guard in the chest.

The other guard smacked his hand away, "No, you listen. If you want a pay raise, bring the bitch to the Queen tomorrow yourself and take the matter up with her!" The guard back at Gajeel, then left.

"Go to sleep Shrimp," Levy flinched at the name, "We're seeing the Queen tomorrow." At that, Gajeel left.

The Queen saw every criminal of Magnolia personally. She acted as judge for every trial and almost any person who was tried was found guilty and sentenced. Almost everyone. Levy remembered one man a few years ago. He was found not guilty by the Queen. Levy hoped she was as lucky, but she knew it would never happen. Its strictly forbidden to read and she was found by one of the Queen's Guard. Tomorrow would not be a pleasant day. And it looked like she would be spending the night here, maybe even longer. As Levy sat back down on the floor, recovering in the blanket, she tried to sleep. However, true to her nature, she found the silver lining of that day. Gajeel did not use her father's nickname for her in front of the other guard. She could avoid being called "Shrimp" all day long by every guard- at least for now.

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