Free The Diatous Wars 1: Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart Page A

hair, I mean,” she said. “Doesn’t it feel strange to you?”
    “I’m used to it.” Dianthe didn’t look up from her bowl.
    “How long have you trained women like this? Are you a real Atalantan soldier, too?”
    Dianthe took the time to swallow her spoonful of stew before answering. “I was selected for Technology. The Ward at the time—this was years ago—tasked the company I worked for with developing a device to disguise a body’s shape and appearance.”
    “So you invented the technology?” Aris asked, impressed.
    “I helped.” Dianthe didn’t look up from her bowl.
    “But if you’re in Tech sector, why do you have a Military brand?”
    “About ten years ago, Military wanted to experiment with allowing women into the sector. But they didn’t want anyone to know.” Dianthe took a sip from her glass. “They bought the technology and brought me in to oversee the project. In a way, I volunteered. Just like you.”
    Aris’s jaw dropped. “So this whole thing is sanctioned by the dominion? Then why can’t women—”
    “The program no longer exists as far as the dominion is concerned,” Dianthe interrupted. “There are no women in Military, Aris. We’re all just ghosts.” Her lips contracted to a thin line; it was obvious she’d said all she was willing to.
    Aris turned her eyes to the window, where the city lights twinkled like stars in the darkness. As in her village, electricity here was solar-powered, but in Lux the pathways from house to house glowed cool and milky, like the moon. Here the light was sharp-edged, sparkling.
    “Are there other women out there, in Military? In other dominions, I mean?” Aris didn’t turn her gaze from the window.
    “Atalanta has never shared the diatous veil technology,” Dianthe replied. “If there are women in the other Military sectors, they’re in disguise, like us. But by the traditional methods.”
    Aris glanced at her, eyebrows raised in question.
    “Breast binding, body language. Luck.”
    It would be difficult enough with the diatous veil; Aris couldn’t imagine trying to pass as a man without it. “So what do you do about your Military brand when you go out? Don’t people give you strange looks?”
    “When I go out in public, I do it as you will. In disguise.”
    Aris suppressed a shudder. “So you never really get to be yourself? Ever? That’s so sad.”
    “It’s the sacrifice I made to do this job. And it’s the choice
you’ve
made as well,” Dianthe pointed out.
    “But when I go home, you can remove the Military brand, right?”
    Dianthe’s eyes narrowed. “No, I can’t. I don’t have the tech. Only a few high-ranking officials have access. After all, volunteering for Military and getting a second brand is fairly commonplace. Removing a brand is something they only do to criminals.” In a harsh movement, she shoved her empty bowl across the table. “
If
you abandon your job and go home, it’ll be your responsibility to hide the brand. A tattoo, something big and black on the back of your neck, would be best.”
    “A tattoo?” The brands might not hurt, but getting a tattoo definitely would. Aris swallowed hard. “Couldn’t I just grow my hair out? Hide it that way?”
    Dianthe stood abruptly. “Do you not remember a word I said? I
told
you. Out there,” she gestured to the glittering city, “you are breaking the law. If anyone sees your Military brand, if a well-meaning shopgirl brushes your hair out of the way in helping you try on a new necklace, they have to report you.”
    Dianthe grabbed her bowl and took it to the kitchen, reappearing in the doorway before Aris had time to move. “Even when you’re out, you’ll always worry that someone will expose you. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder. And you’ll never be able to tell anyone what you did.”
    Aris ran a hand across her bald head. “Why can’t the holographic thing project the brand itself? Why do I have to get one at all?”
    Dianthe