The ride home was the loneliest she’d experienced in years. There had been no funeral for Michael, no time for even a remembrance during the war. But she’d felt the loss of him for months though she’d thrown herself into the fight to save Europe so hard it was amazing she’d had time to feel anything. Yet as the afternoon sun slanted across the countryside and lives of hard earned and oblivious peace passed by along the road, she felt disconnected from everything around her just as she had so many years ago.
She listened for the sound of hoof beats riding hard to find her, calling herself a fool for every second she wished for them. Instead, she pushed Raven to a canter, knowing she should have taken the shortcut through the woods. Rhiol offered thick walls at least if she needed to cry and no questioning eyes to wonder what was wrong.
Down the long drive, it was a relief when her communicator vibrated to life. She halted Raven in the midst of Rhiol’s rolling pastures.
“Tell me,” she said.
“Captain Vries reported an armed assault. They were resupplying in a town along Central America, and five are cut off from the dactyl, including the Captain.”
Arinna swore and nudged Raven onward. “Are they holding? How many combatants?”
“Unknown numbers, but greater than the Guard on the ground. They are using rapid fire guns, grenades, and Jared reported seeing SAMs. They are wearing uniforms that look like official military.”
“FLF,” she said.
“Unconfirmed, but it fits.”
“Guess we found another government.”
Arinna hated being happy to have something to do, knowing lives were at stake and at such a distance. But the need to strategize cleared the lingering emotions from her system.
“Have our forces established any cover? Who is in the dactyl?”
“The Guard is set up in old Mayan ruins surrounded by jungle and brush. Kieren is in the dactyl, but the level of foliage is making it impossible for her to go to them.”
“Tell Captain Vries he’d damn well hold out until backup arrives,” she told Kehm. “Launch the other dactyl’s now and leave mine. I’m going too, but don’t hold the reinforcements for me.”
Arinna dropped the connection and galloped Raven the rest of the way to Rhiol. Christophe met her in the courtyard, taking Raven’s reins while she went for the stable. Tucked near the wide double doors, a solo transport shadowcraft sat waiting with engines powered on. Built like a mini-dactyl mated with an ultralight from the days before the war, it would get her to Command outside of Prague within an hour. Add to that the trip across the Atlantic and Jared would need to be holding out for four or five hours no matter the speed of the dactyls already on their way.
The relief of leaving faded with the cold realizations. She should have been with her Captain. None of the dactyls should have been flying solo. The distraction of Byran and MOTHER’s plotting might cost her and Europe far too much. Arinna jumped in the transport and throttled it beyond the barn to launch over Rhiol’s fields.
Chapter 16
TATIANA GREKOV
LOVE AND CHOICES
“But you like her, Pyotr! Why won’t you agree to see her again?” Tatiana asked, chasing after her brother with the crumbled invitation in her hand.
“Because I don’t see any good coming of it,” he replied, angrily tossing hay to the milk cows. “I’m just a farm boy and have nothing to offer.”
“Her sister married a farmer an—”
“Yes, a wealthy and successful one! I don’t even have a farm. And I can’t leave to earn money. Who would help Aunt Linda then? We barely got through last winter, and this is shaping up to be a worse year.”
Tatiana stalled in her pursuit of her brother. What he said was true no matter how much she didn’t want it to be. She sat in the hay, the cow reaching out with its tongue to lick bits away from the pile around her. There were times that Corianne’s dreams were soothing ... but even those frightened her some days.
It took a moment, but Tatiana realized she was staring at her brother’s boots. He stood in front of her, hands on hips. But instead of the scowl she expected, there was laughter pulling at Pyotr’s lips when she finally looked up to his face.
“I was thinking of letting the cow see if you were edible, but I don’t want her to get sick,” Pyotr teased as he offered his hand.
“Haha,” Tatiana said, letting her brother pull her upright as she ran a quick palm over her cheek.
“Please don’t tell me you are crying because I’m not going to see Eloise? If romance means that much to you, I think we need to find you a boyfriend.”
Tatiana punched Pyotr in the arm, but it lacked any real anger. She sighed. “No, it’s Corianne too,” Tatiana said as she picked up the grain bucket for the goats and chickens.
“Corianne doesn’t want to see Eloise either?” Pyotr asked. Tatiana glared at him so that he held up his hands. “Sorry. If you are going to help with chores, you can complain about the princess all you want. I’ll shut up. We need to get this done because the field has got to get planted today.”
Tatiana followed her brother as he carried a bowl of food scraps through the main barn to the pen holding the two goats and three pigs they were raising for meat. “She did something I didn’t like,” Tatiana finally said, not knowing how to begin. Pyotr glanced at her but said nothing. “You know she wants to marry well and leave? Well, she’s settled that it has to be the Earl of Kesmere and has had us driving by his estate all week looking to see when he was home.”
Pyotr snorted. “I wouldn’t mind if she married and left,” he said, hooking up a hose to the rain barrel to fill the water troughs.
The thought did make Tatiana smile, briefly. “Well, we actually drove up to the house yesterday. When she saw he was home, she asked me to break a strut on the carriage.”
“What?” Pyotr stopped and stared at her.
“I didn’t do it. It is so ... childish! I told her no, which made her mad. She got out and did it herself. Well, not as badly as she wanted to, but she picked up a stick and started hitting the back wheel. She managed to knock off the metal hoop protecting the rim.”
Pyotr started to chuckle. “In a dress? Oh, I wish I could have seen that.”
Tatiana giggled. “It was ... funny. She ruined her best gloves because she didn’t think to take them off first.” Tatiana tossed out the last of the grain to the clucking flock of chickens before leaning against the fence. “We drove up to the front gate, and Corianne asked for assistance. The earl came out and invited us to tea.”
“That sounds silly but hardly as bad as the look on your face makes it seem.”
“Something was wrong. The Lady Grey and Baron Vasquez were there, and they were tense. Even the earl barely said a whole sentence. We interrupted something. I was so embarrassed, but Corianne just went on and on.”
Pyotr watched her. “They are all members of the government. I’ve heard the rumors about dating and affairs but does no one think they are working on legitimate concerns?” Pyotr banged the empty pail as he picked it up. “Why is it all about relationships?”
“Because none of us have one?” Tatiana said, lacing her arm through her brother’s as he walked toward the barn. Though she teased, she heard the frustration in his voice. They had nothing and little chance of getting more. “And you wouldn’t like the rumors that aren’t about relationships that are going around, not that I believe them,” she added quickly.
Pyotr snorted in answer. Any other response was cut off as Corianne emerged from the kitchen door, looking out of place in her fine dress amid the mud and clutter of the wooden pens.
“You aren’t dressed yet?” Corianne asked. “We need to leave to get to Waldrope’s by noon!”
“I’m not going,” Pyotr answered, tone looking for an argument from Corianne, who stared down her nose at him.
“I can’t go as well. Pyotr and your mother need my help today planting the spring crops. We barely had enough food last winter wit
h just the two of them planting,” Tatiana said. Corianne stared at her, lips forming words that she didn’t speak. “Give Eloise our apologies and that we both hope to see her soon. Her sister married a farmer. I’m certain she’ll understand the hectic schedule that spring brings.”
“Of course,” Corianne managed to finally say. “I’ll let you know if she heard anything about ... what we saw yesterday!” Corianne added as she turned away.
Tatiana’s smile froze on her face. Her brother, by contrast, was grinning. “What’s so funny?” Tatiana asked.
“I’m so excited to have help, of course!”
It turned out Pyotr nor Aunt Linda needed as much help as Tatiana thought. Actually the truth, she realized, was that Aunt Linda had a lot of help, it just wasn’t solely hers.
“They come because Uncle Robert belonged to the Guard,” Pyotr said as the first wagon of workers rolled into the yard of Aunt Linda’s small farm. “They help every farm that needs it at planting and harvest.”
“They’re all soldiers?” Tatiana asked.
“Were,” a woman standing nearby answered.
She had tanned arms and face despite a wide sunhat. She also wore pants, something that Tatiana at once envied and made her hesitate. Women of leisure did not wear slacks, especially ones that were rough woven enough to have been made from a grain sack.
Truly needed or not, Tatiana helped. She didn’t want to lie to Corianne. She just didn’t want to see Corianne today or have Eloise ask after her brother. Pyotr showed her what to plant and where. So she spent the morning walking on the newly turned earth that was still damp from the sodden spring rains. The planting was late, but not horribly so. With some warm sun, the acres of vegetables would grow and ripen. Maybe she’d help Aunt Linda this fall when the smell of simmering tomatoes reminded Tatiana of memories nearly forgotten when she was a girl in Russia.
By lunchtime, Tatiana’s back ached and her hands were red from the stick she carried to poke a hole for the seeds. She took her bread and water under a tree, feeling the heat of the sun on her skin even in the shade. Most likely Corianne would be scoffing at the tan Tatiana would be wearing for the next few weeks. Hopefully, it would embarrass her cousin enough she’d refuse to take her anywhere.
“Mashed potatoes,” a man said from where he stood a few feet away.
“Excuse me?” Tatiana asked. He looked to be a year or two older than her with black skin and warm eyes. His right arm hung awkwardly so that he carried his sandwich in his left hand.
“For your burn. It really works. Chop up one of the potato culls we didn’t plant today real fine and put it on your skin until it dries, then wash it off. It’ll take away the sting.”
“Really?” she answered, too surprised by the offer to say anything else.
“Your Linda Heylor’s niece, Pyotr’s sister? I’m Phillip Kessler. Would you mind if I joined you?”
“Of course, please join me,” Tatiana said, moving aside from her grassy patch while offering her hand to Phillip. She realized when he hesitated that he couldn’t move his right arm much, and his left was full. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she floundered.
“S’all right,” he said. He bit into the bread in his left hand, holding it in his teeth while he took her still outstretched fingers in his now free one. “How do you do?” he mumbled around his mouthful before letting her hand go and sitting next to her. “Sorry, that wasn’t very gentlemanly, was it?” he asked after retrieving his lunch.
Tatiana wanted to feel appalled. Corianne would have died of embarrassment. Tatiana gave Phillip a sidelong glance and started to giggle. “I’m sore, sunburnt, covered in dirt and sweat ... I think we’ve both failed dignified first impressions.”
Phillip grinned. “I don’t know. I saw you first thing this morning, and I’ve been very impressed all day.”
Tatiana blushed, which made her cheeks grow warmer. “Do you have any suggestions for sore hands?” she asked. To her surprise, he took her hand again.
“I was going to say a hand rub, but this is worse than soreness. Those are some nice blisters, young lady. I might suggest witch hazel and keeping them wrapped for a few days, nothing tight just something to keep the dirt out.”
“I’m not used to this ... the planting,” she added to make sure he understood.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” he said, dark eyes sparking.
Phillip embarrassed her and made her laugh at her self-consciousness at the same time. It was like his teasing told her it was okay to be herself. Not the self she needed to be when she was around Corianne, but the person she was around her brother. The feeling was new.
They talked for a while, Tatiana learning Phillip’s arm had been injured while fighting.
“Bullet shattered the bone in my elbow. It didn’t set right. If it was before ... well, I’m sure they’ll make replacement joints again someday. Until then, I’m just happy to have my arm,” he explained.
By that time, workers were standing up again. Tatiana bit back a groan as Phillip offered her his left hand to help rise.
“Aunt Linda asked for your help in the kitchen,” Pyotr said, startling Tatiana so that she swung to face him. Her back ached in protest of the quick movement.
“I guess it is the field for me,” Phillip said. He hesitated, glance darting toward where Pyotr waited impatiently.
“It was very nice meeting you and thank you for the tips,” Tatiana said before joining her brother. They walked across the field together, Pyotr silent enough that Tatiana’s thoughts wandered, chasing after Phillip even if she did not.
“What tips?” Pyotr asked, breaking his silence.
“For my sunburn and blisters,” Tatiana admitted.
“You shouldn’t encourage him,” he spat.
“Excuse me? I was being nice,” she added after a hesitation, debating on pretending she didn’t know whom Pyotr was referring to. Unlike Corianne, Tatiana’s days were not filled with trying to charm young men.
“Aunt Linda will be disappointed if she hears.”
“Why? And what about you? Are you disappointed I was nice to a former soldier and had lunch with him?” she shot back.
Pyotr looked away as he stopped at the edge of the field. “Don’t you see? You are more than this. Why do you think Aunt Linda and I don’t ask you to do chores and instead let you spend days with Corianne?”
“To talk some sense into her on occasion,” Tatiana said, dirty, tired, and annoyed enough that she felt ornery.
“We want more for you. The same as we want for Corianne. You are better than a poor farmer’s wife, Tatiana! Look at you. You can’t handle one day in the field without a sunburn and blisters. Do you want to live like this? Do you want to struggle every year, worrying about having enough to feed your children—”
“Stop it, Pyotr!” Tatiana demanded, glancing to see who had heard before she lowered her voice. “One conversation with a nice man and you are planning my fate as a struggling wife with children? I thought Corianne was the dreamer.”
Tatiana turned on her heel and left her brother standing in the field. His words stung as much as her sweaty skin. By the time she made the cool of the house and then the heat of the kitchen, the room spun. Her aunt quickly sent Tatiana along with a young maid to her room to draw a cold bath.
“Potatoes,” Tatiana told the girl before she disappeared. “It is an old remedy for sunburn. I need a couple of potatoes and a knife.”
The girl was young enough not to disobey even if she thought Tatiana had sunstroke on top of everything else. By the time Tatiana had bathed, applied the thinly chopped potato bits to her arm and face, and the fields emptied of help so that the farm was quiet again, she felt less light-headed and more than a little sad.
“Oh goodness, look at you,” Corianne said from the doorway as the shadows stretched across the field. “Mother said not to bother you, but I had to see if you were alright. Look, I brought you strawberry soup! Eloise had it for lunch and sent some home with me
. It should be colder, but it isn’t bad. You should eat something, and cold soup is probably better than something hot.”
Tatiana’s eyes stung at the kindness. Corianne served the soup in the finest dishes in the house while chatting about the afternoon with Eloise. Her words were full of sunlight and flowers, gentle music and shaded breeze as if Tatiana sat in the garden with her cousin and friend.
It wasn’t until she was alone again in her room that Pyotr’s words came back to her. A life like today spent in the sun, working and sore, tired and aching. Probably worse with mouths to feed and dinner to cook. Or a life like the one Corianne dreamed, maybe not as lofty, but one with help and ease. The one that her brother and aunt had tried to create for her even if she had never realized.
Tatiana turned her face into her pillow and cried, knowing Pyotr was right. Just like Corianne, she had no hope of being skilled enough to work in a shop. There was only one choice. She had to try harder when out with Corianne, and not just to fix up her cousin.
Chapter 17
CAPTAIN JARED VRIES
OUT IN THE WORLD
“I’m not waiting for them,” Kieren said over the comm.
At least that is what Jared thought Lieutenant O’Dell said. Between the static and dying batteries, he really wasn’t sure. The sparse jungle outside of the stone ruin lit up with laser fire from the dactyl, scattering enemy troops. Except for the few who fought back.
He wanted to order the four soldiers with him to help Kieren, but there was no point. They wouldn’t succeed against the number of soldiers surrounding the tumbled buildings. The Guard was not going to win today. They didn’t have enough soldiers or bullets. Kieren and Finn in the dactyl were buying them an opening to hightail it out of a situation that had gotten more desperate by the hour.
“Lieutenant O’Dell has our backs. Head downhill to see if we can reach clear ground for pick up,” Jared ordered. He took the last position, racing after the other soldiers and hating the fact he’d turned his back on his Lieutenant.
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