Page 19 of Storm to Victory
He did his best to avoid looking at Merrik and Adry. Last he’d seen, they were talking quietly. While standing rather close in an embrace. But he wasn’t going to look to see if they’d moved from talking to kissing.
Instead, he circled around them and strode toward the edge of the field, reaching it as Dacha did, Uncle Iyrinder trailing behind him.
Dacha halted, his shoulders slumped, his gaze holding a haunted weariness, weighted with the toll this war was taking on him.
Until Dacha had been knocked unconscious a few weeks ago, it had never occurred to Fieran that he could lose Dacha in this war.
But now, seeing Dacha like this, his chest hurt with the knowledge that there was more than one way to lose his dacha to war.
“Sason.” Dacha shot him a look. “I did not expect to you see you here tonight.”
“Merrik was missing Adry.” Fieran gestured vaguely in that direction, though he didn’t look. “And it had been far too long since I dragged Merrik into something impulsive. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll even get into trouble for this.”
Dacha shook his head with a sigh, but a hint of a smile creased his otherwise hard face.
Good. The war might be taking a toll, but as long as Fieran could talk his way into making his dacha smile, perhaps they’d all come through this just fine.
By the time he and Merrik climbed back into the scout aeroplane and took to the sky once again, the sun had sunk fully behind the distant Whitehurst Mountains in the west. But thanks to all the new gauges installed in the aeroplane—an altimeter, a gyroscopic ball that showed his position relative to the horizon, his compass, the light so he could see what the gauges said—Fieran could actually fly back in the gray of the coming night with relative safety.
After flying in silence for a few minutes, Merrik’s voice came over the radio that connected the front and rear seats. “Linshi.”
“Anytime. Really.” Fieran flexed his fingers on the control column, trying to pretend his throat wasn’t going tight.
Merrik paused. “Especially because…because I know you have been uncomfortable with me and Adry courting.”
“It isn’tthat.” Fieran shook his head vigorously enough that Merrik would be able to see the motion easily from the rear seat. “My discomfort has nothing to do with you. I had a few childhood resentments between me and Adry to resolve in my own mind. That was it. Besides, this is the new, more mature me. If I can be mature about Rhohen, then surely I can be mature about you and Adry courting.”
Instead of sayingI will believe it when I see it, as Fieran expected, Merrik chuckled. “Believe it or not, that is actually reassuring. You have been surprisingly civil to Rhohen. Especially since he is growing closer to Pip’s cousin.”
“Don’t remind me.” Fieran scowled. He’d been doing his best to avoid Rhohen. Easy enough during the week that Rhohen had been at the front. But now that Rhohen was enjoying a week of rest in the small headquarters town and likely to spend time with Pip’s cousin Draenelynn, Fieran was going to have to work even harder at it.
Ahead, the mansion was a darker speck in the gloom, all the windows blacked out so that it wouldn’t be as visible from the air.
Fieran toggled the radio to call ahead to let the ground grew know to turn on the elven lights for the airfield.
Time to land, finally take that shower, and get some sleep.
Chapter
Six
Pip clasped Fieran’s hand, her steps light, as the two of them strolled through the streets of the headquarters village after Fieran had parked the small truck, Merrik and Rothilion trailing behind them. Merrik’s shoulders were slumped, his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t about to admit it, but he was mopey since Adry was still at the front.
With her free hand, Pip smoothed her uniform skirt, which she’d opted to wear instead of the uniform pants for this evening. It was as fancy as she could dress, here in this forward operating base. Not that this was a date. Just a showing of an entertainment troupe visiting the army to provide a morale boost.
They paused at the intersection to check the signs to figure out which way they needed to go. A line of army trucks rumbled past, filled with infantry likely also headed in the direction of the small park where the entertainment would be held.
After they turned the corner, they caught up with the pack of other elven pilots, flyboys, flygirls, mechanics, and members of the ground crew, who had walked the mile from the aerodrome. Stickyfingers, Lije, Tiny, Aylia, and Mak drifted back so that they followed the larger group.
On the other side of Merrik, Rothilion strolled with a step that was almost…peppy. His mouth curved into the broadest smile she’d ever seen on him.
Pip tugged on Fieran’s arm. When he glanced down at her, she pointed at Rothilion.
Fieran followed her pointing finger and grinned. “Rothilion. What has you grinning like a cat that just noshed on a mouse?”
Rothilion’s grin snuffed out as he lifted his nose slightly into the air. “I am merely anticipating the fact that all of you will finally get a taste of what sophisticated and refined culture is like.”
“Is elven entertainment really that much better than an Escarlish moving picture?” Lije sounded more curious than offended.
