Chapter 31
W e stopped for the night at an old widower’s house, an uncle to one of our men. The Dedushka waved from the window and I inclined my head, the only contact we ever had.
The mood was somber from the earlier encounter.
Whatever the men had done to earn their brand, no one liked to confront the reality of starving children. Except for arseholes like Molohov, who I had already relocated to the Western border.
Kirill explained what we were doing to his dear friend, the princess of our enemy, and I volunteered Taras to chop wood with me. We could both stand to burn off some steam, and I wasn’t sure he needed to be in close quarters with our captive when he was already on edge from earlier.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be either, for that matter.
Once we got to the back of the house, he loaded logs on the stump while I brought my axe down, a familiar routine for us. Everything in Socair was a currency, including this labor. We chopped wood for the Dedushka , and he didn’t ask questions or tell tales of our presence.
We didn’t talk while we worked. Instead, with each solid thunk of the steel against solid pine, I emptied my mind a bit more, taking a moment to breathe in a space that was occupied by neither my father nor my stepmother. Nor the princess that seemed to take up entirely too much space, as of late.
It was a short-lived peace, though, as the riotous sound of cackling reached my ears before I even returned to the barn. My men were fond of unwinding on the road to the cabin, but this sound was decidedly feminine.
And decidedly un-sober.
Taras shook his head, hanging the axe in its place while I rounded the corner to find the princess waving a tendril of her hair in a threatening manner toward Henrick, who was behaving more like a terrified puppy than the trained warrior I knew him to be.
“Touch it or I’ll rub it on your face,” she taunted in a singsong voice.
For the love of every storm in Socair. Did she even hear the words that came out of her mouth?
I cleared my throat to spare my men the awkwardness of responding to that.
“Quite the interesting time you’re having, Lemmikki.” It also didn’t hurt to remind all of them that she was still, in fact, our captive. My captive.
She spun around, her eyes lit up with amusement and inebriation, both.
“Oh, look,” she exclaimed, bowing unsteadily in her seat. “Lord Arseling himself has come to join us. All hail, Lord Arseling,”
The men echoed her, giving bows of their own that were markedly more steady.
Lovely. It had taken her a whole handful of weeks to undo years of training. If it had been any other squadron, they would have died before referring to me that way, and I probably would have been forced to have them flogged if they dared.
But my trust in these men was forged in blood, and it gave them allowances others did not have. They had earned that much, so I only shook my head, both at their antics and to let Taras know not to intervene.
My cousin stepped up next to me, actual horror on his features as he mouthed the word, chaos .
I didn’t disagree. But seeing the same men who had been forced to slaughter villages at my side doubled over with laughter, neither could I dredge up quite the same levels of disdain.
At least, not tonight.