Daughters of the Night Sky

“Thank you, by the way,” he said once his equipment was sorted. He took a seat next to me on the blanket, watching as the sun dipped behind the trees.

“Whatever for?”

“For letting me paint you. I’ve been wanting to for some time. The first time I saw you was after one of your practice runs. The sunset caught the glint of your auburn hair. I knew I had to capture it on canvas.” He tucked a finger under my chin, drawing my lips to his.

Mama’s cautionary tales, Taisiya’s warnings—all drowned by a single kiss.

I leaned in, allowing him to wrap his strong arms around me and drink more deeply from my lips. When he pulled away, I could see his dark eyes scan my face, assessing my reaction.

“I’ve been wanting to do that from just about the same time,” he admitted, leaning his forehead against mine. His embrace was like a down comforter on a winter morning, and for once I wanted to ignore chores, lessons, and duty and have a morning to luxuriate in it.

“I’ve tried not to think of you that way,” I said, finally pulling away to see his face. “I couldn’t afford the distraction.” I winced as the word tumbled from my lips.

“‘My distraction.’ That will never be my favorite endearment, but I’ve been called worse,” he said through a chuckle. He stood, offering me his hand. “I’ve had enough of the mess hall. Perhaps for a lifetime. Let’s have supper in town, shall we?”

“And who knows how long we’ll be confined to army rations after this?” I said, lacing my fingers in his and pulling my wrap closer against the rapidly cooling night air.

“Too right, but no more of the world tonight, Katyushka.”

We detoured to the barracks to stow the art supplies and violin, thankfully going unnoticed as everyone was eating in the mess hall, and continued hand in hand into town. The sun wouldn’t set fully for hours yet, we being so far to the north, but the evening light was reedy and feeble, somehow not quite sincere about illuminating our path.

I had never ventured inside an establishment more refined than one of the public houses near the academy that served a respectable ukha, where I went when I was homesick for my mother’s good fish soup. Vanya didn’t have his eyes on one of the loud taverns full of factory workers but rather directed us toward one of the smart restaurants that had sprung up to attend to the heads of industry, visiting officials, and important guests. The décor looked lavish to my untrained eyes. Dark wood and pristine white tablecloths. Low candles encased the room in a soft glow. I didn’t need to look at the menu to know I couldn’t hope to afford a meal here.

“I’m not terribly hungry,” I said. “Maybe we could go to a little pub instead?” He would insist upon paying, and I didn’t want to be indebted to him any more than I was.

“Nonsense,” Vanya replied, placing a bill in the hand of the maître d’ as he showed us to our table. A crisply dressed waiter scuttled over, looking as though nothing were more important in his world than Vanya’s next command.

“We’ll have the lamb pelmeni, roasted potatoes, and two lagers,” he said to the waiter. Lamb dumplings and crisp beer. Rich and savory, but nothing too exotic. “My treat,” he said softly as the waiter scurried off to the kitchen.

“I can’t let you,” I said, gripping my handbag in my lap, wondering if I would be able to scrape together my half of the meal’s cost from its contents.

“Please don’t think about it. Nothing gives me more pleasure than spending Father’s money on little luxuries he doesn’t approve of. A canvas, paints, and now a good meal with a lovely woman, all in the space of one afternoon. Father would be properly fuming. Let’s drink to him.”

His eyes met mine as he lifted his glass. “Za tvojo zdorovie.”

“Za tvojo zdorovie,” I toasted to his health in turn, then brought the foamy brew to my lips, savoring the cool trickle down the back of my throat after hours in the sun.

“I have wanted to thank you,” I finally said as I pushed a piece of potato about the edge of my plate. “I know Captain Karlov would have been perfectly happy to see me grounded and miss graduation since Tokarev can’t fly.” And why did you help me?

“It’s high time those bastards practice what they preach. If they’re going to admit women to the academies, they’d better damn well train them; else they’re just wasting Russia’s resources and everyone’s time. And Karlov is a special case, for sure.”

My shoulders tensed at the thought of Karlov’s onion-perfumed grimace on his walrus-whiskered face. “That’s the truth.”

“I’m shocked the headmaster dared assign any woman to him. I’d take it as a compliment if I were you. He must have thought you were either tough enough to survive him or worth the trouble of getting rid of. Either way, you made an impression.”