Page 21 of Wings of War

Lije grinned and shook Stickyfingers’ hand. “Are any of your brothers in Endow Prison? I got a couple of distant cousins in there.”

“No.” Stickyfingers rattled off a list of the prisons where his brothers were at.

Fieran nodded along, then gave another deeper nod before he and Merrik meandered away, leaving Lije still talking with Sticky.

Back at their bunks, a young man with dark brown hair was settling into the bunk below Merrik’s. He had the kind of chiseled features Fieran’s sisters assured him was handsome, and the droop to his eyelids and languid pose suggested he knew it. He held a small hand mirror and was inspecting the lighter patches on his face that must have been covered by a fashionable mustache and small beard before the army barber got a hold of him.

The young man’s eyes remained on the mirror as they approached. “Do you think the ladies will mind the new look?”

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing many ladies around here.” Fieran leaned against the back of the bunk.

“I spied a few cute secretaries, and then there’s the ladies who serve in the mess. Not to mention we’ll eventually get leave to go into Bridgetown.” The young man smoothed a hand over his recently shaved cheek, then finally lowered the mirror. As his gaze landed first on Fieran, then on Merrik, he swung upright with a groan. “Oh, come on! Elves! Here I joined the army hoping to pick up dames—you know how the ladies love a man in uniform—but I can’t compete with a couple of elves. Not fair.”

“Half-elves. Our mothers are humans.” Fieran gestured from himself to Merrik. “And you can have the ladies’ fawning.”

He’d dealt with it his whole life, and it only got worse once the young women realized he was a prince.

At least having the ladies flirt with him wasn’t as bad as when they flirted with his dacha. Dacha never flirted back, of course. He was utterly devoted to Mama. But it was just awkward watching ladies throw themselves at Dacha because he was an elf with a pretty face, not seeming to care that he was married with five children.

Then there was that awkward poster that had gotten around years ago that featured a sketch of Dacha lounging about in a shirtless, sexy pose. Dacha had never posed for such a thing, and the artist had only gotten away with it because he’d marketed it as a poster of a generic elf rather than one of Dacha.

But it had clearly been Dacha. Dacha had been mortified.

Fieran was mortified whenever that poster made its rounds again.

“Even half as pretty as a full elf, you’re still half an elf too handsome.” The young man grumbled, sighed, then tucked the mirror into a pocket. “I suppose I will just have to settle for being the third most handsome specimen in the unit.”

“Such a hardship, I’m sure.” Fieran shook his head and climbed back onto his bunk. It was beyond time to get some shut-eye before morning muster.

Chapter

Eight

Pip clutched her small bag of essential belongings to her chest as she sat on the cushy bench seat in the train’s passenger car. The curved silver sides were filled with windows all down the car’s length, providing plenty of views of the Tarenhieli forest for the elves inside.

Craning her neck, Pip located her parents and brother where they stood on the platform in Morne. She waved, not sure if they’d be able to see her through the glare on the windows.

Dacha’s wave was the smaller, graceful elven tilt of a hand. Her muka gave that wide smile of hers that nearly disappeared into her beard as she waved back so exuberantly she nearly whacked a passing elf in the arm. Mak, too, was waving wildly enough to make the other elves on the platform give Pip’s family a wide berth.

As the last passenger settled into a seat in the train car, the train eased into motion, soundlessly gliding forward on the root rail system, propelled by magic.

Only a few other elves currently filled the train car. They’d likely pick up more as the train wound its way from the far western edge of Tarenhiel and into the deeper forests of the elven heartland until they reached Estyra.

Most of Pip’s belongings were stowed in the cargo train car. As she had purchased the cheapest through-ticket, she had an assigned bunk in the sleeping compartment. The bunks were stacked three high with only about two feet of headroom and little curtains to provide privacy from the neighbors. As she was small and short, the space was almost roomy for her, though she could only imagine how squashed her brother Mak would have been.

Mak. Muka. Dacha. She swallowed back the lump in her throat as she stared out the window, not really seeing the trees as they flashed by.

Was she doing the right thing in leaving home? She wasn’t particularly patriotic or driven toward the lure of glory and adventure.

She just wanted…more. She couldn’t even define what that more might be. It wasn’t like she had been discontent at home. She loved working on the trains. She was just indefinably restless, much as she had been before she’d gone to study at Hanford University.

Perhaps that restlessness had never fully left, even after she’d returned.

She pulled out one of the manuals she’d kept from her university days. This one focused on the workings of magical power devices. She might as well use the time to brush up before she arrived. There would be additional training for the Mechanics Auxiliary, but she wasn’t sure how much would be review and how much would focus specifically on aeroplanes and their engines. She didn’t want to look ignorant compared to everyone else.

The closer they got to the center of Tarenhiel, the larger the trees became. Buildings had been grown into the branches, connected with branch pathways and swinging wooden bridges. On the ground, pathways meandered between the tree trunks. Elves either walked or bicycled as they went about their business. While elves had yet to take to the motorized vehicles that were growing in popularity in Escarland, the bicycle had quickly become ubiquitous even in the most far-flung elven village.

At supper time, an elf pushed a cart down the center aisle, and Pip paid for a sandwich.

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