The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,143
cracked and uneven cobblestone streets, he was reminded of Commander Vittorio’s statement that the Izmorozian people needed continued imperial guidance merely to survive. He’d thought the sentiment overly harsh before, but now he wondered if there might be some merit to it.
Sebastian led his horse to the main town square, dismounted, and waited for his sister to grace him with her presence. The townsfolk glanced at him, but when they saw his uniform, they quickly averted their eyes and hurried past.
Time crawled by and still his sister didn’t appear. His frustration continued to grow as he waited, filling his stomach with a quiet, seething burn.
Finally he decided he’d had enough. He planted his feet in a wide stance and shouted as loudly as he could.
“SONYA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”
He shouted it over and over again, and he didn’t care if people were staring at him.
At last she appeared. The bustling crowds that had been so studiously pretending to ignore him parted, and there she was, not twenty feet away.
“Stop being such an impatient child, Sebastian. I had to make sure you didn’t have any lackeys hiding nearby.”
It certainly sounded like her, but something was very amiss.
“What is wrong with your eyes?”
She smirked. “A blessing from the Lady Marzanna.”
“You’re joking.”
“Didn’t Mom tell you, little brother?” She looked very pleased with herself. “While you were playing around with magic, Mikhail trained me to be a Ranger of Marzanna.”
“Right. You, a Ranger.” He gave a short laugh, but she didn’t join him. She was serious. He took a minute to consider that. “And… you’re saying Mother knew about this?”
“She and Father both knew.”
“Oh, come on, that’s absurd. Father harboring a Ranger of Marzanna?”
“It went along with his whole thing about you not enlisting in the imperial army.”
There it was. She was still resentful that he’d gone against her. “This again. I am a grown man, and I can make my own choices. This is the life I chose.”
She narrowed her freakish amber eyes. “Yeah, you look like shit, by the way. Army food not agree with you, Bastuchka?”
She only ever called him that when she was trying to provoke him. He would show her he could rise above her pettiness. He took a deep, calming breath.
“Weren’t we supposed to talk like mature adults?”
She grimaced and scratched her head in an unnervingly animalistic sort of way. “Yeah. You started by hollering like a brat and I just fell right into it.”
“Oh no. You started it by sending that obnoxious letter—and to my betrothed’s house, no less.”
“I didn’t think it would get through if I sent it to the garrison,” she said. “Okay, maybe the tone wasn’t great. I’m no writer. Sorry. I just felt I had to talk to you.”
“Well, we’re talking. Now what do you want?”
“I want to find out what’s really important to you.”
His eyes narrowed. She seemed sincere now, not teasing or patronizing. “How do you mean?”
“Where are your loyalties, Sebastian? To your family? To Izmoroz? Or to the empire?”
“They’re all the same.”
“No, Sebastian, they’re not. You’ve been out among the people now. Surely you’ve seen it yourself. They suffer under the rule of the empire.”
“I see bandits and dissidents causing problems. Once we get rid of them, and vanquish the menace of the Uaine Empire, the innocent people of Izmoroz will be able to live in peace and thrive with the empire’s help.”
“Okay, first of all, the Uaine are not really an empire. They’re barely a country. And second, they aren’t interested in Izmoroz because, let’s be honest, there isn’t much here. The Uaine want Aureum.”
“And how would you know that?”
She paused. “Wait, did they not tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Sebastian asked uneasily.
“Oho! I guess they’re worried about where your true loyalties lie, too!”
“Sonya, don’t test my patience. What are you talking about?”
She nodded. “Sorry, sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t gloat. I’m just surprised your commander hasn’t told you that I’m the one leading the Uaine invasion.”
He stared at her for a moment, hoping beyond hope that she would suddenly laugh and mock him for being gullible. But she didn’t.
“You what?” His jaw felt like iron.
“I helped them cross the tundra. Now they’re helping me drive the empire out of Izmoroz. And then we’ll let them use Izmoroz as a staging ground for their invasion of Aureum.”
Sebastian was so choked with outrage that he could not even form words. The murder of two imperial soldiers was one thing. He’d even been thinking he would plead for mercy at the