any remaining doubts, they’ve been quashed,” said Galina as she and Masha hurried through the streets of Gogoleth toward the Sturdy Sturgeon Tavern.
“Yes, miss,” said Masha.
“How could I possibly marry a man who is more preoccupied with inadvertently offending me than he is with inadvertently murdering an entire town?”
“Not the whole town, miss,” said Masha. “Ranger Sonya saved some of them at least.”
Galina chose not to reply to that. Even Masha spoke of the Ranger in an almost reverent voice, as if she was some sort of holy woman.
“Miss…” Masha gave her a concerned look. “You don’t still blame yourself, do you?”
“Well, I can’t help wondering,” admitted Galina. “If I hadn’t had my little fit of temper, would he have been so emotional when he arrived at Les? Would he have completely lost control like he did?”
“You can’t blame yourself for being a human being, miss,” said Masha.
And there it was. Galina was neither a terrifyingly powerful wizard nor a bizarrely revered beast woman. In the end, despite her wealth, her intellect, and her noble blood, she was still just a regular person.
Word had already gone through town regarding the impending conflict, so there was hardly anyone on the streets, and the markets were all closed up. Galina and Masha soon reached the Sturgeon and went around to the back entrance as they usually did. But when they entered, the atmosphere inside was anything but usual. Instead of a small group of grim countenances huddled around a single table, there was barely enough room to fit all the bright-eyed, eager patriots ready to take back their homeland from the imperials.
The change was no doubt thanks to Sonya, whom Galina had arranged to smuggle into Gogoleth a few nights before, along with Blaine, the slightly shorter and more pleasant-looking of the two Uaine barbarians she had met in Kamen. Now the Ranger stood in the center of the room, grinning widely, probably to show off her latest “blessing” from the Lady Marzanna: a full set of sharp little carnivore teeth.
“Hey, there she is,” Sonya called over the din in that aggressively “folksy” voice of hers. It was absurd for her to speak in such a lazy, slurring fashion, since Galina was confident that Lady Portinari had raised her to speak with proper elocution. “What’s the latest?”
“Your brother stopped by,” said Galina. “They plan to hold the garrison against the Uaine’s river assault.”
Sonya nodded. “All according to plan, then. I tell you, I still don’t know if I like Angelo, but that Aureumian knows his stuff. I just hope the Uaine don’t lose too many in the assault.”
Galina surveyed the crowded room. “The Uaine aren’t the ones I’m worried about.”
“Would you relax, Galechka?” Sonya squeezed Galina’s shoulders in an unpleasantly rough manner that was no doubt meant to communicate camaraderie. “What’s a delicate kukla like you have to worry about, anyway? It’s not like you’re going to be doing any of the fighting.”
Galina glared at her. If anyone else had spoken to her with such familiarity or called her a doll, it would have been unacceptable. But since it came from their beloved Ranger, not even Masha objected. In fact, she smiled obsequiously along with the rest, as if it was all quite charming.
“I just wish we could have gathered a few more to our cause before the fighting starts,” Galina said evenly, determined not to show her ire.
Sonya shook her head. “Angelo was adamant on this. We can’t chance it. Some of them might be imperial informants, and then Vittorio would know the full scope of our plan.”
“But that means we’ll just have to hope the townspeople rally around you quickly once the fighting begins.”
“Come on, Galechka. Don’t you have faith that I can bring everybody together?”
“I suppose.”
Galina was loath to admit it, but based on the reactions she’d seen so far, the townspeople would fall all over themselves to answer the call of a true Ranger of Marzanna. More and more, she understood what Lord Semyon Golovin meant when he wrote that “peasants are like dogs who would rather chew on the tired old bone they already have than reach for a new one with meat.”
“So, uh…” Sonya suddenly looked a little unsure of herself. “I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
Galina certainly liked this shift in demeanor. “What can I do for you, Sonya?”
“Well, since you won’t be marching with us—”
“Oh,” said Galina, who had assumed she would be. In fact, she’d envisioned marching side by side