very sensible,” he agreed.
“But it is this last aspect that gives you pause. No doubt you are leery of allowing your only daughter to marry a man who is half-Aureumian and seems for all intents and purposes to be a puppet of the empire.”
He nodded, looking impressed. “And since you knew what I would say, presumably you have already prepared your rebuttal?”
“I have indeed, Papa,” she said primly as she picked a piece of lint from the shoulder of his jacket. “Regardless of his apparent subservience to Vittorio and the empire, I know him to be a thoughtful man of deep personal conviction. He serves the empire because he believes that is the morally correct course of action. Once we are married and I am able to spend more time with him than the commander, my influence over him will grow and I will slowly, gently guide him away from the misapprehension he currently labors under and show him the truth about the empire. His heart is tender and sincere, and I have no doubt that once he fully understands the scope of the empire’s crimes, he will join with us in saving this blessed, suffering land.”
“That is a magnificent rebuttal, my darling.” He looked at her for a moment, his expression serious but kind. “Yet I fear you’ve missed one crucial element.”
“Oh?” A jolt went through her. She had been so certain. What had she missed? Had she bungled the entire thing?
He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders, then looked deeply into her eyes. “My Galechka. From what I have seen and heard of Sebastian Turgenev, I have little doubt you can mold him to be whatever you wish. What I want to know—what is most important to me—is this: Will he make you happy? Think carefully before you answer.”
Lord Sergey Bolotov Prozorova was not a perfect man. Stubborn, obsessive, intellectually vain, and impatient with those he deemed not worth his time. But underneath it all, he was also a tremendously kind and caring father. Sometimes she forgot that.
She smiled at him. “I can say with certainty that he makes me happier than any man I’ve yet encountered. Excepting you, of course, Papa. When I am with him, I feel alive and hopeful in a way I have never known before. Whether that is love, or merely the enthusiasm of my youth and inexperience, I cannot say. But I find his presence a great relief from the loneliness that plagues me when you are not here, and for the first time, the idea of sharing my life with someone else does not seem repugnant to me.”
“And there’s also the kissing,” he said with a sly grin.
“Papa!” She felt her cheeks flush.
“Your lips are a bit redder than usual, my darling. It was fairly obvious. Forgive my crude stab at humor. I have been among peasants so long, I fear they have made an impression on me.”
Now her ears reddened. “Yes, well, now that you’ve had some fun at my expense, what is your answer?”
He sighed and dropped back into his chair. “I would love to say, ‘No! I must have my beautiful, brilliant daughter by my side forever!’ but then I would be a terrible father. And if you are half as fond of Sebastian Turgenev as you seem, you’ll at least be happier than your mother and I. So while it pains me to say this, I promise you I will give Sebastian’s proposal my blessing.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Papa!”
He smiled sadly. “Naturally, this is all on the condition that whenever your mother is being tiresome, I can come and stay at your home.”
“Naturally, Papa,” she agreed.
27
Sonya paused when she reached the top of the snowdrift and took a deep breath, enjoying the sharp bite of arctic air as it entered her lungs. She stared through the slits of her goggles at the vast expanse of white that lay before them. The sky overhead was thickly clouded, but still bright, so it almost seemed like a continuation of the frozen tundra beneath. Even the mountains that rose in the distance were blanketed with snow. Out here, the world was serene and quiet.
Except of course for the young Raízian man who puffed and panted his way up the slope behind her. One of the few things she hadn’t considered when preparing for this trek was just how shockingly out of shape Jorge was.
“These shoes…,” he huffed when he finally reached the