"You didn't mention you were going to be in the match."
Gustav peered up from his textbook. His split lower lip was swollen and a green tinged bruise bloomed along his square jawline. "I didn't see how it was relevant." He blinked, blue light from the stained glass filtering over his eyes.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHKZ6cQ62L
Faye glanced around the near deserted library. She had woken a couple hours before breakfast to outline her article for the Gazette. Upon entering the echoing room, she had scanned the empty tables and rows of massive oaken bookcases only to find Gustav at the study cubicle.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZuiugQtk9
"Maybe you didn't because you thought you'd lose," she commented, picking at a splinter on the shelf over the nook.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvbM9aEF5s
Gustav's brow puckered, "Why do you say that?"885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRHJZAeNK2
Faye shrugged, "Anson is a good sized guy."
"That doesn't always matter in a fight."
"Oh right, yes. It's not the size of the dog in the fight..."
Gustav leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, "So I'm a dog now."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMet2tMHNpj
"If the shoe fits." She retorted before she could stop herself.
The bloody image of him panting as he stood over Anson screamed in her brain. Gustav was a terrifying mystery. How a person could be cool and collected one moment then a gory mess of blind aggression the next was a jarring concept.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhba88DSmRM
Gustav scoffed gathering his papers, "This is exactly why I was tentative about having an Antican on the Gazette."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DJTRm3rRq
"What does that mean?" Faye demanded as he stood to face her.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrXniUQIcR
"It doesn't matter," He slammed the book shut, "What I care about is that you can keep that judgmental perspective out of your writing. I expect that piece finished by the end of the day."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGla9oOM1Sz
He brushed past her towards the double doors. Faye stared after him aghast at his reply. Quickly grabbing her things from the nearby table, she rushed into the quiet hallway.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcxGQQ3kUG
"Judgmental," she snapped, pulling abreast of him, "I'm judgmental?"885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWQgAy2emf
"Aren't you?"
"Aren't you Berchten? A native of a country that embodies blind prejudice? What do you call the rest of the world? Lowborn is it?"
Faye's breath caught in her throat as Gustav grasped her elbow and yanked her into an alcove at the end of the hall. The morning was unseasonably warm and the icicles were dripping outside the peaked window, casting prisms on the marble floor.
"I was born in a country that never gave me a choice to decide what I thought was right," he growled under his breath, looming over her, "I never had the luxury of free speech as you did. Everything I write is censored, everything I say is observed not only by my teachers but my peers. You have no idea what it's like to grow up in this kind of environment."
Faye's mouth parted, her gaze skittering past his broad shoulder. When she looked back at him, his intent green stare burned cold against her face.
"Then why don't you say what you believe? What's stopping you?" Gustav loosed her elbow.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjAp4lAxOa
"You have loved ones back home, don't you?"885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMdoqIaJKD
"Yes, of course."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnC3R4s55CN
"So do I," Gustav straightened his jacket, his expression frosting over. "That is why I keep my mouth shut."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvDR0uDxsT
Faye didn't have to inquire further. There were rumors about what happened to those who spoke out publicly against the Empire. Their families were always the first to suffer. Berchten train cars were filled with those deemed unfit heading to brutal work camps in the south or the frozen gulags in the barren northeast. At the Academy, Gustav was most certainly at the heart of the lion's den. She swallowed hard as she realized that she was a part of that system now. Her parents were just as vulnerable as Gustav's family.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnTkJVShC0
"When you write, don't speak of the Empire at all or see it with the Emperor's eyes." He advised, the students were marching down the hall towards the dining hall.
"I will," Faye replied breathlessly, "I promise. I won't put any of you in danger."
Gustav's expression softened, "By the end of the day, I want that article on my desk."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGIG1WfrEp
After he joined the current of young bodies, Faye pressed her back against the cool limestone wall. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply. Until that moment, it had never dawned on her that her presence at the Academy put her parents in danger. 885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOgje9i1F9
The conversation leeched onto her for the rest of the morning. At lunch Estella sat down next to her after the school saluted the Emperor's image. When she asked Faye what was wrong, she shrugged her off.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGP4bLGLPi
"I think you have been working too hard." Estella surmised, "What do you think, Albert?"
"I think you need to stop taking these classes so seriously." Gladys replied, tearing a roll of bread in two.
"What if we don't?" Faye breathed, her appetite absent.
"Then we would probably just get sent home. We wouldn't be worthy enough to become a Berchten bride." Gladys rolled her eyes as she popped a piece of bread in her mouth.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXlV5YC6Fb
"Really? You believe they would just send us home?" Faye snapped. "The Emperor and these Bertchen politicians would let us go just like that? Without a fuss? We are their subjects now. Hell, you could call us the spoils of war if you wanted to get technical."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUd3ppHU3D
"Spoils of war?" Gladys repeated with her mouth full. She wrinkled her snub nose. "What a ghastly term."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5g3oIzWHW
"But it is true," Cecilia commented quietly, slowly stirring her soup.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAi6QxJd2UY
"I think I know what Faye is implying and I agree with her," Evelyn Fortune whispered where she sat between Cecilia and Gladys. "My mother's younger brother returned to Berchta when the Emperor called for all those of Berchten blood to join them before the war. When he got here, he didn't like what he saw. He mentioned it in the last letters we were able to receive from him. We assumed he died in combat. After the surrender, we found out he had never even joined the army. A couple weeks before I left, my grandmother received news that he died in a gulag."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUANQo3tk1C
"How on earth did they choose you with a family reputation like that?" Belle blurted out, earning a death glare from Estella.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnF9Y2rj81
"Different last names, I suppose." Evelyn shrugged.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzQAyco3Kq
"All this talk is making me sweat and not in a good way," Estella remarked, looking over at Gladys, "You want to ask Faye if she's interested?"
"Interested in what?"
"Nobody else wants to do it except Evie, Stell and I," Gladys explained, "They are allowing us to volunteer with the Nurse Corps in town. Tyr has quite the hospital and with the Emperor's final push for victory on the eastern front, they are receiving more causalities each day."
"However, that by no means implies that the Empire is losing the east." Estella added with a sarcastic edge.
Faye grimaced at Estella's comment, recalling Gustav's advice to speak of the Empire in the voice of the Emperor. She thought of Evelyn's uncle most likely frozen or worked to death in a gulag. An outward show of allegiance by aiding the Berchten war effort might help keep her parents safe at home.
"Yes," She nodded firmly, "I'm in."
"Good," Estella set her glass down firmly, "The more, the merrier."
"It'll be good for you get out of here too," Gladys added, "Give you a change of scenery."
Estella and Gladys exchanged a look that ignited curiosity in Faye. Before she could ask, the bell rang for the next class. Standing in unison, they marched out of the dining hall.
Heavy winter clouds crept in from the mountain range by late afternoon and the temperature plummeted. Though the refurbished castle had a modern heating system, the stone walls gave off a penetrating chill. The wing where the Gazette office was located was on the eastern side of the building overlooking Tyr.
Striding briskly down the hall, Faye paused by a pair of windows. The zeppelin from the day before still hovered over the edge of the city. It was incredibly close to the school in this wing. She could count the portholes in the cab hanging below the balloon. She'd assumed it would have been on its way by now to bomb a city in Rhodan or Lyrovia.
She entered the office without knocking. Stepping inside, Faye's eyes fell on the cluttered desk at the end of the narrow room. Anson Goldrick was twirling a gold pocket watch around his finger, a boot perched on the edge of the desk in front of him. He had taken off his jacket and loosened his tie. Apparently, he had the same immunity against the cold as the rest of the Berchten students. He glanced over from the window. An impressive shiner painted his left eye blackish purple.
"What are you doing here?" She asked bluntly.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVEeomZeji
A slow, tired smile spread across his closed lips. He wound the gold chain attached to the watch around one of his swollen fingers. Anson clicked the piece open.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiE1JI4p6l
"I was going to meet Wolff here around four o'clock," he casually explained in his deep voice.
"It's 3:30."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sQTJx1IMY
He held up the watch, "I'm aware."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlya3U1Ys2
"Why were you meeting him? For a rematch?"
Anson snorted and rose from his seat. He tucked his jacket under his arm and hid his hands in his pockets. Ignoring him, Faye strode towards the file cabinet.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidgTpgZxUr
"To study for history." Anson moved to the other side of the desk and leaned against it. "I don't think I'd be able to handle another round today after last night's beating."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQLKC6Fr1o
Faye tugged open a cabinet drawer and pulled out an empty envelope. She tucked her story into it as she approached the desk, refusing to look at Anson. He remained at her elbow as she wrote down a label. Faye caught the warm scent of tobacco on his clothes. It was surprising considering smoking was prohibited of students. The Emperor wanted his young men in the peak of health. As the stagnant silence continued between them, Anson hung his head with a sigh.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKz1BNFaaE
"Faye, I'm sorry," He began tentatively, "For that day in History. I can be thoughtless at times." She didn't respond but finished off the note with a flourish. "I was an idiot."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLEPyWALFe
"Was?"885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpG0Pdh3BN
Anson scoffed, shifting his weight on his feet. She glared up into his face. His generous mouth parted slightly revealing his divorced front teeth.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZCVH2uZvo
"Are you really going to hold that single episode against me?" The corner of his lips curved upwards.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPCeOKiAOm
"Why are you apologizing out of the blue?" Faye insisted, her curiosity getting the best of her steely resolve against him. "Did you talk to Roth Neilsson about it?"885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTN1DOoG5N
"What does Roth have to do with it?"
"He said I should give you a chance. I told him I'd rather not." Faye's expression hardened into a scowl. "Never mind. None of this even matters."885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikbvLK7u4z
"Maybe it does." Anson replied after a beat, his gaze falling to his feet as he tightened his arms across his chest.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0Rof4QkjD
"Why?"
Anson's peered towards the windows overlooking Tyr. His face blanched and he pushed himself from the desk. There was a strange spark at the stern of the zeppelin like a snake of light ripping up the seam. Without a word, Anson held out a thick arm against her, drawing them both back as they watched.
"Oh my God," He breathed.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbhG8OHAov
Faye's pulse spiked as a vicious explosion ravaged the front half of the ship in a matter of seconds. The force of the event blew towards them. Neither had a chance to speak before the seething gale hit the eastern side of the school. Faye dragged Anson by the arm with her as they hit the floor hard. Shards of glass and splinters from the wooden frame scattered over them. The heat swirled over their heads then receded. The terrified screams of students witnessing the calamity echoed from the courtyard while the buildings on the edge of Tyr collapsed. Each of the hydrogen filled compartments burst like ripe corpses in the sun till all that was left was a smoldering skeleton on the frozen ground.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnz2W5D8GlB
Debris slid off Anson's broad back as he sat up. He helped Faye to her feet, the two of them surveying the room in a daze. A gaping, jagged hole in the wall had replaced the windows. Papers scattered the floor and the file cabinet was blown on its side. Faye numbly acknowledged that her envelope was untouched by the typewriter.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5SnbtkZW8
She rubbed her head. As she brought her hand down, Faye noticed blood on it. Anson grasped her fingers. He tipped her face back with his large hands, his eyes wide and breathing heavy as he searched for the source of the blood.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2P7aVS6qho
"It's not mine." Faye observed breathlessly.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDdU1k7hSB
She turned his head to inspect a deep gash right behind his ear. Faye dug into her pocket for her handkerchief and pressed it to the wound, sirens ringing throughout the city outside. Anson and Faye gingerly made their way over charred papers towards the blown out windows. Peering into the burning rubble, the horror simmering on Anson's face dulled to anger.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCqYuWKt5s
"That was no accident." He murmured.885Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7oJkbU4Ll
