Lunar Flash by Blair Bryan

Author:Blair Bryan [Bryan, Blair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teal Butterfly Press

Katie watched as Zoya woke with a start in a bedroom that she didn’t recognize, stripped down to a nightgown that wasn’t hers. The scent of jasmine lingered in the air, and she glanced around, looking for the baby.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” a tiny old woman said from the doorway before she entered the room, followed by a younger, scantily-clad girl brandishing a tray. She was barely four feet tall, and she walked with a cane. Her white hair was shorn tight to her head with impossible dimples deep in her cheeks and bright, inquisitive green eyes.

“Where am I?” Zoya asked, still drowsy.

The woman snorted. “You might want to ask another question.” Zoya heard a piano start playing and boisterous singing from below. Through the doorway, she got a glimpse of creamy breasts as another woman darted past the door, being chased by a rough-looking man.

“Is this a brothel?” Zoya asked, putting the clues together.

“Careful with the judgment, dearie.” The tiny woman waggled a knobby finger at her in warning.

Zoya let it go and asked the second most pressing question. “Who are you?”

“I am Olena, your grandmother.”

“What?” Zoya was confused. “I don’t have a grandmother. Father said his mother died in childbirth.”

“Ha!” It wasn’t a laugh. She made one barking, stunted sound. “He lied to you. That ungrateful son of mine cut his ties as he climbed the social ranks in Ukraine. My dwarfism made me a freak in his eyes and wasn’t palatable for his lofty political aspirations, so he cut off all contact. I left for the New World before you were born.”

Stunned by the revelation they were related, Zoya curiously eyed the little woman, but she knew Olena was speaking the truth. “Sounds just like Father,” she muttered.

“We have a common enemy then,” Olena said.

Zoya fought to sit up in the bed as bits and pieces came trickling back. She rubbed her eyes, but then realization hit her and she swung her legs to the ground, readying herself to stand. “Where’s the baby?”

“She’s with Erina.” Olena snapped her fingers, and the young woman who had been standing at the side of the bed awaiting further instructions set the tray in front of Zoya. She pulled out a chair and a stool for Olena before rushing out of the bedroom.

Olena climbed up the stool. Her short legs, forgoing a traditional women’s dress, were wrapped in pantaloons, tights, and a pair of men’s shoes.

“Eat,” she said to Zoya, who refused. “You need to keep your strength up.”

“How do I know it’s safe?”

Olena threw her head back and roared. “Oh, that’s rich. You think your long-lost grandmother would poison you?”

“Considering our lineage, I’d say evil lurks in our veins.”

She reached over, picked a small piece of roasted chicken from the plate, and popped it into her mouth. “See? It’s perfectly safe. Now, Your Highness can eat without fear.”

“Yuli is probably hungry.”

“She was,” Olena admitted. “Erina took care of it. Yuli nursed for ages, had a nice warm bath, and has been sleeping ever since.

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