The Woman at the Gates by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

Author:Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger [Lucyk-Berger, Chrystyna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

16

LATE SUMMER 1944

ULIČ, SLOVAKIA

The thought came to him slowly. Piece by piece, with every stroke of his hand over her head.

With her.

I am.

The man.

I am meant to be.

Antonia looked up from his bare chest, the curtain of hair, the blanket over her back, tenting them. “What are you thinking?”

He thought the words through once more and grinned. “I think I’ve just composed a poem.”

She chuckled, her fingers teasing the hairs on his chest. “And are you finished? Is it ready to share?”

He shook his head. “I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

It was getting dark but he could still make out her features, her details, the crinkles around her eyes as they melted away with that smile. He sensed she was slowly coming back to the truth of their situation, and he was not wrong. He only regretted that it was necessary.

“What now, Ivan?”

“We get married. Isn’t that what normally happens after?”

She nibbled his skin and he jerked, regretting it because she rolled over and sat up, drawing the blanket over her shoulders, but covering his middle with one end.

“We need to leave soon,” Antonia said. “I know it’s been quiet, but it can’t last much longer. We have no idea what we’ll meet as we head for Bratislava.”

“Bratislava. You keep saying we. But you don’t mean with me.”

Her hand reached for his and she snaked her arm through his as he sat up. She encircled his knees with her arms. He leaned against her shoulder.

“I don’t know what to do, Ivan. Lena. Roman needs help with Lena and the children. She is doing all she can to keep herself together but…”

“That’s not the impression I get of her.” His tone was too rough.

Antonia turned her head and he flinched when he recognized that her expression had once again been carefully arranged. “I catch her crying, just so. Roman does what he can, but it’s me she leans on. It’s me she goes to when she needs strength.”

“That’s quite a burden you’re putting on yourself, Antonia.”

“I want to get them to Switzerland safely.” She gazed at him, but he sensed the question beneath.

“I won’t be in Switzerland.”

She nodded.

“There’s a war on. One of us might—”

“Or both,” she said softly.

She faced the dale below. Now, more than ever, he was certain that Antonia’s place was by his side, but he could not force her. If she could not have the Ukraine she wanted, then she would rescue her family. Find her freedom. And again, somehow, he had no place in this mission of hers. He had only ever been a cog on the wheel that brought her to where she needed to go.

She turned to him suddenly, her face unmasked. As if to soothe him, Antonia lay back onto the grass and drew him to her. He gazed at her, trying to see the green in those eyes of hers but the darkness was nearly complete. Her hair was fanned out on the grass. He lowered himself onto her, kissed the

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