The Ranger of Marzanna by Jon Skovron

Author:Jon Skovron [Skovron, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2020-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

36

The thing that had surprised Galina most since her engagement to Sebastian was the improvement in her relationship with her mother. She and her mother had never been particularly close. Their temperaments and values were strikingly different, and had been even when Galina was young. Her mother had always acted as if this disparity was somehow a failing on Galina’s part, and Galina, not wishing to cause a scene that would inevitably make her father’s life more difficult, had never argued the point.

Fortunately, all of that conflict appeared to be in the past. In fact, it was now a common occurrence for the entire Prozorova family to spend time together in the vast library that was her father’s pride and joy. Little Vanya would sit on the rug by the fire and play with the toy imperial soldiers that Commander Vittorio had given him on his last birthday. Galina’s mother would stretch out on the sofa with her knitting and talk in a gentle and bubbly stream about the latest society gossip, while Galina and her father sat nearby at the large maple desk, murmuring occasional sounds of assent in her mother’s direction as they worked. Very occasionally, Galina’s mother would pause in her ramblings to say in a dreamy voice, “Oh, my beautiful Galechka, how we shall miss you when you leave us…” Galina would look up from transcribing her father’s work, and smile at her. Then Galina’s mother would sniff a few times, dab at a nonexistent tear, and continue her rambling.

It was fairly obvious that her mother’s change in attitude stemmed from the realization that once Galina married Sebastian and left Roskosh Manor, she would no longer have to compete with Galina for Lord Prozorova’s affections, a contest that had rarely come up in her favor. But Galina was grateful for this new peace, regardless of its cause, because it allowed her to focus on helping her father with the great work of preserving Izmorozian culture.

While Galina felt that her work with her father was of profound importance, she was also committed to her other great work, gently guiding her betrothed, and all the power he possessed, away from the empire and over to the side of Izmoroz and its people. Though she had vocalized it to no one, not even her father, she sometimes fantasized that with her intellect and his magic, the two of them might be able to finally liberate Izmoroz from imperial rule. Galina was honest enough with herself to admit that such potential was at least part of why she found Sebastian so appealing.

When Masha entered the library, apologizing for the intrusion and asking if Galina was free to speak privately to Captain Portinari, she did not hesitate to comply. In her mind, she was performing her duty both as future wife and future savior of Izmoroz.

But Galina paused when she entered the drawing room where Sebastian waited for her. He hadn’t noticed her arrival yet and he was pacing uneasily back and forth in the small room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.