Aimie Runyan - Daughters of the Night Sky

We had just completed an extended theoretical session, and the mess hall beckoned with a subpar dinner, after which I would crawl into bed until Taisiya dragged me from it by my toes, when Vanya came up beside me and took me by the elbow.

“Headmaster Rushkov has an errand for us in town,” he said. “Let’s get moving so we don’t miss dinner.” The head of the academy frequently called on students to run his errands, but I’d never been called on to so much as post a letter.

“Let me stash my books,” I said, veering toward the barracks.

“No time. We’re taking one of the academy’s trucks. You can stow them in there.”

I nodded and followed him to the parking lot where the dingy green trucks stood, parked in a row with rigid precision. I wanted to ask what Rushkov needed that required my assistance—if there were supplies to fetch, surely he would have sent a man—but then decided I didn’t care. As Vanya drove the rumbling pickup off campus to the city that lay beyond, he reached over and held my hand, but we didn’t speak as the truck rattled over the uneven streets, neither wanting to break the comfortable silence.

We didn’t park in front of the post office, nor any other of the locations I thought likely for the errand. Instead he parked in front of the small Chelyabinsk city administration building.

“Rushkov needs documents of some sort?” I asked. It was a logical errand but didn’t require two cadets, days away from their final exams, to complete it.

“Rushkov owed me a favor,” Vanya said quietly, turning off the ignition. His hands remained on the wheel of the truck. “I asked for a night off base for both of us, the use of this truck, and no questions.”

“How nice.” I pulled the back of his hand to my mouth and pressed my lips against it. The exams still loomed in the back of my brain, however, and I was losing the fight to keep them there. As much as I wanted to be alone with him, was this not precisely the sort of distraction that could cost me on my exams?

No, I decided. Might not a good meal and good company do as much for my exam results as yet more hours poring over my texts? In any event, I was determined to find out.

“I’d dearly love to know why Rushkov owes you a favor.”

“To tell you would violate the agreement he and I made, but it’s safe to say that Comrade Rushkova would not be pleased with her husband’s behavior if I made her aware of it.”

I rolled my eyes. The usual tale, I was sure. A young woman—a maid, a shopgirl, or even one of the cadets from my very own bunkroom. Well, it wasn’t my scandal, and if Vanya used Rushkov’s indiscretion to our advantage, I would enjoy it for tonight.

“A date isn’t precisely what I had in mind, my Katyushka,” he whispered, scooting closer to me on the bench seat of the truck and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “I have something important to ask of you.”

He’s going to ask me to stay home, isn’t he? Will I be able to refuse him again? I tried to relax into his embrace but found I couldn’t. “What is it, Vanyusha?”

“If you won’t stay home from the front, there is one other thing you can do to send me off to war with some peace of mind.”

I gave in then, melding closer to him on the seat, oblivious to the people who walked on the sidewalk in front of us, peering through the windshield. “I’ll do it if I can, sweet Vanya.”

“Marry me, Katyushka.”

My heart strained painfully against my ribs for a moment before I reminded myself to draw breath. I’d known Vanya for less than three months. Did I know him well enough to spend the rest of my life tied to him? I looked into the serious black eyes as he studied my face, awaiting my decision. I willed an answer to come but found nothing but a cold ball of fear in my gut.

I thought of Mama, who would be denied the chance to see her only child married. I thought of his mother, who might resent me for stealing her son from her without so much as a word of warning. Of his father, who could hardly be expected to approve of his son marrying a laundress’s daughter, no matter who my father had been. And I thought of Papa, who would not be there to give us his consent and good wishes. To offer his blessing and dance with me at our wedding. At least in the last case, there was nothing I could do to rectify it.

But did they matter? They would not be the ones going to war. Could they deny us our happiness when the jackal was scratching at our door?

I realized then that I trusted Vanya with my life each day that he took us up for practicals, and he took that duty as seriously as any pilot I’d ever seen. I knew he would take the same care with my happiness when we were on the ground. And anyway, to assume that “the rest of our lives” would stretch decades and decades into the future seemed an arrogant presumption.

“Yes, Vanya. I will.”

He leaned down to kiss me, blinking furiously, then pulled away and murmured, “We need to hurry, my love. The office closes in a half hour.”

He descended from the truck. Rather than waiting for him to open my door, I followed him out the driver’s side and laced my fingers in his.

“Everything is hurried these days,” I said. “Why should this be different?”

“I am sorry we haven’t time to change—”

“Soldiers marry in uniform, Vanyusha. It’s better than a silk gown. And better my dress uniform than my flight suit.”

Vanya’s tension eased into a weak chuckle as he leaned over to kiss my temple. It took ten minutes for us to show our identification, fill out the forms, and speak our vows. He placed on my ring finger the small signet ring with a bold S that he wore on his little finger, and we were man and wife. We sealed our union with a kiss, though the clerk hadn’t included it in our vows.

“Well now, sweet husband, I don’t think we can rush back to the barracks and announce our marriage, can we? What shall we do with our evening? I can’t imagine you haven’t concocted a plan.”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you a proper honeymoon, dearest Katyushka, but we can have tonight. I told Rushkov we needed leave until morning.” My stomach lurched as I realized the brass would find out, sooner or later, that we’d married. Would that disqualify me from finishing my program? I didn’t want to find out, but we would only have to keep the secret for a few weeks.

“You whisked me off my feet so quickly, I hadn’t time to expect a honeymoon, let alone be disappointed by not having one.” I reached up to kiss his cheek, thrilled that now not a soul alive could object to me showing my affection for him.

“So much the better. But you shall have one someday. Cannes, Florence, the Greek isles. Weeks and weeks in the land of endless sunshine.”

“I can’t imagine heaven itself could be more pleasant,” I said. “But what about tonight?”

“A wedding feast,” he said, ushering me past the army truck and continuing on the sidewalk past the registry office onto the block in Chelyabinsk that housed the few nice restaurants and the hotel where we’d spent our one evening together.

I let him take my hand and escort me to the hotel’s posh restaurant. As the maître d’ took us to our table, I scanned the small dinner crowd. There were several men in uniform, but the women were all dressed impeccably in fine dresses and furs. I was glad my uniform was crisp and neat, at least, as I took in their finery. They aren’t serving their country. I may not be as elegant as they, but I am useful.

“I wish you could have worn a lace gown to our wedding, soldier or not,” he whispered. “But you’re the loveliest woman here.”

“Tonight I feel it,” I whispered in return.