Chapter Text
PRAEFATIO I
PRESENT TIME
Imperial Capital Berun
Krolloper, Königsplatz
July 1931
Captain Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakova paused at the entrance to the Kroll Opera House and took a deep breath. Funny how she’d spent years in some of the fiercest theaters of the greatest war the world had yet seen—only to have a fit of nerves in front of a theater of a different kind.
“Nerve-wracking, isn’t it?” a familiar voice beside her intoned. “I almost feel like I’m about to be torpedoed into the enemy’s heartland all over again.”
“Captain Grantz!” Viktoriya exclaimed. In her relief, she found herself throwing an arm around the officer’s neck and impulsively pressing her lips against his cheek.
Captain Vooren Grantz blushed and held her awkwardly at arms’ length. As he beheld her properly for the first time, his eyes widened. “You look absolutely stunning, Captain Serebryakova.”
Viktoriya colored. “Absolutely stifled is how I feel though…These heels are affording me about as much balance as a Russy Tsar Tank.
Captain Grantz laughed. “If it’s any consolation, this monkey suit is giving me about as much mobility as a Republican Saint-Chamond.”
“What kind of a war-addled buffoon are you, Captain Grantz??” a voice behind them bellowed. “A beautiful woman gives you a kiss and all you can do is engage in shoptalk??”
“Captain Neumann!” Viktoriya squealed. “And Captain Koenig and Major Weiss too!”
“The Imperial Army frowns on partisanship of any kind, Captain Serebryakova,” Captain Rhiner Neumann tut-tutted as he approached Viktoriya with his arms held wide. “If you don’t want us filing a complaint to the General Staff, you’ll have to give the rest of us what you gave Captain Grantz.”
Viktoriya laughed before hugging Captain Neumann and Captain Wilibald Koenig in turn and pressing her lips to their cheeks. When she got to Major Matheus Johan Weiss, however, she favored the Major with a kiss on both cheeks. Major Weiss promptly repaid the gesture by picking Viktoriya up and giving her a twirl. “It’s been much too long, Captain,” the Major smiled at her fondly before setting her down.
“What?!? Why does the Commander get two kisses??” Captain Koenig spluttered.
Major Weiss turned towards his subordinates and held up a placating hand. “The Imperial Army is a meritocracy, gentlemen. It goes without saying that the Wing Commander ought to receive the most favors.”
“In that case,” Captain Neumann mused, “what sorts of favors would Captain Serebryakova have to do for the Colonel??”
At the mention of their former commanding officer, a sudden pall settled over the group—most particularly on Viktoriya. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Captain Grantz direct an annoyed look at Captain Neumann, who simply shrugged his shoulders defensively in response.
“Do—Do any of you think she’ll be here?” Viktoriya asked hesitantly.
Major Weiss shook his head. “I’ve barely heard word about the Colonel since the uproar at Arene. The General Staff have kept her whereabouts a secret for years.”
“Well, if you ask me, she ought to be here,” Captain Koenig muttered. “There’s absolutely no way the Empire can be celebrating the 4th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities without the one person who contributed the most to ending the war.”
“It’ll be hard spotting our tiny commander in that mob though,” Captain Neumann quipped as he jerked his head towards the opera house’s crowded interior. “For all we know, she could be right under our noses—and I mean that literally rather than metaphorically.”
“In that case,” Major Weiss hummed thoughtfully, “I propose we station ourselves at one of the upper level galleries. That ought to spare us from the throng on the ground floor while affording us an excellent line of sight to the ballroom.”
“A commendable if somewhat conventional plan, as always, Commander,” Captain Grantz replied jauntily. “If we fail to detect our target by 2100 hours, however, I suggest we terminate the operation in favor of undertaking a series of sorties on the dance floor. After all,” he added with a grin directed at his fellow male officers, “how often do we get the chance to meet real women??”
Viktoriya pouted. “I take exception to that statement, Captain Grantz. The Colonel and I were—I mean are—real women too, you know! Or…maybe not the Colonel. I mean, maybe not yet. Although she ought to be one by now…I think.”
The four men with her froze. “Captain Serebryakova,” Captain Neumann spoke gravely after a moment’s pause, “even after all the horrors I’ve endured, some things in this life remain too terrifying to even contemplate. Let’s leave these speculations about the Colonel’s femininity aside and enjoy ourselves, shall we?”
And that was how, two hours and countless glasses of wine later, Viktoriya found herself singlehandedly maintaining their company’s purported mission.
“Gentlemen,” Major Weiss intoned solemnly, his ruddy cheeks belying his supposed sobriety, “the hour of our liberation approaches. I believe we’ve done our best for the Fatherland. Now we must render service to the Motherland. Behold the countless members of the fair sex wandering below—and bemoan the purgatory it must be for them to attend this evening’s revelries with neither a dedicated companion nor an attentive escort.”
Captain Neumann smiled beatifically. “Ah…What a blessing then that what constitutes a purgatory for women should inaugurate a paradise for men.”
Captain Koenig clasped his hands in pious agreement. “Then it falls to us as the recipients of such divine favor to transport these fair creatures to heaven’s gates—”
A sudden commotion at the entrance to the Grand Ballroom interrupted their drunken dialogue. They all paused to watch as a slender figure in a sleeveless gown and elbow-length gloves made its way effortlessly through the crowd, leaving a trail of hushed murmurs in its wake. The only other detail Viktoriya could make out through the throng was a cascade of golden hair framing and obscuring a pale face.
“I think Purgatory just got more crowded, Commander,” Captain Grantz reported.
“I’d advise you to manage the extent of your ambitions, Captain Grantz,” Major Weiss replied drily. “Only a born aristocrat moves like that.”
Viktoriya was inclined to agree. Even from a considerable distance, the woman’s presence was magnetic—something about the way she carried herself exuding a natural nobility that commanded people’s attention.
She was attracting a fair bit of it too, with men and women regularly stopping her progress across the room to engage her in brief conversation.
“I wonder if she’s from the Imperial Family,” Captain Koenig murmured. “She seems to be a celebrity of sorts.”
Viktoriya shook her head. “I can’t see her clearly enough from here—”
That was when a thundering voice from the direction of the Grand Staircase interrupted them.
“Ah, there you are, Colonel! We were beginning to worry that you wouldn’t arrive on time!”
At the sound of the voice, the blonde figure turned. As it did, the light from the ballroom’s massive chandelier fell on its face—and that was when Viktoriya gasped.
It was a face she hadn’t seen in four years except in dreams—the one face that had saved those dreams from becoming outright nightmares.
It was no longer the exact same face that she remembered, but Viktoriya would have recognized those piercing sapphire eyes anywhere.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Lieutenant General Kurt von Rudersdorf boomed, “allow me to introduce our guest of honor for this evening’s festivities: the heroine who served as the tip on the point of the Empire’s spear. Let us all applaud the former Wing Commander of the Imperial 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion—the Ace of Aces and legendary White Silver, Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff!”
~~~~~
Viktoriya only dimly heard the thunderous applause that filled the Grand Ballroom then.
“Is that really the Colonel??” Captain Grantz gawped.
Viktoriya stared. The Colonel had grown tall—at least taller than Viktoriya had expected she would—and the elfin features she remembered so well had matured to give her former commander a delicate, almost ethereal, loveliness.
“Who’d have thought she’d grow up to be such a beauty?” Captain Koenig murmured in awe.
That wasn’t entirely fair, Viktoriya thought in a daze. The Colonel had always been striking, even as a child. But her physical features had been so completely overshadowed by her imposing personality that few ever noticed. To begin with, few people ever even noticed that she’d been a child.
“Never mind that,” Captain Neumann exclaimed. “Who’d have thought she’d grow at all?”
Image illustrated by reader and artist Eiznel and back-posted on August 29, 2020.
Without thinking, Viktoriya grabbed her skirts and bolted.
“Captain!” she heard Captain Grantz call out. “Where on earth are you going??”
“Erm—bathroom!” she yelled over her shoulder breathlessly. “I’ll be right back!”
It was only when she ran into the press of bodies milling around the upper landing of the staircase that Viktoriya belatedly realized that everyone in the building probably wanted some kind of audience with the legendary Argent.
Given the density of the crowd, however, there was no way she’d be able to break through…unless she actually activated a flight spell with her Computation Jewel…which was currently lying rather forlornly in her dresser drawer back home.
In short, there was nothing for it but to turn back—except Viktoriya didn’t feel like returning to her present company either.
With a sigh, Viktoriya turned around uncertainly and, after a few minutes of aimless wandering, found herself in one of the open air galleries of the opera house.
“So…it turns out that she’s real after all,” Viktoriya heard before the acrid whiff of cigar smoke stung her nostrils.
“Well,” a second voice intoned, “some wartime legends are apparently true. I would never have expected the Devil of the Rhine to have the face of an angel though.”
A third voice chuckled. “She’s a looker alright. I wonder if she’s as wild in bed as she is in the battlefield. That’s the sort of war I wouldn’t mind waging.”
Viktoriya froze. “I assure you, my dear sir,” she interrupted in a dulcet tone that trembled from barely contained rage, “if the Colonel were as wild in bed as she is in the battlefield, you wouldn’t survive the encounter.”
The three men whirled around and the last one who’d spoken had his face twisted in a scowl—no doubt incensed by the insult Viktoriya had launched. When Viktoriya stepped out of the shadows, however, the scowl was quickly replaced by a leer.
“My, my, aren’t you a bold little thing,” he simpered. “I must say that one of the most regrettable aspects of having a heroine win this war is that it’s making Imperial women everywhere forget their place.” He stepped forward then and seized Viktoriya’s wrist in a painful grip. “Now, if you think I wouldn’t survive a tussle with the Argent, how about you and I do a…hmm…what do soldiers call it…a series of joint training exercises instead?”
Viktoriya was just about to hurl him off the balcony—in classic joint training exercise style—when the coldest voice she’d ever heard interrupted the proceedings.
“The Empire has no resources to spare for mock battles, gentlemen. However, if you’re all so eager to sample the delights of war, I would be more than happy to arrange for you to be drafted into the Eastern Front.”
Viktoriya looked up with a sharp intake of breath.
Standing right before her, like a vision straight out of the Book of Revelations, was none other than the guest of honor of the evening herself—Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff.
Viktoriya’s harasser paled and immediately released her arm. “My—My apologies, Colonel Degurechaff! I’m afraid I got carried away by the fervor of tonight’s, um, martial festivities...”
Viktoriya watched with bated breath as icy blue eyes continued to stare at her attacker. “Then I do advise you to mind yourself, sir. Who knows what could happen if I were to get caught up in a military fervor myself.”
“Yes, yes, of course, Colonel,” the three men stammered before stumbling over each other in a hasty retreat.
As soon as they were alone, the Colonel cast a sideways glance at Viktoriya. “In all the battles we fought together,” she murmured with an amused smile, “I rarely saw you fly into a rage, Captain.”
Viktoriya blushed and muttered. “He was impugning your honor, Colonel Degurechaff…”
Her former commander sighed. “Well, it is true that one of the most unrewarding aspects of having won this war is realizing how much we’ve risked to defend bloody fools like him.” Then she looked at Viktoriya and something about the way the sapphire eyes raked briefly over her body ignited a low heat in Viktoriya’s belly. “As imbecilic as he was though, I can’t entirely blame him for his idiocy. You’re far too beautiful for your own good, Captain Serebryakova.”
Viktoriya bit her lip as the heat in her midsection ignited into a blaze. It was so like the Colonel, she thought in a rather futile effort to compose herself, to dispense praise in the manner of a reproach.
“You’re—You’re quite stunning yourself, Colonel…”
Her former superior waved a hand dismissively. “These adornments and embellishments have their uses, I suppose. Not that I’m fond of them in the slightest. But our orders were to wear civilian dress...”
“You should wear such things more often, Colonel,” Viktoriya replied without thinking, “then the boys would stop wondering about your femini—I mean, they would get to appreciate your more feminine side!” Then realizing that she was on the verge of tying a noose around her neck, Viktoriya abruptly shifted gears: “But why are you here…and not in the ballroom…?”
The Colonel shuddered. “I’d rather be in a V-1 Rocket than in the middle of that mob.”
Viktoriya laughed. “Captain Grantz said practically the same thing.” She paused for a moment before adding shyly. “I’m glad you’re here though…It’s a funny coincidence because I did, erm, very badly want to see you...”
The younger woman smirked. “There are no coincidences, Captain, just the inevitable intersections between opportunity and anticipation.” She leaned against the railing then and that was when Viktoriya realized that the Colonel had more than caught up to her in height. “I just happened to see you leaving the upper landing and decided to follow you out here. It was a good thing too,” her former superior sighed. “Regardless of the circumstances, you were on the verge of assaulting a civilian.”
Viktoriya’s brain had briefly ceased functioning following the Colonel’s revelation. “You decided to…follow me…?” she whispered in a daze. After a moment, however, the rest of her former commander’s sentence registered and Viktoriya promptly looked down in shame. “My apologies, Colonel…”
“No need to dwell on it, Captain. I believe I’ve established my point. On a happier note, I hear that you’re doing exceptionally well as an instructor at the Military Academy. They tell me your trainees consistently graduate at the upper 10th percentile of their class.”
Viktoriya blushed. “I—I have to thank you for recommending me for that position. Though I do admit I was initially dismayed to be parted from the Imperial 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion…”
The battalion’s erstwhile commander snorted. “I wasn’t going to leave you in their hands. While I would trust Major Weiss and Captains Grantz, Koenig and Neumann with my life, I wouldn’t trust them with yours. After all,” she added, arching an elegant eyebrow at Viktoriya, “as tonight’s incident demonstrated, who’d save you if I weren’t around??”
For the second time that evening, Viktoriya wasn’t sure if she was being complimented or criticized. “I—I’d like to think I’m capable enough to stand on my own, Colonel!”
The younger woman laughed, a light silvery sound that caused a spasm in Viktoriya’s chest. “My dear Captain, war or no war, none of us are capable of standing on our own.” A shadow briefly flitted across the Colonel’s face then before she shook her head and added: “Such tragedies of the human condition aside…there’s no one else I can trust to adequately train mages for the rapid response aerial battalions.”
The jarring shift from back-handed compliments to unabashed praise was giving Viktoriya whiplash. Before she could respond, however, the Colonel abruptly looked to the side and murmured, “Ah…the cavalry finally arrives. I ought to be making my exit then.”
Viktoriya turned around and spied the determined silhouette of Major Weiss striding past the casement doors. “But aren’t you going to say hello…?” she cried, suddenly distressed at the thought of parting with her former commander so quickly after they’d been reunited.
The Colonel laughed again. “I would love to stay and chat, Captain, but if Major Weiss is as by-the-book as he was when I left him, he’ll feel compelled to ask me to dance—and etiquette forbids me from saying no. I’d rather spare him the inconvenience and myself the indignity.”
It was only in that moment of impending separation that Viktoriya promptly recalled all the questions she’d wanted to ask over the years. Why did you leave us? Why did you send me away? Why didn’t you write or call me all this time??? The one question she ended up blurting out, however, was the one she hadn’t expected to voice:
“But—But when will I see you again, Colonel??”
Her former superior looked at her, an enigmatic smile playing on her lips. “I have a new assignment…one that requires me to stay in the capital indefinitely. You can find me at the Imperial Colonial Office along Wilhelmstraße, near the Wilhelmplatz. If you call in advance, I’ll make sure to have the staff clear my schedule for you.”
And with that, the former Wing Commander of the Imperial 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion vanished as quickly as she’d appeared.
“There you are,” Major Weiss called out to Viktoriya as he drew close. “You were taking so long we were beginning to worry. What on earth were you doing??”
“Nothing much, Major,” Viktoriya smiled as she took his arm. “Just finding my own piece of paradise in the middle of this purgatory, I suppose.”
AMOR ENIM VULT OMAKE SERIES
THE MILITARY CHRONICLES OF A USELESS LESBIAN
Chapter 1: On Assessing the Marriageability Prospects of Former Battalion Comrades
CAPTAIN NEUMANN (with an air of somewhat misplaced pride): Gentlemen! Do you not find it amazing that despite the fact that our Imperial 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion has never had more than a few women, two of them happened to be the best-looking women in the entire Imperial Army???
MAJOR WEISS (nods emphatically with a matching air of equally misplaced pride): Absolutely, Captain Neumann. Setting their exceptional physical attributes aside, they possess other laudable qualities as well. Take Captain Serebryakova, for instance. She’s—
CAPTAIN KOENIG (nods sagely): Incomparably devoted.
CAPTAIN GRANTZ (nods dreamily): Extraordinarily sweet.
FIRST LIEUTENANT TEYANEN (nods enthusiastically): Remarkably kind.
CAPTAIN NEUMANN (with a slightly mournful and regretful air): I’m sure our darling Captain will get married in no time…
MAJOR WEISS (nods in firm agreement before moving on after a pause): And then there’s Colonel Degurechaff. She’s—
FIRST LIEUTENANT TEYANEN (intones forcefully): Fiercely implacable.
CAPTAIN KOENIG (intones gravely): Ferociously single-minded.
CAPTAIN GRANTZ (intones flatly): Downright terrifying.
CAPTAIN NEUMANN (with a slightly mollifying and placating air): Well…women really don’t have to get married these days…I’m sure our darling Colonel will be fine.
SOME MOMENTS LATER
Several Meters Away
CAPTAIN SEREBRYAKOVA (sighs with a longing and wistful air): Someone as wonderful as the Colonel will be sure to get married in no time. (Pauses as the thought fills her with rank displeasure.) I do hope she realizes that women don’t have to get married these days. (Titters as a new thought suddenly occurs to her.) Perhaps we can both remain single and, hmm, grow old together. (Sighs once again with a dreamy smile.) It’ll just be like the good old days…