Page 23 of Fly to Fury (War of the Alliance #3)

Chapter

Fourteen

S itting on a low stool outside of the hangar, Pip ran a wire through her fingers, infusing it with her magic as she went.

The rays of the setting sun glinted off the metal side of the hangar behind her while the far hills covered all but the very top of the orange sun.

A cool breeze whispered up from the Hydalla River, providing some relief from the heat of the day.

Most of the Half-Breed Squadron perched on chairs, stools, or boxes along the outside of the hangar with donuts, bowls of ice cream, and other treats in their hands.

Many of the elven pilots had opted to sit on the ground, the grass around them appearing a little extra green rather than the burnt brown of the stalks elsewhere.

Even a large chunk of Capt. Fleetwood’s squadron had joined the outdoor party, with Capt.

Fleetwood himself sprawling on the ground as he sipped from a bottle of soda.

After Fieran had wiped out the Mongavarian airborne attack, Capt. Fleetwood and his squadron had come hurrying to the hangar from their day off in Little Aldon, arriving well after the battle had been over .

Not that it had lasted long. Fieran and his dacha had annihilated the enemy in a matter of minutes.

Fieran held court from a chair to one side of the large hangar door.

After he’d returned from the healer at the hospital, the squadron had all but shoved him into the chair and wouldn’t let him so much as lift a finger.

He laughed between bites of ice cream while a bottle of cherry-flavored soda rested beside his chair.

To one side of him, a table formed of two sawhorses and an old door had been set up. Donuts, sandwiches, a variety of chocolates and other candy, soda bottles, and tubs of ice cream had been laid out with the latter two items kept cold by Tiny’s ice magic.

Items had been arriving all day, sent up from the various vendors and shop owners in Little Aldon to reward Fieran and the Half-Breed Squadron. It seemed everyone wanted to celebrate such a decisive victory.

Another burst of laughter came from those clustered around Fieran.

Pip ducked her head and forced herself not to look.

Fieran had been so mobbed all afternoon that she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since he’d returned from the healer.

Even Merrik had been pushed to the outskirts of the group and instead had taken up a quiet spot a few yards away from Fieran and the center of the party.

The roar of an aeroplane came from overhead as the flyers of Capt. Kentworth’s squadron circled above the airfield, two of them dropping lower for a landing.

“You haven’t had any ice cream yet.” Mak sank onto the grass beside her and held out a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate fudge sauce. The bowl of ice cream he held in his other hand had strawberries on top of the fudge.

“I was getting to it eventually.” Pip finished easing her magic into the next section of wire before she set it aside. “I want to get more wire made to replace the burnt-out bits as soon as possible.”

With so much magic running through them, the wire rigging on the squadron’s aeroplanes had held up, but some had been damaged.

“It can wait a few minutes for ice cream. The Mongavarians aren’t about to attack again today.” Mak leaned against the metal wall of the hangar behind him, stretching out his long legs.

True, but she still didn’t like to leave the aeroplanes in less than fighting readiness.

Capt. Kentworth and his second-in-command climbed down from their aeroplanes. After a glance around, the senior squadron captain stalked toward Fieran and Capt. Fleetwood, a glower twisting his face.

Pip tensed, bracing herself for the captain’s reaction. He and his squadron had been a thorn to Fieran and the flyboys since they’d arrived. Even the mechanics for that squadron were a bunch of sourpusses.

“What is the meaning of all…this?” Capt. Kentworth swept a hand at the table of food, then at the two squadrons of pilots lounging about.

“Didn’t you hear over the radio, Kentworth?” Capt. Fleetwood raised his bottle of soda to gesture at Fieran. “Laesornysh here single-handedly wiped out the Mongavarian air fleet.”

“It wasn’t single-handedly. Most of the magic was my dacha’s, and I couldn’t have done it without the ingenuity of my chief mechanic and the steadiness of my squadron.

” Fieran didn’t rise from his chair to stand toe-to-toe with the other captain.

Instead, he remained lounging as he was, gesturing as he spoke .

Capt. Kentworth’s eyes flashed, as if Fieran’s casual air only infuriated him. He opened his mouth, his jaw working, before he clamped his mouth shut and stalked past Fieran and the others, disappearing inside the hangar.

Capt. Fleetwood sank back into his relaxed position on the grass.

“Don’t mind him, Laesornysh. Until I arrived, and now you, Capt.

Kentworth and his squadron held this border alone.

They endured heavy losses in the first month of the war, and over half of Capt.

Kentworth’s squadron are replacements for those who died. ”

Pip swallowed, holding the bowl of ice cream in her hands rather than taking a bite. What would it be like, watching so many members of one’s squadron die? They’d lost a few flyboys over the past months, but their losses had been only a handful. Not over half of the squadron.

Such a thing was her worst nightmare, and just the thought made her want to set aside the ice cream and go back to infusing the wire with her magic. She had to do whatever it took to keep the squadron safe.

“I’m sorry for the losses he’s endured.” Fieran shook his head, glancing over his shoulder as if to stare after the other captain.

“You’d think he’d be thankful that Fieran took out the Mongavarians.” Stickyfingers held up his soda bottle as if in salute of Fieran.

“It galls him that he fought so hard for so long, only to have you come in, defeat the enemy, and take all the glory in such a short amount of time.” Capt. Fleetwood drained the last of his soda, then set the bottle aside. “But he will have to get over it. It isn’t like you’re going anywhere.”

“No.” For a moment, the grin left Fieran’s face. Then he seemed to shake off the morose moment. “Well, we shouldn’t let him dampen the party. The war will still be there tomorrow. Tonight, we should celebrate.”

This earned a cheer from the surrounding pilots. As if that was a cue, many of them leapt to their feet and mobbed the food table for their second helpings—and third and fourth and fifth helpings.

Pip turned back to her bowl, scooping up a spoonful of the rapidly melting ice cream.

For a moment, she and Mak ate their ice cream in silence. Then Mak set aside his empty bowl. When he spoke, he kept his tone low in a way that wouldn’t carry to anyone but her. “So what’s the deal with you and Fieran?”

Pip froze, a bite of ice cream sticking uncomfortably cold in her throat. She swallowed several times and stared down at the bowl in her hands rather than glance at her brother. One look at him, and he’d read her all too clearly. “What do you mean?”

“You like him. He likes you. But there’s this tension like you don’t dare act on those feelings. Why not?” Mak’s tone hardened. “Surely it isn’t because he’s a prince and thinks he’s above you.”

“No, it isn’t that at all.” Pip clamped her mouth on the rest of her words, hearing the way her volume was rising. She glanced around. Thankfully, no one was looking in their direction.

No, if their disparity of ranks was a problem for anyone, it was for her. But she wouldn’t admit those doubts to anyone, not even her brother.

With a deep breath to calm herself, she swiveled to better face Mak. “We both confessed that we like each other, but we agreed that we couldn’t pursue anything until the war is over. ”

She couldn’t help it. She dropped her gaze from Mak’s at the last half of that sentence.

“Uh-huh.” Mak dragged out the syllables. “Did you agree?”

“Yes. No.” Pip fisted her hands in her lap, exhaling between her teeth.

“Fieran said that he couldn’t be distracted like that or he’d risk doing something foolish.

And he has a point. War isn’t the time for pursuing romance.

And the military has strict rules about courting and stuff and it would be a bad idea to get involved in something like that at a time like this and… ”

“Pip.” Mak’s tone drew her gaze again. He was looking at her, somehow both stern and gentle in that very big-brother way of his.

“You might be the chief mechanic for his squadron, but you aren’t under Fieran’s command.

There aren’t any military regulations against courting him.

And, no, maybe it doesn’t seem like the right time for romance, but this is war.

That should be reason enough not to wait.

None of us know the amount of time we have with anyone, and we certainly shouldn’t waste it waiting for the perfect timing.

It seems to me that the two of you will be distracted no matter what you do.

Either you’ll be distracted by courting or distracted by not courting, as you are currently. ”

Pip winced at that, fidgeting with her spoon. Mak had a rather good point. It was taking a lot of focus to pretend she and Fieran didn’t feel anything for each other. How was that any less distracting than if they actually acknowledged those feelings?

“Still, it…we…” She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to say. Her thoughts and feelings were a churn inside her, and she set aside the gloppy remains of her melted ice cream. Good as the ice cream was, she couldn’t manage to finish it .

“But the point isn’t whether I agree with him or not. Or even if you agree with his reasons or not.” Mak rested an arm on one of his knees. “The point is that Fieran made that decision for the two of you without asking for your thoughts and feelings on the matter.”