The Wings of Mercury - Chapter 27 (Final)

Temporary Legion Hospital, Eastern Germania

“And make sure those supplies reach the forward aid stations by tomorrow,” Ky heard Lucilla say, her voice reaching him before he pushed his way through the tent flap. “I will not accept any delays.”

Ky smiled to himself. Although he spoke to her every day, it was a different thing, hearing her voice in person and not over the comms. Ky held up a hand, halting his lictore and directing them to wait outside the tent before pushing through the flap, into the darkened interior.

He was not interested in having this reunion in front of spectators.

“Yes, Empress. I’ll see to it personally,” the man inside said.

Lucilla gave him one of her curt, approving nods and was about to say something else when her eyes fell on Ky, and her brain seemed to short circuit for a moment.

“Thank you,” she said as she seemed to shake herself awake. “You … you can go.”

The man gave Ky a startled look, apparently not realizing he had come into the tent until he turned around, realized who he was and gave a sort of half bow, before hurrying out. Ky hadn’t meant to startle the man, but he’d wanted to keep from interrupting and knew he could, at times, be very quiet when he moved.

“What are you doing here?” she said as soon as the man was gone. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Ky said, smiling at her.

She crossed the tent in three quick strides and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. “Well, you certainly succeeded.”

Ky tilted her face up to look at him and bent down, kissing her deeply.

“How long can you stay?” she asked, a little out of breath as he finally pulled away.

“Not long. The front is still in turmoil. How is Titus?”

“He’s doing well. I received a telegraph from his tutors just as I arrived here. He’s happy and healthy. You know that already, because I told you over the comms just three hours ago, at which point you failed to tell me you were on your way here.”

“I know, but it’s not the same thing as hearing it in person.”

Lucilla smiled at him again. He missed their child, and knew it would be a long time till he got to see him again. Longer now that the war had entered its new phase.

Lucilla must have seen the look on Ky’s face because she asked again, “How are things at the front?”

“At a stalemate. The enemy brought up the rest of their men and have started digging. I think they’ve realized they can’t push over us and with their loss on the Wistla, we have a solid line all the way to the Carpathians.”

“That sounds positive. You stopped their advance into Germania.”

“Yes, but in a way that will lead to worse outcomes. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. We’re now locked into these positions, and it will take a lot of blood for anything to move. Gone are the days of outmaneuvering the enemy and achieving crushing victories. Now will become a meat grinder.”

Ky had described trench warfare to her, and why he wanted to avoid it, but he knew that, short of experiencing it herself, she would not understand. The lesson the world learned from this was not one her people had learned yet. It was just another tactic and not something to be feared.

“Isn’t there some technology that can change this? Break us out of this stalemate?”

“Maybe, but it will take time. Until then, we are in for a long and terrible war.”

To Be Continued …