Petro watched Tsuga as she balanced the baby on her lap. Marcus and Mulberry had wandered into the woods, hoping to find something to add to their supper while Salix kept watch in the form of a bird, a black splotch wheeling high overhead. Tsuga sat on a large rock by the fire, patting the baby’s hands together and smiling.
Petro sprawled on the grass, one hand propping up his chin. “You really like the kid, eh, Flora Tsuga?”
“Of course. Aurelia is a dear, darling, sweet baby,” Tsuga smiled, kissing the infant’s brow.
“You sure do look happy with her on your lap.”
“I just like her,” Tsuga shrugged.
“Her? Or little kids in general?”
“Both, I guess.”
“So, I suppose you’re looking forward to having one or two – or ten – of your own, someday,” Petro said conversationally.
Tsuga frowned, shaking her head sadly, “No. Not really.”
“Why not? You like kids. You’d be a decent mother. And some guy out there has to like wet blankets capable of killing a man at a hundred twenty paces.”
Tsuga ignored the insult. She looked down. “I'm - I'd be an awful mother. And what I like isn’t important here. I can't do it.”
“Don’t be silly. What you want is always important. Besides, it isn’t like you’re not allowed to marry.”
Tsuga looked away from Petro and back to Aurelia.
“What? I know you’re allowed to marry. I know Salix is betrothed. It’s all she talks about!”
“Flora Salix is betrothed, but it’s different for me.”
Petro threw her a questioning look.
“Salix can marry. I can’t.”
“What does that mean? That’s not fair, Flora Tsuga.”
“It’s fair,” Tsuga sighed, “She joined before me, so she gets to leave before me. Seven years training, seven years as a junior, and seven years as a senior, with juniors under you. You can stay on longer, of course, but you are required to serve those 21 years. That’s how it works; that’s what we owe in exchange for being fed and clothed and educated.”
“I don’t see how that’s different for you and for Salix, though.”
“Senior Salix was chosen when she was four years old. In eight months, when she is 25, she is free to go and to marry the man her parents chose for her.”
“And you?”
“I am Salix’s last junior. The Florae picked me up off the street when I was seventeen. When I have served my time, I will be 38. Too old to find a man and have babies. Even if I hadn't ever -” she trailed off and sighed. “Besides,” she shrugged, “who would have a woman like me?”
Petro sighed, not sure what part of her statement to deal with first.
YOU ARE READING
The Baby and the Battlefield
FantasyA baby? On a battlefield? Marcus is a clerk in the Imperial army. When he finds an abandoned baby on a battlefield, he has no idea what to do with her. His best friend is no help; he thinks Marcus is a sucker for taking the kid in. The slave who end...
