Unriddling Clues: Day 11

Word Count: 66,007

Summary of Events:

Gavriila was brought before the General by Nikita, she then came up with a story as to why she'd been absent — so as to not tell the General she was a girl. As a result Nikita was to be punished at the General's orders, with the punishment being castration; Nikita refused painkiller and when he cried out in pain his cry startled the doctor into injuring himself. It took so long for the doctor to get tended to that everyone left but Gavriila, who stitched up the cut the doctor had made in Nikita's skin with some reluctance. Nikita was then released and told to return to active duty despite the pain. Gavriila went into the trees and collected plants to make a salve for Nikita, who didn't want it, still being mad at her . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""I'm sorry!" Gavriila cried. "I am. I didn't think that they would do that sort of a thing as punishment. But, I couldn't go telling them I was a girl, or all my efforts to keep my family safe were for nothing. And besides, if you wouldn't have decided to be so selfish none of this would've happened."

"Oh," Lieutenant Kharondirev said arrogantly, turning away. "So your actions are justified because, in the end, it's all my fault?"

"No," Gavriila replied. "My actions aren't justified. I was mad at you, so I decided to say something to get you into trouble, and that wasn't right of me. I could've just told the General that I'd been busy doing something and hadn't been paying attention to the hour. I did deliberately fabricate the story I did so as to cause you harm, but I'm sorry that I was so unkind in doing so, and I would like to make it up to you."

The muscles in Lieutenant Kharondirev's shoulders relaxed and his shoulders lowered. His head tipped down slightly as he stood, his back to her.

"Will you forgive me?" Gavriila asked quietly.

"I'm sorry," Lieutenant Kharondirev said, slowly turning around to look at her.

His expression looked genuinely remorseful.

"That's why a woman shouldn't be in the army, and, your hair is getting longer, the temptation is harder to fight," Lieutenant Kharondirev said. "You're starting to look too beautiful to resist. I . . . I want you so badly, but, but I shouldn't have done what I did either."

Gavriila reached up a hand and stroked some of the tears off of her cheek.

"You shouldn't be here, but you are," Lieutenant Kharondirev said. "And until we come up with a solution as to what to do about you and your family you're staying here, which is going to have to test my resiliency when it comes to temptation. I'm sorry."

Nodding, Gavriila stroked some more tears from her eyes.

"Will you forgive me?" Lieutenant Kharondirev asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Gavriila smiled slightly. "I asked first."

A soft ghost of a smile lifted Lieutenant Kharondirev's face as well. "I forgive you."

"And I forgive you too," Gavriila said.

Lieutenant Kharondirev stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around her. It felt odd and somewhat inappropriate to Gavriila, but she settled her head against his warm, smooth chest and brought her hands around his back to hang off of his shoulders.

"I considered telling General Moroyhanev the truth to get you into trouble," Lieutenant Kharondirev said, his voice resonating in his chest. It was like when she'd used to lean her head against Papa's chest while curled up in his lap on a cold winter night and she'd listened to him talk to Mama. "But if I would've told them I would've been killed as well as you, being as I'd hidden the fact that there was a woman in the ranks.""