A/N: Fun with insanely minor, unnamed characters!
He looked handsome. He always looked handsome, but that day, he looked brilliant. His bright blue uniform snapped proudly in the brutal wind that day, as he looked back at me one last time. Valentina and Klavdiya crowded close to us, and as they clung to their dashing father, I could see how beautiful they were, how perfectly their noses and cheeks curved out, just like his. They would be beautiful one day, and they certainly wouldn't have me to thank for it.
But the ship was nearly ready to sail. He leaned down, his soft, supple hair bowing gracefully to the breezes, as if acknowleging temporary defeat, and picked up the two girls, kissing them both proudly on the cheeks. His daemon, Quagedse, sat beside him, her tongue panting eagerly in the winds coming from the White Sea.
"Fedya?" My voice cracked slightly, and I hoped he wouldn't notice. My own daemon, Hyrpheble, looked up expectantly, her long ears twitching slightly as she rubbed her nose. "Fedya, will you come back from this? Your daughters are so young, they need you...I need you..."
"Elizaveta!" he cried, grinning wildly as he swept me up in his arms, too. Despite his appearance as a grave, sober young man, at home he was so fun- loving, even ridiculous, such a wonderful husband, such a perfect father. His daemon nuzzled mine and gave him an enthusiastic lick. "Part of the fun of being a soldier is the threat of death. I know it's hard on you and the children for me to be away so often, but I love the danger. I love the thrill of not knowing what's coming for me. And besides," he said, drawing me closer so that I could smell the warm hint of vodka on his tongue, "if I die, you'll not only be a widow, you'll be a rich widow!"
"I know, Fedya, I know, your life is insured by the Magisterium itself, and I'll get a pension if you end up dead." I couldn't help but smile a little, even through the tears that threatened to ruin my composure. A priest stood nearby, intoning prayers for the soldiers of the Imperial Guard. Of course, the normal infantry got none of these honors, but, as a soldier of the Magisterium, Fedya and his troop-members got high salaries, pensions, and even a regimental clergyman. And, as was appropriate for members of the Imperial Guard, nearly all of their daemons were wolves.
After we dismissed Valentina and Klavdiya to their playmates, Quagedse looked my daemon in the eye, his tail twitching slightly. "If we die..." Here he trailed off, his composure broken for a second. "The pension you get if we die will not be enough to support you and the girls. Don't be afraid to marry again. We'd rather see you happy with someone else, than your lives ruined by our death. We love you forever."
Fedya embraced my trembling frame, because I was openly sobbing now. Valentina, slightly more understanding than her little sister, stopped making Archangelic mud pies for a moment, and looked at me sadly. Her small daemon perched on her shoulder as a raven, tilting his head slightly in sympathy.
"I'm sorry," was all I could manage to say. He nodded, understanding what I meant, and gently touched his fingertips to my ears, to pull back the long, dirty-brown hair that was now streaking across my face, mingling with my tears and getting thouroughly messy. I could hear Clavdiya and Valentina's cries of disgust when my Fedya kissed me, but I ignored them for a moment. I knew that Hyrpheble was doing the same.
"Fedya," I murmured this time, my face buried in his shoulder, "when will we see you again?"
Here he drew back and smiled. "If we get back this time, I'll get a real job, and we'll never leave Archangel again."
"Promise?" I asked, smiling back at him.
"I promise. And now, my beautiful love," he crooned, kissing me foppishly on the forehead, "I must go. Farewell!"
He slung his pack over his broad shoulders, and with a final wave, walked away to the gangplank, Quagedse at his heels, where they immediately dissappeared into the strange fog that had appeared a few nights before. Even without the fog, though, I could barely see through the tears that were congregating in my eyes. Valentina came running to me, and I held her tightly as we heard the blast of a fog horn, and the ship's engines starting up.
Visions flashed through my mind; visions of past, of future. I could see myself in my favorite gown at a ball, being approached by a handsome gentleman in regimentals; our first kiss, at that, or some succeeding ball, while we sat on the sides of the room, waiting for the band to play a song that we wanted to dance to; our wedding day, simple in the eyes of most, but so special to me. I could also see him lying on a battlefield, blood pouring out of a wound in his chest, his eyes glassy; myself in a black gown, holding Valentina and Clavdiya close to me at a funeral.
It was then that I knew. He was sailing off to his death. Holding my best handkerchief high, I smiled for the first time that day.