I'd Give Up The World For You

Elaine preferred to spend her whole day off with Silas so they could run errands together. He had learned that a few weeks into their association and didn't mind one bit.

Having a female interested in him was thrilling since it had never happened before. She was pretty, smelled nice, and had an enchanting tinkle of a laugh on the rare occasions she let one slip.

He enjoyed spending time with her but had noticed certain discrepancies in her behavior every so often. As such, it was hard to tell when she was saying what was truly on her mind. She could talk forever about insignificant details while keeping her emotions close to her chest.

The only time true emotion seemed to slip through was when she talked about working as a laundress. He got the feeling she truly hated it there.

Silas liked what he saw but couldn't be sure if it was the real deal so he wasn't about to rush headlong into something he might not be prepared for. Lucky Dudley hadn't had that problem. He and Anise hit it off within their first few dates and were madly in love in a matter of weeks.

"Captain Conrad!" Elaine called as she waved at him from across the street.

That was another thing. They were still using formalities after all this time. He knew that was the polite thing to do until people were engaged or otherwise gave permission but they had been seeing each other for over a month and nothing had changed on that front.

"Good morning, Miss Fairweather. How are you?"

"Much better now that I'm with you," she said as she hooked her arm through his so he could escort her. "I received your note about the meal with your friends. What time is that happening?"

"Six. We don't need to start heading that way until around five so we can spend the rest of the day as you wish."

"Can we stop by the bakery? I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Of course."

Elaine rather happily consumed her croissant with strawberry jam. Silas knew strawberries were her favorite. There was a specific expression she only made when they were involved and it was endearing.

When she finished she daintily dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief and was suddenly much more restrained. "You mention Major May semi frequently but haven't said much about him. Is there anything I should know before meeting him?"

Not that he could think of. May was a man of many secrets but none of those could be mentioned here.

"Let's see…he's from Cloverfield, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere out west. He and his wife used to live on her farm until he went off to join the army. She stayed behind but they wrote each other constantly while they were apart.

"Eventually, she sold the farm and came here so they could get married. He's been a lot happier since then; he's like a completely different person around his wife. Around everyone else he's the serious, responsible type but with her he seems like he actually has a sense of humor.

"I haven't interacted with her much myself so everything I know about her I heard from Major May. Apparently she's quite talented at singing, baking, knitting, quilting, and gardening among other things."

"He seems to be a romantic," Elaine noted.

Silas laughed at the vast understatement. "He's the mushiest man alive but don't tell him I told you that. I suppose you'll see it for yourself later. I learned all of this from one long stretch of road on the way back to Zel when I asked about her. He went on for hours with everyone hanging onto his every word."

"Is he that charismatic?"

"That isn't the word I would use. He does breed loyalty though. About a fourth of the army would follow him anywhere, myself included."

"I see. I suppose I will have to judge for myself, though I will keep in mind what you said about him being different around his wife than everyone else. She is a particular friend of Juliet's so I have met her a handful of times. She seems to be the cheerful sort," Elaine mused.

Silas knew who Juliet was despite the fact that she had only been mentioned once or twice. Elaine didn't talk about her fellow laundresses very much and when she did it was only in passing.

"I get that impression as well, which is a very good thing for Major May. He needs someone like that," he said with a slight smile on his face thinking about how happy his friend had been the other day because she finally decided to love him back.

"You talk about him as though you're close."

"We are but that happens a lot with captains and their lieutenants. I'm close with my lieutenant as well."

"Lieutenant Boon, correct?" Elaine asked.

Silas nodded, impressed she remembered that because he had only mentioned Boon once. "That's him. I had a bit of a hard time picking who I wanted when I got promoted but he ended up being the best man for the job."

"I see. That must have been a tough decision considering how long you had been with your squadron."

"It was. I've been through a lot with my men."

They had all been through a lot together. Everyone who went to the bloodbath in Aveleen ended up in Zel too. Thinking about it made a knot form in his stomach. If May hadn't shown up and put an end to the fighting…

Elaine seemed to sense they were treading into dangerous territory and tactfully changed the subject. He had noticed she did that whenever the conversation seemed like it was about to take a dark or even slightly unpleasant turn. She was rather skilled at reading a room to be able to know when to do that every time.

Wasn't that exhausting? Being pleasant and careful all the time and never letting your feelings out had to take a toll on you sooner or later.

May never let his fury show though it was frequently simmering under the surface. Sometimes Silas could tell since they had spent so much time together but no one else would notice. His wife certainly hadn't.

To be fair, the anger wasn't present when she was around or even mentioned as far as he had seen. It was as if she had the power to temporarily wipe it out of him. A formidable woman indeed considering how deep that anger went. Silas would say that was his predominant personality trait after letting it fester for so many years.

He could understand why May hid his pain away. He couldn't let anyone know what he was up to and they would see through him in a second if they knew the depth of his rage and anguish.

What he couldn't understand was why Elaine carefully measured everything she said. What did she have to hide?

Silas continued wondering right up until they walked over to the Mays' house. It was in the row of houses closest to headquarters and was reserved for officers or soldiers with wives and children who got special permission.

He had only been here once to celebrate their wedding but it was the same as he remembered. Clean, neat, and decorated cozily. The clean and neat part could be either of them but the decorations had to be based on Veronica's preference. May's office didn't have a single unnecessary item in it.

He was helping his wife set the table when they arrived and went back to it once they had been shown into the sitting room. They worked together seamlessly, a perfect team as they maneuvered around each other without bumping anything once.

"Do you need any help, Veronica?" Elaine asked.

"We're fine but thank you!" she chirped back. "We'll be done in a minute."

Veronica and May began setting out the food, which consisted of a chicken, a fresh loaf of bread, and several side dishes. Silas noticed a cake sitting off to the side in the kitchen as well. They must be saving it for later.

He had tasted Veronica's baking only on their wedding day but it was the best cake he had ever tasted. He was looking forward to that. May was a lucky man getting to eat like this regularly.

It was a far cry from what was served in the mess hall, that was for sure! No wonder he had been so excited whenever he was sent fruit preserves from home.

"This looks amazing, Mrs. May," Silas said as his mouth watered.

Veronica smiled. "Thank you! Let's dig in, shall we?"

Without prompting from his wife, May began slicing up the chicken and serving it to everyone as the side dishes were passed around. Silas helped himself to some of the bread first and nearly moaned in ecstasy. This was so much better than the stuff in the mess hall they could hardly both be considered bread.

"This is the most delicious bread I've ever had in my life," he said fervently after swallowing his bite for the sake of politeness.

Veronica's smile was even brighter this time. "I'm sure you exaggerate but thank you."

"It's even better straight out of the oven with fruit preserves on it," May bragged. "The bakery bread I used to use out here with the jars you sent me was a poor substitution."

She elbowed him in the arm but seemed pleased all the same.. Her eyes crinkled at the corners with genuine delight and he gazed back at her sappily. Silas had never felt so single and he was here with a date!