The faint chirping of birds was the only sound that greeted Youri as he stirred awake on a velvet couch with his head pounding like artillery fire. "Where am I?" he groaned, clutching his temples. "Oh, my head. No more drinking. At least until I sober up a little."
He blinked against the sunlight and slowly took in the room around him. It was immaculate — golden chandeliers, portraits in ornate frames, and tall bookshelves filled with military logs and old relics from worlds he did not recognize. "Shit. I blacked out again," he muttered. "This place is way too fancy. Did I break in here?" He turned to scan the heavy curtains and the spotless carpet. A terrible suspicion began to crawl up the back of his neck. "No. This can't be…"
"Good morning, sir."
Youri nearly jumped out of his skin. "Oh! Who are you?"
The young woman standing in the doorway answered in a calm voice, elegant and crisp. "I'm the maid of this estate. My name is Anna. Breakfast is ready. Please take a shower and come downstairs. Lady Leonora is waiting for you."
Youri froze. "Oh," he said. "Shit."
A few minutes later, Anna found her mistress in the hallway and bowed slightly. "My lady, he's just woken up. I told him to take a shower, as you asked."
"Thank you, Anna," Leonora said. Her tone was perfectly composed, but there was a flicker of quiet irritation in her eyes.
Upstairs, steam rose around Youri as the water ran down over his shoulders. He leaned his forehead against the tiles and tried to remember anything at all. If she hated me before, she must really despise me now. He closed his eyes. But what am I doing in her house? Come on, brain. Think. How did I get here? He tried to piece the night back together from fragments — the fight, the whiskey, the cold floor of the pub — but every thread he pulled on came away in his hand. "Shit," he muttered, scrubbing his hair. "I'm in deep trouble."
The breakfast room was full of the smell of fresh bread and herbs. Sunlight spilled across the polished marble, glinting off the crystal glasses. Leonora sat at the head of the table, every inch the noble commander, with her posture perfect, her gaze steady and her expression completely unreadable.
"Breakfast is getting cold," she said coolly as he came in. "It would be a waste. After all, she cooked for two."
"Thank you, General." Youri slid into the chair across from her. "I usually skip breakfast, but since she went to the trouble, it'd be rude not to."
"Enjoy it. Anna is known for her cooking."
He took a bite, and his eyes widened. "I'm not a picky eater, but I have to say, this is really good."
Leonora smirked faintly. "Oh, you're making Anna blush. That's funny, considering she wanted to eliminate you a few hours ago."
Youri choked mid-bite and coughed violently into his napkin. "I — I'm sorry if I caused any trouble last night."
"Trouble? What trouble?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I only dragged you off the street, hauled you into my car and nursed you back to life. Poor Anna had the night off, and I had to call her back to help me carry you inside. But that's not all." She set down her fork. "You also destroyed my ten-thousand-zell carpet. There's vomit all over it. I don't think it can be saved."
Youri rubbed the back of his neck, mortified. "That does sound like something I'd do. I'll buy you a new one, I promise."
"You can't," she said flatly. "It was a special edition. One of one."
He sighed. "Shit. I'm struggling with my finances right now, but I swear I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
Leonora leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Oh, you will. As of today, you are my driver until you've paid off your debt to me. Your wages will go toward what you owe."
Youri blinked at her, stunned. "There's one problem with that. I'm not allowed to go more than thirty kilometers from the deployment center."
"Don't worry about that," she said, and her voice turned to the kind of ice that could cut without a blade. "It's already been taken care of. Your duties are to drive me wherever I'm assigned and to see to my needs while we're there."
A glint of rebellion crept into his tired eyes. "I know you're frustrated, General, but I'm not great at taking orders."
Her gaze hardened. Her voice dropped to something close to a whisper, soft and deadly. "That's none of my concern. You owe me, and you will pay. This is how I want you to do it." She leaned forward until her eyes locked onto his. "I expect you here every morning at seven. If you don't show up, I will personally see to it that you're banned from every bar and pub in the capital. And you'll owe me another hundred thousand zells for breach of contract. Do you understand?"
He stared at her, half amused and half intimidated. "Come on. Can't I just give you the ten thousand?"
"No," she said simply, and for the first time there was a flicker of amusement in her cold voice. "Even if you had the money — and I'm sure you don't — I don't want it that way. You'll work off what you owe me, whether you like it or not. Consider it your punishment for wasting my time and my maid's."
Youri sighed heavily and looked down at his plate. "Doesn't seem like I have a choice."
"Wonderful." Leonora rose gracefully from the table. "I have a meeting with the Consul today, so that's our first destination. We leave in ten minutes, so you'd better get ready." She was halfway to the door when she paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, and my brother will be coming by. After the meeting, you'll pick him up from his apartment."
Youri raised an eyebrow. "I thought I was supposed to be your driver."
"You are," she said, her voice cool and unwavering. "And you answer to my orders."
She walked out, her boots echoing sharply across the marble floor. Youri watched her go with a strange mixture of admiration and dread settling into his chest. He picked up his fork again, looked at it, and set it back down.
"Guess hell has a name after all," he muttered under his breath. "And it's Leonora."