The Lightning War

August, 1940

Bernard Brennus stared out the window, holding his tiny infant niece, Freda. He was snuggling her as much as he could before he arrived in London and wouldn’t see her again for three months. She had once again fallen asleep on his chest, as it seemed to be one of her favourite places. He gazed down at her, smiling at how perfect she was with her full head of black hair, adorable chubby cheeks, and large curious dark blue eyes. Her tiny fist was clinging to his shirt as she quietly fussed a little. He repositioned her, hoping to keep her asleep for just a little longer, in order to give his sister, Addie, a few more minutes of sleep before taking Freda back.

In spite of Britain being at war with Germany for almost a year, he was going back to boarding school at Eagle and Salmon for his second year. The last nine months that he had spent at his uncle Brendan’s estate, with his cousin and the rest of his family, had been wonderful but also very eventful. He was not looking forward to three lonely, boring months at school, miles from all of his family. But his parents were going to stay with his mother’s cousin Bertie, AKA King George VI, his brothers and brother-in-law were responsible for securing a foreign prince named Rolf and his entourage, and Bernard’s sisters and niece were going to stay with their godfather, Apollo, and Freda’s father, Aelfric. It only made sense that he should go back to school. All the same, he was really going to miss everyone.

Freda started fussing loud enough to wake her mother, so he kissed her on the head and handed her to a sleepy Addie.

Addie took her, looking blurry eyed, and asked, “Hungry again?”

“I don’t know. She was fussy, so I figured she probably wanted you,” he answered, his eyes wide and apologetic.

Addie chuckled at the oversized twelve-year-old. He was already bigger and taller than most of the grown men that they met on the street, and his long wavy chestnut hair made him stand out all the more. He was also starting to grow a thin reddish brown beard, but his warm brown eyes carried a curiosity and innocence indicative of his age.

“Maylis and I are going to head to the dining car,” Donnie interrupted, as he stood, tall and slender, in the doorway to their compartment. His long dark curls were loose and falling over his shoulders as he tossed his head and continued. “Wanna come with us, pipsqueak?”

Bernard looked up, surprised. Donnie was not usually that nice but seemed to have become attached to him after everything they had been through.

“Maylis asked if you could come,” Donnie explained, looking mildly annoyed, but not as put out as usual. He would do anything for Maylis. Even be nice to Bernard.

“Alfred and I are going too,” Donnie’s father, Apollo added, holding six-year-old Alfred on his hip. Apollo had the same long dark curls as his son, only tied back and flecked with grey here and there, and his dark eyes were much kinder than Donnie’s. Otherwise Apollo and Donnie looked like the older and younger versions of each other.

Alfred reached out his small hand, his large dark eyes begging Bernard to come with them. “Please.”

“I don’t know,” Bernard laughed as he stood. “The last three times I went to the dining car, something dramatic happened. I’m not sure it’s safe to go,” he joked.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Maylis teased, her playful blue eyes dancing right along with her red curls. She was almost a year older than Bernard, but over a foot and a hundred pounds smaller than he was. He couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her protecting him. Even Donnie chuckled at the idea, and they all turned and walked toward the dining car.

“I met a really sweet girl named Amanda last year in the dining car, about your size,” he told Maylis. “She rescued me from a couple of pushy women. Amanda was only about your age, but she knew exactly how to deal with those women, and they were older than Emma.”

“Eew!” Maylis exclaimed, making a disgusted face. Even Alfred laughed at her reaction.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly,” Bernard chuckled, taking Alfred. “I much prefer your company,” he said with a smile. “They caught sight of my ring and wanted me to cover their tab, and who knows what else. Then, as you know, on the way to school last year, Addie had way too much to drink and a couple guys tried to rescue her from ‘overbearing’ me and Apollo,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Then we found out about Freda on the way to Uncle Brendan’s. The dining car is where you go when you’re bored, because something exciting is almost guaranteed to happen.”

“Wow! I think I might avoid the dining car too, after all that,” Maylis laughed. “I was just hungry.”

“They had a good drambuie last year,” he joked with a wink.

“I think I’ll take your word for it,” she giggled, as Donnie was starting to side eye him.

“You and the girls take Alfred and go on home today,” Apollo said, turning to Donnie. “Aelfric and I will get Bernard settled in and stay at Percival and Artemis’ house until after the summer session of Parliament. Hopefully this is the most excitement we’ll have for the next few months.”

Donnie nodded, obviously proud that his father trusted him. He was not used to Apollo entrusting him with anything at all, much less his whole estate, as well as the safety of all three of his goddaughters and his two stepchildren, for a week and a half, but Donnie looked determined not to let him down.

~♦~

There were many hugs and kisses, and promises to see each other at winter break, if not sooner, as Bernard, Apollo, and Aelfric disembarked in London. Apollo handed their small carry-on bag and their medical bag to Aelfric and helped Bernard with his three bags and his large trunk.

“I thought I was supposed to be the servant and you were supposed to be the master, Kyrios,” Aelfric joked. Being a small man, at just over 5’5” and slight, he always felt like he should be doing more.

“Oh shush.” Apollo laughed. “You are my husband, not my servant. And you are carrying my stuff. It’s not my fault Bernard is a clothes horse,” he teased.

“Aunt Millie made me so many nice things,” Bernard smiled, “how could I bear to leave any behind..”

“Yeah, I think you took half of your cousin’s wardrobe also,” Aelfric teased, eyeing the well stuffed luggage they were carrying.

“Only the stuff Brennan can’t wear anymore,” Bernard argued, but they were all laughing as they hailed a cab.

“And at the rate you’re growing, you need at least three different sizes of clothes,” Apollo teased.

“My goal is to be my brothers’ size by the time I see you at Christmas,” Bernard joked.

“Good luck growing a foot and gaining eight stone,” Aelfric laughed, helping Apollo load the luggage into the boot of the cab.