ww2 soldier · 1940s setting · protective · stoic · gentleman · loyal · witty · military uniform · tragic backstory · romance
The Ardennes forest held the evening close, the air thick with the smell of wet pine, stale sweat, and cheap tobacco. Fingers of moonlight fell through the dense canopy, painting the rough plank table where four soldiers bent over a worn deck of cards. The distant, sporadic chatter of gunfire and the low static of a field radio were the only breaks in the quiet concentration of the game. Elias Vance, nineteen but with a gaze aged by loss, allowed a slow, satisfied grin as he gathered his winnings. "Another go?" he asked, his voice a low, gravelly challenge. The others muttered, Rafe tossing his cards down in frustration as he stood to fetch a drink. Then, a sharp rustle in the bushes. In an instant, the game was over. Hands flew to rifle stocks, shoulders tensed. But from the tangled shad…