The Complete Madion War Trilogy

by S. Usher Evans

  "Your brothers?" I asked, glancing out at the still-empty traps. "What are they like?"

  "Rhys is...all right, I guess," he said. "I wish he'd stand up to my father though. I don't think he realizes that soon he's going to be the one making all the decisions. Might be useful to make some now."

  I mused silently that Galian chose not to stand up to his father in much the same way. "And your...other brother?"

  "Asshole," he said darkly.

  "But he's dead," I said, trying to not sound too harsh. "Don't you mourn him? Even a little?"

  "It's complicated, Theo." At my quizzical expression, he said, "Look, I loved my brother, just like I love my father. But...you can love someone and not like them very much."

  "Why is your father...why is he so intent on reclaiming Rave?" I asked. "Why after all these years?"

  "When the war started, it was about resources," he said quietly. "But now...now if the war were to end, half Kylae's economy would be gone. Thousands of our citizens are employed by the armed forces or support staff to the war machine. It's...it's big business. As easy as it would be to stop sending planes over there, it might completely upend the Kylaen economy."

  I continued to stare at him, unsure of how I felt about what he'd said. I decided to change the subject. "Tell me more about your brothers."

  He nodded with a cautious glance at me. "Dig used to beat the ever-loving shit out of me, and sometimes Rhys would help. I think he always thought I was softer because I spent so much time with Mom. She..." He bristled and a blush crept up his neck. "She had a name for me they always used, too. Mocking me."

  The image of Galian as a young child at the mercy of two older brothers was too much, and I couldn't stop the giggle and then the full-blown laughter that bubbled forth.

  Galian stared at me like I had two heads. "Was that a giggle?"

  I covered my mouth to hide the smile on my face. "Nope."

  "Theophilia Kallistrate, did you just giggle at me?"

  "Hey, what did I say about calling me by my full name?" I barked.

  "That I can do it all I want if you're laughing at my childhood misery," he retorted.

  I wanted to correct him, tell him he didn't know the meaning of childhood misery, but somehow I couldn't. Galian's privileged life was enchanting, and for a brief moment, I allowed myself to forget my own terrible one.

  "I'm sorry," I said with as much meaning as I could.

  Galian's face shifted again, and I knew he was thinking about things heavier than his brothers. "I just wish there was something I could do, you know?" He sighed. "About Mael. About the war. About everything my father does. I wish I could say it's because it's too hard, too political, too...whatever," he whispered. "But the reason is that I'm too cowardly to stand up to my father. I am afraid of what he would do to me."

  Galian

  I waited for her response, for her angry affirmation that I was every bit the weakling she'd expected me to be. When she didn't voice an opinion, I snuck a look at her. She seemed to be appraising me with that quiet, strategic observation I had come to expect from her. I was still smarting that she had laughed at my misery, and I hoped she didn't find me as weak and insignificant as my brothers did.

  "I don't think you're cowardly at all," she said after an excruciating few moments. "I think you just don't realize you have a choice."

  I cocked my head at her. "What do you mean, I have a choice?"

  "Since I was a kid, I've had a gun to my head telling me what to do," she said.

  "Right." I winced at my own complaining. Theo truly had a rough life; my bullying brothers were laughable in comparison. I felt like a fool talking about big brothers and bullies when she'd endured so much more.

  "It's okay, Galian," she said, knowing exactly why I was grimacing. It was funny how well she knew me. "My point is that nobody ever gave me a choice about what my life was going to be. And if I ever strayed out of line, I was expendable." She sighed heavily. "But you're a prince. And the only thing you're risking is your father's disapproval."

  "You never know what he would do," I said darkly. "He did leave me here to die on the island."

  Her mouth fell open and her eyes narrowed, then she looked forward. "You think he knows where you are."

  I nodded. "It shouldn't have taken them this long to find me, if they were even looking."

  "And you don't think that they'd spare no expense to find the prince of Kylae? Your father wouldn't put all available resources toward finding you?"

  "I think he probably told everyone he did, but I doubt he actually tried," I said. "I think he could use my death to reinvigorate the country the same way he did after Dig died. And I think...I think I'm only good to my father dead."

  "And what about to yourself? Your country? What good are you to them?"

  The question caught me off guard, and at the same time was a predictable one from Theo. She was too busy worrying about the fate of her countrymen to be selfish. And yet again, she'd demonstrated more maturity and selflessness in one sentence than I had in my entire twenty-five years.

  "You have an opportunity afforded to very few people," she continued. "The ability to make real, lasting change in this world, stem the tide of war. Save millions of lives. All you have to do is believe you can."

  Her faith in me was embarrassing, especially in light of the complete waste of a human being I'd been up until that point. Sure, I had gone to medical school, but looking back on it, that was the easy way out. Twelve hour shifts were nothing in the face of standing up to my father and demanding change. I could have camped out at Mael, I could have campaigned and used my position to force people to pay attention.

  The idea was frightening, even from the safety of the island. But it was also a little exciting.

  "Do you really believe I can make a difference?" I whispered.

  "You saved my life," she said with a look in her eye that captured me for a moment. "You convinced me, a Raven soldier, to not only trust you, but call you a friend."

  "Friend?" I said, slightly disappointed.

  She caught my tone, but a white fluffy tail redirected her attention. She grabbed my arm to quiet me, and we waited with bated breath as the creature moved closer...and closer...and then...

  "Get it!"

  TWELVE

  Theo

  That night we ate like kings, both of us falling into a drowsed stupor that made staying awake to keep watch a struggle. When I awoke the next morning, I was surprised when Galian asked me to show him how to kill and prepare a rabbit. I'd thought it was an empty gesture, but he was an apt, if not overly-eager student.

  His first attempt was atrocious. I would've thought after several weeks of watching me slice and dice animals, his stomach would be stronger. But there was a permanent look of disgust on his face as I showed him how to cut, and each slice seemed to pain him. I assumed, when I fell asleep, that I would continue to be responsible for our meals.

  Imagine my surprise the following morning when I woke to the smell of cooking meat. Galian had not only captured two rabbits, but had prepared them as well.

  "Breakfast is ready!" He beamed like he was serving eggs and bacon.

  I grimaced as I tasted the memory of salty pork on my tongue. Would I ever see it again?

  "Hey, what was that for?" Galian stalked over and folded his arms over his chest. "I swear I cooked it long enough—"

  "No, it's fine," I said, looking up at him from the mattress. For as much as I had yelled at him for going so far out of his way to find it, and as much as I hated the people who'd brought it here, I was glad for it. "I was just remembering eggs and bacon."

  He was practically drooling as he looked at the sky, ominously overcast. "You know, every morning I would have two eggs, over easy, three strips of bacon, toast, and a carafe of coffee delivered to my room." He looked down at me. "And it's been weeks since I'd remembered that. Thanks, Theo."

  "Sorry," I said, stretching and wincing as my leg twinged. I narr
owed my eyes at the sky; it definitely looked like rain. "Galian? Do you—" I blinked when a raindrop landed square on my nose.

  "Uh-oh."

  I heard nothing else, for the deluge began almost immediately. I yelped from the cold of it, realizing exactly how blessed we'd been to have gone this long without having to deal with the weather. Without another thought, I yanked the wool blanket over me. It did a little to keep the cold off, as soon it, too, was soaked.

  Galian was a bit more awake than I, and quickly stuffed our other two blankets under the mattress to keep them dry then crawled under the soggy blanket with me.

  "Shit," he said, wiping the rain off his face as his wet arm pressed against me. "We should have found a cave or something. Are you okay?"

  "It's just rain," I said with a grin. "I won't melt."

  "But we may freeze," Galian said. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer. "You're warm."

  I was shocked at his brashness, but couldn't argue with him. It was warmer than if we sat apart. With the exception of the times he carried me across the island, we hadn't spent much time in close proximity. At least, we'd never sat like this before, shivering and holding each other trying to keep warm.

  He adjusted the wet blanket over us and I settled deeper into the crook of his arm, leaning my head on his shoulder. I could hear his heartbeat, a quick thump-thump-thump. His breath was shorter as well, and his eyes were fixed on anywhere but me.

  Was I actually making him nervous?

  "And I was so excited to have made you breakfast," he said, looking longingly at the fire which the rain had nearly put out. The two half-cooked rabbits were doused and steaming.

  "I'm very proud of you," I said, and I meant it. "We'll cook the meat once the rain stops."

  He flashed me a grin that made my whole body warm. A small voice in the back of my mind reminded me that we were still there together, and there was still a chance for an us. But whether or not I was brave enough to broach the subject was another story.

  The rain was cold, I was now completely wet, but I couldn't find much to complain about. I let myself drift back to sleep, smiling a little more when he rested his cheek on my forehead.

  Galian

  It rained for most of the day, but I didn't really mind. After my body got used to the cold and the wet, I could only think about how she felt under my arm, leaning against me. When she woke, she stayed there while we waited out the rain.

  We had another easy conversation. She told me about the time she'd adopted a cat in the orphanage and spent all night in the rain looking for it. I told her a story about my favorite teddy bear as a child, and how my asshole older brother threw it into the ocean. We talked more about my mom, and summers at her familial estate in the south of Kylae, and she told me she'd never learned how to swim.

  "I'll teach you, if you want," I said. "We have plenty of ocean."

  She shivered. "Do you think that would be a good idea? I'm cold enough as it is."

  "Okay, next heatwave, you're learning how to swim," I said with a grin.

  "Do you think...we'll be here forever?" Her voice was quiet and reflective. I didn't detect any note of fear in it. In fact, she sounded...happy about the idea.

  "I hope not."

  She had the look I'd grown so accustomed to, the one that told me she was carefully weighing her words. "This is the freest I've ever been in my entire life." She said it breathlessly, like it was some secret she'd been holding onto.

  "How so?"

  "I've always had to do what other people asked of me. And being here...all I do is for my own survival, and it's...it's the best feeling in the world." She sighed happily. "And I just...I never want it to end, you know?"

  I sat back and considered her words. I missed my bed and my morning breakfast and the thought of coffee was enough to give me a small erection. Or perhaps being so close to her was doing it. I quickly directed my thoughts to something else.

  "There's nothing about the island that you like?" she asked.

  "Well, there aren't tabloid photographers chasing me all over the place," I admitted with a grimace. That was nice, although I wondered what kind of stories they were running about me now. Probably still mourning my supposed death. "You don't miss anything about Rave? What about your family? Friends?"

  She shrugged. "I don't have any. Not really. After I was conscripted, I made some friends at flight school, but we were all assigned to different squadrons and bases. And I tried..." She took a long breath. "I tried to not get too attached to anyone in my squadron."

  I held her a little tighter to comfort her, unsure of what I should say. I don't think there was a good response to that.

  When the rain lessened to a hazy mist, I got up to rebuild our fire to keep cooking our food. The second we disconnected, I felt like I'd jumped into an ice bath. I hurried as I gathered kindling and tried to start it.

  "W-we n-need to f-f-find a better sh-shelter," Theo said through chattering teeth.

  I nodded in agreement, striking the rocks together faster. I realized that the wet twigs wouldn't catch fire, but perhaps the dry wool blankets would. I hurried back to the mattress and lifted it.

  "W-w-what are you looking for?" Theo asked.

  "Dry kindling," I said. "I might have to sacrifice one of our blankets."

  "W-w-w-why n-n-not use the t-twigs?" she said, pointing a shaking finger to the bone dry sticks and leaves under the mattress.

  "Because you're smarter than I am," I said, grabbing them and putting them back on the fire pit. In short order, I had a small fire growing, and Theo joined me to warm her blue hands.

  "You okay?" I asked.

  "Yes," she whispered. "I-I don't know if I-I'll ever be w-warm again."

  I slid around to the other side of the fire and wrapped my arms around her wet frame. Quickly, I ran my hands up and down her back to create warmth, but she continued to shiver.

  "It might be better if you get out of your wet clothes," I said, standing and pulling out one of the dry blankets. She nodded and unzipped the soaking uniform, letting it fall to the ground. I tried not to stare at the now-translucent white bra and underwear that stuck to her body as I wrapped the dry blanket around her. She continued to shiver, so I tried to pull her into my arms.

  "Y-you're wet too," she said.

  I hadn't even noticed anymore, my concern over her outweighing my own misery. But when she mentioned it, cold seeped in through every inch of my skin.

  "C'mon," she whispered, opening the blanket a little in invitation. I was so cold that I immediately unzipped my soaking wet jumpsuit and let it fall off.

  "Um." Theo's face grew red as she stared at me, and for a moment, I was stunned by her sudden modesty. Until a cold breeze fluttered past my naked ass.

  When we'd arrived at the lab, I'd exchanged my disgusting clothes for a fresh set of Kylaen uniforms. But the explosion happened before I'd had a chance to wash my filthy boxers, so I'd been making do without any underwear.

  Something I'd forgotten when unceremoniously disrobing in front of Theo.

  Her gaze danced around at everything but me. I wanted to make fun of her but she was so flustered and cold that I didn't have the heart. Instead, I plucked our clothes off the ground and hung them over a tree then grabbed the other dry blanket and wrapped it around myself.

  Theo was still staring at the ground as if she'd seen something truly shocking.

  "I hope I'm not offending your delicate Raven sensibilities," I teased.

  She scowled and sat down on the mattress, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself. "I just wasn't expecting to see a dick, that's all," she replied and it excited me a little that she'd focused on that part of my anatomy. "Could've warned me."

  I laughed and joined her on the mattress, cozying up next to her. I was a little bit hurt when she inched away.

  "I'm sorry. I actually forgot I wasn't wearing anything," I said, hoping I hadn't truly offended her. "It was cold, and..."

  S
he smirked. "Little cold, huh?"

  "Fuck off."

  Theo

  It wasn't that I had never seen a man's genitals before. It wasn't that I was uncomfortable with nudity. It wasn't even that he'd surprised me.

  It was that I had been thinking about him nonstop for the past few nights, and seeing him naked was so damned tempting that I had to employ every single piece of restraint to keep my hands to myself. Especially after falling asleep in his arms, I was so aroused that seeing all of him was almost painful. And although I'd quipped about it being cold, there was nothing small about him.

  We sat wrapped in our respective blankets and waited for our clothes to dry. Galian stared ahead, lost in thought as he so often was. I took in the sight of him, and how much he'd changed since we'd been on the island. His beard, once adorably sparse, and now fully grown in, aged him somewhat, erasing the baby face that had so often graced the cover of gossip magazines. In my opinion, he was more attractive now than dressed in his finest tuxedo.

  And there I was, sitting next to this handsome man, wrapped in nothing but a blanket, and frozen in indecision about whether or not I should make the first move. Then again, I'd never "made a move" in my life. I could command a squadron and make strategic decisions with the lives of others. I could trap and kill a rabbit.

  But romance? Sex? I was as green as Galian had been when we first landed on the island. I hadn't had time for flirting and boys, so I didn't consider myself very good at it.

  Yet, I was already flirting with him, I supposed. I'd made him laugh; he'd made me laugh. We'd talked about topics ranging from his family to my childhood to how well our traps were performing. Was that flirting? Was that enough to entice him into bed with me?

  And did I just want him in bed, or did I want something more?

  When we decided that the gray clouds were too ominous to ignore, we slid on the sticky damp clothing, ate the two rabbits Galian had cooked, and set off to find a more permanent shelter.