I rolled my eyes and prepared to leave.
"But if I were the third prince of Kylae and I were hell-bent on going to Jervan, I wouldn't make a big spectacle of myself."
I opened my mouth to argue, but realization dawned.
He tapped his fingertips together. "I might ask my guard, who has a really good track record of sneaking into and out of countries, to help me get into Jervan without being followed by the media. Because if Father got wind that his son was meddling in the summit, it might cause a lot of problems."
I nodded. "Sound reasoning."
"And also, if I were the third prince of Kylae, I would remind myself that I was still a member of the royal family and I still had duties and expectations of my position. I would think long and hard about whether this woman, who is a sworn enemy to the crown, was worth all the potential trouble that this theoretical visit would cause."
I stood, but there was a smile on my face. "And if you were the third prince of Kylae, you'd know there was no other option than to go. Because she's the best thing that ever happened to you. And you love her."
"Just...be careful," Rhys called after me as I left his office, a new plan forming in my mind.
"No."
"Kader, you didn't let me finish!" I cried.
Upon my return from the castle, I'd gone straight to his apartment. I'd bounced my ideas off Martin, who seemed on-board with the idea, especially as Lakner, the city in Jervan where the summit was being held, was a known resort town and at least twenty degrees warmer than Norose.
Kader had been at home, thankfully, drinking a beer with Rosie, who'd excused herself as soon as I walked in the door. But if I'd assumed he'd be in a good mood, I was sorely mistaken.
"There are a thousand reasons why this is a terrible idea, most of which you don't know about," Kader barked. "So no, your ass is going to stay here in Kylae."
"Eli, don't be so mean," Rosie chided from the kitchen. "I think it's romantic."
"Romantic and a good way to get the boy in hot water with his father. Not to mention with other players he doesn't even know about."
"Rhys said I could go," I said. I didn't care what Kader said. If he refused to take me, Martin had already said he and I would figure something out. The trick would be to make travel arrangements without letting the media (and, by extension, my father) know.
"I highly doubt..." He stopped, and his eyes flickered for a moment. "Your brother wasn't opposed to the idea, you say?"
"He's the one who told me to talk to you!" I plopped down in the chair across from him. "He said you were well-equipped to smuggle people into and out of countries."
"He did, did he?" Kader said, scratching his chin. "Anything else he mention? Did your mother approve this idea?"
I shook my head, unsure why my mother had any say in this. "I didn't see Mom. But Rhys said that if I went, I needed to fly under the radar and not make a big deal about being there. And I figure, once I get there, I won't even leave the hotel room—"
"We're leaving in four days," he said abruptly. "Tell Martin to be ready."
My mouth parted in surprise. "Just like that?"
"Do not speak a word of this to anyone else," Kader growled at me. "Do you understand? Not your mother, not your brother, not even in your sleep."
I nodded fervently, willing to do whatever it took. His abruptness was extremely curious, as I'd never known Kader to change his mind about anything. But I didn't care why or how it happened, because only one thing mattered in that moment.
I was going to see my Theo again.
Theo
Now entering
Vinolas Forward Operating Base
The familiar rusted iron sign greeted me as my military car drove onto the base. Everything was as I remembered it, though the armory seemed to have suffered some more recent bombing. But the hangar, the barracks, the supply buildings. It wasn't home, but I felt a piece of myself returning when I stepped out of the car. Especially when I saw Lanis waiting outside for me. I hadn't seen him since my official promotion ceremony, so I meant it when I told him it was damned good to see him.
"You as well," he said, patting my cheeks. "neechai."
"Don't call me that," I groaned, rolling my eyes.
He laughed. "I was surprised to get your call. Didn't think you ever wanted to set foot in this place again. Most don't once they leave."
My gaze drifted towards the hangar. "I felt like working on some planes. Got any?"
Again, he laughed, slinging an arm over my shoulders and walking me into the cavernous space. I found the spot where I used to leave my girl after missions, my heart twisting when I saw an unfamiliar plane instead.
"Who's the new captain of my squad?" I asked.
"Name's Avanti Kallistrate," Lanis replied. "She's pretty good. But the attacks been a little less frequent lately, so we haven't been as pressed. I wonder if the Kylaens have run out of bombs."
I smiled but then I stopped, attention diverting to our glory wall. It held photos of the Kylaen Royal Family. Before my time on the island, I'd known these people as abstract things that I had been taught to hate from a young age. Now, this was my amichai's family, and, of course, my amichai himself.
I walked up to the wall and placed a hand on Galian's photo. It was a different photo than I remembered. I lifted the edge of it and saw the familiar one with a big red 'x' on it.
"We were so pissed they found that bastard alive," Lanis replied with a shake of his head. "I still don't believe he was on that island for two whole months."
"Where do you think he was?" I asked, a smile tugging at my face.
"My theory? After your plane went down in the ocean, he turned tail and ran. Took him two months to scrounge up the courage to return home. So to save face, his father told everyone he was stranded."
I turned away from Lanis to hide my smile. "That sounds...plausible. Knowing the princeling."
"Especially considering he went back to the hospital after that. Might've been a power play with his father."
"Let's talk about something else, please. The princeling pisses me off."
So Lanis and I went to work, and the feel of metal and smell of oil was calming. Besides the major's gold star where my captain's bars had been, I felt like the old me. The engines were known entities that didn't have hidden agendas. Fixing planes, at least, I could do without feeling like I was venturing out onto a ledge by myself.
"So tell me about this trip to Jervan," Lanis asked.
"That's part of why I'm here," I said, pulling out the dipstick to check the oil level. "Emilie, Bayard's public relations lead, doesn't think I'm... She's not very impressed with me. I don't think Bayard is either. He said I was too...honest."
"I guess it's true, you gotta be a liar to be a politician," Lanis said. "Not like a king."
"Kings have to be political, too," I said, tightening a nut that had come loose.
"Not Grieg. Anyone disagrees with him and it's a one-way trip to Mael."
I didn't respond, my thoughts drifting back to Galian. He'd said that same thing, and at the time I'd thought it cowardice. Now that I'd had a taste of politics in Veres, I'd begun to see our conversations in a different light.
I pressed my hand against the engine and allowed the lonely to well up inside me. Glancing at Lanis, I wished I could confide in him. He was the closest thing I had to an ally in this country, but I still couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. Not when he'd pulled me out of the Kylaen plane when I'd returned, nor in the hospital, and not now.
"How's that engine coming?" Lanis asked, wiping the oil off his hands. "Don't tell me you forgot how to fix it?"
"She's gonna fly great," I said, slipping off and down to the floor. "I'd fly her myself."
"Maybe you should come back here after Bayard's done with you," Lanis said. "We could use another mechanic."
I beamed at the compliment then faltered when I saw two small children wander into the hangar. They approached the ships
that were three times as tall as they were and opened the hatches. The little boy crawled inside his engine bay while the girl climbed into her cockpit, the spoilers and ailerons on the wings moving up and down as she tested their functions.
"They get younger every year, it seems," Lanis said behind me. "Those two, Ranj and Elisha, they're pretty good about checking their engines. Wish the rest of them would more often."
"Those two want to survive," I replied.
We were silent for a moment, watching the young teenagers work on their planes. A heavy feeling settled on me.
"How do you do it?" I asked.
"Hm?"
"How can you work here, year after year, watching kids like that when you know they're..."
"They've offered me jobs in the headquarters over the years," Lanis said, his gaze still on the pilots. "Turned 'em down."
"Why?"
"I can't stop the Kylaens from attacking, and I can't help every kid whose plane goes down. But what I can do is fix as many planes as possible," Lanis replied, gripping my shoulder. "That's all I can do, all I can control in this crazy world. You just have to do what you can and leave the rest up to God. There was a reason why you survived that death camp, 'neechai."
There was a reason, and yet again, the weight of my undeserved survival hung around my neck, made heavier by the two child pilots who might not be as lucky as I was.
EIGHT
Galian
Even though I'd never seen Kader make a joke in the two years I'd known him, some part of me still wondered if his acquiescence to my pleas was his idea of a laugh. True to my word, I hadn't said a thing to anyone other than Martin, and he'd only gotten the bare bones of, "We're going to Jervan in four days. Don't tell anyone." I hadn't even asked for the time off at the hospital, hoping to beg for forgiveness.
At the stroke of midnight, Kader arrived with a knock on the door, and my butterflies turned into a firestorm of nerves. I went to fetch Martin, who was taking a nap before our departure, and when I returned to the living room, the lights were all off. Kader looked at the small black bag in my hand—all I had been allowed to bring—and nodded his approval before silently opening the door.
We slipped out into the empty hallway and padded to the back staircase of the building. Even though I wanted to, I didn't ask questions, simply thankful that Kader was taking me out of the country. He picked the lock on the back door of the stairwell leading out into the street and opened it. A cold blast of air hit me and I shivered, wishing I'd brought my thick coat. I'd figured it wouldn't be needed in Jervan and the less I brought, the better. Besides, I'd spent eight weeks wearing the same t-shirt and pants on an island; I could handle a few hours being chilled.
We must've walked for an hour. The streets of Norose were quiet, our three sets of footsteps echoing off the dark buildings. Kader kept to the shadows, leading me and Martin without ever checking to make sure we were still there. I understood that we needed to fly under the radar, but this level of secrecy seemed a bit extreme to me.
I'd been focused on trying to stay warm while putting one foot in front of the other, but when I glanced up, we were in a different part of town. In the city center where I spent most of my time, the barethium-laced buildings were tall, sleek, and modern. But here, the dark shapes here were shorter and bulkier. We must've ventured into the slums.
There were more people braving the cold, windy night, but I doubted they were there by choice. They, too, wore flimsy jackets and shivered around small bonfires that reminded me of myself and Theo on the island. They had sunken faces and dead eyes, and didn't even acknowledge us as we walked by.
Kader took a sharp left down a dark alley then stopped in front of a door. He knocked three times, paused, then knocked twice, four times, then once more. The door clicked and he held it open for me and Martin.
The lights were low, but it was still a change from the near pitch black of the streets. And it was warmer, but not by much. Four people sat around a table illuminated by a single light. I immediately felt their eyes on me, and took a step back, bumping into Kader.
"They're expecting you," he said, patting me on the shoulder and brushing past me. He walked up to the first figure, a woman who stood nearly as tall as Kader himself. They spoke in quiet murmurs for a moment before grasping arms.
Kader turned and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Galian, this is Sayuri Johar, one of my oldest friends."
The woman walked closer to me, holding out her hand. I shook it, noticing the black tattoo that snaked up her arm, the buzzed haircut, the gold earrings that dotting her lobes. She surveyed me in the same cold, calculating way Kader always did. I wondered if I'd do any better with her than with him.
"Nice to meet you," I said, without anything else to say.
She released my hand and walked back to the table, leaning over a map of the Madion nations.
"Here's the plan, Highness: we'll be leaving here from Calandra airfield, that's a forty-minute drive," she said, pointing to a space north of Norose. "Kylae has an informal agreement with Herin to transport airplane parts every week. We'll leave from Ider Airfield and land here, in Gamar." She pointed to a spot on the northern coast of Herin. "From there, we've made arrangements to hop onto a Jervanian passenger plane that will take us right to Lakner." She pointed to the city on the coast.
I couldn't help but notice that we would cut out a good thousand miles if we flew directly over Rave to the capital of Jervan, but I kept that comment to myself.
"Listen up, Highness," Johar said, surveying me again. "This plan is predicated on us moving without attracting attention. Can you handle that?"
I nodded. I never wanted to attract attention in the first place.
"Once we get to Jervan, we'll figure out how to get you to your girlfriend. But first, we have to get there. Understood?"
Again, I nodded, a little awkwardly. This was a lot of effort just so I could see Theo.
But then again...
I glanced around the room at the others, who were murmuring to each other. This all seemed awfully convoluted to have come together so quickly. There were many players in the room I'd never seen before. Kader's excessive secrecy, the hour-long walk to the slums, flying all the way to Herin before getting to Jervan...
I said nothing, did as instructed, and kept my nose down. But I couldn't help wondering if I was simply a hanger-on to a much larger plot.
Theo
As jittery as I was to be leaving Rave for Jervan, especially as I still felt no better at delivering my speech than when Emilie had sent me to Vinolas, I was actually calmed by seeing the presidential plane in the airfield. Even though I wouldn't be at the helm, the idea of flying put a little smile on my face.
Our transport to Jervan was a repurposed cargo plane. Twin propellers sat on either side with blades bigger than my whole body. Inside, there were two sections I could see—rows of seats in the front, and a back room I presumed I was not allowed into. I took an empty seat next to a window and leaned back into the seat cushions.
I heard Emilie's voice before I saw her, and she boarded the plane with Wesson and another aide in tow. She hadn't asked to see me again, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or bad. She paused by my row as her aides passed her to disappear in the back.
"It will take a few hours to get to Lakner, so if I have time, please be ready to deliver your speech to me."
I nodded, secretly hoping we wouldn't have time. Emilie left through a divider in the center of the plane. Bayard's private office, I supposed.
A few minutes after I'd settled in, Bayard boarded the plane, followed by his most trusted aides, Ministers Breen and Lee, and Cannon. Bayard stood in the front of the plane, surveying the group in front of him with a pleased smile.
"Ravens, today is a monumental day for our country," he began, and I couldn't believe he was giving another speech, especially to those of us who already followed him blindly. "To meet with our Herinese and Jervanian siblings o
n equal footing. To have a seat at the table." His gaze landed on me, and I wished I could disappear. "To be able to speak about the horrible atrocities in our enemy's backyard." All I could do was half-smile at him. "Carry on, 'neechais and 'nichais!"
He and his entourage walked through the center aisle, smiling and nodding at me as they passed. All except Cannon, who stopped at my aisle and leaned over the seat to whisper, "So don't fuck this up, kallistrate."
A woman much smarter than I could've retorted with something savvy, but I turned away from him. He took his victory and followed Bayard into the back of the plane.
I released a sigh and sank further into the cushion, focusing on the vista of the Raven airfield. The pilot radioed and signaled that we were ready to take off, and a few minutes later, the plane rolled forward.
I closed my eyes, imagining that I was back in my girl, taxiing out for a routine surveillance. The days we weren't fending off Kylaen attacks, I used to take a few planes out with me to patrol our zone. With no threat of danger, I was free to practice my aerial defensive maneuvers, and just take my girl as far as I knew she could go.
The plane picked up speed, and I flattened against the seat as the nose tipped upward then we were in the air. I opened my eyes and pressed my face to the small window, watching the airfield grow smaller and smaller beneath us. After a few minutes, the land below was nothing but dark brown squares. Every so often, we'd pass over an airfield or small city, and I'd try to guess which it was based on my limited knowledge of Raven geography.
I grew tired of this game after a few minutes, and glanced around at the others seated near me. Most of the important people were in the back with Bayard, but Wesson sat two rows behind me, reading through a docket and writing notes in the margins. He caught my gaze and offered no kindness.
The Complete Madion War Trilogy Page 28
