The Complete Madion War Trilogy

by S. Usher Evans

  "But now I see that we had it all wrong," Cannon said. "All the pieces have finally come together."

  "Cannon, you don't understand—"

  "You fell in love with him, you stupid woman." Cannon sounded like his birthday had come early. "Did you think that you could run away to Kylae and be a princess?"

  "I thought if I could end the war, I could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of our countrymen!"

  "Oh Theo, you are an idiot, aren't you? This war isn't killing people. It's saving our country!"

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "And how's that?"

  "By giving us a common enemy," Cannon said. "If we suddenly stopped our war with Kylae, Rave would tear itself apart. You've seen the rebels, they've gotten much stronger in the past few years. The only thing keeping them from taking over is Kylae's constant bombing."

  "If you don't stop this war, there won't be a nation to take over, Cannon," I said. "There might be a chance to reason with Kylae. They could provide help—financial assistance. Jervan might be onboard, too—"

  "Did you hear that when you were fucking the prince in Jervan?" he asked with a sneer. "Honestly, Theo, I expected much more from you. Falling for a Kylaen?" He tutted. "I suppose you'll be reunited with him soon enough."

  My heartbeat quickened. "What are you talking about?"

  "I offered Bayard a new spin on your public story and, thanks to your little stunt here, it'll be an explosive last chapter."

  Galian

  "If you don't stop tapping your foot, I will cut it off."

  "I'm sorry," I snapped back at my brother, wondering for the thousandth time how he could remain so calm. Then again, he wasn't about to see the love of his life.

  It wasn't just that—there were questions. Why now? What had happened to make her to go to the island? Did it have anything to do with the mystery weapon the Ravens were planning? Had she just gotten sick of it all? With Mael closed, did she think it safe—?

  "I have a knife, and I'm not afraid to use it."

  I placed my hand on my knee to cease the movement.

  "What's going to happen when she gets here?" I asked. "You aren't going to...do anything to her, are you?"

  "Nowhere to send her anymore, Gally," Rhys replied, glancing at the radar screen in front of him. "Remember, we don't even know if she's there."

  "She's there, I know it," I said, rubbing my stomach that was doing flip-flops. "But even if Mael is closed, she could still be in danger." Martin was evidence of that. "I want to take her to Jervan. Start over and make a new life there."

  "Godspeed."

  I turned to look at him. "You aren't going to stop me?"

  He yawned and glanced at his empty cup of coffee. "To be honest, you being out of the country saves me a hell of a lot of work. Ever since you got back from the island, all I've been doing is following behind you and making sure you don't get yourself killed. Besides, I like Jervan. It'll give me an excuse to come crash on your couch."

  "I don't think Father, Mother, or the royal guard will let you...crash on my couch."

  "And I don't think any of the aforementioned people will let you just uproot and move to a different country with your Raven girlfriend." He wore a tired smile, and I flicked him off. Laughing, he went to refill his coffee from the pot in the small kitchenette area of the radar tower and brought me a fresh one as well.

  "So you just sit here and it counts as military duty?" I asked, before shaking my head. "Man, me and Dig got the raw end of the deal."

  "Dig wanted to go out there." His eyes stared into the distance the way he always did when he talked about Digory. "Even as a kid, he was always eager to put himself in danger."

  "Put me in danger is more like it," I muttered.

  "You were always the quiet one, you know?" Rhys said with a brotherly smile. "I'm glad you got out from under Father's thumb."

  "Careful, you'll be arrested for treason," I scoffed.

  "You know, sometimes I think he forgets he's not going to live forever," Rhys said.

  "And—"

  A loud beeping interrupted our conversation. Coffee in hand, Rhys rushed over and swiped the microphone out of my hand.

  "This is tower zero four seven. Aircraft, identify yourself."

  "It's Kader."

  My heart leaped to my throat.

  "And?" Rhys asked.

  "She's not there."

  "W-what?" I said, leaning over Rhys' shoulder.

  "Return to base, Eli," Rhys said, pushing me out of the way.

  "Already on our way. Should be landing in an hour."

  Rhys acknowledged his message and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "That doesn't mean she won't come—"

  "She did come," I said. "I know she did. Why else would a Raven plane be in that airspace? It's too far—"

  "Maybe Lachlan read the radar movements incorrectly."

  "How hard is it to read a dot moving from Rave?" I asked, throwing his hand off my shoulder.

  "It's okay. This was good practice for when she does come," Rhys replied.

  "Thanks, Mom."

  "I'm serious," he said. "Look, go home. Get some rest. I'll talk to Kader when he gets here and give you the full report."

  I swiped his coffee off the table and downed half of it. "If it's all the same to you, I'll wait here. I want to hear exactly what Kader found."

  She was there, I knew it. So why hadn't she shown herself?

  Theo

  I woke to blackness and my arms and feet bound with itchy rope and my memory slid back over me. Shortly after Cannon had found me on the island, he'd put a black hood over my head and everything had gotten hazy. Based on the raging headache, I assumed they'd drugged me.

  I heard voices and stopped moving, hoping to fool them into thinking I was still unconscious so I could devise an escape. From the pressure in my ears and the vibrations under my seat, I knew we were long gone from our island, so any hope of my amichai stumbling upon us was, too. If I wanted to survive, it was, yet again, up to me.

  I wasn't sure how long I sat in absolute stillness, but I knew when we'd landed. With the overhead propellers off, conversations which had been muffled became clearer. I heard Cannon, and some other voices I didn't recognize. I strained my ears trying to make sense of what they were saying, but I couldn't.

  "Get her," came Cannon's voice. Disembodied hands grabbed my arms and pulled me to stand, walking me off of the airship and onto solid ground. They ripped the hood from my head along with a fistful of hair and I blinked in the bright light.

  "Ah good, the traitor is awake."

  I blinked a few more times before the stench of latent barethium hit my nose. I was in Malaske cave, standing in the center of the room with two guards holding me upright. Bayard and Cannon stood before me, both with disgusted looks on their faces.

  "Tr-traitor?"

  "I'm disappointed, Theo," Bayard said, and looked genuinely so. "I thought that after all we'd been through together, Cannon must've been wrong about your loyalties."

  "I am loyal to Rave!" I said, my words coming out slurred as the effects of the drug wore off.

  "Then why were you on your way to Kylae?" Bayard asked. "To warn your...amichai."

  "You can't bomb them," I said. "It's wrong."

  "They must've done a good job brainwashing you if you value Kylaen lives over those of your own countrymen," Bayard said. "If we don't show Kylae that we can stand on equal footing with firepower—"

  "This isn't equal footing. This is an annihilation," I said with more control. "Did you even try diplomacy?"

  "And who would we send? You?" He chuckled. "We might as well sign the surrender papers."

  "I want a free Rave," I said, wishing the cotton would clear out of my head so I could argue my points better. "I love this country."

  "Then you have two options, kallistrate," Cannon said. "We'll expose you as the Kylaen-loving traitor you are. Hang you in front of Platcha for the world and your amichai to see.
Forever associate you with treason to the country you claim to love."

  "Or," Bayard said, "you will get on our plane."

  I wasn't sure which option drove more fear into my heart. "You want me to fly the plane to Norose?"

  "The plane can—and will—fly itself straight into Kernaghan Castle," Bayard replied. "We are simply giving you the option to go out a Raven hero instead of a turncoat traitor. Think of it as a small token of our appreciation for your seven years defending our country."

  I glanced between him and Bayard for a moment. Bayard's face was unreadable, but there was no kindness there. He wouldn't stop either outcome. He thought this was just. And since I was a lot better at aircraft than breaking out of a prison, I chose my strength.

  "Put me in the plane."

  Bayard nodded solemnly to the two sergeants at either side of me, and they marched me toward the aircraft that was to be my tomb. I didn't bother to look back at Bayard or Cannon, but I felt their eyes on me. I sensed Cannon's smug satisfaction that he'd effectively vanquished another obstacle between himself and the presidency. I sensed Bayard relishing in his short-sighted victory this bomb would bring.

  My boots clacked on the metal onramp but I remained silent. They walked me past the warhead that would obliterate my body before I knew what hit me. They sat me in the only seat on the plane, in the cockpit, handcuffing both of my wrists to the chair. I supposed they wanted to give me a front-row seat to my own demise.

  I glanced up at the young women. Both barely older than I was, both with stoic, dead eyes. Still, perhaps I might appeal to their humanity.

  "If you don't want this war to escalate into a total annihilation of Rave, leave the key," I whispered to the woman on my right.

  She stared at me for a moment, her eyes dancing back and forth. Then, her face screwed up and she tossed the key into the back of the plane.

  "Traitor," she spat.

  I said nothing else to them, made no other move, except to shudder when the ramp sealed shut.

  There was a loud rumbling noise and the earth shook. The sound wasn't the plane engine though, and the plane wasn't moving on its own. I craned my neck as far as I could with the handcuffs; the plane must've been on a platform that was being raised to surface level.

  "Okay, so this is really happening," I whispered to myself, tugging at my cuffs in a vain hope that they hadn't been properly secured. I glanced behind me to the empty space where the key had been thrown; I wasn't going to get it back any time soon.

  The plane broached the surface of the large concrete plain, and the mechanized lift shuddered as it stopped moving. The large engines on either wing rumbled to life, the computer in front of me began to beep, and the controls moved. The gauges rose in preparation to take off, and I prayed with all my might that the plane would be too heavy. That this whole thing would end in a fiery crash and that no one but me, Bayard, and Cannon would be the victims.

  The brakes released, and the plane rolled forward.

  "Don't take off, don't take off," I whispered, my knuckles white against the armrests. But as the speed increased I felt it: the slight bounce, the change in pressure, and then, the plane was in the air.

  I screamed my curses as the plane ascended into the clouds. I didn't care if Bayard and Cannon were listening. I wasn't going down without a fight. Gritting my teeth, I yanked as hard as I could on the handcuffs. I pressed the right cuff into the metal armrest and jammed my leg against it, trying to slip my wrist out of it. I pulled harder, willing to break my hand, but it wouldn't come out.

  I screamed in frustration, standing up as far as I could go with both hands cuffed to the chair. I thrashed, and I yanked and—

  One of the poorly-attached armrests came flying off, nearly clocking me in the head. I lifted my now-free right hand with the cuff still attached to it. I couldn't go very far, but at least I could now reach the dashboard. I leaned over and stared out the window, horrified to see water underneath me. I wasn't sure where exactly Malaske was, but if I was over water, I was quickly running out of time.

  I attempted to orient myself with the controls, but other than the gauges, most of them brand new to me. This technology was either Herinese or Bayard had been keeping it pretty close to the vest. My left hand dangling helplessly behind me, I kicked the facing under the dashboard to expose the wiring beneath it.

  Along with a radio.

  NINETEEN

  Galian

  The early morning shift had shown up to take over, but Rhys had dismissed them with a casual smile and a promise that he'd deal with whatever issues arose from missing their shift. Then he returned to sit beside me in silent companionship.

  Kader and Johar arrived just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. The plane landed on the runway, and their small figures walked towards the tower where Rhys and I sat. I didn't look up when they walked into the room.

  "So?" Rhys asked.

  "Nothing." Kader shook his head. "We flew low enough that the roar of the engine would've woken her if she'd been asleep. We saw no sign of her—no fire, no flare gun."

  I shook my head and ran my hands over my face. "This is all wrong. It makes no sense. I want to take a VTO out there."

  "Gally," Rhys said.

  "I don't disagree," Kadar said. "A Raven plane leaving that base? It's too far away to be a coincidence. I'd like to take my team up there and scout around."

  "A whole team?" Rhys asked.

  "I'm going," I said,

  "No, you're not," Kader said over Rhys' shoulder. "I think this may be a test on Rave's part to see if Kylae is watching that island. They might've stationed a team there and are planning an ambush if Galian were to go there."

  "And if they are, you'll clean them out?" Rhys replied.

  I slouched on the seat and thumbed the paper edges of the coffee cup. All I wanted to do was get my Theo back, and now they were talking about killing more Ravens. Ravens who wanted to kill me in the first place. It was all so...cyclical.

  "Galian, I know you had your heart set on this," Kader said gently.

  "Don't do that bullshit with me," I growled, standing up. "Stop patronizing me. I know that there was a reason a Raven plane went up there, and damn it, I'm going to—"

  The words died in my mouth. Perhaps it was a hallucination or sleep deprivation, or maybe I just desperately needed to hear it, but in that second, I could've sworn that I heard Theo's voice.

  But by the curious looks on everyone else's face, so had they.

  "...Hello...this is...somebody...seeking Kylaen contact..."

  I spun around and faced the radio the voice was coming from, my jaw slack and my eyes wide.

  "Move aside," Rhys said, shoving me out of the way. "This is Kylaen Tower zero-four-seven, identify yourself."

  "Oh thank God...thank God..."

  The terror in her voice was clear. I took two steps forward, but Kadar and Johar grabbed my arms and pulled me back.

  "What are you doing?" I snarled.

  "Let him talk," Kader said.

  "Identify yourself," Rhys repeated.

  "My name is Maj...well, I guess just Theo Kallistrate now...I am...was...a pilot in the Raven air forces. And I need you to do something really drastic."

  "Oh yeah?" Rhys said, glancing at me. "What's that?"

  "What I'm about to tell you sounds really, really unbelievable, and coming from a Raven, I'm sure that it's even less believable but...I'm in a plane flying over the Madion Sea right now, and there's...a really big bomb in here that can level Norose if it gets there. So I need you to get some planes together and..." I heard the sharp intake of breath. "Blow me out of the sky."

  My voice died in my throat. She couldn't...she couldn't be...

  Rhys pressed the button to speak. "That does sound awfully unbelievable, Major, especially considering I have no such Raven airship on my radar screen."

  "Please! You have to believe me. It's using Herinese technology that hides the ship from radar, so you wouldn't see
it but...this thing...if what they tell me is true...it could kill thousands...hundreds of thousands of Kylaens."

  "And why would a Raven care about that?"

  "Because I can't let Rave do this. We can't do this—the war will escalate, people will die..."

  Rhys turned to look at Kader, but Theo continued.

  "And there's someone I love very much in Norose." Her voice cracked and something twisted in my gut. "I couldn't bear it if... You have to stop this thing. Please believe me."

  "Stand by," Rhys snapped, turning off the radio and looking at Kader. He glanced at my arms still pinned near my ears by Kader and Johar and smiled. "Can I trust you not to talk to your girlfriend if they let you go?"

  I bared my teeth at him.

  "Fine, then stay there. Kader, thoughts?"

  "I believe her," Johar said before Kader could speak. "This could be the weapon Bayard has been building at Malaske."

  "But why put Theo in it?" Rhys asked.

  "Does that really matter?" I barked. "She's in there and she's going to die if we don't do something—"

  "Did you not hear her?" Rhys said. "We're all going to die if we don't do something." He looked at Kader again. "What do you think, Eli? A trap, maybe?"

  "It could be a trap, but I doubt it," Kader said. "In any case, we've got the Ledsi already fueled up. It's the fastest ship we have, and we can take down whatever's out there." I made a noise, but Kader's look silenced me. "After extracting the girl. We can bring along the tether."

  Rhys stared at him, face unreadable. "Do you really think it's worth it to risk yourself and Johar for a single Raven life?"

  "With all due respect, even if she wasn't your brother's girlfriend, she's still just as important as any other human," Kader said, surprising me. "To boot, she told us she was coming. She's ready to sacrifice herself. Least we can do is go get her."

  "What if it's a trap?" Rhys said. "What if there are twenty people on that ship waiting for you and no bomb?"

  "I'm willing to take that risk," Kader replied. "Give the order and it will be done, Your Majesty."