A Reluctant Companion

by Kit Tunstall

  Her lover straightened his spine. “It doesn’t matter. I have no other option.”

  “He really doesn’t. I can’t stop. If you let me go, I’ll be back.” Aidan looked ashamed as he made the confession. “I don’t know how to end this. I want everything Tiernan has.”

  “And that’s more important to you than your brother? Than having a relationship with Tiernan?” she asked with exasperation.

  Aidan tilted his head, as though deeply considering her question before finally nodding. “It is. Leading the Federation is the most important thing in my life.”

  Sadness and acceptance filled her. “I pity you, Aidan. Your mother didn’t raise you, but you appear to be just like her. Being in power is more important than family.”

  Tiernan wore a stoic expression as he walked over to the nightstand to pick up the crossbow. Madison couldn’t help interceding as he turned to face them, stepping in front of Aidan. “You can’t do it, Tiernan. It will be hard enough for you to bear the guilt of turning him over to the tribunal.” As he secured a bolt, she put up her hands. “It goes against everything your mother believed in if you just arbitrarily mete out justice. You have to let the tribunal do it.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I know.” Turning the crossbow so the bolt faced him, he held it out to her, pointing to the bottom. “This is the trigger mechanism. I’m going to go get some troops I know I can trust. If he moves an inch, I want you to shoot him.” Tiernan scowled at Aidan. “Preferably in a nonlethal way, but do what you have to.”

  “Oh.” She took the crossbow from Tiernan, keeping the deadly side pointed at the man who could have been the uncle of her children and the brother Tiernan hadn’t known was missing for thirty-two years, if not for his own actions.

  With the solid weight of the crossbow in her hand, she stared down at Aidan, disconcerted by the look he gave her. It was one of pleading…encouragement, even. She took a step forward as Tiernan walked toward the door, glancing back several times to check on her.

  “Do it,” said Aidan as Tiernan put his hand on the knob. “You can’t let him bear the responsibility, Madison, or it will destroy him. Just like you said.”

  Tiernan turned back, frowning. “Don’t speak, Aidan.” He pinned Madison with a steely gaze. “Promise me you won’t shoot him unless you have to, Madison.”

  “Do this for him, Madison. Let me do this. I can’t give him anything else, except my death not on his conscience.”Aidan’s eyes gleamed with unshed tears. “Help me.”

  She hesitated for only a second as she aimed the crossbow at Aidan’s heart, pressing the trigger before she could talk herself out of it. “I have to, my love.”

  Aidan smiled as the bolt hit him, giving her a saucy wink. “I always thought you’d be good for him, Madison.” He turned his head to a horrified Tiernan, blood running from his mouth. “Don’t let her get away, brother.” He choked, spraying more blood. “And don’t hold this against her. She did you a kindness. Me too. I’m free of this obsession.” Those were his last words as he toppled to the floor.

  Madison dropped the crossbow and ran to Tiernan, fearing how he would greet her. Would he turn away from her in disgust? She couldn’t regret what she’d done, knowing it had been the best way to protect Tiernan from having to make a horrible choice, but she prayed it wouldn’t cost them their future together.

  After a second, he wrapped her in his arms, hugging her tightly. “You did it.” He spoke with obvious disbelief, but relief tinged his words, and then he cried softly while she cradled him against her.

  “I would do anything to protect you,” she whispered, uttering the same words he’d once spoken to her and fully comprehending how much he’d meant them for the first time. She would do absolutely anything required to protect her family.

  *****

  They didn’t have much more of a chance to talk until several hours later, back in their suite. She was curled against him on the spacious bed, providing what comfort she could. While she had stood by his side during the ordeal of removing Aidan’s body and explaining to his troops what had happened—and the need to ferret out all those loyal to his dead brother—she could only imagine how soul-wrenching it had been for Tiernan.

  It had been draining for her too, and she knew killing Aidan would haunt her nightmares for years to come, but now was not the time to have a cathartic release of emotion by discussing her role in his execution. That time would come after Tiernan had healed a bit first.

  At least she was sure he harbored no resentment toward her for killing Aidan. Tiernan had held her hand or kept her within touching distance throughout the time they had dealt with the aftermath. She’d had to bite her tongue not to counter him when he’d claimed responsibility for Aidan’s death. Madison understood he was trying to protect her. The tribunal was far less likely to question the commander of the Federation’s assertion of self-defense than if his companion had admitted to the shooting. It still felt wrong, but she had kept her objections inside, knowing she had to protect the babies. After all, if the tribunal ordered an interrogation, she might end up confessing that she hadn’t had a pressing need to kill Aidan, other than preserving her lover’s emotional state. Her execution would be even harder for Tiernan to bear than Aidan’s would have been if he’d turned him over to the tribunal.

  Now, they lay quietly, both spent from the day’s events, but close together. “What will you do about the rebels?” she asked softly.

  “I’ll offer amnesty for any who turn themselves in and renounce a rebellion. I’ll meet with the leaders, if they’ll agree. I hope a simple account of the truth will be enough to end the fighting.” He sighed. “If not, the war will continue, and I don’t want that.”

  “I think this might be the end of it.” If Briggs still lived and led, it might not have been, but surely, leaders that were more reasonable would accept Tiernan’s overtures. She had to cling to that hope, to the belief that they could end the chain of events Aidan had set in motion without further violence or bloodshed.

  “We’ll deal with it tomorrow, and for however long we must.” He turned a bit, pulling her closer to his side. “Tonight, I just want to lay here with you in my arms and appreciate what I have.”

  “I’m sorry about your brother,” she said, apologizing for what she had done, while also expressing her sorrow over how it had ended between them.

  “Me too.” His voice was thick for a moment. “I wish…” Trailing off, he let the silence stretch. “I wish it could have been different,” he said finally. “I wish I’d known my father, and that my mother hadn’t been so cruel as to banish her own baby. I should have grown up knowing Aidan as my brother.” His voice broke. “He was my best friend, Madison, and we would have been a formidable team.”

  She caressed his hip, careful to avoid the bandage wound around his ribs. “I’m sure you would have. I only saw you two together for a few months, but I can easily envision what you might have accomplished together.”

  He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “Instead…” Sighing, he put his hand between their bodies to spread across her stomach. “It’s going to be different for them. They will have the kind of relationship Aidan and I should’ve had.”

  She smiled, having no trouble imagining a pair of mischievous twins, plotting and scheming together, always there for each other, and without the rivalry of who would lead the Federation between them. She wouldn’t allow that ever to be an issue. Somehow, they would find a role for both of the twins. “Yes, they will.”

  “And they will know their parents love each other and them.” He spoke with passionate intensity. “Will you marry me, Madison?”

  She blinked. “Are you sure, Tiernan? You don’t have to do that. I’ll stay with you in whatever capacity you choose. I sort of thought you’d be like your mother and grandfather.”

  He made a sound of disgust. “What, too obsessed with power to risk surrendering any bit of it by giving my companion a more important place in my life?
” A shudder ran through him. “At one time, I thought that was the way to do it, but I know better now. I’m a better man, thanks to you.”

  She shook her head. “No, Tiernan, you changed you. I can’t take credit for that.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of changing if you hadn’t captivated me. I had to have you at any cost.” Regret laced his tone. “I treated you horribly.”

  “Oh, yes,” she mocked. “You brought me into the lap of luxury and gave me everything, you monster.”

  He growled. “Don’t diminish what I did, Madison.”

  Turning serious, she scooted up so they were face to face. “I’m not. Threatening my family was terrible. Not listening to me was awful. Imprisoning me in the cupola was nearly unforgivable.” Seeing the pain in his eyes, she hurried to finish her thought. “Showing me how much I could love someone was amazing. Saving my mother’s life was a gift. Taking care of my family and letting Cam evade justice were the actions of someone who truly loves me, even if I didn’t see it right away. Giving me your heart and committing to me is the best thing you could ever do for me. Just keep loving me, and we’ll be fine, Tiernan.”

  He cradled her face in his hands. “Always, my love.”

  Epilogue

  Tiernan held his daughter on his shoulders as the toddler waved at the crowd. Ayden was a hit with the people gathered in front of the governor’s mansion in Graceport. Before her birth, he’d been convinced she would be a copy of her mother. Instead, she had his hazel eyes and blond-brown hair, though it waved instead of curled like his.

  Her brother had come out looking a lot more like Madison. Caleb was asleep in a pack on Madison’s back, snoring softly in the sunlight. He had deep-red hair that curled around his head in a mass of corkscrews, along with eyes even bluer than his mother’s. Madison liked to brag that he would be a heartbreaker. When she did, Tiernan always vowed he would teach his son to value and appreciate women, to recognize the preciousness of having one woman that was the center of his world.

  The swearing-in of the new governor sent a cheer through the crowd. He grinned when Ayden mimicked the sound and clapped her chubby fists together. At sixteen months, she was a spitfire, whereas Caleb was more laidback. He could already see how they would complement each other in the future. Sometimes, it made his heart ache to think he could have had that with Aidan. As always, he pushed those thoughts aside, having grieved enough. He would always think of his brother, and with mixed emotions, but he had learned not to dwell on the situation or curse the circumstances. It changed nothing and would only keep him chained to the past. His present and future were too valuable to allow that.

  Governor Nash stepped down from the dais, his lovely wife Rosie on his arm, as they mingled with the crowd. Tiernan drew Madison against him, truly content. With the exception of Cam, who still acted as if he was a tyrant, despite the peace accord with the former rebels, the rest of Madison’s family treated him like one of their own. It had gone a long way toward filling in the void his own empty childhood had left, an absence he hadn’t fully recognized until seeing how it could be.

  He was a very different man than the one who had been in almost this same spot a little over two years ago and had arrogantly decided he had the right to keep Madison. Many things had brought him to this point, but none more so than his wife. As she looked up at him, he bent his head for a kiss, still blown away just by touching her. He would have survived if she hadn’t entered his life, but he never would have been truly alive. He would have withered to a cold shell, just like his predecessors, content with the empty power of running the Federation and never knowing just how much better life was with a partner. “Thank you,” he whispered against her lips.

  She frowned, clearly puzzled. “You’re welcome, but for what?”

  “Everything.” That, along with the deeper kiss he pressed to her lips, was answer enough.

  ********

  Author’s Notes:

  I love futuristic, post-apocalyptic, and/or dystopian fiction. I wouldn’t want to live it, of course, but it’s fun to imagine how bad things could get, and how good people would function in the aftermath. In this book, I also explored a bit how harsh times make even good people do some questionable things. Can you forgive a good character if he (or she) does something morally ambiguous for the ones they love? I like complex characters and questions like that. I hope I gave a modicum of competency to exploring the idea.

  Also, I would like to clarify about the contraceptive tea. There are herbs that can reduce fertility, but I don’t know of any—even in combination—that would be almost perfectly reliable as a means to prevent pregnancy. I took some liberties with the properties of herbs and herbal medicines. It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that no contraceptive tea would protect against STDs, but for the purposes of this work of fiction, we’re just going to ignore those. In real life, only an idiot would do so, but I know you’re too smart to emulate what a character does in a book. Just for the lawyers though, I absolve myself of all responsibility if anyone happens to use herbal information found in a novel as real-world medical advice. 

  P.S. I need to thank Ky Johnson for her assistance with some aspects of this novel. The woman knows her torture.

  Cover images used under license from http://depositphotos.com/