"For guards," I noted bitterly.
"Yes, for guards," Kader said. "Because otherwise, they'd recognize their prince, who most of them still consider deceased." He was so calm, as if this were just another day in the office.
"Kader...what did you do before you were my guard?" I asked, realizing I'd never bothered to learn anything about him. No wonder he hated me so much.
He paused in mid-step. "Special Operations. But my wife got tired of wondering if I was going to come back alive. So I took a...cushy job." I noticed the gold band on his finger, and made a promise to myself to ask if I could meet his wife and personally thank her for letting me borrow her husband. I felt like that's something Theo would've done.
That's what Theo will do, I corrected myself.
"Stay here," Kader said, ending our conversation.
Theo
My only knowledge of time's passage was the sun beginning to set in the distance, reflecting orange streaks through the dirty windows high above us. The shift had changed three times during my time shoveling. That knowledge, I supposed, might've helped me had there not been three inches of iron around my legs.
Only pure stubbornness had kept me standing. I couldn't feel anything in my body—not my stomach, not my arms, not even my broken leg. My movement was dazed, and I wondered if they ever let the prisoners stop working to sleep.
To keep myself afloat, I forced myself to think of Galian. But I could only picture his eyes. I'd already forgotten what he looked like...
The presence was behind me again, the one that had been haunting me all day. Lightness entered my limbs when the shackles fell from my wrists. I swayed for a moment, blinking in exhaustion. Was someone letting me go?
But a cold, slimy hand encircled my wrist and pulled me away from the line.
"W-what are you doing?" My voice was scratchy, my throat parched from dehydration.
We stopped in front of another guard. I barely heard the conversation between them, but the look on the other guard's face snapped me to attention.
"I'll have her back before next shift."
I felt eyes on me, the same kind that had leered at my naked body in the hospital. And I knew I had to get away.
"Let go of me," I whimpered, my fight taken by exhaustion and the toxic fumes.
Helplessly, I searched for help amongst the rest of the guards. But their appreciative nods only made me more desperate to release the iron grip around my wrist.
"No, please." I clawed at his strong hand.
He didn't even look at me, just kept dragging me. I stuck my legs in the ground, only for them to give way with more than a tug. Bile rose in my throat and I shook as he tossed me into the office.
The door closed behind me, and I refused to get up. I wasn't going to help this—
We weren't alone. There was another man in the room, his face obscured by one of the face masks.
But his eyes looked just like my Galian's.
He would've wanted me to fight. And so, even if it killed me, I would fight these bastards.
I scooted back against the desk as one of the guards approached me. When he reached a hand out for me, I flung it away, kicking and scratching and fighting as hard as I could.
"Theo, stop!"
I screamed and closed my eyes, thrashing more wildly. Now my mind was starting to play tricks on me. I could've sworn I'd heard his voice underneath that mask, but that was impossible—
"Theo, stop, it's me!"
He ripped his mask off and I was now sure the noxious fumes had taken their effect on me—until I felt the gentle touch on my cheek.
"It's okay," he said, cupping my face gently. "I'm here."
"A-amichai," I choked out, before tears of relief splashed down my face.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered into my hair. "Theo, I'm so..."
The man who I'd thought to be a guard addressed Galian. "Sire, we need to move."
"Right," Galian cupped my face. "We're going to sneak you out of here, get you on a plane, and—"
"What about them?" I asked, looking out at the rest of the prisoner camp.
"Them?" Galian followed my gaze. "Them? Theo, we can't—"
"So why do I get to live and they don't?" I asked, stepping back from him.
I remembered the children, the tumors, the man who stumbled into his own execution. The prisoners who arrived there every day, every hour. I'd been there for less than a day, but I loved these prisoners more than my own lieutenants. Raven, Kylaen, they were now my countrymen.
"Why do I get to live and they don't?" I repeated, needing an answer from Galian and knowing he'd never have one to satisfy me.
His shoulders slumped and the defeat in his eyes was evident. "Because I promised you on that island I wasn't going to let you die."
I shook my head. "Why is my life worth more than theirs? What makes me so important?"
"Because I love you."
"That's not good enough, Galian," I said, taking his hands in mine. "You told me on the island that you were too afraid of doing the right thing. You said you didn't have a choice. You didn't think you could make a difference."
"Theo—"
"But you made the choice to come here to save my life," I pleaded, my eyes growing wet with tears. "You chose me over yourself, and now...amichai, now you can make a real difference. You just have to believe you can. You just have to do the right thing. Please, Galian." I swallowed hard. "Please don't leave them here."
Galian
The easy thing to do would've been to throw her over my shoulder and run like hell. An option that sounded tempting and a lot less dangerous. Before the island, I might've chosen that easy option. I would've been content to do the minimum and say I'd done my best and go to sleep at night believing that I'd tried.
But that wasn't going to fly with Theo. She expected the best of me, and I wanted to be the best for her. I wanted to prove to us both that I could be better.
Step one was being better. And for that, I was at a loss.
I glanced at Kader. "What can we do?"
He grunted and pulled off his mask. He rubbed a hand over his face and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Kader—"
"Quiet." He looked out the window and tapped his hand against his face. "We might be able to convince them that we're transporting prisoners. I see mostly people arriving, but perhaps we could convince them that five need to leave."
"Five?" Theo said. "There's hundreds out there!"
"Theo, once we get out of here, I promise you, I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to shut this place down," I said, for lack of anything else to say. I glanced at Kader and then back to Theo. "But right now, five is all we can handle."
After a long pause, she sighed. "The youngest five you can get your hands on."
Kader tilted his head in agreement and handed her one of the spare uniforms we'd found. She dressed quickly, pulling the Kylaen uniform over the prison uniform. Balling up her long hair, she stuck it under the hat. I helped her pull some of it down to look like her hair was cropped short.
"And here." Kader handed her a gas mask. "Just keep your eyes down, and hold onto the gun."
I replaced my own gas mask, and suddenly the air was sweeter and my head clearer.
"What now, Kader?" I asked, my voice muffled by the mask.
Kader's voice was similarly garbled. "Gather the ones you want to save—five, Raven, do you understand? Any more, and you could jeopardize us all."
Her eyes flashed behind her mask, but she said nothing.
In support, I entwined my fingers through hers and squeezed.
"We have less than ten minutes to complete this mission. Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Kader asked.
"Yes," she said, with such force that I thought she might salute him.
Kader opened the door out into the processing plant main room and Theo dropped my hand. My heart pounded as I followed Kader's tall form and I kept my eyes glued to the ground.
/>
Kader motioned behind his back to us and we separated from him, walking toward the line of Ravens hunched over the tall mound of raw material. We came closer, and I saw the bony arms, the sallow skin, and the faces of people I was effectively sentencing to die.
Theo must have made peace with it better than I, because she walked over to the two smallest and barked an order for the guards to unlock them. Kader was conferring with the head guards, and they nodded their approval.
Damn, I thought. Kader's a little too good at this.
Theo grabbed the shoulders of the two children, who began to openly weep in terror. It took everything in me not to step in and comfort them, but I was supposed to be an unfeeling guard. How these men and women could work there day in and day out without feeling was beyond me.
How my father could sanction this kind of behavior was beyond me. And I was determined to stop it once we got out of here. That thought alone was enough to pry me from the line of workers and follow Theo to the next group.
I noticed another guard staring at us, so I walked over to a prisoner and poked her with the edge of my gun.
"Um... work faster."
The woman cowered at the touch and fell to her knees. I could see bruising on her face and arms, and angrily added to the list of people I was going to murder.
She gazed up at me with wide, wondrous eyes.
"Angel!" The woman grabbed my arm. "It's Prince Galian, come back from the dead!"
My blood ran cold as the murmur rose through the ranks of the prisoners around her. I tried to free my arm, but she held on tight, screaming about how I'd returned as an angel from God to save them. Theo worked to free the woman's grip, glancing in panic back at the other guards.
"Oi! What are you doing?" The guards approached us and narrowed their eyes at me, as if seeing what the woman had.
"You ain't—"
Theo was quicker than I was, and slammed her gun into his gut. Our cover was most assuredly blown, so I grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the line.
"Galian, we can't leave them," Theo cried, clawing at the prisoners starting to gather and scream in the chaos. I heard gunshots and broke into a run, bursting out of the back doors and spotting an idling prisoner transport.
"Stop! Stop them!"
More gunshots cracked behind us, and the guards fell down. Kader appeared behind them, overtaking us and sprinting towards one of the prison transport trucks. He flew into the front seat and Theo and I clamored into the back. We'd barely gotten inside before Kader set the truck into motion.
Bullet holes appeared in the metal near Theo's head and I yanked her down to the ground, covering her body with mine until they'd stopped.
Theo
We rode for hours in silence, me staring at the floor of the transport truck and Galian staring at me. Galian's guard, Kader, was at the wheel, and from all the turns and stops and starts, he was doing a good job of losing anyone who might've followed us. The back of the transport truck remained open, the door slamming against the jam at every turn. But the longer we drove, the more the landscape changed—from rocky, mountainous plains to greener pastures.
Guilt ate at me, and I couldn't even bring myself to cry. I didn't deserve to cry or seek comfort in my amichai's arms as much as I wanted to. Not when I'd failed to save anyone but myself.
Kader stopped the van and for a moment, I clenched my hand around Galian's, afraid that I had been betrayed again. But when I stepped out of the vehicle, a slick, black car was parked in an abandoned parking lot. Galian tugged at my hand and gently helped me out of the transport truck, allowing me to lean on him as we sat on the plush leather seats.
The luxury was a sharp contrast to the world I'd just left. I hadn't been able to sleep or eat all day, and Kylaens rode around in plush cars.
"Theo." Galian's voice was soft and comforting. "Are you okay?"
I could still see the children I'd left behind. I couldn't bring myself to imagine what those cruel guards would do to them. I just hoped if they were to die, it would be quick.
I didn't even realize I was crying until Galian's hand brushed away a tear. The movement was soft and full of love, and it destroyed me. I collapsed into a sobbing heap, spasms of guilt and relief taking turns in my heart. My amichai held me, whispering sweet nothings of comfort. It was a long time before his guard returned to the car, presumably to give me the privacy to fall apart. I would be forever grateful for that.
But return he did, and we left the empty parking lot for a destination unknown and, yet...I knew where they were taking me. Galian's naive optimism was one thing, but my other savior was a touch more realistic.
When the door opened again, I saw what I'd been both dreading and hoping for. A plane—Kylaen, but a plane nonetheless. I was going home.
And I was also leaving my amichai.
"We could go back." His voice was strained as he wrapped me in his arms.
"I would never ask that of you."
"If it meant I could be with you, I'd do it."
I leaned into him, resting my head against his chin.
"I love you," he whispered.
"And that's why I have to go," I said, twisting in his arms to look at him.
I remembered the cave, his fingers wrapped around mine, the closeness of our bodies. I remembered when amichai had rolled off my tongue, when he'd asked me to come back with him. But that was the island, where things were easy and simple, and there wasn't a war and his father and all the millions of things standing between us.
I loved him for his naive optimism, but that naivety had almost gotten me killed. Even worse, it might've signed the death warrant of all of the prisoners in Mael that day.
"We can't... This isn't..." I closed my eyes as two more tears fell. "There's no way us being together could ever be a reality."
His eyes burned with fury and anguish, and it broke my heart. "I am not giving up on you Theophilia Kallistrate. I promised you I wasn't going to let you die, and now I'm promising you that this isn't over." The hand on my cheek clenched, and he sucked in a breath. "You and me, we wouldn't have made it this far just to be separated. God doesn't have such a sick sense of humor, remember?"
I swallowed, my own words sounding harsh in his mouth.
"Look at me." He gently lifted my chin.
"I love you," I whispered.
And he kissed me, tasting sweeter than anything I'd had in my life. "Promise me you won't give up," he whispered.
"Galian—"
"Sire." Kader stood behind us, a stoic expression on his face. I envied him for having no feelings about our impending separation. "I have a temporary passcode to get her out of Kylaen airspace. But the guard on duty is only here for another hour and..."
"I'm not ready," Galian said, more to me than to him.
"Sire. She needs to go."
I pressed my lips to his once more, burning this memory into my mind and savoring every second. I would need this in the weeks and months to follow, when memories of Mael threatened to overtake my mind. I'd leaned on Galian to get me through it the first time, and I would need every tool in my arsenal to make it past the aftereffects.
Without another word, I ripped myself from him and took the passcode from Kader. I marched toward the plane, glad that Galian couldn't see the emotion in my eyes, grateful that I couldn't see his because it would test my resolve to leave.
I climbed into the plane and settled in, the familiar feeling of a joystick between my legs and the hum of a jet engine reminding me of the person I used to be. The soldier, the captain, the...
My gaze drifted up to the figure standing on the runway.
Without another thought, I released the brakes and screamed into flight.
TWENTY
Galian
It was as if I'd never left.
I sat next to my mother and across from my brother at an exquisite table made of the finest dark wood, expertly carved with the Kylaen symbol. Seated at the head of the table was my fath
er, resplendent in his uniform, even deigning to wear his fancy crown while he ate his meal. I knew it was a warning to me, but I found myself unable to care. After facing my own mortality more times than I could even count, I was suddenly unafraid of what he could do to me. Or perhaps it was the memory of Theo, reminding me that, unlike most people in our countries, I actually had a choice.
Our fine dinnerware clinked as we daintily nibbled at the courses of food placed in front of us. I was full after the first appetizer. But for my mother, I pretended to eat the soup, the salad, the main course of duck and potatoes, and the light dessert of ice cream in the absence of a conversation topic.
I counted my mother's gaze flickering toward my father at least three times per minute, whereas my brother, the heir to the very seat the man sat in, kept his eyes glued to his plate. The entire spectacle had been eye roll-worthy before the island, but now it was downright laughable. Everyone lived in fear of Grieg, but he was just a man. I truly had nothing to fear—unlike those children I'd left behind.
I swallowed hard, becoming even less hungry than I was before. I'd been so intent on saving them, I'd promised Theo I would do my best. Yet there I sat in front of the man who could stop everything, and my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth.
I looked down at my melting ice cream and forced myself to take another small bite, but my stomach protested as soon as the cold, sweet mixture hit my stomach.
"Something wrong, Gally?" My mother's voice cut through the silence of the table.
"Just not used to this much food," I responded lightly.
Both she and Rhys had pressed me for details about my time on the island, but I couldn't bring myself to talk about it. It hurt too much, especially since there was an empty seat to my left where Theo should've been sitting.
Although I was sure that given the opportunity, Theo would have rather spent a year on the island than share a meal with my father. I imagined the fireworks that would ensue if that ever happened and smiled to myself.
The Complete Madion War Trilogy Page 19