The Island (The Madion War Trilogy #1)

Chapter Four, Part I - Theo

I didn't trust the princeling, but I had no other options. I refused to let him carry me—although I was sure he would've had no problems with my small frame—so we hobbled back to where our supplies were, me on my good leg and leaning against him. He helped me sit back down on the ground against the tree. He wrapped the blanket around me and I had to admit, it felt nice to be warm again.

"Here," he said, unzipping his dark green uniform, revealing a thin white t-shirt and khaki pants underneath. He pulled it off and handed it to me.

"What?"

"You need it more than I do right now," he said. "We need to keep your body temperature up." He bent down and slid the soft material over my cold, bandaged legs. It was at least three sizes too big for me, and still warm from his body heat. I looked down at myself and nearly vomited at the sight of the Kylaen crest where the Raven one normally sat, and the name Helmuth in place of mine.

"Hey, it beats hypothermia," he said, noticing the look on my face as he tossed the blanket back over my legs.

I nodded and pulled the blanket higher, covering up the offending patches. "Are you even a doctor?"

"Yes," he said, looking perplexed. "I thought it was pretty common knowledge that I graduated from medical school?"

"Was that between your socialite girlfriends and embarrassing debauchery?"

His eyebrows shot up so fast I thought they might leave his face, and a small blush appeared on his pale cheeks. "I... Yes, I am a doctor," he said after stammering for a few moments. The blush deepened and he spun around to look toward the forest. He mumbled something about going to his ship then disappeared through the trees.

Even though I was in pain and still lightheaded from the ordeal, I couldn't help the smile twisting the corners of my mouth. He was every bit the spoiled brat that I had pictured him to be—supposed medical training aside—and it pleased me to get the better of him. It was a small Raven victory against the Kylaen royal family.

And yet...I could land an even stronger blow if I simply killed him.

After all, if by some miracle the Raven forces found us first, they might have some questions about why Prince Galian wasn't, well...dead by my hand. They wouldn't care that he'd saved my life; rather, they would've expected me to give my life in pursuit of our independence as long as I took the princeling out with me.

For some reason, I couldn't see myself ending his life there on the island. I couldn't count how many Kylaens I'd shot down over the years, but the prospect of taking a human life when it was sitting next to me? The thought made me queasy. It seemed my humanity was overpowering my Raven pride.

And of course, my injury was quite severe, as I was reminded when I tried to move. A broken leg was definitely troublesome, and limited my movement and ability to fend off predators. I had no idea where my pistol was, and even if I found it, I was most likely running low on bullets.

Bullets, I reminded myself, that I'd used to try to kill the man who'd saved my life.

My ship was still smoldering in the clearing nearby, twisted beyond recognition. Thanks to the princeling's blood transfusion, my mind was clearer and I saw how close I had come to my own end. Perhaps there was still more for me to do before I moved to the next life.

That is, if I made it off this island.

The princeling returned from his ship with two more water bottles in his hands. He seemed to have walked off whatever embarrassment he felt from my comments on his party-boy past had caused, as he smiled handsomely and handed me one of them.

"As promised, Miss."

"Captain," I responded, taking the water and sipping it. I'd worked too hard for my rank to not be addressed by it.

"Captain, my apologies." He took a seat next to me, gulping his water without any concern for rationing, staring up at the sky and expecting Kylaen ships to appear at any second.

But enough time had passed that if they had been close behind him, or known where he had crashed, they would have been there already. There was the distinct possibility that we would be spending the night, and based on the sun's position in the sky, I knew it was better if we prepared than be caught off guard.

"So, Princeling..."

"I'm sorry, what?" He blinked at me.

"Princeling." The horrified look on his face tugged a smile onto my lips. "It's what we call you in Rave."

"I have a name, you know," he said, turning to look at me superiorly.

"I'm not calling you Your Highness," I spat at him.

"That's not my name either. It's Galian."

"Whatever," I huffed, vowing never to call him by anything other than princeling. "We might want to consider that we won't be found today."

"Do you think?" he asked, giving me a curious look.

"I think we're at least a couple hundred miles away from either Kylae or Rave," I said calmly. "I think there are a smattering of islands this far north, and planes or ships only rarely come up here. It may take the Kylaen forces some time to comb through all the possible areas you could have landed in—"

"You don't think the Raven forces will find us first?" he asked. "You're a captain, aren't you? Surely they'll send out a search party."

I bit my tongue as I wondered how to respond. Would it be devastating to our national security to tell him that we barely had the resources to defend our shores, let alone send out a search party for one wayward pilot? To be safe, I decided against answering his question at all.

After a moment of silence, he half-smiled. "Well, that's good news for me, I guess. I'm sure they'd have a field day if they found me here."

"Back to the issue at hand," I said, not wanting to dwell on Raven forces finding the princeling alive. "We should make preparations for tonight before it gets dark. How much food is in your box there?"

He glanced inside and poked around. "Probably enough for the two of us for one night."

"Good, and I would ration your water as well." I nodded to the bottle in his hand. "Until we can find more drinkable water, that is. Or I can make some from the sea water."

He stared at me with a blank expression. "How long are you planning on us being here?"

"We need to gather wood for a fire," I said instead of answering his question. "And see if we can find some shelter. It's not too cold now but once it gets dark, we'll need to be protected." I shifted and winced at the pain. "And unfortunately, I'm not going to be much help to you."

"No, you sit here," he said, popping up. With a grin, he added, "Doctor's orders."

"Gather kindling and bigger logs as well. We'll need enough to last us through the night." I was beginning to feel more comfortable as I approached our present situation as I did a flight mission. With the princeling healthy and his ship full of supplies to last us at least until the morning, things didn't look quite as grim. "What other supplies are on your ship?"

"I-I don't know," he stammered.

"Gather whatever we can from your ship and bring it here so we can see what we have and what we'll need to," I grimaced, looking at the wilderness around us, "figure out."

"Just in case," he added, and for the first time, I heard his nerves.