CHAPTER 1
The first time Theo met Matthew Wells was the day he joined the army. He’d never forget that day.
Theo
The commander had been staring at me from behind his desk in his stuffy office, watching with a fake smile ever present behind his moustache, for at least a full five minutes. My father had handed my file over, and he’d been going through it for a while now, pensive.
I knew that entering the army at such a young age wasn’t ideal, but I also knew that they never turned down men if they could help it. Not if they had enough talent. Plus, my father seemed to think it would be good for me after the…incident.
“You think you have what it takes?” The commander asked.
“I do, sir.” I replied quietly, trying not to let my voice betray my nerves and keep a neutral expression on my face. The hand that my father had placed on my shoulder felt heavy and far from reassuring.
“You know the consequences of joining the army? You know what could happen?”
“I could die. Sir.”
“You could die. You could get raped. You could get tortured. You could lose those who have grown dear to you. You could suffer from endless nightmares. You could suffer injuries that will ailyou throughout the rest of your life. You could go weeks without food out in the cold.”
“I am aware of that, sir.” I murmured truthfully “and I will suffer the consequences of my choice.”
The commander shrugged “very well. Your training results sufficient. I’ll talk to my office commanders and have you assigned to a unit. Then we’ll have your room arranged in the headquarters. You will be sharing with a roommate, of course.”
“Of course, sir.” I repeated.
“Have your things ready by this afternoon.”
“Of course, sir.” They appeared to be the only words I was able to conjure up.
My father had clapped me on the back and ruffled my hair with a grin as soon as we’d left the office.
My annoying twin sister, who was holding a seemingly endless grudge on me, hardly said goodbye when the time arrived for my departure, but my mum had begun sobbing in my arms. At loss, I'd had to repeatedly reassure her that I wouldn’t be dying.I don’t think she quite believed me.
The commander had assigned me to a man named Johnathan, who seemed nice enough when I met him, if a little…scary looking.
“Johnathan Zerrudo.” He introduced himself as soon as we set off to the headquarters, offering his hand.
I blinked. Johnathan…Zerrudo…? I didn’t think I’d earned being intheJohnathan Zerrudo’s unit, but hey, who was I to complain?
“Theodore Danes, sir. But…you already knew that.” I said, suddenly feeling awkward.
“Do you prefer Danes or Theodore?”
“Uh…Theo, sir.”
“Theo it is, then.” A long pause followed.
“You don’t mind sharing your room, do you?”
“No, of course not, sir.”
“Good. You’ll have a roommate or two, since we have ten men and only five rooms currently available. The others are on hold. Well, I guess eleven, now.”He added as an afterthought.
I just nodded, attempting to demonstrate that I was taking in the information.
“I’ll probably put you with one of the new lads. You’re the same age, I believe.He’s been training with me for years.”
“And he wouldn’t mind sharing a room with me, right?”I asked nervously, chewing my lip. The last thing I wanted was to be aggressively thrown out of my room on my first day.
