Page 15 of Lies That Blemish (The Ember War #3)

Aisling

“Val!” I shook my little sister as panic washed over me. “Tetra!” I reached over and shook her, too.

“They’re dead!” Victory sobbed.

I peered at the rise and fall of their chests. At Zara, who was still alive beside me.

“No one is dead,” I snapped.

That’s when my gaze fell to Tetra’s foot.

“Stars!” I skittered backwards.

In all the years I’d known Tetra, her right foot looked like it had been twisted up in a blender.

But now… it was… like mine.

Valor’s eyes snapped open, and then so did Tetra’s.

I reached down and yanked the sock off of Valor’s right foot, fully afraid that she had somehow magically taken the injury on herself, but when I saw her regular-looking foot with purple, chipped toenail paint, I laughed.

Pure joy ripped through me. Even Elaine was smiling.

“It can’t be,” Elaine said.

Tetra looked over at me, confused, as if coming out of a dream. I peered at Valor, who was staring at Tetra’s foot and then at Zara. She grinned.

“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” I asked Valor.

“I’m totally fine,” she said.

“You passed out, you’re not fine!” I told her.

An ear-splitting sob ripped from Tetra’s throat, and I turned to see her staring at her foot in shock. She wiggled her ankle, then her toes. It was crazy, after so many years of seeing her foot twisted and red, to find the appendage perfect and without flaw.

“Valor…” Tetra managed between sobs and then pulled my sister in for a hug.

I stood back. Then we all watched as Valor slowly helped Tetra stand. It was the moment of truth. Could she walk? Run? Would it hurt? Would she still limp? A thousand thoughts went through my head.

Tetra bent down to Zara and held the creature’s gaze.

“Thank you,” she said. Then Tetra smiled, and I knew Zara must have responded.

Tetra was standing on one foot, waiting to try her “new foot” out, and I braced myself for how heartbreaking it would be if it wasn’t a full healing. Virtue snuggled into Elaine’s side as Tetra put a small amount of weight on the foot. Her eyes flew wide. Then, she took two steps without a limp or a drag.

Again, she wept, breaking down, and I couldn’t bear it anymore. I pulled her into my arms as she cried like a baby.

“Is it healed? Fully?” I asked.

She could only nod.

I pulled away from her, smiling, and then Victory dashed behind Tetra, smacking her back. “Tag, you’re it!” She raced past Valor’s creature and out the open back door.

Tetra looked frozen for a second, then a wild grin took over her face. She bolted after Victory, clumsily at first, like she’d never run before in her life.

Because she hadn’t. Not really. Not without a cane and a dragging limb behind her.

I peered at Valor, my throat clenching with emotion.

“Do you have any idea how special you are?” I asked as I approached her.

She shrugged. “I’m not a warrior. I’ll probably never be empress now. A healer is just… boring.”

“That’s not true,” Elaine scolded Valor as Virtue dashed out of the house to chase Tetra as well. It appeared that my bestie was very slow and not well-versed in tag. Even Ariyel had joined in on the fun, running around with Vespa as well.

Victory was winning, but Tetra was laughing in joy and running around the yard like a child. It brought tears to my eyes, and I turned back to face my sister.

“Of course, it’s not true! You’ll be the greatest empress this country has ever seen,” I told her. “Do you have any idea what kind of peace and joy you could bring to this nation if you could take away all disease and deformity and illness? The little babies born with bent limbs, tucked-in lips, the people suffering from incurable diseases. Valor, your power is incredible.” I had to clear my throat to keep from getting emotional.

Zara nuzzled Valor’s leg as if in agreement with me.

Valor looked a little more excited now that I’d said that, but then her face fell.

“What is it?” Elaine asked her, walking closer to be near her.

“In what world can I ever bring peace and healing and joy to our nation when we are constantly at war?”

It was like a knife to my chest. Because she was right. Amersea’s entire existence was fueled by war. Right now, I had over a thousand young Amerseans fighting for their lives just for the chance to bond a creature and fight in the Fleet. To die for the Fleet. It’s how it had always been.

I peered out at Tetra, awkwardly running as Victory and Virtue chased her laughing, and I wondered if there was any possibility I could give my people a future without war. If there were some way to bring peace to our nation.