Page 20 of Lies That Blemish (The Ember War #3)

Aisling

As I flew over the wall, I saw my men stationed there peer up at me in confusion, waving their arms as if to tell me to stop. But I pressed on, ignoring their cries.

I had to hope that Kohen would be able to somehow evacuate my people. That Elaine would live. That my sisters would be okay. That the admirals and my people would obey my command. It was for their own good. I knew not all would choose to leave their homes and go to Imbria, but I hoped Kohen could be convincing enough to save as many as he could.

The right side of the wall was in a crumbled heap of stone.

‘They’re everywhere,’ Liana breathed.

I peered up to see what she was talking about and gasped. Small dots in the sky, riders of flying Talanagi, were positioned every hundred feet or so across the Luskin sky. They held spears, bolt shooters, and swords, and they all looked my way, tracking Liana and me as if they were expecting me.

Kohen was right. Maxim had been planning this. There was no way out.

‘I feel like I’ve failed you,’ Liana said as she flew past a male rider on a black-feathered griffin. He allowed me to fly past without a flinch. They’d clearly been given instructions.

‘I feel like I’ve failed myself,’ I said. We were both coming to terms with the fact that I was doing this. I was literally flying into enemy territory to marry an evil man against my will.

‘ You could never fail me. I know it will be hard, but I want you to drop me off at the capital and then fly back to help Kohen. If Maxim allows it…’

‘I don’t know if I can leave you,’ she admitted.

I nodded, my heart pinching. ‘I know, but I have to think of my sister. She’s terrified and alone. I have to also think of my people. Kohen will need your help. You will be of no help to me. Maxim will make sure of that.’

We passed another rider just hovering in the air, giving me a smug look as I passed.

‘This reminds me of the Great Fall,’ she said, and I bristled. She never spoke of it, but maybe now she was ready.

‘How so?’ I pried a little, ready to respect her if she went quiet or changed the subject.

‘My grandmother found her mate, a firebird from a less respected tribe. He had a humble family name and was not seen as powerful, but she loved him—she chose him.’

My heart pinched at her words.

‘We mate for life. Once you choose, that is it. The bond is forever. But the council had other ideas. She was our tsarina and could only mate the best.’

‘What happened?’ I was so enthralled in the story that I hardly cared that I was flying through Luska soldier after soldier.

‘They mated, had my mother, then my mother mated and had me. When you are immortal, long stretches of time are not a factor. So, for the first few hundred years, the council allowed my mother’s mating.’

Allowed. I didn’t like the sound of that.

‘Until war came knocking. A rival nation led by a male ruler set his sights on my grandmother. Offered peace for her… hand in marriage, as you would say.’

Ahh, now I could see how this story reminded her of what I was currently going through.

She was silent a while, reflecting, no doubt. I didn’t want to push her, but I was desperate for the ending of this story.

‘And…?’ I added after a few minutes.

‘Things got bad. This male did dark things to force the council’s hand. They killed my grandmother’s mate in order to try to force her to mate bond with this new male.’

I gasped. ‘Is that possible? You said you mated for life.’

‘We do mate for life, not cemented by a ring or wedding vows but by a spiritual bonding, a sealing of two souls that is hard to describe.’

I stroked her neck. ‘That’s okay. I understand. So what happened to your grandmother? Did she marry the rival male?’

I felt a profound sadness fill Liana. ‘She did not. She was set to step down, make me tsarina, but the second she found out the council killed her mate for political gain, she…’

Liana stopped talking, and I was enraptured with anticipation for the ending of the story.

Stars, don’t let her stop here!

‘She exploded, lashing out with every ounce of her power, which is the greatest my people have ever known. The reaction caused a tear in the fabric of space and created what you call the fire sky.’

What!

As if I couldn’t be any more shocked than I was. ‘What do you call it?’

‘The sky portal,’ she said quietly.

My eyes nearly fell out of my head. ‘Liana, what are you saying?’

‘I’m saying, young one, that the sky portal leads to my world.’

That revelation nearly made me fall off of her back.

‘We were told it was an asteroid or alien rock that brought you here,’ I told her.

‘Close. Part of our world did break off, which is why we, older creatures who are ancient enough to remember, go along with that story. But it was my grandmother and her rage for the fallen love who was taken from her early.’

This revelation was blowing my mind, and the fact that Liana was probably the only Talanagi old enough to remember this was furthering my point.

‘All Talanagi? Are they from your world?’

She nodded. ‘But my specific island is only firebirds.’

Wow . So when her grandmother exploded with magical rage, she’d pulled other creatures from outside her island and plummeted them here?

‘So if you flew through the fire sky…?’ I asked her.

‘I tried a million times before I bonded you. I’d run out of air, die, rebirth. I’ve been trying to get back to my daughters since I fell.’

A sob formed in my throat at that admission. ‘ Liana, you have daughters still alive up there?’

‘I hope so.’ Her voice was sad.

My mind went back to what she’d just said. Before I bonded you .

‘And now that we bonded? You could theoretically breathe, right?’ The entire reason creatures bonded us was to be able to leave the small confines of the Wilds and breathe outside. She could survive the fire aspect of the fire sky, or portal as she called it, but not the lack of air. But now she should be able to.

‘Theoretically,’ she confirmed.

I could see the capital city coming into view, and even though I was worried about Victory, and nervous about meeting Maxim and what that entailed, I had to follow this conversation through . ‘Why don’t you try?’ I asked in shock.

Even before she answered, I knew what she would say. ‘I won’t leave you in turmoil. I won’t leave another daughter that needs me.’

My heart fissured at her words. Daughter . Liana was the mother of so many. Onyx, me, even Kohen, and my sisters. She was always worrying about us, protecting us, mothering us.

I couldn’t say anything to that. I had no words. So instead, I leaned forward and hugged her neck, letting the cold tears slip down my cheeks and fly off into the sky. This entire time, she could have left me and gone home, and she didn’t.

‘I love you,’ I told her as she began to descend into the center of town, where there were military personnel all gathered in a circle.

‘And I, you, young one.’

I sat up, wiping my face and reeling in my emotions for the task ahead.

Liana’s story about her grandmother had shocked me.

How her world fell apart did sound eerily similar to my current situation. I’d gotten emotional, and I was okay with allowing myself to cry now when I felt like it and to say those three special words. But right now I had to push all of that down and bring out the cold-hearted leader that my father raised. Empress Aisling Everhart was about to meet Prime Leader Maxim Vlek of Luska, and I was going to make that bastard release my sister or die trying.