Page 21 of Lies That Blemish (The Ember War #3)

Aisling

I slid off of Liana, my hard boots hitting the cold ground, and stared at the group of men and women before me. They all wore Luskin red uniforms, but one had a particularly cold look to his eyes, a tall blond male with sharp features and dead black eyes. Chills ran down my spine when I looked into them.

Maxim.

‘Go now,’ I told Liana.

‘Maybe they will let me stay. I could help ? —’

‘Go help evacuate my people. You promised. Go, before they decide otherwise.’

Liana gave a growl of protest and then kicked off into the sky.

Maxim watched her go, the sides of his lips curling.

“She didn’t want to stay for dinner?” he asked. His voice was cold and grating.

“I don’t think she likes Luskin food,” I told him.

He laughed, and so did every single other soldier there. But they only laughed after he did, and it was fake sounding, like puppets following their master.

“It was smart of you to come,” he said as he walked over to me, circling me like a hawk.

I clenched my fists. “You didn’t leave me much choice. Where is my sister?”

“Come and I’ll show you.” He outstretched his hand as if expecting me to take it.

Hah!

I ignored the offered hand but stepped forward, indicating I would follow him. He didn’t look pleased, and the cold glare he gave me sent a shiver down my spine.

‘Take my hand.’ His voice boomed in my mind, and then, without my own doing, my hand moved into his. He clasped his cold fingers around mine, and my eyes flew wide.

“No,” I said, trying to yank my hand away from him, but I had no power over my own limbs. He had the same power as me! That made sense. He, too, was bonded to a female firebird.

‘Don’t fight me,’ he ordered in my mind, and I went still.

The people around us said nothing. I was worried about my sister and for my country, but I had to end this.

Now.

I tried to gather my power, to fight him and force him to stop in the same way he was forcing me. It was clear that his firebird, which I had yet to meet, had given him the same power to control people.

But when I attempted to pull for that specific power, I felt the reservoir empty.

I was still frozen, my hand in his as my eyes flew wide.

Maxim gave me an evil grin then and leaned into my ear.

“Oh, my bride-to-be, did you not feel it when I drained your power?”

No. No. No.

Had he? Was that how he did it? Was that his power?

Kohen’s past words floated to me as if on the wind: I just know that you lose it, that there is a time you need it, and it doesn’t come to you.

Maxim grinned ever wider. “You’re trying to figure it out. How cute. Let me spell it out for you, darling.” His Luskin accent was thick at some points and then nonexistent, as if he was pretending to be Amersean for me. It was weird. Leaning into my ear again, he breathed over my neck, and I felt bile rise up inside of me.

“My power is the ability to take anyone else’s.” He pulled away and then gestured around him. “Which is why I surround myself with such talented comrades.” He laughed, and then ten seconds later, his lackeys laughed as well. He looked at me again. “Oh, but not just that. I can make your power go dormant in my presence as well, all while I’m using another person’s magic. That way, you can’t use it on me. Right, Whitney?” He peered at a blonde female who wore a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Yes, sir,” she quipped in a tight tone. Her eyes met mine for the briefest of seconds. There was a warning there, one that said, Be careful .

Message received.

This was going to be so much worse than I thought.

“You…” Maxim said, stroking my palm with his thumb and causing me to recoil, which he quickly controlled. “…are the final prize of my collection.”

I peered at the others, all smiling and looking jubilant, and I felt sick.

Was he forcing those smiles with my power? Or did they just do it to please him? My heart sank into my stomach when I realized I’d never be free of him. If he had the power to control me, I’d never be let go.

Maybe when he’s sleeping. Or maybe over time, I can learn to fight the power.

“Oh, I should warn you that Ricov can hear thoughts and transmit them to me.” Maxim pointed to a big, burly man with a beard.

I paled, fear rushing through me. Had he been listening to my thoughts this whole time? What had I been thinking that might be damning?

What the hell! Screw you, Ricov , I thought, and watched the grin slide off his face and turn into a glare.

A small win. A small thing I had control over.

I felt Maxim’s power over me loosen a bit, and I used the moment to yank my hand from his.

He reached out and grasped it, clamping down to the point of pain, and I flicked my gaze to his, feeling my whole body freeze as I fought for control. I couldn’t move. I could scarcely breathe. Oh, how I’d love to just knee him in the balls right now. I would even settle for a throat punch. Anything to wipe that look off of his face. The look that said he’d won. How did he master my powers so quickly?

“Play nice,” Maxim warned me, “and we will have a content life together.”

Life. A life with him. I could think of nothing worse.

As we continued walking, I said nothing. Thought nothing. And when I did think things I didn’t want him to know, I recited the Amersean pledge in my head over and over to cover the thoughts, make them less loud in an effort to mask them.

‘Don’t say anything in return,’ I told Liana mentally. ‘I am closing our bond because Maxim has a soldier who can read my thoughts.’ Then I closed the bond, sealing off my connection to her as I watched Ricov grin.

Bastard .

I repeated the Amersean pledge over and over again. I didn’t want Liana to report anything back to me about the situation in Amersea or what I’d asked her to do. I didn’t want Maxim to know anything. I felt like a prisoner in my body and my mind. To not even be able to have the freedom to think what thoughts you wanted was the ultimate horror.

My mind raced with thoughts of being stuck here in this situation for years, and I began to feel dizzy. We approached a sleek red car with a wolf and a female firebird standing in front of it, and I froze.

His two bonded.

Elaine was right. Liana was right. Kohen was right. Everyone was right. How did I get here? I was having an out-of-body experience. Things went so wrong so fast.

“Aisling…” Maxim held my hand and gestured to the wolf creature. She was white with glowing yellow ember marks and a deadly glare. “This is Misha.”

I bowed my head deeply, against my will, and again, I wondered how he was doing it. I’d heard no words to force me, and he’d said nothing aloud. I was like a puppet now. He’d perfected my power on his first try. Maybe that was part of his power.

“And this is Nalika.” He gestured to his firebird. My head was still bowed. He’d not allowed me up, so I just stayed that way, raging inside my body like a caged lion.

I would kill this bastard. I would rip his head from his body!

“ Tsk tsk , naughty thoughts for your future husband,” Maxim said.

Screw you , I thought, and instead of letting my head up, I was forced to kneel. My legs gave out as he finally let go of my hand so that I could fall onto my palms. On my hands and knees, I touched my forehead to his feet.

“So obedient,” Maxim said and laughed.

The dozen or so soldiers around us laughed, too, and at that moment, I wanted to cry. I was trapped in a nightmare.

“Take me to my sister. Please,” I begged.

His hold over me broke, and I was allowed to stand. When I did, he was grinning at me. “Ohh, I do like the word ‘please’. That will go far with me. You will learn. Right, Whitney?” He looked at the blonde again, and she nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

I didn’t know what she’d done to incur his attention, but it clearly wasn’t good. She was shooting eye daggers at the back of his head. Maxim opened the car door, and I stepped inside of my own free will as he, his wolf, Whitney, and Ricov, got in behind me. We all spread out along the seats facing each other, very similar to my family car.

The car took off, and we rode in awkward silence as I prayed my sister was unharmed.

“So long as you cooperate with our little agreement, your sister will live a long and happy life here. I have a younger boy in mind who we can betroth her to,” Maxim said.

I tried not to react, repeating an old saying we used to spout as children. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me . Anything to keep him from knowing my thoughts. The saying looped in my mind loudly over and over as I panicked about him marrying off my little sister.

Maxim’s head snapped to Whitney, and the woman paled. She was in her mid-twenties, beautiful in an understated way. There was a strength in her he hadn’t beaten out. Yet.

“After all I’ve done for you, you still think that way about me?” he asked her. I wondered what Whitney had thought, and suddenly, I felt an unspoken alliance with the woman.

“Forgive me, sir,” she said sweetly, fakeness dripping from her voice.

He waved his hand at her as if annoyed, and I wondered why she was with us.

Ricov was clearly here so that Maxim could read our thoughts, but what was her gift? I wondered.

Maxim grinned at me. “Oh, you’ll see.”

I sighed, sad that I no longer had privacy with my own thoughts. Everything was under his control. My body, my mind, my free will.

Visions of our wedding night bloomed in my head, and I went numb, sinking into a deep sadness that I wasn’t sure I could ever crawl out of.

We drove through the downtown area, passing large buildings, and then finally past where the Red Palace used to be. It was cleared land now, already halfway through rebuilding, this time from steel.

I glanced at Maxim to see him watching me.

“That night, you made all my dreams come true,” he said wistfully.

The night I killed his father was the night all his dreams came true? That was telling of his character, or lack thereof.

I glanced at Ricov, ready to have him send that thought to Maxim, but Maxim seemed preoccupied with Whitney. He stared at her and she glared back at him, and tension filled the car, the kind that did when you were former or current lovers.

Interesting.

I stared back out the window, taking in all the sights and wondering how far we would have to travel to see my sister, what conditions she was being kept in, and how the hell I was going to survive this new life.

I suddenly had a thought. Maxim had taken my power to control, but he hadn’t taken my power to explode. If I detonated myself right now, I could kill us all and?—

Maxim’s hand snaked out and wrapped around my throat, pinching off my air supply. I tried to reach up and pry it off, but he forced my hands to remain down.

“If you try to end my life in any way, the men I have holding your sister will kill her as I have instructed them to. Do you understand me?”

I nodded, able to move my head, and then he let go, leaving me gasping and sputtering for air.

My gaze flicked to Whitney, who appeared horrified at my treatment. But when Maxim peered at her, the look was gone, and she appeared unfazed.

Ricov stared out the window at the passing trees as if nothing had happened.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me , I repeated over and over as I tried to process what had just happened.

I’d learned something. I was able to kill Maxim. That plan would indeed work, or he wouldn’t have freaked out.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me .

Ricov glared at me with a confused look on his face, as if he couldn’t read my thoughts clearly when I chanted the nursery rhyme.

I grinned. Checkmate, you bastard.

The car pulled off the main road and onto one that led to a huge set of iron gates. The forest was thick here, and it looked like a manor had been carved out of it. I peered up at the sky to see Maxim’s firebird flying over us and to a house that sat atop the hill.

I peered at the wolf, who was also staring at me.

I’d never felt so helpless in all my life.

Two guards at the gate both had griffin Talanagi. They waved us in, opening the gates. By my count, we’d driven about thirty minutes north of the Red Palace.

As we wound up the road, I took in the palatial home. In any other circumstance, I’d say it was beautiful, but I was pretty sure it was about to become my prison.

“The wedding will be here tomorrow.” Maxim pointed to a well-manicured garden where some white silk tents were being erected.

My stomach roiled.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, coming from the angle of a complacent prisoner.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

He nodded, as if pleased with my response. “I’m glad you think so. The treaty for the peaceful surrender of your people and lands is being drawn up by my council and will be ready before the wedding.”

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Emotion clogged my throat, and tears filled my eyes.

Kohen. I couldn’t help but think of him in this moment.

I’ll always protect you.

This time, he was wrong. No one could protect me from this. The best I could hope for was saving my people and my sisters.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

My gaze flicked to Ricov, and he rolled his eyes. It was getting hard to chant and think at the same time.

The car pulled up to the mansion. Maxim stepped out, and we all followed. I quickly did a scan to see that there were over a dozen guards patrolling the area. The two at the door both had lion creatures.

They bowed deeply as Maxim approached, and I wondered if they did it of their own free will. Ricov opened the large double doors and then Maxim stepped inside, gesturing widely to the grand home.

“Welcome home, Aisling,” he said, and I tried not to show my disgust.

The foyer we stood in had dark slate floors and red wallpaper that led all the way up to a double staircase, which held a second level. It was not my taste, but you couldn’t deny the grandness.

“This was all my father’s design, but if you want to redecorate, I can arrange for that,” Maxim said.

I glared at Ricov, who had clearly shared my thoughts on the design.

“I’m an empress, a warrior,” I growled. “I’m not a decorator.”

Maxim’s lip curled as if he liked my feistiness a little bit. “Which is why I chose you. Our children will be very powerful.”

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

I tried desperately to cover up my feelings for that statement. I’d rather me and all my sisters die than bear this demon a child. Maxim’s eyes thinned to slits, and I knew he’d heard that thought.

“Let’s go see your sister, shall we? Maybe that will motivate you to behave.”

I felt sick to my stomach as anger and rage washed over me. If she was hurt, I wasn’t sure I would be able to control my reaction. I might explode and kill us all.

Maxim reached out and took my hand, freezing it in his palm as he led me down the hallway. My heart thumped wildly with each step. The fight to kidnap Victory had been bloody. Elaine almost died and could be dead for all I knew. If they hurt Victory…

Smoke began to rise off of my skin. Maxim turned his head ever so slowly to look at me. “Stop it,” he commanded in an even but firm tone. The smoke dissipated, and I felt my powers freeze.

Dammit . He’d figured out how to use my one power to control the other.

He shot me a smug grin, but it never reached his eyes. They were like two cold, dark pits. If I stared at them too long, I got chills.

There was a male guard standing in front of a bedroom door, with a wolf creature beside him. He bowed to Maxim and then opened the door. I steeled myself, prepared for my sister to be bloody and chained to a chair with a gag over her mouth. But when the door opened and we stepped inside, I was shocked.

Victory looked up from where she’d been sitting on a pale pink rug and talking to another girl her age. She looked freshly washed, in a clean blue dress, and unharmed.

“Aisling!” she sobbed and ran to me.

Maxim allowed me to walk to her and open my arms. We crashed together as I had a vague knowledge of the other little girl running to Whitney for a hug.

Was that her sister?

“Maxim can hear your thoughts when Ricov is around,” I whispered into her ear and flicked my gaze to the bearded bastard at the door.

She pulled back, fearfully looking at both Maxim and then Ricov.

“Is Elaine…? Are Valor and Virtue… alive?”

I nodded. “All of them.”

It wasn’t a lie. Elaine was alive when I left.

She sagged in relief, almost sinking to the floor.

“Are you hurt? Hungry? Have they been treating you okay?” I asked her.

She nodded. “I’m fine. They feed us and let us bathe. They said I will start lessons tomorrow and live here from now on.” Her voice caught, her face begging me to answer that question: Is this our life now?

Maxim smiled at my sister. “That’s right, Victory. Your sister is going to surrender in the war, and we are going to get married, unite our people, and bring peace.”

Her eyes widened in fear. She looked at me, and Maxim forced my head to nod.

“No.” Victory moaned, clutching her chest. “Our home, my sisters.”

“Your sisters are welcome to join you here,” Maxim said coyly.

“No,” I growled.

Maxim shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I stroked Victory’s hair. “Everything is going to be okay,” I told her.

She opened her mouth to speak, probably with a hundred questions on her tongue, but then looked from Ricov to Maxim and closed it.

“Okay,” she said, dejected.

“Who is this?” I asked Victory, pointing to the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl with blonde hair who was standing next to Whitney. Now that I looked at them closely, I could see they were sisters.

“This is my new friend, Ana,” Victory said hesitantly.

Ana waved to me, and I shared a tense smile with Whitney. So much was unsaid between us. We both wanted to keep our sisters safe. And we both hated Maxim.

“Well, I’m glad you’re not alone here,” I told Victory in a pleasant voice, trying to go along with things and not anger Maxim.

Ana and Victory both nodded.

“Alright, we’ve got one more stop before dinner,” Maxim announced, and then all of a sudden, I was backing out of the room against my will.

“Don’t leave!” Victory ran for me, crying. Maxim threw his hand out, and Victory froze mid-step, eyes wide.

“Don’t hurt her!” I screamed. My voice was my own, but my movements were not. I was still backing out of the room, and I’d just reached the doorway. Ricov and Whitney, followed by Maxim, were next. Both Victory and Ana were frozen in place, tears streaming down their faces.

“No one’s hurt. We’re just laying down some authority.” Maxim smiled at me. “Have a good night, girls. Be good so your sisters won’t have an accident ,” he told them and then shut the door.

“You didn’t have to scare them like that,” I spat.

The girls pounded against the door, and my gaze flicked to Whitney. What I saw there gave me hope. There was a cold, calculating look in her eye. A quiet, simmering fury. She was planning something. I peered down to see her pinching the outside of her thigh. It was barely noticeable, but I saw her do it when the slight movement drew my gaze. Why would she be pinching herself unless… Did pain keep Ricov from hearing our thoughts?

“Shall we go to the testing site now, Prime Leader?” Ricov asked Maxim.

Maxim nodded.

Ricov seemed too preoccupied with Maxim to have read my thoughts.

We all walked down the hallway then in unison, Whitney and my feet matching cadence with Maxim. He was clearly controlling us both, and I hated every second of it, but I was at a loss for what to do. I couldn’t even think properly with Ricov around.

I just let go and let Maxim control me. Anything to keep Victory safe.

I hated who I’d become, from strong leader to loyal puppet.