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

Valor

Ember was beautiful, like a raining fire. I watched it dance down to the forest floor and burn there, smoking against the cool moss. I should probably grab a chunk. It was practically a rite of passage, but considering my sister was the empress and, therefore, the richest person in the country, it felt wasteful. I’d leave it for the embersmiths to mine or the next Lottery candidates.

A twig snapped to my right, and I spun that way, dagger out. A small little ferret with purple ember marks raced along the forest floor, and I let out the breath I’d been holding.

Okay, Valor, a little jumpy.

I took a deep breath and rolled out my shoulders, trying to relax. If my sisters were here, I might feel better—I wasn’t used to being alone. Being a triplet meant I’d never been alone, not even in the womb. But if they were here too, I’d also be worried about them and constantly looking out for them. No, this was better. If anything horrible happened to me, they wouldn’t see it. And in three days, the guards would find my body and bring it back?—

No. Stay positive. You’re getting out of here alive , I told myself.

It was hard not to have negative self-talk. I had an inner voice sometimes that hated me, and it sounded a lot like Father’s voice.

No, not like that, Valor.

You’re not doing it right, Valor.

That’s not good enough, Valor.

Aisling is better at that than you are, Valor.

You need to try harder, Valor.

Sometimes, I wondered what magic he had over Aisling that she idolized him so much. I mean, I was pissed that Kohen Badshah murdered him; sad to officially be an orphan… but I wasn’t mad he was gone. The nights were peaceful, the days without constant scrutiny. Now, I was just terrified that my older sister would be next. Someone I actually cared about and would be devastated to be without.

Where my mother’s death left a hole, and Father’s cold, hard neglect grew that hole ever wider, Aisling filled it. Along with Elaine, I had a vivid memory of baking cookies in the kitchen at seven years old, and a then-twelve-year-old Aisling picked up a hunk of raw dough and threw it at me. Father had been yelling at me earlier for not paying attention to my studies, and I was in a rotten mood. I had spun to her, angry, only to see her smiling before she threw another chunk. What erupted next was the first and last food fight we’d ever had. My sisters and I clobbered Aisling with cookie dough until she was laughing on the floor, and we rubbed it into her hair.

When Elaine came in, I thought she’d kill us all. But Aisling took the blame. My big sister.

I couldn’t let anything happen to her, which was why I needed to bond the biggest, most powerful creature possible so that I could protect Victory, Virtue, and even Aisling, too. My big sis was so busy running the country that she barely took care of herself. She’d lost weight. I barely saw her eat. She drank coffee constantly, and she was consumed with the war and making Imbria pay for what they did.

Another twig snapped, and I spun, sucking in a breath, and I saw two Imbrian boys, one about my age, one a little older. Like me, they wore packs and had swords on their hips, but they didn’t look like soldiers. They had soot in the creases of their skin like they’d gone through the burning fields to get here.

I held my blade aloft. “You’re on the wrong side of the border,” I spat.

We were at war with the Imbrians again. That meant this was our side, and across the river was theirs. They were probably just here to steal ember but it was our ember, not theirs.

“Valor Everhart?” the eldest said, and my stomach dropped.

No .

Assassins? I hadn’t prepared for this. Without giving it a second thought, I reached into my thigh holster with my free hand and pulled a throwing star. With one flick of my wrist, it sailed past the older boy’s head and sliced the tip of his ear right off.

With a scream, both boys crouched to the ground, putting their arms out in surrender.

“Holy crap, she tried to take my ear off!” the older boy said as he cupped his bleeding ear and glared up at me.

“I was actually trying to take your eye, but close enough,” I snarled, stalking forward with my dagger raised.

The younger boy who had been quietly watching me stood then, stepping in front of his elder brother, and held up his hands as I pressed the tip of my dagger to his chest.

Stars, he was gorgeous. His eyes were crystalline blue, and even though he had a baby face, it was still chiseled.

“Kindly go back to your lands, or I’ll carve out your heart with my sword,” I told him.

He frowned. “You have everything wrong, Valor.”

The way he said my name, like he knew me. “Did you come to kill me?” I asked, wondering how he knew who I was. Aisling was always well known as Father’s heir, but my younger sisters and I were lesser known to Imbrians.

“I’m Arjun. Arjun Badshah,” he said, and I sucked in a breath. His older brother stood, still glaring at me as he held a bandage to his ear. “That’s Tej.” Arjun flicked his head in his brother’s direction. “Our brother Kohen sent us?—”

“To kill me,” I growled, pressing the tip of my dagger into his chest so that it punctured the cloth.

He took a step back, muttering a string of Imbrian that I could barely pick up—it was too fast. Something about… beautiful demon .

“We came to help you bond a Talanagi!” Tej screamed. “But there’s no way in hell I’m helping you now.” He hooked Arjun by the underarm and began to drag his brother away.

Confusion flushed through me.

Help me bond a Talanagi?

Arjun dug in his heels, ripping away from his brother. “No. Kohen said she would resist. Without us, she dies!” he argued with his elder brother, and at his declaration, cold, hard fear flushed through me.

Without us, she dies? How the hell would he know that?

“Yeah, I don’t care.” Tej indicated his bleeding ear.

Arjun nodded, yanking out a rolled-up paper that was peeking out from his brother’s pack. “Then I’ll help her.” He turned back over to me and began to open the paper wide.

It was a map. I was so confused that I lowered my dagger, trying to make heads or tails of what was happening.

“She cut my ear!” Tej groaned.

Dammit, they didn’t seem like very good assassins.

“I can cauterize it if you come over here.” I lowered my dagger and my pack and began to rifle through for my med-kit. I had a small bit of gauze that, when activated with anything wet, turned to a glue-like putty. Aisling had to raise hell and search three army bases to get it for me.

Tej continued to glare at me. “If you think I’m ever letting you touch me, you’re insane.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

I shoved the med-kit back into my pack, picked up my dagger, and sauntered off into the woods.

“Would you both stop acting like children before she gets killed!” Arjun shouted, and I stopped.

There it was again. A threat to my life? I wasn’t sure. He was speaking like he knew the future.

I turned, pulling my blade again. “I am heir to the empress’ throne. If you have intel on a threat to my life, speak now,” I warned.

Arjun looked at his older brother, who shook his head.

“Our brother Kohen can see the future,” Arjun blurted out.

“You idiot!” Tej scolded him, going as far as to smack him in the back of the head. It made me smile a little, reminding me of my sisters, but the smile was erased quickly when I processed what he’d said.

“See the future? That’s illegal.” And a total lie, I was sure.

“I know, so that’s why if you tell anyone, it will be big trouble for my brother. I’m trusting you—like Kohen told me I could,” Arjun said.

Something about that softened my heart, but only for a fraction of a second. “Oh, your brother, who murdered my father , said you could trust me? That’s cute.” My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Arjun frowned. “He killed that bastard to protect your sister, who he’s in love with.”

Chills raced along my arms, and my mouth popped open.

“She can’t see reason. Don’t bother,” Tej snarled.

Arjun took another step closer to me, rubbing the spot where I’d cut a hole in his shirt. Was he bleeding? Kohen killed Father to protect Aisling? That made no sense. Except it might… if Father was going to kill her first.

Nausea roiled into me. “You’re a liar,” I told him, taking a step back. “He isn’t in love with Aisling. He killed her, too!”

Arjun nodded. “To buy himself time to get to us, to get us into an underground bunker before she started bombing.”

That made no sense. Why kill the one you love—? Then I remembered Aisling’s confession to me. That she was basically immortal. Did Kohen know? Did he know she would rebirth?

My hand shook. “My father would never hurt Aisling.” The lie tasted like poison on my lips.

Arjun frowned. “Okay… let’s focus on the future, not the past. I have a map. It leads to where all the Talanagi are. Where your sister and my brother bonded Onyx and Liana.”

Talanagi? Was he trying to get me killed?

“I don’t have a death wish,” I told him.

“You won’t die. Not if you travel with us and we become one pack. Just for the next two days.”

He spoke with so much confidence it was unnerving. “Two days?” I asked. “Why not three?” Three was standard.

“Because on the night of the second day, you will bond a red dragon and fly yourself home. Safe. Alive. Powerful,” Arjun said.

Shock. Greed. Desire. They all rolled through me in equal measure. A red dragon? It was my dream creature. He was lying. Playing on my desires. This was all a trap.

“What’s in it for you?” I asked them.

Taj scoffed. “You’re not the only one bonding Talanagi. We go together, we watch each others’ backs, and we all go home bonded.”

“You realize this sounds like a trap, and I’m not an idiot, right?”

Arjun nodded, pulling out a folded letter and handing it to me.

I opened it, scanning the contents.

Valor,

One day soon, you will be empress ? —

The first line took my breath away, and my heart skipped a beat. No. Aisling… I kept reading.

—for a short time while Aisling is… gone.

If you do not bond a Talanagi, your people will say you are too young and weak to lead. They will revolt, and the empire will fall. They will demand an elected leader, and your family’s legacy will be over.

Holy crap. My heart hammered in my chest.

I know Aisling babies you, but I won’t do that. The truth is, your father tried to kill Aisling at boot camp and had planned to do it again shortly after she would get her posting. I ended his reign to save her life, and I would do it again a hundred times over.

I love her, and by extension, that means I love you. You are important to her, so you’re important to me. I need you to trust me. I’ve sent my most precious cargo to assist you. If you work together, I promise you all make it out bonded to Talanagi.

In the coming days, this will all make more sense.

Kohen

I stared at the letter in a complete stupor. Kohen Badshah just said he loved me. Not in a weird romantic way, but it was still weird and gushy and… what the hell! Father had plans to kill Aisling? Could that be true? I hated the fact that it made sense, that I could see him doing it…

“You okay?” Arjun asked.

I didn’t want to think about this anymore. I warred with the decision. Go off on my own or team up with them? The chance to bond a Talanagi was too alluring.

“Just lead the way. I’m not sleeping, so if either of you comes for me, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” I said.

“Awesome,” Tej mumbled.

I yanked out my med-pack and threw it at his chest. “You’re welcome.” But even as I said it, I felt bad. It was weird to have feelings that went against what you were taught. I was taught to hate the Badshah family, even more so lately after hearing my sister do nothing but speak day and night about how she was going to kill Kohen and avenge Father. Now, I was supposed to team up with his brothers? This was absolutely crazy. But also, if they wanted to kill me, they could have overpowered me by now. They hadn’t even pulled their swords. Still, it felt like I was betraying Aisling. But I needed the most powerful creature possible… so I was doing it.

After patching up Tej’s ear, Arjun handed me back the kit.

“Where are the Talanagi?” I asked him.

Arjun flicked his gaze to his brother and then back to me. “Luska.”

“Luska! Are you mad?”

“Scared?” Tej asked with a taunt.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m smart. I’m not going to enemy territory to bond a creature that might not even be there.”

“Your sister did,” Tej said.

Aisling went to Luska to bond Liana? No way .

“Enough talking. If we don’t start now, we won’t make it by the second night.” Arjun waved us off and started walking.

Tej and I stared each other down. There was no way I was letting this guy have my back. We waited an agonizingly long moment before Tej groaned and then started to follow his brother. I pulled up the rear, telling myself this was an absolutely stupid plan and that I should turn back right now before I got in too deep with these two. Their extravagant lies were beginning to work on me because I was replaying every time I’d ever heard my father make a jealous remark at Aisling. Or the time I heard him tell Elaine she should have known better than to bond a Talanagi. Like, what did that mean? Why wouldn’t he be proud of that?

Before I knew it, we’d been walking for an hour, and I had convinced myself they were right about Father. If there was a chance to bond a Talanagi and keep my sisters safe, I was taking it. No matter the risk.