Page 9 of Lies That Blemish (The Ember War #3)

Valor

I couldn’t believe my sister sent Iniki to look for me! Well, I could, but I was mortified. And scared of what her reaction would be. She now knew I was with Kohen’s brothers. She was probably livid, ready to march in here and call the whole thing off.

“I wonder if my brother knows your sister is engaged?” Arjun asked.

“Who cares,” I said.

Tej and Arjun shared a look.

“What?” I said when they didn’t respond.

“When Kohen returned, and Aisling started bombing us, the people were ready to march on Amersea and take her head. We have more citizens than you do—ten to one.”

That was a chilling calculation.

“We have better weapons, and more trained soldiers with bonded than you,” I shot back.

Tej nodded as if agreeing. “But if one million people march across your border, eventually you’d get overrun.”

My heart fluttered in my chest. Was that a threat?

“Calm down, little heir,” Tej teased me. “I’m just telling you the facts because they were ready to kill your sister for bringing war to our lands after we just found peace.”

“Well, why didn’t they?” I asked as we walked deeper north. I could see the Wall now.

“My brother. He told everyone how he killed the emperor and that Aisling had every right to retaliate. He told them she was a woman of good character and would never harm a life without just cause. He spoke so passionately about her, people started to wonder if they had… been a couple.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kept quiet. My mind couldn’t deal with any of that right now.

After stopping to eat a meal and make more coffee, which we all shared, we trudged on throughout the day until we reached the Wall.

The boys stopped and consulted their map, and I felt nervousness eat at my stomach. I’d lost track of time. It was definitely day two. But how far into it, I didn’t know. I pulled my watch out of my pack and balked at the time. It was dinnertime on the second day. We’d been walking forever with little rest. I felt so weary. There was no way I was going to be able to fight a Talanagi in this shape. I was dead on my feet, my eyelids heavy as well as my limbs. The coffee only made me jittery and didn’t seem to give me any real energy.

Tej peered over at me, frowning. “You need rest,” he commanded.

“No, I don’t,” I snapped, widening my eyes to look more alert.

He glanced at Arjun, who had dark circles under his eyes.

“You both do,” Tej said. “We’ll camp here for a bit. You sleep for four hours, we have a light meal, then we head over about midnight. Just as Kohen instructed.”

“I’m not sleeping in the Wilds,” I declared.

Tej glared at me. “I’ll keep watch over both of you. I’m older. I don’t need as much sleep as your young, growing minds,” he taunted. Both Arjun and I launched at him. I punched his arm while Arjun went for his chest.

Tej laughed, rolling away from us. “Seriously though, get some sleep,” he ordered.

I peered at Arjun, who yawned. “I don’t feel like I can slay any dragons right now,” he admitted.

“Me neither,” I said. “But my sister told me not to sleep.”

“Because you were alone. I will look out for you both. I promise.” Tej placed prayer-clasped hands up to his chest and bowed deeply for dramatics.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but remember, my sister knows I’m with you now, so if you hurt me in any way?—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tej waved me off. “Go to bed, kid.”

I growled. He was incorrigible!

Arjun smiled a little at my bickering with Tej and rolled out his sleeping bag, pulling his blade out to hold it over his chest. He was ready to wake up and fight if needed.

I did the same, grasping the dagger they had given me, holding it as I slipped into my bag. I glanced over at Tej to see him sitting on a large flat rock, scanning the trees and then the sky, looking for any kind of threat.

It was crazy that just two days ago, I’d been mortal enemies with these guys, and now I was trusting one of them with my life while I slept. My sister would kill me if she knew, but I really hadn’t trained well for the sleep deprivation, and it was hitting me hard. So hard, in fact, that the second I closed my eyes, I felt like I was melting into the earth. Then I was out.

A small shake on my shoulder had my eyes snapping open. I instinctively pulled my blade between me and the person hovering over me. Tej sneered down at me. “Not a morning person?” he asked as he stepped away from me.

It took me a second to figure out where I was and what was going on, but then everything came rushing back to me.

I peered up at the fire sky, trying to tell time based on the moon beyond it.

“It’s near midnight,” Tej told me.

I felt much better, less groggy, and more alert. I peered over to see Arjun yawning as he rolled up his pack.

“Thanks,” I muttered to Tej, who had clearly kept watch the entire time. He looked tired.

“You want to rest?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine,” was all he said. “But if you have any more coffee, I’ll take that.”

I handed him my satchel of ground coffee and then packed up my sleeping bag, shoving it into my pack. After we’d eaten a small amount of food, and Tej drank coffee while Arjun and I opted for water, we headed out.

Twenty minutes later, I couldn’t believe I was doing this. As Tej lowered himself into the rushing river, bypassing the Wall and wading into Luska, I had a moment of panic.

Now was the time to turn back and try to bond that lioness. This was crazy. This would be how I died. My heart fluttered in my chest, but Arjun’s words came back to me then.

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

And then I thought of Kohen’s letter.

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.

“Stars help me,” I breathed, and then leaped into the frigid water. I was so short that the water came up to my chest, and I panicked as it began to tug me downstream. I knew how to swim, but I wasn’t prepared to be floating alongside Luska for too long. I’d be spotted.

A strong hand grasped my arm and hauled me to the side. I peered over, expecting Tej, but it was Arjun. His face was fierce and determined as he struggled to pull me against the current, until we were close enough to the shore that Tej could pull us up out of the deep water.

“Thanks,” I muttered to Arjun. I shuddered to think what would have happened had he not grabbed me so quickly. Just a few klicks down, there was a checkpoint. I knew the Luskins watched their waterways closely since they drank from this river and watered their crops with it. I’d heard my sister talking about it once.

I stepped onto the shore in soggy, water-logged boots and scowled. This was not very comfortable fighting attire.

Tej, who was much taller than me, and therefore only went to his waist, just shrugged as he looked down at me. “You’ll have to make do.”

“Okay, Dad,” I retorted.

“Gross,” Tej responded, which caused Arjun and me to share a smile. After squeezing as much water from the end of my shirt as possible. I pulled my blade, scanning the Luskin Wilds. I’d obviously never been to Luska, but I was very aware that if someone captured us and found out who I was, I’d be used as a pawn against my sister.

I reached down and smooshed my wet fingers into the dirt, then rubbed my cheeks with it until there were brown streaks across it. “If we get caught, my name is Natasia. We ran away from home, hoping to bond creatures for fun.”

They both looked back at me like I was crazy.

“Hello, I’m the heir to Amersea. If I get caught?—”

“Fine. I’m Zack. I’m an heir, too,” Tej taunted.

“I’m Beast,” Arjun said, and both Tej and I burst into laughter.

“Bro, I am not calling you that,” Tej informed him as we began to walk deeper into the forest.

“You have to. I’m Beast, named after my incredible fighting skills.” Arjun informed us of his fake backstory.

I couldn’t stop smiling, even given the dire circumstances. Tej and Arjun, or Zack and Beast, had grown on me. I had wondered since hearing that my sister had some love affair with Kohen Badshah exactly how that had happened, but now I knew. It was little by little.

“So… who bonds first?” I whispered. “And what kind of Talanagi do you guys bond?” I was fully giving in to Kohen’s vision, hoping it was real.

“Kohen didn’t say,” Tej told me. “He said it wasn’t important. Just that you would bond a small red dragon. And we both would bond Talanagi as well.”

I thought of my dagger still sticking out of the fox that had tried to kill Tej. I was so weak for not being able to pull it out. I felt stupid for it. I wanted to go back now and yank it out just to prove I could. Then maybe I’d show myself that I was ready to bond a Talanagi.

Tej stopped suddenly, and we all froze. He crouched down and picked up something bright blue, rubbing it between his fingers.

His eyes widened a little, not really in alarm—more in awe.

“What is it?” I whispered, stepping closer to inspect the blue… rock?

When he opened his palm, I gasped a little.

It wasn’t a rock. It was a scale. A shimmery… dragon scale?

“Cool,” Arjun said in low tones, stepping up beside me.

Excitement thrummed through me. Maybe this was all legit, Kohen’s seeing the future, the map, everything.

I opened my mouth to speak when a blur of blue shot through the air and knocked Arjun to the ground. I spun, coming face to face with a blue dragon.

Holy crap.

It was huge.

I mean, at least to my five-foot-two height.

“She drew blood. You have to fight,” Tej told his brother.

Arjun scrambled to get up, a small cut on his face.

I backed up, pulling my blade but slinking behind Arjun. Once blood was drawn, you couldn’t interfere.

A twig snapped behind me and I spun that way, my heart leaping into my throat as a small red dragon stepped out of the thick trees.

No way .

“Uh… guys?” Tej called.

I risked a glance behind me to see a green dragon approaching him.

We were being attacked all at once. This was so not ideal!

Arjun suddenly gave a battle cry next to me and ran at the blue dragon, sinking his knife into her shoulder and using it as a handhold to mount her. She screeched, yanking away from him and bucking him off, sending him flying.

Tej was at my back then, pressing against me as we both stepped in a slow circle, back to back. The green and red dragons moved around us like circling predators.

“This isn’t normal. All at once like this,” I told him. I’d never heard of multiple creatures hanging in a pack like this and trying to bond or attack at once.

“They’re sisters,” Tej whispered.

What?

“How do you know?” I breathed back.

“I just do.” He seemed confused.

‘Sister of the empress, eldest of three, I see you,’ the creature before me spoke into my mind, and it terrified me. We hadn’t even bonded yet. Could she do that?

I held my weapon aloft, gripping it as Tej grunted and buckled behind me, clearly struggling.

“Tej!” I shouted but didn’t take my eyes off the beautiful creature before me.

‘I’ve killed many larger than you,’ the red dragon taunted as she moved to my left. She was smaller for a dragon but still larger than me. She stood maybe seven feet tall.

I thought about what Arjun had said, about the bonding not being all about physical strength.

‘Maybe what I lack in size, I make up for in other areas,’ I jested back, hoping she heard me.

Her eyes crinkled as if she were amused, and then, out of nowhere, she shot forward, opening her mouth to take my head!

Rolling to the side and out of the way, I popped up, dagger in my fist, and spun around just as she came back for another strike. I noticed at this distance that there were quite a few scars on her shoulder, maybe where previous Lottery winners had tried to bond her. I wasn’t even sure if Luska did a lottery or?—

“Valor!” Tej yelled in warning as the red dragon’s tail whacked me in the side of the head. I was flung to the ground, landing hard on my elbow as pain throbbed inside my head. Blackness danced at the edge of my vision as a high-pitched ringing whined in my ears. Copper tang filled my mouth, and I spat on the mossy earth.

Blood.

The bonding had begun.

This was it.

My gaze flicked quickly to Tej, who was battling the green dragon. Arjun was on the back of the blue dragon, trying to choke it into submission.

The red dragon just stood there, peering down at me with curiosity.

‘I thought I felt a strong power in you. I guess not,’ she said as I stayed down, curled on my side.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I whimpered, putting as much patheticness as I could into my voice. Aisling always told me I was too dramatic and would make a good stage actress. Now was the time to test my skills.

The red dragon snarled down at me, seemingly disgusted with my weakness. My whole life I’d been second place—second to Aisling, too small, too young, too immature, never good enough. I realized now that it had built a well of rage inside of me. I had a deep desire to prove myself to everyone: Elaine, my little sisters, Aisling, my country, this dragon. She was looking at me like I was a pile of excrement.

I held out my hand to her, sobbing. “Please, just let me go.”

Her nostrils smoked, and I watched her like any prey watched a predator. The second I saw her muscles twitch, I burst from my position just as she lunged for me, mouth open, and we collided in the air.

I drove my dagger into her open mouth, pinning her tongue to the bottom of her jaw like it had been pierced.

She roared in anger as smoke billowed out of her so thickly I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. Trying to remember where she was, I leaped forward, grasping out blindly, and felt her cold scales. Digging my fingers into them, I climbed onto her back and bent down into her ear.

“Don’t ever underestimate me,” I growled, and colors exploded out of her, filtering through the smoke and throwing rainbows all over the forest. The lasers sliced through the swirling smoke like threads of molten color, each beam igniting the haze, and I heard a whoop of excitement that I thought was Arjun.

I felt it then. What they told us about in books, but Aisling said could never truly be described—a squeeze in my heart so tight I thought it might burst. The bond . Then, all at once, I was imprinted with information about her. She was one of three sisters, but they weren’t triplets. She was the youngest. She and her sisters longed to leave the Wilds but had never found anyone worthy and didn’t want to break up and leave each other. She instantly knew everything about me as well. That I was Aisling’s heir to the empire, never feeling good enough or strong enough, but that I had a strong desire to prove myself.

Reaching down, I pulled the dagger from her mouth.

‘Thank you,’ she said. I hoped she had self-healing powers because that had to hurt.

The smoke cleared, and when I peered over, a grin pulled at my lips.

Arjun and Tej were both mounted on the other dragons. They were slightly bloodied, but nothing life-threatening.

‘My eldest sister, Elvria, the green dragon, is the wise and quiet one of us.’ She nodded to Elvria. ‘Siara is the lively comedic relief.’ She then flicked her head to the dragon Arjun was riding.

She already knew I was a triplet, and that I was the younger sister of Aisling. ‘What does that make you?’ I asked her.

‘The sassy, rebellious one,’ she snickered.

Elvria stiffened, cocking her head to the side. ‘We must go now. I smell humans.’ I heard her rich, husky tones in my head, and my eyes widened.

‘We can mentally communicate with anyone, bonded or not. It’s a power we all share,’ Zara told me.

Wow, that was incredible.

‘Hold on,’ she added, and I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her neck.

I peered at Tej, who also clung to his dragon, looking slightly nervous, and then at Arjun, who looked absolutely green in the face and ready to vomit. Then Zara kicked off the ground, and I was pinned to her back with the inertia.

“Weeee!” Tej screamed.

“I’m gonna puke!” Arjun called out.

I just laughed. I’d always wanted to fly, and never in a million years did I think I’d have the chance. I had hoped to one day beg Liana to take me for a ride, but now I wouldn’t have to.

We hit the top of the tree canopy and I could see the Wall beyond, about a hundred yards away.

There was a freeness to flying, the cold wind through my hair. My clothes were still damp, so I was actually freezing at this speed, but I didn’t care! It was the greatest?—

I suddenly couldn’t breathe, like the air had been pulled from my lungs. In a panic, I peered behind me to see a blond female rider on a large red dragon. The red rider. My sister had told me about her.

She was grinning ear to ear as I struggled to breathe, and from the look on Tej’s and Arjun’s faces, they were feeling the same.

‘I can’t breathe!’ I told Zara.

She dive-bombed, and I slid forward two feet, nearly falling off her. All three dragon sisters split up then, flying in different directions. When Zara had put some distance between us and the red rider, oxygen came back to my lungs, and I gasped for air.

‘That’s Oryana and her bonded. She’s our mother.’

Oh great .

Her mother was chasing us and trying to kill me!

‘What do we do?’ I asked as she flew closer to the wall, the red rider right on our tail.

‘Do you feel any powers emerging yet?’ Zara asked me.

I didn’t. I was way too panicked.

Reaching into my pack with a shaky hand, I pulled the handful of flares I had left. When I saw the red one, I ripped off the cap and pressed the button, shooting a red firework into the sky. Then I couldn’t breathe again, as the red rider was right on top of me once more.