Page 3 of Lies That Bleed
I rode my bike through Riverine, the capital city of Amersea, with the wind in my hair and a smile on myface. This bike was a present from Elaine for my seventeenth birthday, and the freedom it gave me was something I treasured. The small chunk of ember, about the size of a marble, that powered the bike glowed within the motor against my calf.
After turning down Jace’s street, I waved to his security guard, Yuri, who stood at the entrance of his property. He waved back, pushing the button to open the giant wrought-iron gates for me. Jace’s father’s estate was beautiful, with well-manicured lawns, a swimming pool, and a grand guesthouse that Jace now lived in. When we eventually married, we would likely buy a house in this area of town. It had enough security to be safe for us but wasn’t overly pretentious like my father’s place.
I parked my bike and hopped off of it, taking long strides through the garden to his guesthouse. Jace moved out of the main house last year and it afforded him freedoms I could only dream of. No governess, no parents asking where he was going, and he threw some killer weekend parties.
I wanted to surprise him on Lottery Day with the news my father had told me last night. He’d promised to rig the Lottery in favor of Jace’s name being picked so that we could go to The Wilds together. It was frowned upon to pre-pick names, but as son of the commander of the Imperial Fleet, Jace would need to bond with a creature of great power to take after hisfather. He would never get that chance without getting picked in the Lottery.
The back door of Jace’s guesthouse opened and I smiled, ready to greet him, when a young girl about my age, with long messy blonde hair, stepped out. She was wearing jeans with a shirt that was half tucked in and she had one boot on. She leaned down to put the other on when Jace stepped out, shirtless, and pulled her up for a face-eating kiss.
My soul left my body in that moment.
A whimper escaped my throat and Jace yanked his head away from the girl and met my gaze from across the yard.
“Shit,” he grumbled.
The girl looked at me wide-eyed and wisely bolted in the opposite direction, limping as she fought to get her boot on the other foot.
My heart shriveled into dust and died right then and there, but somehow I kept breathing. How was I still alive? It felt like a hole had opened up inside of my chest and I just wanted it to swallow me up and eat me alive.
Jace cheated. He cheated on me, I told myself as I processed what was happening.
Jace ran for me, hands out as if trying to calm a raging bear. “Aisling… this was nothing?—”
Him calling cheating on me “nothing” made my sorrow morph to red-hot rage in a millisecond.
I will kill him. I will rip out his guts and decorate that blonde chick’s house with his entrails!
When he got within range, I punched him in the balls as hard as I could. Which was pretty damn hard. Elaine would be proud.
He fell to his knees with a groan, keeling forward, grasping between his legs and sucking in lungfuls of air.
Jace peered up at me in misery, his angelic blond hair swept over one beautiful blue eye. “Aisling, men have needs,” he managed to get out. “She was the scratch to an itch. It meant nothing. I love you.”
Thatbastard!He knew as future empress I was not allowed to bed a man until marriage. It ruined all prospects. Every year when I went to the doctor, my father had purity checks done on me. Being the emperor’s daughter came with a huge responsibility. Jace had said he was fine with it, that he loved me and would wait, but clearly that wasn’t true.
He was curled in the fetal position on the grass, and I stooped low and pressed my lips to his ear. “I trusted you with my entire heart,” I breathed, each word threatening to drown me in sorrow. “I hope your dick rots off and you die in The Wilds.” I growled the last part and stood, storming away from him.
“Aisling! Come on. You can’t break up with me over this!” he bellowed after me, still curled in a ball on the lawn.
I was on my bike and halfway down his driveway when the first tear threatened to fall.
No. I was an Everhart. The daughter of the emperor of Amersea. I wouldn’t let this derail my future. I wouldn’t let Jace make me cry. I had a Lottery ceremony to attend. The entire country would be watching me to lead them. Every little girl would look to me when my name was called to go into The Wilds. I had to give them the confident smile that they deserved.
Jace Ledger was dead to me.
Chapter
Two
Citizens came from all over Amersea to attend the Lottery: from the sea towns of the Marble Shores to the Evergreen Forest, and even from the former rival nation of Imbria. Imbria was once its own territory, with its own leader. A king. They had a completely different language and customs. They ate spicy food, drank tea with herbs in it, and the men wore colorful clothing without embarrassment. It wasn’t until the Great Blackout fifteen years ago that our two sides fought and Amersea won, overtaking the terrorist nation and absorbing them. Imbria was now considered a state within Amersea, all under the control of my father.
I watched from the Lottery stage as the Imbrians poured into the great hall. They clustered together as if they were one. The women wore bright colored silk wrap dresses that were their custom. The men wore long tunicshirts that hung past their knees, and tight leggings of bright colors. It was said that the Imbrian people were particularly beautiful, and I had to admit that was true. Bronzed skin, eye color that varied from chocolate brown to honey yellow, to a rare light blue. They were tall, athletic and particularly lethal. Brought up in the ways of the warrior since they could walk, I knew better than to mistake the women’s polite smiles for weakness. Their culture was a hospitable one, but they would cut your throat in your sleep if they deemed it necessary.
Because they were a nation that had been taken over by force, the Imbrian people had gone from one of the richest lands to an impoverished desert overnight. I didn’t pity them though, it was their own fault.Theycaused the Blackout on our city,theyattacked in the middle of the night, killing thousands of Amerseans without cause. They became greedy and they got what they deserved.
Now they bowed tomyfather, they paid taxes toourhousehold, and they spoke our language. They were lucky we allowed them into the Lottery at all. Though only a small amount of Imbrians were permitted to enroll in it. We couldn’t let them get too powerful. They might try to take us over again.
My gaze locked with one particularly tall and handsome Imbrian. He was built like a bear, as if he lifted weights in his sleep. His brown skin was covered in tattoos and small scars, and his black silky hairhung across his forehead in a glossy swoop as he glared at me with piercing blue eyes.
