Page 45 of Lies That Bleed
I grinned.‘You know about that? The emperor’s parade?’
‘I am well known in The Wilds. Other creatures tell me things and I offer protection or give them ancient knowledge,’she mused.‘They told me about your customs and we had a similar parade where I’m from.’
Where she was from? I didn’t think she meant The Wilds…‘Where are you from?’I asked, and felt nervousness run through her.
‘Home. Above the fire sky, from before the rock fell and brought us here.’
I was stunned by her answer. Creatures considered The Wilds their home, a home they wanted to leave and explore the outside world. For her to say that above the fire sky was her home… well, she was much older than I had initially thought by thousands of years. The realization was mind-boggling. Incredible.
‘I’m very grateful to have bonded you, Liana,’I told her.
‘And I you,’she said, bowing deeply to me, deeper than she did to my father.‘I will follow every command you give me, and do everything in my power to serve and protect you. I only ask for one favor in return when the time comes.’
A favor? My heart hammered in my chest.‘What favor?’
‘I will ask when the circumstances are ready, and you can decide if you want to grant my request.’
That felt heavy, an undefined favor. But she wasn’t saying I had to grant it, only that she would ask.
‘Okay, ask when you are ready, and if it’s reasonable I will grant it.’
She opened her beak in what I could only describe as a grin.‘Goodnight, young one,’she said.
‘Goodnight, Liana,’I told her, and moved to leave when she stopped me with a feeling. It was like a pull on my chest, and then an uneasiness ran through my stomach.
I turned around to face her.
‘Do you love him?’she asked.
I stood there in shock at her question for a wild second thinking she meant Kohen.‘Who?’
‘Your father.’
I sagged in relief, laughing. Did I love my father? What kind of question was that?
‘I mean, yeah. He’s my father,’I answered, unsure. I’d never said it to him, not even as a child. My mother said it all the time, too much probably, but my father never uttered the words and so we didn’t either.
‘Then I won’t tell you what I think of him. Goodnight, Aisling.’
Her words carved their way through my heart as I wished her goodnight and walked back to my house in stunned silence.
She mentioned she was a good judge of character just by smelling someone. Was that what she meant? She smelled my father and she didn’t like him?
I lay awake for an hour thinking about it before finally drifting off to sleep.
Chapter
Thirteen
My first day of boot camp would not be fun. I had heard and seen firsthand how cadets were treated like the scum of the earth.
“You will not be given special treatment just because you are my successor,” my father said at breakfast.
He normally poured a cup of black coffee and went to his office, but this morning he was sitting in front of me and the triplets with a muffin.
“I know,” I told him.
He appraised me solidly for a few seconds and my heart picked up speed. Did he know Liana didn’t like him? Could Zuri smell it?
