Page 36 of Lies That Bind
My father warned me of this. Decision fatigue. Being empress was like being shot with a dozen arrows every second, and you had to catch every single one. Except the arrows were decisions you had to make. I couldn’t properly think about Liana, or Onyx, or the Red Palace, or even Finn. That was all in the past, and right now, I had to make another decision.
I wanted to tell Jade yes. I did. But a solo mission to go after someone last seen dangling from a Talanagi was suicide. Especially after we’d just bombed the Red Palace. No, we’d need to hunker down and get ready for a counterattack.
“Denied. Let’s get back to base. We can plan Colt’s rescue and extraction in the morning,” I told her. “We need to brace for retaliation.”
She hesitated a second as if she wanted to argue with me but then nodded, and we moved out. It took us a while to make it out of the Wilds, but when we did, there were over a dozen vehicles waiting for us. Jade had called them in through her creature, Danowen, who was waiting at base and had the gift of being able to mentally relay messages to anyone.
“What happened?” Commander Ledger asked. “All we knew from Danowen was that the building blew sky high, and then the empress was left behind by her creature, and attacked.”
I gave him a quick debrief as we got into the car. His face lit up at the confirmation that we’d completely flattened the Red Palace. I said that we’d been separated from our creatures in battle because I didn’t want him to know we weren’t exactly fully in control of Liana and Onyx. I would never force her to do anything. I told him exactly what Kohen said about Finn dying to protect me and that Colt was missing in action.
He nodded, and we traveled full speed back to base. “They’ll retaliate. We should all spend the night in the underground bunkers.”
I nodded. Sky Reach was constantly under fire. An elaborate maze of bunkers had been built to withstand attacks.
Within the hour I was ferried to a lavish sleep quarters fifty feet underground. As I descended all the steps, it felt like a tomb, but I tried to focus on the fact that it meant I was safe. Kohen and the rest of the base occupants would be sharing bunk beds. I was sequestered in a private suite that felt cold and lonely after growing up with three sisters. But I was too tired to care.
‘Liana, tell me you’re safe,’I called through our bond. But got nothing. I tried not to let it bother me. She was immortal after all, but I didn’t like being separated from her.
I showered quickly, and the second my head hit the pillow, I was out.
I was rippedfrom a blissful sleep by a fist banging on my steel door. It felt like pulling my body from quicksand as I crossed the room and ripped the door open.
Commander Ledger was half asleep as well, hair flattened to one side and still wearing his bedclothes. “We have an urgent update that cannot be read without you present. Top-level clearance. Empress only.”
I shook myself, adrenaline forcing alertness to unfoggy my mind.Top clearance. Empress only.That was bad. Or good. I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t gotten to that level of training with my father yet.
I threw a baggy sweater over my tank top and followed him down the hall, noticing he had only one sock on. I’d never seen this man look disheveled. He was always put together, always tidy. This must be serious to have him presenting himself to me like this. I smoothed my hair as we walked, retying my braid and wiping my eyes. Was I about to walk into a room full of people looking like this? Would I ever sleep a full night again?
We reached a door where a soldier stood out front, back erect, staring straight into the distance. As we approached, he simply glanced at us and then opened the door. I stepped inside, not sure what to expect.
It was a small, dimly lit room with an envelope sitting in the center of a table and white gloves beside it. There were four chairs, all empty.
It was just Commander Ledger and I.
Interesting.
My heart beat furiously in my chest as I stared at the cursive font on the letter.
Empress Aisling.
“Who is it from?” I asked.
“It came via Luskin currier.”
Luska sent me a letter? I was pretty sure that was unheard of, but what did I know?
“Do they do this often?”
“Never,” the commander said flatly. “Wear the gloves. We don’t know if the paper is poisoned.”
Great.
I reached for the gloves, proud to see that my hands didn’t shake. Putting them on, I then grasped the letter and peeled off the back seal.
Commander Ledger paced the carpet as I pulled out a single note and read.
Empress Aisling,
