Page 49 of Lies That Bind
We sat down at the table and reread Maxim’s letter together quickly.
Empress Aisling,
Tonight, your attack on our Red Palace killed my father, Prime Leader Vlek.
I’ve waited two decades to take over the war efforts from my weak father. So, I wanted to say thank you for giving me this opportunity. I’m going to give you two options now, and I’d like you to choose very carefully.
1. Marry me, unite our people, and surrender your country, lands, and ember to me, and I will not harm anything you hold dear, including your three beautiful sisters.
2. Deny my hand, and I’ll strip your lands of their people, mine all of your ember, and kill each and every one of your sisters before forcing you to be my wife.
I await your reply,
Maxim
Smoke curledout of my nostrils and Elaine placed a calming hand over mine.
“You must be equally bold,” she warned.
I nodded, and then I wrote.
Maxim darling,
You are so welcome for helping rid the world of your pig-headed father. I cannot wait to also take your life and end the war, absorbing your people and lands into my own and finally giving them a proper leader.
My answer to your question is this…
If you ever threaten me or my sisters again, I’ll remove you of your manhood. Please accept the enclosed gift as proof that I can do that.
Sleep tight. I’ll be watching.
Empress Aisling
“It’s perfect,”Elaine said, folding the boxers on top and then placing them in a package before sealing. I was livid, pacing the floor and thinking about the audacity of this man.
“Liana said he has two creatures and that he’s evil,” I told Elaine.
She paused in my doorway, turning around to face me with a shadow of fear over her face. “I never saw him in my time there, but I did see the red rider you speak of. She’s his twin sister.”
Oh crap.
I sagged onto the bed, my heart racing in my chest. Red rider was Maxim’s twin! She was the prime leader’s daughter? Now it made sense why she said I killed her father that night. She knew my secret… She…
“Elaine, get inside and shut the door,” I said before my governess could leave and deliver the letter. I knew it was a risk, but I could trust Elaine. She’d proven that.
“I have to tell you something.” I couldn’t meet her gaze.
Liana sensed what I was about to do and her presence rose up in me.‘You tell her, but no one else. Ever. Not your sisters or Tetra or anyone.’
If Elaine was going to be advising me, she had to know everything.
Elaine was very still, watching me like a mother watches a daughter who is about to confess something.
She waited, peering over at me with curiosity.
“I have a power I haven’t told you about. A secret power.”
She peered over her shoulder to make sure the door was indeed closed and then walked over to me until she was standing right before me.
