Page 55 of Lies That Blemish
He squeezed me back, inhaling as if remembering my scent for the last time.
We pulled apart, and I walked away without another word.
I had to call a meeting and clear Kohen’s family name. If it was the only thing I did, it would be worth it.
Over the next hour,I told the admirals the truth about the night of the blackout. Most of them were in Riverine, and it was easy to call the meeting at my father’s house. I produced the safe with all the papers and maps. They were in shock and disbelief, trying to make a case for how this could be anything else, but ultimately, the note in his handwriting sealed their decision.
We can call it the Great Blackout. Blame Imbria. Kill Badshah. Take over. Double our land.
Those few sentences caused an uproar within the meeting room.
Commander Ledger slammed a fist on the table. “That bastard!”
“I can’t believe it,” Admiral Caruso said.
“I want you to question everyone in this room and make sure they weren’t party to it,” I told her in front of the ten people present.
There was a minor outroar at that, but in the end, they relented, saying they understood. If my father had help, I wanted that person out of our leadership.
“Draft a peace treaty with Imbria. They will join us again. We will become one nation.”
Commander Ledger’s brows bunched together. “How can you be so sure? Especially if they get wind of this? They’ll want your head on a stick.”
“Kohen Badshah will sign it. Trust me,” I said. “We need to be united now more than ever before. After the recent Riverine attack from Luska, and tearing down the Wall, we have no idea what they will do next.”
Commander Ledger shook his head. “Hang on, Empress. It’s our job to advise you on what’s best for your safety and our country. We cannot draft a reunification with Imbria on a, ‘trust me’. We’ve burned half their country. If Kohen Badshah has told you he will join us again and sign a peace treaty, it could be a trap.”
“It’s not a trap,” I said.
“How can you be sure?” Admiral Caruso said.
“Yeah, just because young Badshah might have agreed to a peace treaty verbally doesn’t mean he’ll sign,” Admiral Blade echoed.
“He’ll sign it!” I shouted.
“But how are you sure?” Commander Ledger asked.
“Because I married him last night!” I screamed, and the entire room went silent.
Crap. I hadn’t intended for that to get out.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Blade said in disbelief.
“Why not? He, his family, his country—they are not the enemy. My father was!”
More silence.
“The people won’t accept this,” Caruso said. “This doesn’t leave the room.”
The next hour was spent convincing them I had, in fact, married Kohen Badshah and that a priest was present and it was legally binding. They went into “damage control,” as if I was some angry teen who had gone off and done something rash.
Had I? Maybe. But it felt like the best decision I ever made.
I showed them the ring, and half the men in the room rolled their eyes. “Don’t wear that in public. Tell no one,” Admiral Blade said.
Why was everyone treating this like some big mistake? I guess prejudices didn’t die right away, even with evidence that you were wrong. Maybe they had to slowly be starved of oxygen and fade away. It would take time.
“What if the people did accept it? What if this is what finally brings our two countries together? Like actually together as equals. Not like last time when they were seen as beneath us. Not as a conquered nation. This would be a mutual merging of two nations. Stronger together.”
