Page 61 of Lies That Blemish
I believed thathebelieved that, that he would probably get himself killed trying to plan some big rescue mission.
“Okay,” I said to make him feel better. “But I need to ask you a favor, one that I have no business asking after what I put your people through. After what my father put your people through…”
“If you want something from me, Aisling, my answer is always yes.”
I laughed, but it turned into a weird sob. They spoke about love like ours in romance books. But in those, they had happy endings, and in mine… I ended up with Maxim and my sister was a prisoner. I’d only ever really had Kohen for one night. That’s all we got.
I swallowed hard.
“What is your request, my love?” Kohen asked, brushing his finger over my bottom lip, sending tendrils of warmth down my spine.
“Take my people. Protect them? Please. I’ll order a mass evacuation. That way, if Maxim hurts Victory and I get triggeredand rip his throat out, and then he makes good on his threat… no one will die.”
Kohen didn’t falter even for a second. “Absolutely. Your people, your sisters, Elaine, they will be safe in Imbria.”
“I don’t deserve you. I never did.” The way I treated him from day one, it made me sick to think about. And all the while, my father was the one who made their life hell and steal their land and enslave their people. It was wrong, and I didn’t even know how to go about making it right.
“We deserve each other.” He pulled my chin forward and kissed my mouth.
“Is there even any place left to send my people? I’ve burned half your country and bombed so many villages,” I said distraughtly.
Kohen nodded. “You have, but my country is bigger than I think you ever thought it was. Sorak is fine, and our great capital Nimra, as well. Anything east of the open plains is thriving and we are rebuilding. My men are signing up for the reserve army, and we will be okay. There’s room for everyone. They will need to bring tents and help farm, but there’s room.”
There’s room. He wasn’t saying no. He was saying he would make room, and I realized at that moment another prophecy he’d spoken had come true.
One day, you’ll beg me to protect you. Except it wasn’t me, it was everyone I cared about and had pledged to protect.
“Thank you.” I didn’t know what to say now. The letter indicated that I should leave now. That I stop at nothing to reach Maxim and just sign over my country and my life. “I need to write a letter to my admirals and to Valor,” I told him.
He nodded and pulled a pen and paper from his pack.
Crouching down, I wrote a letter to the admirals telling them what I had to do in order to keep Victory alive and to keepRiverine from being wiped off the map. I told them to order a mass evacuation to Imbria and that Maxim had a huge bomb.
Then I wrote a letter to Valor, one that broke my heart.
Finally, I reached up to my neck and unclasped the locket that held my mother’s picture and my wedding ring from Kohen. “Give this to Valor one day,” I told him, clasping it around his neck and tucking it into his shirt as I tried to fight the emotions threatening to take hold of me.
His bottom lip shook as he met my gaze. “You’ll give it to her yourself. We will find a way out of this. I just have to see a vision that shows me the steps to take.”
I cupped my hand to his face and stroked his cheek. “Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. Sometimes, you make your bed, and you have to lie in it.”
I killed Maxim’s sister. The reckoning of that day had come. “My admirals know we married. They know the truth about what my father did, and that yours was innocent. If you go to them with this letter, they will follow my orders.”
“I hate this,” he breathed.
I nodded. “Not more than I do.” My voice cracked.
I peered over at the healer. He was still working over Elaine, and I had no idea if she would make it.
“Please take care of her,” I told him.
“You know I will. I’ll take care of everyone, Aisling—and you. Please trust me. I’ll find a way to kill this bastard. I don’t know why, but when you marry him, all of the visions I have make him seem untouchable. I have to find out why, and then I’ll save you and Victory.”
Untouchable.Great.
I turned around then because I sensed her.
Liana.
