Page 89 of Lies That Blemish
‘I’ll never forget when I had to explain to you that my eggs weren’t fertilized,’she responded.
‘Hey, we said we would never speak of that again!’ I smiled, glad she was leaving on a lighthearted note.
‘Goodbye, Aisling.’
‘Goodbye,’I managed as my throat tightened with emotion.
Kohen came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me as we both watched her kick off the ground and shoot upwards like a fireball. We’d flown over and under the fire sky plenty of times but neverthroughit. Watching Liana get closer and closer to the orange and pink fiery glow had my heart in my throat.
Come on, make it, I cheered in my head, holding Kohen’s arms around me. Then it happened. She breached the fire; there was a flash of light, and then nothing, like she’d been sucked into space. She was gone.
I nodded, turning around in Kohen’s arms. “You knew? And didn’t tell me?”
He frowned. “I couldn’t bear it. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “That’s okay. I know something you don’t know now, too.” I grinned.
He cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, nothing. You will have to wait and see.”
“Aisling, what is it?” He jabbed me with one finger in the ribs, and I laughed. “You’ll see.”
Pulling me into his arms, he peered down at me. “Marry me again?”
“What?” I laughed.
“Marry me in front of the entire country in the biggest wedding our people have ever seen.”
I grinned. “Say it again.”
“Marry me.”
“No, sayourpeople.”
Leaning down, he kissed my mouth. “Our people.”
It felt like the entire time I’d known Kohen, he’d been working to get me to see that the Imbrians and Amerseans were equals, united and better together, and I’d finally reached that place. I would die for Imbria, just as I would for Amersea, and I knew we still had some kinks to work out, but I was proud to call these people my own.
Epilogue
Four-ish yearslater
Aisling
I couldn’t believethe triplets were nineteen today. It felt like a lifetime ago that I made the decision to send Valor into the Wilds to bond a Talanagi. Now both of my remaining sisters would go next month when the Lottery took place. We still held the Lottery even though the peace between Luska was strong. We never knew when war would come knocking at our door, and an heir of the empress must have a creature.
“Mama.” Little Liana tugged at my jacket, and I peered down at her. She had bright blue eyes like her father, and dark hair, with a feisty personality that I’m pretty sure she got from me. I scooped her up into my arms and kissed her nose.
“Are you excited for the party?” I asked her.
“Yes. I want cake!” she screamed in my face, and I laughed.
“Someone called for cake?” Kohen walked into the kitchen, where I’d been setting up for the party, and my husband had never looked sexier. He was holding a cake and wearing our one-year-old son, Ravi, in a baby carrier on his chest.
Yum.
“Cake!” Liana screamed and bucked so ferociously from my arms that I nearly dropped her. I let her wriggle down from me; she ran to her father and nearly knocked him over. He was an expert at holding two bucking wild children. Setting the cake down, he picked her up, propping her on one hip as her brother snoozed in the baby carrier. We could afford a governess, and stars knew I considered it daily, but Kohen and I agreed we wanted to be the ones to raise our children. When we had state matters to attend to at the same time, with him being king of Imbria and me being empress of Amersea, we left the kids with Tetra or Elaine or one of their aunts and uncles. It truly took a village, but it worked out.
