Page 88 of Lies That Blemish
I felt so selfish at that moment.
‘What if it was Victory, Valor, and Virtue?’she asked.
That won the argument. She was right. These were her children, her grandmother, her whole world she’d left behind.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t want to be without you.’
‘I know, young one. But we are bonded. No amount of distance can separate us.’
I didn’t want to tell her this, but she didn’t understand what this would do to me as empress to be creatureless. I’d have to succeed to Valor. But I would if it was what Liana wanted.
‘You will not be creatureless,’she told me as she flew fast and hard for the Wilds.
‘I know, but you won’t be here, so people will see me as such.’
‘I don’t mean me. You will bond another. A dragon.’
‘No. I don’t want another! I want you.’
‘You have me. Always. But you will have her, too.’
‘Wait, how do you know I will bond another? Kohen had a vision?’
‘Yes. He didn’t know how to tell you I was leaving. He loves you too much to see you live in sadness.’
Oh, he would hear from me later about that!
‘Maybe I can go with you. I can survive fire and be reborn. What if your world needs help? We can come back together with your daughters.’
‘You cannot come, Aisling.’
‘Why? We could try. Worst case, I am reborn, right?’I was frantically trying to think up ways not to lose her.
‘Because you are pregnant.’
Her words nearly knocked me off her back.
‘Did Kohen tell you that?’
‘No. I see life energy, remember? I’ve known for a week. The baby would not survive rebirth, and my world has never seen a human. You would probably be killed. I’m sorry, Aisling, but this is the end of my time with you. And what a blessing it has been to be by your side.’
Pregnant? I placed my hand on my belly and couldn’t help but grin. An heir of both Imbria and Amersea… it would be the first.
Before I knew it, Liana was descending over the Wilds. When she landed, she set me down on the forest floor, and I looked up into the fiery sky.
I hated goodbyes. I hated this. I slid off her back and clung to her neck.
‘My life was made better because of you,’I told her.
‘And mine because of you,’she replied.
I wiped away a stray tear and stepped back as movement at my back caused my head to turn that way.
Kohen was waiting off to the side with Onyx.
All the people who loved her and truly knew her were here to say goodbye.
“I hope you make it. I hope you find them. I’ll never stop thinking about you,” I said.
