Aisha’s hands clenched into tight fists, her knuckles whitening under the strain. The fury she felt was palpable, directed not at me, but at the Empire of Light, at the Divine Knights who had betrayed me, who had pushed me to this point. She wanted to lash out, to do something, anything to make a difference. But the truth was, she couldn’t.
“Yes,” she murmured, her voice low and laced with reluctance.
“But you’re the Hero of Darkness…” Aisha’s voice trembled slightly as she repeated the words that had been drilled into her by the Divine Knights. “Liphiel kept saying you’re the greatest enemy of the Empire, and that your death is the key to us going back to Earth.”
“They’re experts at spreading lies,” I said with a sigh, shaking my head. “Don’t believe a single word that comes out of her mouth. But for now, as much as you might hate it, Liphiel is your greatest ally. In this place, she’s the one who’ll keep you alive.”
“I want to kill her,” Aisha said suddenly, her voice cold, the hatred surfacing in her eyes.
I stared at her, my expression serious. “Don’t, Aisha,” I said firmly, my tone leaving no room for argument. “If she even gets a whiff of you being a threat, she’ll kill you without hesitation. They weren’t sure if I was involved with Oscar, and they still tried to kill me.”
Aisha hesitated, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Were you involved?”
“He wanted to kill me and he tried to attack teacher Amelia while she was sleeping,” I said, my voice steady, watching her closely. “I killed him.”
Aisha’s eyes widened in shock, but then she nodded quickly, accepting my words without question. I had the distinct feeling that even if I didn’t have a valid reason, Aisha wouldn’t have cared. She was too deep in her love for me, too willing to trust me no matter what I did.
Her words stopped me cold. My heart raced, and my mind spun, but I fought to maintain my composure. I tried to keep my voice steady as I asked, “A daughter?”
Aisha nodded with a warm smile, clearly unaware of the turmoil her words had just caused. “Yes, she was born just before we left. A really cute baby. But we don’t know who the father is. For someone to win over our beautiful teacher, he must be quite amazing. I wonder when it happened.”
“When you trained,” I muttered without thinking.
Aisha blinked, confused. “What?”
“She said she was pregnant before they left?” I muttered, piecing together the fragments of what Aisha had just told me.
It made sense. If she conceived around that time, it would be nearly nine months now. And the baby… the baby had finally been born.
Yes, it had to be mine.
The more I thought about it, the more everything fell into place. Amelia, with her fierce loyalty, her unwavering obsession with me, would never have lain with someone else so soon after my supposed death. She wouldn’t have. It wasn’t in her nature. The timing was perfect. The dates aligned too well.
But a child…
“What’s her name?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual, as if the question didn’t weigh heavily on my chest.
“Sara,” Aisha replied softly.
Yet, the thought of Sara being born in the Empire of Light left a bitter taste in my mouth. The idea that she had drawn her first breath in a place that now felt like the enemy unsettled me. It gnawed at the part of me that longed for control, for power.
“A lot has changed since your death, Nathan,” Aisha murmured, her voice heavy with a sadness that had settled over her like a shroud. The mere mention of the Empire of Light seemed to bring a shadow over her features.
I wanted to press her, to demand every detail of what had happened, but time was slipping away from us. Sienna would return soon if Aisha wasn’t back, so I had to send Aisha back to her camp before things became too complicated.
“Not that you could,” I replied with a smirk, eyeing her trembling legs. “You’re still shaking from our hard sex.”
“Shut up,” she shot back, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. She reached out to punch me, her fist weak but playful.
I kissed her one last time, a lingering kiss filled with all the unspoken words between us, before pulling away and stepping outside the tent.
