Since Esmera was abandoned on a stranger's doorstep as a baby, the only person who has looked out for her is herself.
Until a lark starts visiting her, leaving behind exotic flowers and iridescent pebbles that the internet doesn't recognise.
Esmera...
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Esmera expected that dinner that night would look the same as dinner the previous one had, with a mat spread on the ground and a tray of warm curries balanced on her lap while she gazed up at the stars over the Himalayas. To be honest, she couldn't ask for anything more than a dark, cool, glittery night and a man who made her laugh far harder than she meant to.
So, her mouth fell open when she slipped outside, leaving the warmth of Princess Namesha's room behind her. Near the edge of the balcony stood a square table covered in a cloth embellished with embroidered leafy silhouettes, white to contrast with the night. On opposite sides of it, two chairs with hard backs and cushiony navy-blue seats faced each other. A jug filled with a cloudy grey-white liquid stood between two glasses. A candle flickered inside a bowl on the table.
Esmera recognised the uneven pink substance it was carved from as Himalayan salt. She had seen it in a shop window as she walked past a few months back. It had been too expensive for her to consider buying it even if she had wanted to, but it didn't surprise her that Tauram had one lying around, waiting for an occasion.
What if this wasn't even for her? Maybe Tauram was expecting someone else. Maybe Belaren had decided that his reunion dinner with Anjarah should be somewhere more picturesque than the sitting room.
The prince centred the candle on the table before raising his eyes to Esmera. His face brightened, leaving her with no doubt that she was the guest he had set this up for.
Jammas fluttered where he sat on Esmera's head, even more excited to see Tauram than she was. Lundas was in a better mood than usual, resting his large spotlight-like eyes on Esmera and closing them slowly without any snarls or irritated flickers of his tail.
The flame's light danced along the gold embroidery bordering Tauram's neckline and running down his long black shirt like electricity along wires, and Esmera was once again uncertain that she belonged here.
"I think I'm underdressed." She looked down at her clothing. She was still wearing the red and gold parsi she had worn to explore the town in the day and the cave of orphaned familiars in the evening.
She was sure the princess would have something with diamonds encrusted in the neckline and silver embroidered into the seams. She should've worn an outfit like that tonight instead of one that had seen a day as long as she had. She was, after all, the one who had made this a date. She could've at least dressed up for it.
"You look fine, Esmera." Tauram gave her one of his characteristic half-smiles.
"Just fine?" Esmera tried to dismiss her doubts with a playful huff. "Very charming, Prince Tauram."
"Okay, you look exquisite. There, I said it." He raised his hands.
Esmera rolled her eyes. "You can dial the sarcasm down just a tad."
She was nowhere near as beautiful as Ghallia or Jilhari, probably the most beautiful women in this world, and Tauram really shouldn't be joking that she was.
