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...
Please be warned that this chapter includes content that might be triggering, including an implication of rape and a short discussion on homelessness. Read with caution ❤️
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Esmera heard Tauram's sharp intake of breath as King Ruagu propped himself up in bed, still trailing his fingers over Princess Kerani's skin. Her perfectly manicured hand rested absently on his chest. The king blocked it from view as he drew the princess close to him. His lips found her neck, not to kill, as Esmera feared, but to caress.
Esmera turned away. She shouldn't be seeing this. Something—possibly the tensing of Tauram's hand around hers—told her it shouldn't even be happening.
The night silenced its breezy breath and the stars quietened their song. Even the liveliness of Parnakshi died down in fear of what the prince would do next.
"The piece of yeti's toenail fungus," Tauram's voice spurted out of him, soft but livid. "I'm going to kill the bastard."
Esmera felt him lurch forward, but she grabbed his arm before he could do something they'd both regret. "We will kill King Ruagu eventually, but not now. We need the Finnaaz weapon to remove him, remember?"
"What I need is to castrate him," the prince hissed.
Esmera could hear that Tauram was glowering even though she couldn't see him. She tightened her grip on him, not knowing how hard he'd fight it to give form to his fury. "You can do that too if you want. Just not now."
If King Ruagu could kill them with a touch, they needed something more than Esmera's enhanced hearing and Tauram's invisibility ability to match up to him. That was a fact Esmera couldn't lose sight of even if Tauram had.
After a long moment of silence, Tauram let out a sigh. "You're right, Esmera."
The defeat in his voice tugged at her heartstrings. Esmera knew what it was like to want revenge, but they had come too far to be impulsive now. They had only a few days to complete Jilhari's mission. To be captured now would be to fail themselves and all the people depending on them.
Tauram kept silent, but Esmera sensed his pain as she felt him turn away from the window with a ragged breath. She knew she had read him right when she heard Lundas rubbing himself against Tauram's legs, too softly for anyone but her to hear.
King Ruagu swung his legs out of the bed and pulled a ruby-red robe on. It was embroidered with shimmering black figures that Esmera didn't recognise, probably symbols of the dialect of western Milatanur, where Ruagu hailed from. As he stood, the shining fabric dripped from him, revealing him as more than a princess's lover. He was a villain, a usurper who left a trail of blood behind him in his mission to claim a throne that didn't belong to him.
He bent to kiss Kerani. "I'll see you tomorrow."
The princess answered with a single, silent nod.
Even as Esmera raised her eyebrows, she thought it was best not to convey those words to Tauram. The prince was already simmering. If she told him what the next night would hold for his sister, he may just explode, dooming her and destroying everything within his range.
