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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The familiar balcony of Tauram's cottage reappeared around him and Esmera. Its blue railing held the rest of the land and the pain and betrayal it contained at a distance.
There was a safety in this place that Esmera hadn't really appreciated until she left it that night and saw for herself the venom and the danger hidden beneath the surface of the picturesque palace.
She and Tauram solidified into visibility, and for the first time since they left the balcony, she could breathe easy. Even Jammas seemed to exhale relief where he nested in her hair.
At least until Lundas growled at their feet, and the flutter of a pair of enormous wings told Esmera they had been followed home.
Queen Ghallia materialised below her moth in all her unearthly splendour. Her wide eyes might've been dazzling as they snapped to Tauram, but to Esmera, they seemed frightened.
"Tauram, I'm sorry." The queen strode across the balcony, her hand striking out like a viper as she reached for the prince's arm.
Tauram only stepped back, folding his arms over his chest while Esmera remained at his side, as invisible to the queen as if she was masked by Tauram's magic.
The man who had stared at Queen Ghallia so love-struck the first night he returned to Milatanur would've mellowed at her advance instantly, but Tauram was no longer that man. He was one broken and betrayed, one made older and wiser by the pain of the past few days.
Tauram's dark eyes blazed. "Are you sorry that you destroyed my life and my family or sorry that I found out about it?"
Queen Ghallia sucked in a breath but said nothing even as her shapely mouth trembled. That was enough of an answer. Tauram's face hardened, turned as jagged as the mountain peaks surrounding them like a cruel king's pointed crown. "Get out." He turned away from the woman who had taken his heart and crushed it at her heel instead of doing the compassionate thing and returning it to him.
"Tauram, I need you to work with me to overthrow Ruagu." Queen Ghallia grabbed his arm, forcing him to face her.
He was a thundercloud when he turned, moments away from erupting in storm and lightning but straining to contain it.
"Please, let's leave the past in the past," said Queen Ghallia softly, looking up at him in that way that must've made him give up his kingdom and her family for her once.
It did nothing of the sort this time.
Tauram only glared at her, his jaw tighter than Esmera had ever seen it. "The only way to do that would be to unhear everything you just said. I'm not the fool I was then."
Something sparked in his eyes. Queen Ghallia wisely took a step back, withdrawing her hand out of range should he finally explode. It rested on the fabric draping over her shoulder, its elegant pleats like ripples of water in the moonlight.
