𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔇𝔲𝔰𝔨: 𝔐𝔞𝔫𝔢 𝔄𝔡 𝔙𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔲𝔪
A man to save, a dynasty to break and a love to die for.
Come dive into a modern and desi retelling of a beloved classic, Beauty and the Beast, part two of 'The Legacy Duet', Taimoor's story.
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❞𝕿aimoor... Taimoor," I dug my heels into the ground, trying to get him to stop. "Listen to me."
"What?"
"Can you slow down? I'm not exactly attired to be jogging through corridors."
His eyes fell to my feet and he huffed. "Fine."
"So..."
"Don't."
We were still in the hallway and while it seemed to be deserted, I felt like there were eyes and ears everywhere.
"Can you please tell me why I was in the middle of an age-old conflict?"
Confusion seeped past the anger on his face. "An age-old conflict?"
"You know, like the type they have in books," he stared at me blankly. "In novels? Fiction? Fairytales?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Books! Stories? Don't you read?"
Now in his room, he closed the door behind him and turned to me.
"Not since I was twelve."
"You-" he took a step forward, swallowing up the space between us in one long stride. He was close enough that I could smell him and there went my overactive imagination.
I closed my eyes for a minute, trying to reorient myself.
"I can see that you're pretty upset about that."
"I'm slightly offended."
"Why?" he asked, uncrossing his arms and taking a step forward. His voice was soft, too soft, the kind of soft that crooned promises in your ear and then broke them. Seductive. Dangerous.
"Because-" I gulped, not knowing what to say.
"Because?"
Because you were right, you were not a romantic. Like me.
Because you would never know the pain of hoping for more. Like me. The agony of living in your head and searching for reality outside of those fantasies. Trying to live beyond the boundaries defined by society. Trying to breathe freely.
Because you weren't a fool. Like me.
"I just thought you liked to read. Because of the library in Mughal House."
He stared at me. "Where did you go right now?"
"What do you mean?"
I peered around him, and he waved a hand. "You disappeared for a second there."
"I was right here."
"Not physically, you disappeared mentally," he reached out and took my chin in his long, strong fingers, holding my face still for inspection. I tilted my face up to his, swallowing. "You were just-" his jaw worked. "Gone."
