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 closest Lundas had managed to transport Esmera and Tauram to the Finnaaz Estate was the forest rimming the property.
If it was any other day, Esmera would've delighted in the walk through the pointed, prickly pine trees and over the rocks and sand that crunched at her feet, reminding her how real this beautiful realm was. She would've admired the gentle blue sky following her and Tauram's progress and stopped to listen to all the secrets whispered by the flowers lining the winding dirt path if she wasn't so sure this scenic stroll would be the reason they were late for Lady Varali.
Jammas must have the same thought in mind because he flew ahead, pausing to look back at Esmera now and then, his impatient wings trying in vain to hurry her slow, human feet. Even Lundas slinked across the ground at a speed unlike his usual lazy pace, his coat shimmering as it caught the sunlight slipping between the trees.
Tauram kept up with Esmera, his hands jammed in his pockets. He had been quiet at breakfast and along the whole journey so far. He hadn't touched Esmera since they woke up in each other's arms, not to squeeze her shoulder, not to take her hand as she had grown so used to him doing.
It forced Esmera to wonder what she had done to make him angry. He had to be angry. She had never known him to be so silent, so distant, but she was afraid to ask. What if she didn't like the answer? What if she angered him even more, here in the middle of a forest where there was nobody to protect her, nobody to tell the court that things had happened how she claimed they had?
Tauram took a breath that seemed to silence the forest around them. "Esmera, I'm sorry about last night."
She gave him a sideways glance, but she shouldn't have taken her eye off the path because her foot caught on a rock. Jammas turned back, fluttering his alarm, but Tauram was there first, catching Esmera before she could tumble, but it wasn't the same. He wasn't the same.
His mouth tightened as he met her gaze. Lundas purred at their feet.
"You're right." Tauram glanced down at his familiar. He let Esmera go and looked away.
She studied him, the way his fists clenched at his side, the way his jaw tightened as he directed his gaze at the trees.
Tauram was angry. Just not at Esmera but at himself.
"Tauram–" she started, but he was already striding ahead.
"I don't know what came over me." His arms tensed at his sides. "When I asked you to stay with me last night, that wasn't what I meant to happen."
"Hey." Esmera took hold of his arm, forcing him to stop, but he still looked ahead, away from her. "Thank you for apologising, but I'm equally to blame. I could've asked you to stop at the start, but I let it go too far."
"But I'm the one who took it too far." Tauram shook his head. He turned back to look at Esmera. "I'm sorry. I usually have more self-control than that."
