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 squinted as she followed Anjarah and Samier out of the office. Sunlight flooded the passages. The morning had matured since she entered that office and agreed that some unknown man's details be presented as hers on a form that would change her life.
SUAF had also awakened. A woman with frizzy curls brushing the tops of her shoulders stood behind the desk where Esmera had first seen Anjarah, nodding eagerly at the couple in front of her. Other women in parsis like Anjarah's and men with tunics cut from the same brown fabric and embroidered in the same dark blue thread bustled about.
Their voices blended as they answered questions. Their hands whooshed through the air as they directed those who were lost. Their quills scratched against pages as they filled in forms.
Esmera simply stared, letting the sounds of their work sweep her up like a tsunami. She couldn't imagine doing so many things at once, certainly not with a smile that lit up her face and every room she went to.
Falling into step beside Tauram, Esmera pulled her hood over her head. She scanned the hallway for anyone who may have spotted her, who may have recognised the Finnaz in her that she didn't even recognise in herself, but she needn't have worried. SUAF's employees had their patrons to see to, and their patrons had their giggling, grinning children.
Lundas skulked at their heels, growling at any infant who stared too long or any toddler who ventured too close. Samier hurried up ahead, a bright, gleaming beacon of feathers cleaving a path to a flight of stairs with his distinct call.
"I hope you've been keeping your fitness up." Anjarah flashed a grin at Tauram and started up the stairs, the fudge-brown edge of her parsi fluttering at her heels before Esmera could admit that she hadn't.
Tauram glanced at her before steering her ahead of him. With no choice, Esmera followed Anjarah.
"Where exactly are we going?" she called up to the other woman.
"The aviary. It's on the top floor."
Esmera nearly choked. "That's what, four floors from here?" "Five."
Anjarah wasn't even breathless, but Esmera's blood was already thudding in her ears. Even Tauram's breathing had grown heavy behind her. Beside them, Lundas was a golden streak in the dimness.
The mere thought of ascending even a single staircase more winded Esmera, but she gritted her teeth and trod after Anjarah, taking slow, deep breaths. She hadn't let the stairs stand between her and what she wanted when she fought the rain to get to Tauram's apartment, and she wasn't about to be defeated by them now.
The stairs evened out as they reached the first landing. Every hair on Esmera's body stood on end at the scratching of thousands of legs on glass and the flutter of hundreds of wings. She didn't dare look past the doorway that emerged beside her at the countless eyes no doubt staring her way.
