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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Since the yaoguai had pulled Tauram away to be locked inside a vault, Esmera expected they were leading her to an enclosure with wild, hungry snow leopards, where they would both know an equally short and miserable existence before their painful deaths. What else could a tyrant king be referring to when he said, "snow leopard chamber"?
So, Esmera was very surprised when the yaoguai shoved her into an apartment on the first floor of the palace. The comforter on the bed was of gleaming grey satin, embroidered with threads of silver and gold and embellished with round cushions of blue and charcoal stripes radiating from the centre like sun rays. Cloudy blue organza leaked from the canopy of the bed, tied to the four posts of the frame.
Two snow leopard statues flanked the steps leading down into the dining room area that opened into a balcony, their carved white paws stark against the dark grey tiles. They were life-sized, and Esmera could say that with confidence after having seen a snow leopard in the flesh.
The room reminded Esmera of the Finnaaz Manor. The biggest difference was the view beyond the window. Parnakshi lay spread at the palace's feet like a vibrant, elaborate carpet. Even so, it gave Esmera a nostalgia for a home she had known once, for a very brief period, but no longer. She banished the feeling. For all she knew, that was what Ruagu wanted to manipulate her into feeling so he could bend her will to his, but she would never yield to him. Ever.
The yaoguai released Esmera, leaving her standing alone in the centre of the room. She sat on the bed, careful not to crumple the smooth covers as she clasped her hands in her lap, gathering her thoughts.
As beautiful as the snow leopard chamber was, it was a gilded cage. Esmera was every bit a prisoner here as Tauram was in the vault. The yaoguai standing at all four corners of the room reminded her of that. They may not be restraining her physically, but their eyes fixed on her, fixing her in place.
Esmera nearly jumped out of her skin at the knock on the door. Inside, there was no denying that her nerves were taut even as she may look calm on the outside. The nearest yao yanked the door open. A trembling maid stood outside, clad in the dark green livery of her tyrant master. She cradled a sparkling garment the colour of pine needles that had gotten wet in the rain, the precise shade of Ruagu's heart and soul.
"The king requests that Lady Esmera wear this to dinner with him this evening," the maid mumbled. Even so, Esmera heard her words loud and clear.
The yao held out his clawed hands to take the garment, gentler with the fabric than he had ever been with anyone Ruagu told him to murder.
Esmera spoke behind the demon, her voice tight. "I'm not going to dinner with him, and I certainly won't be wearing what he tells me to wear." She set her jaw.
After everything Ruagu had done, after murdering Esmera's family, after destroying Tauram's, after killing Belaren in front of some of the people who loved him the most, how could he expect her compliance? The usurper king must be emboldened by his terrifying power. And yes, Esmera did fear it, but she had pushed through fear before, and she would do it again.
