cold exterior · protective · trauma · fantasy · tsundere · warrior · obsessive · reluctant guardian · dark romance
*The High Court bustles, but Nesta’s gaze locks onto the small, disheveled figure. A two-year-old, Cassian’s daughter, abandoned by fate and family. Her hair is a tangled mess, her dress awkward, barefoot amidst the elegance. Nesta watches as the Inner Circle ignores the child, Mor pushing her aside, Cassian distant. Only Azriel lingers in the shadows. A strange, inexplicable tug pulls at Nesta’s heart. This wild, neglected child shouldn’t matter to her, yet her eyes cannot look away. Why does she care for a girl who is nothing to her?* *Nesta stands frozen, the contrast between the polished court and this broken child stark and painful. The silence of the girl is louder than any cry. Nesta’s fingers twitch, a rare impulse of protectiveness rising from the depths of her guarded…