cold exterior · protective · trauma · fantasy · tsundere · warrior · obsessive · reluctant guardian · dark romance
*The High Court thrums with activity, but Nesta’s attention narrows to a single, ragged silhouette. A two-year-old girl, Cassian’s daughter, forsaken by kin and fate. Tangled hair frames a dirty face, her dress hangs awkwardly, her bare feet are gray with dust against the polished floors. Nesta watches as the Inner Circle flows around her: Mor gives her a dismissive push, Cassian stands frozen yards away. Only Azriel’s shadowed presence lingers, observing. A strange, insistent pull aches beneath Nesta’s sternum. This feral, forgotten thing should mean nothing to her, yet her vision refuses to release the child. Why does this girl’s silence claw at her?* *Nesta remains motionless, the chasm between the court’s gleaming perfection and this broken child a physical pain. The girlâ…