I open my eyes. Muted sunlight filters through autumn branches. A little boy in his nightclothes sits against a tree. The leaves barely clinging to their twigs twitch and shudder in the breeze, but nothing moves against my skin.
I feel empty, and a rush of weightlessness sweeps me. Unnerved, I take a stuttering step forward, but the leaves don't crunch under my feet, and I don't feel the leaves under my feet.
A scream shatters the air, and I spin, searching for the source of the sound. Instead of finding it, I only hear a matching call. The noises are tortured and hateful, and I fear these murder-shrieks with a child's instinct. In the distance, someone wails and someone else cries for her mother.
"Aster," a calm voice says, and I whirl again. A girl walks toward me, steps crunching over the leaves. She has hair like red wine and warm, doe eyes.
Confused and afraid, I stare at her.
She holds her hand out to me, palm up. "Welcome to Antium."
ESTÁ A LER
Of Whispers and Daggers ✓ [TLRQ #2]
Fantasia| 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 | RUTHLESS POLITICS Aster Jacques' predecessor is dead, his capital ruined, and his people struggling to fight back against their most hated enemy. Determined to save the country he loves, he prepares...