"I am not a woman, I'm a God
I am not a martyr, I'm a problem
I am not a legend, I'm a fraud
So keep your heart, 'cause I already got one"

I am not a woman I'm a God -Halsey

🎭

The princess fled to the garden outside before they departed for their journey. Sunken in on herself, resting her hands on her knees at she peered at the spring of Lunetta against the mottled leaves and roots of the large tree above it.

Bright burst of purple, so proud against the endless grays of the landscape. Even in endless night, they were bright. Unafraid to survive, even when they were faced with all odds.

I need to be unafraid too.

She needed to face her family. Her elders. Her peers. All the people she had thought she'd known, but never truly did.

To look them in the eyes after all of their deceit, would be the most frightening thing she'd ever done.

Her gaze traveled, peering at the large obsidian castle to her left side. Once a daunting sight, and now she wished to run back inside her cage and never open once again.

How strange.

"Ready to leave?" Sounded a voice from behind her.

The advisor already sounded like he was in a pissy mood.

Leila rolled her eyes, discreetly ripping out some of the purple flower from its resting place, and plunging it into her cloak pocket. A good luck charm of sorts.

"Yes." She answered back lowly.

The princess stepped into the carriage, jolting when she saw the prince already inside. The girl tried to hide her shock, but did not succeed according to the amused smirk that rested on the man's face.

She cleared her throat, fixing her skirts so she could sit more comfortably. The princess swore she felt the burn of his stare, but when she looked up, the raven haired man was closing the door after Jimin, who had situated himself next to her.

When Taehyung had locked the carriage door turning forward, his gaze narrowed on the advisor. Jimin returned to glare with a smirk of his own, moving around so that his open thighs touched the edge of her skirts.

For two friends, they seemed to be always at odds.

It was silent, as a yell spurred the horses into action. The three of them shook, the movement causing Leila to place her hand onto Jimin's thigh so she didn't lurch forward. The prince's eyes followed her hand, his face suddenly void of expression. Then turned to look out the window.

The princess found her cheeks burning, as her husband seemed to not mind the touch. She ripped her hand away from Jimin's thigh, avoiding his eyes. She did not want to see the mirth in his eyes at her accidental touch. She would not be playing that losing game of jealousy anymore. Not when the prince was not afflicted.

Stupid men.

Leila suddenly longed for a warm bath, in her lavender and silver room.

Very strange indeed. How she longed for her room with the large window. Her books littered around her. Watching the ferocious black waves bite at the shore.

But soon enough, only the familiar moon shown in the horizon.

After having enough of the stony silence, Leila questioned softly, "What did they call the country you reside in, before Tenebris?"

The question was directed at either man, but Jimin's head had lulled into the corner of the carriage. Using a knife to pick up his nails. Of course, completely ignoring her question.

Taehyung had been sitting perfectly still, his legs spread and a cloak over his shoulders. Every time the carriage would jolt, his teakwood scent would enter the space and swallow her. It made her heart race and hands sweat, so she tried to breathe as little as possible while he answered. His eyes remained on her own as he answered.

"Romania."

Leila nodded, "Like the Romans? Rome?"

Jimin groaned, sitting up from his slouch, "That's Italy you fool."

Before Leila could retort back, the air around them warmed, uneasily so. The pair turned to see Taehyung, now sitting forward as he bore daggers into Jimin. His chest glowing the dimmest a shade of gold could.

Was he mad that Jimin called me a fool? He should be mad most days then. The temperature seemed to raise even more at the thought, her cheeks and hands heating. His elbows rested on his knees. His veined hands folded between them, as he responded to his friend in a careful tone.

"She's partially right. Romans did reside our territory, which was named after the empire. So, who is the real fool?"

Leila couldn't fight the smile forming on her face. She ducked her head, using her hand to smother her laugh. She wasn't sure why Taehyung was defending her, but it was still appreciated. His stare remained on Jimin, not looking to Leila once.

Yet, the princess couldn't lie. The prince sitting forward, staring up through his lashes, with his jaw tightened was a pretty sight. She'd never seen him lose control of his magic before. Angry. But this time, not at her.

For her.

Only for a second, for a moment, did Leila wish they were alone. So she could get down on her knees and rid him of all the anger he had. Or, not, and in turn he would grip her hair harshly as-

Taehyung's eyes snapped up to her own, breaking the girl out of her daydream. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, fists clenching as his gaze bore into her.

Breaking her away from the thoughts she shouldn't be indulging, about a man who would have to kill her if the fate of the world depended on it. If she could trick him into doing so.

Oh, he was livid.

"You, Prince." Jimin retorted, not backing down from his friend's challenge. Not caring that neither the prince or princess had their attentions on him.

The princess broke away from her husband, not being able to handle his stare anymore. Leila yawned loudly, purposely interrupting Taehyung before he said something he couldn't take back to his friend. Hoping her blush was not notable in the dim light.

"I think its time we sleep, it's only 10 hours by magicked carriage."

She grabbed a blanket and a pillow from a bin on the side of her seat. Once again avoiding both of the men in the car. The temperature settled once she fixed herself in corner, cozy as she rested her head onto the window. She closed her eyes, letting her chest slow its rapid grasp at oxygen.

"Yes, shouldn't we sleep, Taehyung?" Jimin's mocking voice instigated at the prince.

"Shut up, for once." The prince said in a whisper, probably pointing to Leila's form.

The girl shook her head at their bickering, the nerves bubbling in her stomach. A witch's brew of what she would encounter when she arrived. A deep pit of panic swelled within her, at what would be thrown at her. If her own anguish would rule her responses, or her heartbreak.

'Leila Mahnaz Anvari. The sacrifice that failed at one thing all living beings excel at. Dying.'

*********

Her home remained unchanged.

It was she who had. Her life inexplicably cut in half the day she left her territory.

There was only before and after. Asleep and awake. And Leila was alive as ever.

It was clear, as she stepped out of the carriage. The moon shone brightly from above, illuminating the sands beneath them to a baby blue. Her entire town was glowing from the thousands of lanterns alight.

But as soon as she sunk into the soft surface, she did not feel relief. Not even as she breathed in tulips, and smoky incense. As people bustled around in front of them, chatter as loud as thunder.

Not a sign of mourning her loss. No monument, or dedication to her absence.

She did not yearn for jasmine, or cashmere. But the waves lapping at the rocks under her bedroom.

Her bedroom. The sense of ownership shocked even her own thoughts.

"Do they know we are coming?" Leila spoke, in a choked tone.

The anxious woman pulled at her thin cloak. No relief came, for it was not the material that kept her choked.

Taehyung pulled back his shoulders, making sure Jimin and the rest of the guards were to her left. He was as regal as ever, staring out into the thriving town. His gaze was as sharp, his mouth in a formidable straight line.

But there was something simmering under the surface of his kingly stature. Something untamed threatened to break free. As his posture was perfect, but too stiff. His eyes a little too uncaring.

It seemed like he was unnerved by her home too.

"I don't show up to any places without invitation."

Leila snorted, thinking about how he showed up to her rooms twice in one week uninvited.

The prince side-eyed her, but ultimately did not engage, "Elder Fareena should be here any minute to welcome us into the kingdom. They think this visit from us is to satisfy my curiosity of your birthplace. It is you whom must get the information we need."

Leila's heart leapt at the name. A surprising reaction, since her attachments with the woman came before she had emotions.

What she felt was betrayal. Rage. She had spent time with Elder Fareena more than anyone else, in her life before. And even she had led her to her supposed death, willingly.

It was time to pay her back. To work with the enemy, against the people she could no longer see as allies.

Her only true allegiance was to herself, and those who suffered under endless night.

Leila's jaw ground painfully, her nails pricking into her palms. Hoping to draw silver blood, and spread it across the orange toned houses. To show each and everyone of them she still lived, despite their efforts to break her spirit after years of neglect and isolation.

To prove to them just how different she was. A Dimidium. That could make the moon so bright, their eyes would remain unseeing if they stared upon it. Turned the sand they loved into a blade, and cut their throats as they gawked at her. She would relish their fear.

Bathe in it.

Her chest started glowing, at the rapid pace of her breath which left from flared nostrils. The princess craned her head, trying to get ahold of her emotions. A problem no one in the village would have foreseen for her.

They tried to make sure of it.

She felt a slight brush on the outside of her coat, near her shoulder. When she turned to to prince, both of his hands were still situated behind his back.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you broke a couple windows here. They might even deserve it."  He spoke from beside her, a hidden lilt in his tone.

Leila laughed loudly, awkwardly covering her mouth with her hand afterwards. Taehyung fought his answering smile, lifting his chin impossibly higher. Her chest has dimmed without her notice. Jimin and the other guards shifted to look at the unlikely pair, but her attention remained ahead to the figure that slowly closed in on them.

Elder Fareena, it was clear from the way she hobbled. As she got closer, her thick, silver gray braids that were wrapped behind her head were covered partially by a bright white cloth, with bright red flowers. Her skirts layered with various earth tones.

We waited patiently. Until she was so close, I could see her brown skin with its valley of wrinkles. The most notable of which, being around her eyes. They were deeper than night, and wisened by age.

Leila's heart twisted in her chest.

The old woman who she had once called a caregiver, held onto her cane. Looking at her, and then her betrothed to her right.

Even though this woman was apart of her emotional suppression, it was not anger she felt in her chest at her appearance. It was severe sorrow.

Elder Fareena's once soothing voice crackled with age, "Come daughter of the moon. Since you're visiting, we must talk privately in the house of gods."

Leila took in a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. Even now, with her new title, she was still being ordered around.

"Where will you go?" She asked the prince warily. The prince stayed silent, showing his ignorance.

Elder Fareena fixed her ancient gaze on the prince, her eyes squinting in suspicion. Tightening the scarf around her neck, which jangled at her various layered charms. Her voice dipping as she spoke for the prince.

"Taehyung and his party will remain at your palace till you return. Your sisters will be sure to host them properly."

For some reason, that is what caused the burn of anger to ignite once again in her chest. Her sisters and parents, who hadn't given her the time of day would host her husband? The thought was ridiculous. If they had treated her so lazily, how would they treat him?

But alas, a guard from her city walked up to the group. Bowing and then gesturing for them to follow his stead. Leila wanted to tell them there was no need to show them the way. Jimin had already stalked her for months, and probably knew the way to her home by heart.

"Of course." Leila said, agreeing dutifully. Covering the pent up wrath that racked through her.

She didn't want either of her sisters near Taehyung.

Her husband looked upon her profile, a furrow in the center of his forehead. It seemed that through her primed surface, he could feel the depths.

His tone was soft, promising. It filled the night air with salt spray, and pine, and seemed to alleviate some of the tension in her chest, "Until then."

He and Jimin walked side by side, the rest of the party behind them before she could respond. She wasn't even sure how to. All of her vexation seemed to escape her, every time his lips opened. A new development, considering her made her want to pull her hair out most of the time.

The elder sidled up to her, watching where the younger's gaze still remained on the retreating prince, "I may be old, but he's very pretty. All venomous things are."

She didn't know the half of it.

Leila did not offer her a response, for she couldn't in good faith. It was she who taught her to suppress her emotions, so she drained her body of them all. The numbness consumed her, swirling around her head and body like a foggy mist. Not feeling guilty as she raced ahead of the woman who needed a cane to walk.

When she arrived at the old temple cut into a craggy mountain, she was paralyzed. Elder Fareena scraped behind her, and yet she could not move within the open columns.

Only to be pushed in by the end of Fareena's cane.

Leila stumbled into the hall, her steps echoing. Rubbing at the part of her spine that had been poked. The gray walls, and open heart at the center of the room haunted her. Where she had spent all her time growing up.

In the early years, she had cried for her mother for hours to come get her. Elder Fareena would just stare, eating peanuts by the fire. Telling her that if she didn't stop, the officials of Tenebris would burn her at the stake for showing emotions.

At age six, she'd given up on crying. Her mother and father only offered her pleasantries when she got back home, just to send her to her room. Her food delivered through a servant. It seemed the only time she got attention was when she was training.

The air grew colder around them. A burgeoning glow at the center of Leila's chest, not hidden beneath her cloak or her terracotta gown. The old woman lifted her chin, black eyes vacant of fear. Remaining so, even as Leila began to circle her. A panther, seeing if her prey was worthy.

"Are you content in your deceit?" Leila's voice sounded familiar to her.

Reverting back to the cold, void way she spoke before she left. For a second, the girl was grateful for the ability. And how it was able to unsettle others. It electrified her bones and pounded adrenaline through her heart.

Power.

But the older woman was unmoved, "Yes, I did what was necessary."

No remorse. Not one bead of it dripped from the elder.

And there was her answer. It was no mistake that she had been misled, in order to end up dead. They knew exactly what they had done. The blow hit at the center of her heart, where a black hole had formed. Devouring everything she felt.

Her tone remained level, "You did not have to raise me like an outcast. I did not have to be lied to, and told that emotions didn't exist. To be forced to get rid of every feeling or thought that wasn't useful towards the curse. To be kept from interaction. From love. Why tortue me just to have my life end shortly?"

Why raise me at all, just to be sent to my death?

It wouldn't hurt less, if they had kept their moon princess in a cage. Feeding her scraps, and lashing her back. Then her life might've seemed less like a beautiful lie, and more like what they saw her as.

Expendable. A necessity. For the good of all, what did it matter to get rid of one?

Elder Fareena used two hands to balance on her cane. Shuffling as she raised her voice in a sweet, mocking way, "Please child, would you so kindly offer up your life for the rest of the world? Yes, you would indeed agree to this instead of running away, and screaming."

Leila's uncaring mask crumbled, as her silver eyes blazed into the woman. Her chest started to light the dim temple, the older woman laughing off the girl's power with the wave of her hand. And despite everything she'd overcome, she felt like a child once again.

"If you were brought up like a normal child, you would've run away. Or done worse, like using your powers to eliminate us. We did what needed to be done for the sake of us."

Leila ignored the truth of her words. No, even with her training she'd still been strong willed and stubborn. She would've never let anyone tell her she needed to forfeit her life. Not if she hadn't believed it to be right herself.

"I could use my powers right now." Her voice pushed out against the older woman, dipping into a menacing chill.

The gray haired woman sighed, "But you won't, child. You were raised to be emotionless. But you were also raised to benevolent. You do not destroy for the sake of it. If you were not willing to risk dying for the sake of the world, you'd have never left."

The waterfall of emotion called forth. And she wished she could close it up inside her, just to prove how well their suppression of her worked. But she couldn't.

Apologies seemed empty, meaningless. But it's all she wanted.

Leila raised her voice, practically spitting at the woman, "You know nothing of me. You only know the shell of what you, my parents, siblings, and the whole town created. You all burned that boy who kissed me. You told me my entire life I had to kill an innocent, treating me less than a-"

"A human? You are not entirely. If I remember clearly Leila, most of your lessons revolved around seduction. Not killing. But my brain is withering like the plants under our feet. I know little of anything anymore. Why are you here? I know it is not to give your 'innocent' husband a tour." Her elder expertly changed the subject.

Leila did not dare question her emphasis on seduction. She was not here to gain another useless lecture. Or manipulated into thinking that her people ever truly tried to help her. Instead, revealing what she coveted.

"I need the first part of the curse." Leila asked surely, watching the flames lick between them.

The fire at the center of the temple raged so brightly, it turned the old woman's body into an orange ember. She stared at the flames, not at Leila, as if she looked for the answer within the ashes. Then, eyes of onyx fought eyes of silver.

Questioning. Threatening. Suspecting.

"And why would I give that to you moonchild? If I do not know you like you say, why should I trust you to give you that information?"

The princess' mind worked swiftly. Weaving the plan before even it had been formed. The question the old woman was telling in itself.

"Because, Elder Fareena, you taught me how to recite the curse. If there was no more hidden information, you would've just handed me the scroll and have been done with it. I have no problem telling my husband to break whatever treaty is between our territories, if you don't give me that information. You owe me. After everything." Leila let her voice soften at the end, though it was deceptively so.

She felt no tenderness for her life before. Only flames and ash, birthed from embers of dissatisfaction.

"You've always been a clever girl." Something like pride shown in the old woman's voice. But it was too faint to really catch.

The woman shuffled, her cane hitting the ground a step after her feet. Leila did not strain to catch the woman as she strolled into the other room. She knew there was only one exit from the temple. Once promised, she would not be leaving without giving her the scroll.

And still in all of Leila's waiting, the temple lashed out at her. Though she was able to control her magic, it seemed like the sacred place was begging her to unleash. She growled in frustration, crossing her arms and looking up to see the moon at the circular opening of the dome.

The deity, calling to her. Reminding her of her plunge into adulthood. The swaying of women around her, chanting the curse.

What good has your patronage done me, Mah?

The moon seemed to turn brighter at her thoughts. A soft laugh echoed around the chamber, forcing her to wrap her cloak further around her to ward off chills.

She must have imagined the deep echo of amusement.

The princess did not have to ponder longer, as Elder Fareena hobbled back into the lit, open room. Her thwarted expression clear, as she got closer to the girl she thought she knew.

But that vacant, unimpressed look in the princess' eyes were gone. The silver, once solid, was alive. The depth of the moon, it's divets and light.

It seemed something had changed in the once stagnant child. Or someone.

The old woman held out the scroll, and unwilling gift. Leila grabbed its green, waxy end. Expecting resistance, but finding none as she placed it into the inner pocket of her cloak.

"But be careful with what you choose to share to your prince. They aren't as they seem." Before Leila had time to defend her husband, another small red book was offered to her open palm, "Here, take this as well."

Leila gritted her teeth, offended disbelief halting her words. There were so many things she could say. That as strange as Taehyung's kingdom could be, they respected him. Cared for him. They treated their captives better than she was ever treated at home.

They aren't as they seem?

You are not as you seem.

But one look at the book, nipped her words like winter to a rose bud. A viper, the same as what decorated the castle, was painted with gold leaf across the cover.

Elder Fareena knew.

Her thirst for the truth was the one thing greater than her pride.

"Why are you helping me now?" Leila's anger was a broken, weak thing. That failed her often when she needed it most.

Because Elder Fareena's eyes were tender in a way she'd only seen in her dreams. Sorrows and regrets as clear as the night sky.

And still, it could not change the past. The lies. The betrayal. All it did, was amplify the disloyalty. For if she had been loved, and love was real, it was cheap and conditional. It had limits and boundaries, and was often forfeited for other purposes. Love did not conquer all, nor rise above human indecency. Not like Leila's books and fairytales has promised.

When love didn't exist, it felt more real.

"I never expected you to come back, dear child."

And with that, Leila left the temple. Making a vow to never come back. Not even as tears streaked down her face like battalions, her anger perceiving the deserts with its cry.

Love hurt more.

*********

"Where are mother and father?" Leila asked in an aloof manner, slamming her extra knives down on the center of the throng of people sitting on the large Qalicheh.

Taehyung, Jimin, and the rest of the guards had relaxed while she was gone for the hour. Resting on their knees and jauntily laughing around cups of wine. Her sisters had sat across the large open rug from them, cheeks red from, whatever laughter or drink they fancied.

Her entrance surely chilled them all into silence.

Except her elder sister, who turned to the youngest. Whispering, but all Leila could hear was, "Pariah." Outcast. There's a word for it in Farsi, but her sister decided to speak the Tenebrian equivalent, so every person in the room could understand.

Leila felt as cold as the frost. Her silver gaze ran across them, stealing laughs like they were coins. Oh, what a marvelous sight. To see strangers accepted into her homes and her siblings hearts like she never was. To know that her sister's detestation only was meant for her.

The prince had looked up at her first, a question in his endless eyes. And maybe pity. Leila was too jaded to find meaning in it. Her irises severed their ties from his gaze. She had only wondered if she ever asked for his pity, or care.

No, she did not want it. She didn't need his anything. She didn't need anyone. Not Elder Fareena, not her parents, not her sisters, not her town, not these dim guards, not Jimin, and definitely not her fucking prince. In fact, she wanted to use the sword she just dropped and cut them all down. Then maybe, just maybe, the ache in her chest and tightness in her throat would cease.

What she wanted was her sister Azita to stop stuffing her face with grapes, and to take her beady eyes of the group of men. Her younger sister Setareh, she did not even spare a glance at. Just as useless as the rest.

But alas, it was the youngest who spoke. Her light amber eyes still trembled in fear as she looked upon the middle sister. She wanted to look strong in front of the new guests.

"They left."

The daughter of the moon laughed without humor, a dry sound. Of course they did. Just like Elder Fareena, the idea of seeing their oblation coming back was like being haunted by a ghost. Except they were far weaker than the old woman. At least she had the audacity to face the pain she'd caused Leila.

A squawk sounded throughout the room, a horrible wine-drenched sound. Azita slapped at her younger sister's shoulder, long light brown hair in a braided bun. Her posture was lazy, meant to be sensual as she rested one hand on the floor. The other perched around the wine glass. In her absence, her family had grown in riches. Taking extra offering from the town's people for birthing a martyr. She her sister was decorated from head to toe with jewelry, dressed in the labor of Leila's eventual death.

All Leila wanted was her sister's laughter. And now she finally got it. 

"No, tell her! She has never spared us the truth a day in her life. Father and mother heard you were coming and still did not want to miss their vacation to territory 176. They were not fleeing from you, nor did they remain for you. They were indifferent to your arrival, how lovely." Her sister finished provocatively, taking a sip of wine as she stared at Taehyung.

Hoping that the prince would find her childish ramblings funny. But Leila did not care to see the man's reaction. She knew he was too intelligent to find such simple insults amusing. Her sister did not know that Taehyung also found her family to be inhumane to raise her just to trick her into her own slaughter.

But her sister was too foolish to see that blind arrogance was not an attractive trait. And that indeed Taehyung would not be looking for a wife soon, because he refused to kill Leila. And if he looked for a wife after, it would surely not be Azita. Leila would haunt him from the grave if so.

The room's aura thickened with darkness. The golden lamp light flickering to a lavender color. Leila made no sound, only smiled, as they humor left her siblings faces. The princess could not hold back, full of mirth at the thought of telling her sister all she thought in her ill, anger ridden mind. Like the moon, she could be light.

But she could also take it away.

"Well, we should be off. Thank you for so graciously offering us your home. We are much obliged." Taehyung clapped his hands, standing up. His tone was docile, but the expression he wore was stiff.

She finally fixed his attention to him, startled by the sound. Jimin slowly lifted himself, his eyes narrowed with speculation. The rest of their territory followed. Her sister's looked a bit pale, the youngest refusing to meet her eyes.

Azita burst to her feet, a pout settling on her lips. Her tone filled with syrupy desperation as she addressed the prince, "Please, stay. We are having a gathering tonight. You should stay and experience the fineries. Your guards, and the handsome advisor too."

The princess rolled her eyes, wishing she could knock the look off her face. It was not surprising to hear she'd been left out on the list of those welcomed. The guards looked at each other, excited to drink more. Jimin did not react at the compliment, his face remaining unchanged as he began to pick at his nails unimpressed.

That, made Leila laugh genuinely.

Both Taehyung and Azita turned to her sharply at the sound. The prince furrowing his brows with some unnamed emotion. The latter, stupefied by hearing the sound come from her at all. It made the princess laugh even harder, that her sister genuinely saw her as some unliving thing, incapable of expressing such. Her expression turning slowly from shock to disgust.

"Leila, dear wife, it is your decision." Taehyung spoke softly over her laughter, his eyes seeking hers without permission.

The delicate bit of happiness died down, leaving hesitation. She knew he did not want to stay, from the way his fists were balled up harshly. And the set of his shoulder turned from her relatives. The man wanted to be home, and far away from the people who would turn their back on their own flesh and blood.

But the girl felt speechless. To admit she'd rather be at his kingdom than here, felt like another wound she would have to nurse. Since he's never admitted to wanting her there.

Azita spoke before her, disbelief and entitlement coloring her tone, "She's not allowed to come to gatherings. She's banned."

Leila watched Setareh look from between Azita and Taehyung. Watched the youngest see the way Taehyung's politeness was gaining a sharper, and rugged edge. The girl widened her eyes, connecting with Leila's knowing expression as she pulled on her older sister's sleeve. Azita flicked her off. Realizing the oldest had overstepped in various ways.

So, maybe the baby of the family was more perceptive than I thought.

Taehyung stepped forward, his tone darkening, "I don't know of what callous restrictions were placed on your sister before, but they do not extend here. Not anymore. She is not under any jurisdiction, other than the one placed onto my kingdom. And I say she's allowed to do whatever she wants."

"Your husband is so delightful." The eldest sighed, touching the side of her neck and letting it fall to the side. Tracing one of her veins as her pupils dilated. Completely disregarding she got reprimanded by the man she seemed to fancy.

Either she was very drunk, or Taehyung had that dizzying effect on everyone. But the way Azita was tracing her vein, ignoring Leila was unsettling. Strange. Her older sister did not want her to accept. And between that and the way she was ogling the prince, Leila felt very keen on not doing a single thing her sister would've wanted.

"Yes, we shall go. I would love to." Her voice wrapped around the words, soaking them in heat and softness.

Taehyung straightened, a shiver draping over him. Then, an answering devious smile at her avarice.

The daughter of the moon would not run like prey.

She would hunt.

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(A/N: OOOO wine, envy, and dancing next chapter? I wonder what could happen....

I want to thank you all for being such great readers! Y'all know how I feel about comments in Silk Sheets. Thank you for respectfully sharing your opinions, always <333

But on a serious note, this book is supposed to be partially centered in Iran. And it would be irresponsible of me to not shed awareness, if it is not known by all my readers already, of the humanitarian crisis happening.

Please, send your love and support to Iranian women who are fighting for their rights to their bodies, livelihood, and their autonomy.
Also, still respect women in other parts of the world who choose to wear hijabs, and other face/head covering. Or they choose not at all to wear it.

But choice, is the most important of all. Having the free will to be able to make that choice. The link provided will give information on the issue and ways to help.

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/jina-mahsa-amini-death-what-to-do/