Whispers of the Sapphire Crown

Previously

…As Elara began to rummage through the chest, a forgotten scent of lavender and old lace filled the air. Anya watched, her hope rekindled, a fragile flame against the darkness of her circumstances. The royal decree had been announced, a decree meant to seal her fate in shadow, but Elara’s quiet words, and the opening of that forgotten chest, hinted at a different possibility. A possibility of a night where she might, just might, step out of the shadows and into the light. The thought was both terrifying and exhilarating, a whisper of a prince, a ball, and a future she had long since ceased to dream of.