Page 1 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy
Prologue
Long ago, several hundreds of years in fact, the world of Neves was ruled by three powerful clans and their head families.
The Kalb Clan. The Russo Clan. And the Ghanim Clan.
Despite day-to-day animosities, the three clans lived in relative peace on a land called, Azaad Bay, with six other lands shared equally between them.
Unfortunately, a vicious plague spread across Azaad Bay and the other territories. Many people fell victim to the illness, including the male heads of the Kalb and Ghanim clans, leaving their women to rule. After several years of slow recovery, both women of the Kalb and Ghanim clans decided to hand down their power to their grown children.
Youngest daughter, Raven, and only son, Shah, both left Azaad Bay to watch over the two lands of clan Kalb, while eldest daughter, Toumila—who went by the name Touma—remained to support her mother and their clan people there.
From the Ghanim family, youngest daughter, Prio, and second son, Khaas, were sent to watch over their people, while eldest son, Jahandar, strengthened the clan in Azaad Bay.
What neither clan knew, was that for Touma and Jahandar, staying behind was about far more than clan politics.
It was about the broken stones in the wall that divided the Kalb territory from Ghanim land, creating a gap just big enough for two opposing worlds to collide. A place where a rebellious little girl had curiously climbed over only to find an upset little boy sitting under a tree with a broken wooden doll in his hand.
They didn’t know each other’s names at first, but that didn’t matter to them. The little girl returned the day after and brought one of her own dolls for the boy to play with.
That gap in the wall became their place. Their secret hideout where they played dragons and knights—the boy was always the dragon much to his dissatisfaction—and shared the food they’d stolen from their respective kitchens.
It was where the boy’s heart first skipped a beat as the little girl he once knew suddenly looked rather like a pretty young lady to him. And it was where their noses bumped when they shared their first kiss before the young lady burst out laughing and fell over.
But their hearts broke when they were old enough to understand the reason for the wall.
Their love was never meant to be. It couldn’t be. And yet even knowing what was meant to keep them apart, they both returned day after day to see each other. That was, until the little boy and girl had become two grown leaders.
“We ought to stop meeting here,” Touma would say, laying on the grass, wrapped in her lover’s arms.
“We ought to meet more often,” he would reply, teasing his fingers through her hair.
“Jahandar. I very much mean what I am saying. I shall not return here again.”
“One more day, my love,” he would say. “Please. Return on the ‘morrow and I promise it shall be our last.”
They both knew their words rang untrue. They would return again and again for as long as they could.
But something changed.
“I must marry,” Touma said to Jahandar one day. “Mother has—”
“What? No.” Jahandar sat up from their spot under the tree. “You cannot. I will not allow it.”
She sat up with him. “Jahandar—”
“We made a vow to each other.”
“As children,” Touma bit out angrily. “And we are no longer children. Mother is sick. The clan elders are fretting, and I can no longer be selfish. I must find a strong partner to lead with.”
“And that is me!” Jahandar thumped a hand against his chest. “We vowed to lead together. We vowed to unite the clans and search for a new path. We shall do so.”
She laughed a hollow sound. “Why must you act thus? Has it not occurred to you that our world is changing yet naught has come of it? The clans are still enemies. We are still enemies.”
He cupped her face in his palms, tilting her fiery eyes up to his. “My love. When my heart beats as fast as the wings of a ruby-throated mockingbird for you, how could you be my enemy? I take flight whenever you are near, and I wish never to leave the skies.”
“The skies are turning grey.”
“Then we shall find a way for the sun to shine through.”
