Unora

Born in Antuma before her father’s banishment, Unora is cast out at nine when Kuposa power isolates the young Emperor Jorodu and topples her father, the River Lord of drought-stricken Afa. A decade later, drought and poisoned wells kill her village and nursemaid, leaving Unora alone and near death.

Driven by grief and resolve, Unora tracks the hidden cave of Pajati, the white dragon of Afa, and rings the forbidden bell. Pajati refuses rain, saying it is not time, but grants her a path to court at a price sealed by exchanged tears. A messenger soon retrieves her to Antuma.

At court, Empress Sipwo of Clan Kuposa mistakes Unora for a butterfly spirit and shelters her, hoping for luck. Isolated among courtiers, Unora longs to reach Emperor Jorodu to beg mercy for her father, but he remains secluded. Relegated to a cold room, she takes solace in predawn dances facing Mount Ipyeda.

Anonymous poems and gifts appear, leading to secret nightly trysts with an unnamed lover. They share poems, stories, and skills without revealing identities. Their intimacy deepens as Unora heals from years of privation, and she clings to the hope of saving her father.

On the eve of Winterfall, Unora scents black wing in her soup—an abortifacient—and realizes she is pregnant by the only man whose child threatens the order, implying the emperor. She pours the soup away, choosing the child. With her lover absent from court and no chance to plead for her father, she gathers a comb and her resolve.

That night, Unora departs the palace in secrecy, heading toward Mount Ipyeda like a water ghost, carrying her unborn child and abandoning the court that would erase her and the life she now protects.