Esmeralda

**Esmeralda** is a friend of Queen Izgaldina, a minor character in the cycle.

## Biography

Esmeralda Lambert was born in the south-east of France in the city of Lyon, which became famous for its silk workshops. She was the daughter of a silk buyer. Since silk is a very expensive pleasure, and a talented buyer of silk (namely, Esmeralda's father was such) is a rarity, the Lambert family was prosperous. Their two-story house stood on the banks of the Rhone and was surrounded by a magnificent apple orchard. Her childhood education was handled by Madame Vien. She taught her to read and write, sing and play the guitar, and dance. And Esmeralda also loved to draw. She found inspiration in the world around her. Very often she could disappear for days on end in the vicinity of Lyon with an easel and draw everything she saw around: trees, flowers, grass, bushes, rivers and lakes, mountains. Her paintings were beautiful and hung in every room of their huge house.

When Esmeralda was 7 years old, her mother fell seriously ill and died, and they were left alone with dad. Esmeralda went to school, began to help her father cope with the household. Dad began to teach her how to work with silk: choose it, check its quality, paint, wash, iron and cut. She was no longer up to music and dancing.

Father very often left to buy silk, and Esmeralda remained at home alone. Then her friends were the cat Agatha and her easel. After returning from trips, her father often told her about distant lands. He especially liked going to Narlanya. He admired its inhabitants and its beauties. So Esmeralda had a dream to see the whole world with her own eyes, and especially Narlania, which was located on a distant continent.

When Esmiralda was 16 years old, her father got her a job in a silk workshop. She painted handkerchiefs there. Her patterns on the tents were beautiful and unique. Everyone who saw such a scarf could not resist and definitely bought it. She was paid a small salary, part of which she set aside in order to travel to distant and mysterious Narlania.

One day, another misfortune happened in her life: her father did not return from another trip. He went to Narlania for silk and did not return. Esmeralda had been waiting for him for a whole month. Then she began to call all the friends, acquaintances and partners of her father, but no one knew where he was and what had happened to him. She was desperate and didn't know what to do. But then a plan formed in her head. She had wanted to visit Narlania for so long! This is an excuse to go there as soon as possible. She sold her paintings, which was in the house. She asked her friend Ilsa to look after the house, took her savings and, having bought a plane ticket, went to Narlanya.

She flew to Narlania's capital, Wheel City, and took up residence at Casa Senhor dos Passos in the city centre. She immediately began searching for her father: she wrote letters and called all the fabric stores, warehouses and factories of Narlanya. She herself spent days walking around the city in the hope of finding him, but all her attempts were in vain.

Her money began to run out, and she began to think about finding a job. I must say that she took with her several silk scarves, which she herself painted while still in Lyon. Now she took them and went to the fabric store, which was not far from her house. When they saw her scarves in the store, the entire staff ran to look at this miracle. For this area, the patterns were quite outlandish, and the skill of Esmeralda amazed everyone. She was immediately hired on the condition that she would paint their silk fabrics with her incredible patterns. The very next day, Esmeralda set to work.

Fabrics painted by Esmeralda quickly gained popularity in Wheel City. All fashionable women of the city began to come to the store for these fabrics. The Queen of Narlania Izgaldina herself learned about wonderful fabrics. She sent her maid to fetch silk for a ball gown to be made for her to receive guests from the planet Lagnet. The store bought the best fabric, painted of course by Esmeralda. The fabric was thin and snow-white, it was painted along the edge with soft pink roses. Izgaldina was delighted with this fabric. They sewed a magnificent dress for her, in which she charmed all the ambassadors of Lagnet.

After that, Izgaldina herself wanted to get acquainted with the master who paints silk so skillfully. She herself went to the store where Esmeralda worked. The store was not far from her castle, and she went there on foot.

Esmeralda was in the trading floor at the moment when the queen entered the store. As soon as she saw her, she froze in place in amazement. In the hall stood a tall, slender woman with white hair and kind blue eyes. All of her radiated light and extreme friendliness. Everyone bowed to the queen, but she said that this was superfluous, since she came here as a simple buyer and wants to get acquainted with the master who paints silk. Then Esmeralda was even more surprised. She did not even expect that she would be awarded such an honor. She began to show Izgaldina the silk that she had painted, as well as those fabrics that she had not yet finished painting. The kind queen was interested not only in the work of Esmeralda, but also in her life. Esmeralda told her her story, and Izgaldina promised her that she would help her find her father.

Izgaldina ordered Esmiralda a few more pieces of fabric and she herself came up with a pattern for them. Izgaldina really liked the cheerful and sociable Esmeralda. She began to visit her shop often. Then they walked together around Wheel City, and Izgaldina showed her the city and told her a lot about it. She told her about herself and her family. Sometimes she invited Esmeralda to her castle. So very quickly they became great friends and saw each other almost every day, if Izgaldina was not busy with state affairs.

Izgaldin did not forget her promise to help Esmiralda find her father. She sent her messengers to all corners of the galaxy to find out where he had disappeared.

And one day, from the far end of the Galaxy, a signal was received from one of the agents that here on the planet Vartran, about which little was known at that time, there was a strange base of the suspicious Sigma organization. Not so long ago, prisoners from Earth were brought here. Among the captives was Monsieur Lambert, Esmeralda's father, who was captured by representatives of this organization while still on Earth and brought along with other earthlings to Vartrand to work in ore mines.

This news both pleased and upset Esmeralda. On the one hand, she now knows where her father is, but on the other hand, she does not know how to help her. She began to beg Izgaldina to release her father and promised her anything, just to see him alive again.

But Izgaldin did not have to ask for a long time. She was not only a wise and fair queen, but a kind and reliable friend. She ordered a detachment to be sent to the planet Vartran in order to free all the prisoners of the Sigma organization, and to transfer the members of this organization to the Galactic Court for the slave trade.

A month later, the detachment of Izgaldina returned from Vartrand and brought to Earth all the prisoners of Sigma, including Monsieur Lambert. Esmeralda's joy knew no end! Her father was also happy and thanked Izgaldina for his salvation. He gave Izgaldin the finest silk he could buy in the galaxy. He spent another month in Narlania at Casa Senhor dos Passos, where his daughter lived. He also became very friendly with Izgaldina, but business called him back to Lyon. Esmeralda became so attached to Izgaldina and fell in love with Narlania so much that she remained to live in Wheel City. She quit the fabric store and became Izgaldina's court fashion designer. She painted silk, cut it and sewed magnificent silk dresses for Izgaldina and other courtiers. And her father sent the best silk in the Galaxy for the queen and for her daughter.

Esmeralda later married a man named Jack, and they had a son, Alexander. Queen Izgaldina became Esmeralda's son's godmother.

## Appearances:

The first and only appearance of Esmeralda is the story "Mechanoids". Lord Ellarion fell in love with her, but upon learning that she had married another man, he wanted to take revenge on her.