Lena looked at her hands. They were still her hands, but something had changed. She could feel the shape of her own thoughts now—sharp, real, unlicensed.
She began to walk. And behind her, invisible, the kingdom packed itself into her shadow, waiting for the next no. -kingdom of subversion-
And silence is its own kind of lie.
Lena was greeted by a jester without a smile. His motley was stitched from old laws and torn proclamations. "Welcome," he said, "to the place where because I said so goes to die." Lena looked at her hands