na'

d. Barely. A fl

ly this time, as if maybe I'd hit my head

made thi

'd beco

on't you" I started laughing once more. That awful laugh. The one that made the guards tense and glance

didn't agree to this.

ling on shaky legs like

nd of Stepford Bride mind control I was under,

ne m

up. "Miss. Perhaps you should lie

n down yo

flin

and I'd u

man who'd not spoken one damn thing since the wedding k

I knew that I felt

n't su

expecte

always goi

s meant to

t to g

in and of themselves. But they

o home. Do y

o delusion, did not matter. The air in there was thick, toxic, like needing to breathe th

ust stood there like statu

ily," I cried louder, voice

veying the faces, searc

me or whatever the damn hell that was. I wasn't myself!

my sight, ho

I thought they were ever going to let me leave with anything. "I wa

o one

t h

unmoving storm

d and even and brimming with s

my quarters,"

f command, as if I was nothing

nto one of the pillars. "Don't

ards a

the sound burning my throat raw. "You can't

one com

e fli

st move

in my own body, the satin and lace of my wretched

idn't even

lked

was alre

-

te'

r to my

ithout lift

d to. He nodded that near-vanishing nod-the sort tha

nd him, the click lou

I wa

again. Strung out tight l

of faint shuffling movement. The silence of

-sil

eful. No

es against your skin. Clings to your

ust sat there, and allowed the wrong

t fit her. Not

o her like

when i

not

wo

s hu

ath wa

nt. In, then ou

my m

b

The.

uman girl e

yond the wards. Beyond t

oc

he k

ap. Don't spin.

ions continue

a human girl end

her in t

walk down

ned off

llo bride with some soft-faced girl from the city and expect no

ill. That's how they like t

my m

pinning. Mapping every possibil

ossible. Security was

ew. Unless h

llows protocol like scrip

r-he's capab

? A way to corner me? Br

ded a

o

say something I'd regret. My

comfort. Or clarity. Or tim

ded c

ed an

wo people who could g

fat

En

they

ht alongside whoever tho

-

the room. Not a groan in the floorboards. Not a hint of anything, but the s

The shadows played over his broad shoulders, the shape of him cut from the smoo

gends have

that was too rough in the quiet. The burden of it all smothe

t wait an

words trembling in my throat like they were m

black horizon as if considering the fate of the world. And then, finall

e weight of all the authority he

easured. Stirred the air like a storm on the horizon. He wasn't shocked. He wasn't a

fists. My knuc

edge. "That is not what this is about. Who is

He put up a hand, the mot

was final, like a ve

lf back. "I want answers, Father. I ne

lesser beast who had no idea of the trap it had stumbled into. Then, witho

seen a thousand times and a soft

as if his words would mold th

as calling. Did not nee