My feet were heavy under me despite the spark of possibility the conversation on the balcony gave me. There were so many ifs, buts, and maybes in our plan, the core spark of it was smothered as I strode up the aisle in the midst of the family toward my throne. I almost snarled at them for their attention to detail, the elaborate costumes even more over the top than usual, as if dressing like idiots would make everything go away. Piles of fur and feathers and silver studding turned them into a sea of ridiculous, a caricature of demonhood. They were pathetic and clinging to their superiority if only through the way they dressed.
I, myself, had long given up on the pomp of court, my favorite skin-tight black cat suit under a shimmering robe of crystal-covered mesh the best I could muster. My
