A beefy, brutish Royal Guard escorted Etzli straight from the King's Keep to the King's Personal Flight Line.

Night had fallen. Endless lights twinkled above. Not stars, but air traffic and the flashing beacons of the Curtain.

Etzli once again found herself chained at the wrists. "Seriously," she said. "Can we drop it with the chains?"

"No," the guard said.

"But the King absolved me!"

"He didn't absolve you. He gave you a ...