Olivia Burns

Everyone in the Stone City Castle had gone mad the minute King Nikolai arrived!

I had been sitting by the big windows of my chambers that faced the foyer, twirling a blade of the willow tree that snaked out into my palm absently when I heard the first screams.

The battlement guards always cheered when the King returned, but it was different this time. I had flown out of my seat by the window just as the gates flew open with a gaping screech and the villagers rushed in with their mid-century style outfits and milk maid hats for the women.

Exhausting things the lot of them, I...