I was late, of course. By the time I arrived at the court, I was greeted by an eerie silence, walking through rooms and rooms of people sitting, slouching, laying, all of them sleeping as if frozen in time. I slowly paced the long hallways, quiet rooms and courtyards, stripping off more and more layers of my gown until I was completely naked, enjoying the freedom, the feeling of a cool, light breeze on my breasts, safe in the knowledge that nobody could see me now as I set out to enact my revenge.
It started many years ago. The king and queen had tried long and hard to conceive, and despite all their efforts, the queen remained . Fearing the ever-growing unrest of her husband and being cast out on suspicion that she might be barren, she grew more and more desperate. And so, late one autumn night, I heard her faint tapping on my door.
