Empress Free | Atrocious

She passed the mother with the notched tongue. The woman pressed her child’s face into her skirts and turned away.

So she announced a game. “I will walk through the capital, unarmed and unguarded,” she declared, her voice echoing through the brass tubes that snaked through every district. “Any subject may attempt to kill me. If you succeed, the empire is yours. If you fail, I will kill your entire family line—backward to your grandparents and forward to your unborn great-grandchildren.” atrocious empress

She kept no lover, no friend, no pet. Her only companion was a clockwork nightingale that sang the same tinny note over and over. She said it reminded her of the sound of a single tear hitting a marble floor. She passed the mother with the notched tongue