Loneliness.
She returned to her palace, climbed to the highest tower, and looked out at her gray, silent, blue-less, laughter-less kingdom. The clockwork nightingale clicked its tinny note. atrocious empress
For the first time in her life, the Atrocious Empress felt something she could not tax, outlaw, or punish. Loneliness
She stepped onto the cobblestones in a simple gray dress. Loneliness. She returned to her palace
She walked past the baker’s stall. The baker, bandaged hands tucked into his apron, looked at the ground.