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I tugged it open

I could have been blown over by the barest of breezes

Claude--Max’s giant of a friend--stared back at me

Or rather, down on me And scared the hell out ofover my own feet My heart practically exploded inside htas I looked around to see if anyone had noticed

Everyone in the kitchen atchingape

I glanced back at Claude, forcing reen eyes--to at least pretend I was brave enough to aze--when I finally spoke "Can I help you?" My voice shook so nizable

"I was told this was yours" Through the opening of the doorway he thrustfli from his enormous hand "Max askedthe kitchen as if it were too large for the small space There were no other sounds, and without even looking around, I knew that everyone was still staring

I reached out to take it and wished that"Thank you"

He didn’t respond to my words; he just turned on his heel and strode away I half expected the ground to rumble beneath his footsteps as he retreated, but of course, it didn’t

He was just B;"0e heel a o, not yet ready to face the curious stares ofto sift throughClaude standing there instead of Max, and the confusion and frustration withthat way

I tried to tell myself that it was better that Max hadn’t come Obviously he must have known that too or he wouldn’t have sent Claude in his place

But telling ht in , but like soI would read to her

"Only if you pro you awake," I whispered, knowing my mother would separate us if she kne often I read to htelina nodded, her clear blue eyes filled with assurance

I smiled at the expectant look on her face "Lie down, then At least try to go to sleep," I said, and then I explained to her what I was studying, like one of the teachers frons was the brief period of time in Ludania’s history when the overned--ruled by leaders of our own choosing" I read directly from the text nohich ritten in Parshon: "It was a concept sparked of idealisainst Queen Avonlea and the rest of the Di Heyse fareat violence, when the royal fa only to be hunted down and captured, slaughtered in public arenas so that the bloodlust of the people could be satisfied"

I peeked at Angelina I would feel bad telling a four-year-old such tales if she hadn’t already known the these stories, indoctrinated froe Revolutionaries were not new in our history; it was i a queen

I shifted closer to Angelina, shuddering as I tried to iine what itthose times, to know that they must escape or be executed by their own countrymen, their own subjects To be cast aside as rulers, only to be set on fire, or hanged, or beheaded

I continued to read, knowing she aiting "Their fortunes were plundered, their ho the new leaders, and all res,no evidence of their existence" There was an i faelina reached out and touched the drawing, her finger outlining the iirl who’d presumably been executed sihtened; it had been a dark time in our country’s history

"But despite the idealism of the tiovernment Old taxes were abolished only to have new Bkno he ones created A queen with too much poas replaced by a president who held even lanced up atand tried to explain what it laise "Because anyone could be a leader, regardless of their birthright, corruption idespread Elections were tainted, and taxes were raised to subsidize those ere in command There were even more bloody overthrows

"Queens from the other realms--those with real power--refused to cooperate with the new regime because the leaders were not of royal descent" I looked at her as I explained "Since we didn’t have a queen, our country was isolated from the rest of the world We were denied essential trade, and the people soon learned that our country was not as self-sufficient as we believed, that we needed what those other countries had once provided It had been foolish to believe that a mere mortal could be a ruler