You squint back.She beckons you with a curling finger, so you approach the counter. As you do, she pulls out a mirror from below, still leaning intens...ly over the counter-top."Here, try this on."The attendant is kinda creepy, wearing a half-mask over her eyes herself, but she offers real friendly-like, so you take the mask, and are about to try it on when you see it's completely white and almost featureless; nothing more than a blank shell of a face. You hand it back to her.She reaches across. She was so preoccupied with finding the matches that she failed to hear the soft creeks of footsteps coming up the stairs.“Aha!” she cried triumphantly with a prideful smile on her face. The pride was quickly turned into pure terror as Anna felt strong, rough hands grab her around the shoulders while the other covered her mouth. “Shhhh,” a deep, throaty voice soothed into her ear from behind. Warm breath drifted over Anna’s exposed throat and was followed by the smooth lips of her holder. A. I'll be done in a second," she told him, pushing his shoulder toward the exit."What are you getting now? We have to go or we'll be late," Mike whined."We're hosts at an amusement park, not executives. Trust me, we will not be missed," she told him. "I just wanted to get another book." What is it with you and trees? A blind man would think you were carrying on this way about a person." They may not be actual people, but they are alive," she said to get him going. "The last time I checked. To know that any move she made could send men to their deaths or leave her people starving in a bitter winter. To know that men and women would lay down their lives to her. It was not something she could ignore. Nor was it something that she could turn away from. On all sides of her she faced death. Many were opposed to her rule and even as she began her walk through the palace grounds guards flanked her on all sides, vigilant for a spy or assassin that might slither though the many defenses.