Everyone knew me as the girl who would never conform. That isn’t as innocent of a label as you might think. In the fairy kingdom, you don’t say what you want. You say what the king wants. And the king doesn’t want anyone to say no.

I was born fifteen years after Jade became king. Thirty years into the endless war on humans, he and King Ash worked together as generals. Ash was everyone’s favorite. He was my grandfather. After King Ash created his utopia to protect us, he died, leaving his assistant Jade to take his throne. Ever since then, everything has been about him. The tyrant controls us. Seventy percent of all profits go to the king. Public expression against the king or questioning his laws is illegal. The death penalty was brought back. anyone who could threaten the king’s power was banished. I was born into this world, and I never planned on leaving it like that. 

My alarm clock woke me up right at 6:30, the required time of consciousness, according to the king. Alarms echoed through my neighborhood as I crawled out of bed. I walked into my closet. Another horrible day. I changed and straightened out my wings before pushing aside an armful of towels. There was my contraband dresser, where I hid illegal items I had collected over the years from the king’s search crew. Usually, I’d hide it better, but I knew the king wouldn’t be out tonight. Besides, searches were never very thorough. The dresser had been there since my mom was a kid.

I opened the drawer and pulled out my knife. It used to be my grandfather’s. He carried it everywhere. The beautiful handle was engraved with his name and a majestic dragon flying towards the blade. Sharp and thin, it could draw blood from my palm with the slightest touch. The knife was in my grandfather’s hand when he died. Everyone said it was food poisoning or a heart attack, but I never believed them. It seemed so… planned. Right after the city was complete, right when he was no longer needed, he died. Everyone had told me I was not coping with his death. That it was just because I wanted to meet him, that it was a phase I’d grow out of. I never met my grandfather. I only heard stories and saw pictures. The knife was all I had.

I put the knife in my pocket and walked outside.

The sun was blinding. Even with our city’s UV-ray protection barrier, it is always burning hot. When the hover bus came, I jumped on. I found a seat near Nova. We have been friends since we were seven. She was the only person who would listen to my crazy ideas, other than my mom. All my secrets were safe with her. We talked through the twenty-minute bus ride. School was almost a hundred miles away, but hover buses are very fast.

My first class was history. History is a cover-up name for ‘learning about the king.’ All we do is learn about King Jade and his oh-so-amazing achievements. Despite it being the most disgusting class in the whole kingdom, I have the best teacher EVER. Sometimes I think she doesn’t believe the nonsense she teaches. It’s not like she chose to be a teacher: jobs are assigned to fairies right when you turn eighteen. 

I was greeted by Ms. Cassandra. Take out your tablets and read article 571 of the story of the king, the board said in her perfect handwriting. As I finished, the last student trickled in.

“Stand for the king’s anthem,” Ms. Cassandra told us. Everyone stood. Even though I

didn’t want to, so did I. A minute in, my head started to hurt. I fell back into my chair. Ms. Cassandra noticed.

“Kyla, are you ok? Do we need to call the nu-

Her words were cut off by an ear-splitting ring. It blasted through my head, forcing me to cover my ears. I could still see the teacher’s mouth moving, and none of the other kids seemed to notice the noise. But it was so loud! I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my face into my hands. The last thing I saw was Ms. Cassandra before the world faded into darkness.

The End