Regina skirted the edge of the carnival, watching the revelry without joining in. She must have looked the part of a small girl with her nose pressed to the glass of a sweet shop, because an older merchant with kindness and wisdom in his eyes, offered her a mask. "Thank you, but I shouldn't spend the money."

He shook his head and pressed the mask into her hand. "Masks are freedom. In one, you can be anyone you want. Take it as my gift, and may your eyes shine bright from beneath it."

The mask would have to be telepathic to turn her into who she wanted to be, since she didn't know herself. But the word 'freedom' stuck in her craw. She had longed for it since she first learned the word and had but rarely had it. She took the mask with gratitude, then settled it on her face, and tied it behind her head. She didn't feel freer immediately, but she did drift closer to the crowds.