the steps are clumsy with disuse and her form is less-than-perfect, but no one is awake to watch her, and for what seems like an eternity, she feels all alone and at ease, like nothing anyone says or does or any decisions some far-off king makes can touch her. for what seems like forever, she feels like a child again, a girl at her mother's feet learning dance steps to the poor man's symphony, nature's songs, dancing to birds and sunrise and freedom.❞