Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 11 of 54

She left the square while the melody still moved through the crowd without her. By the time she reached the edge of the practice yard, she could hear a tall stone monument going up where she had stood — figures carved mid-song, mouths open to the wind. The song was theirs now. She had nothing left for the next broadcast. She walked until she found a small workshop with wind chimes hanging from its wooden eaves. Inside, the stone walls held the sound in. She shut the door and let the chimes outside fade. No crowd could reach her here. She sat on the floor and hummed. Nothing came. She tried again, slower, listening for a shape only she could hear. A thin run of notes lifted in her throat — four down, one held. She caught it before it could slip. From a shelf she took a small glass bottle with a cork stopper and sang the line straight into it, then pushed the cork down hard. The bottle glowed faint in her hand. She tucked it into her sleeve. The next broadcast had a song again, and this one no one would learn before she was ready.