Long ago—before she wore a crown and ruled the Clockless Tower Kingdom—she was only a girl. A clever, pretty thing with daisies in her hair, who asked too many questions and read too many books. She lived by a river where the current braided itself around smooth stones. One afternoon she followed a Sphynx cat into the woods—furless, affronted, ears like unfurled sails. He led her to the stone skeleton of a chapel that rose from the mountain like a broken fang. The windows