We are safe from the ice. We have the walls to protect us from the cold. We live in warmth. Be thankful for the heat. The ruling can be unfair and tyrannical, but it's not really all that bad. We survive. That's all we ask for. That's all we need.

I walk slowly behind the Emperor, the guards on either side of me pulling the chains to keep me walking. My feet hurt, but it's a dull pain. I see people I know in the crowds that line the street we walk down, our very own parade of shame.

The townspeople are silent, they dare not talk when the Emperor is in such a foul mood. A Banishment is not something to be taken lightly. I try to twist my hands in the metal cuffs clasped around my wrists, bound behind my back, and I can already feel the swollen skin begin to blister.

The guards tug on the twin chains attached to the steel collar around my neck, and I don't even have the energy to pull back and resist. My neck was as sore as my wrists. The wall grew closer and closer, and I could already feel that cold setting in the air around us.

The crowds were growing thin, I assumed because they were not fond of the idea of feeling the cold when I was banished. In my opinion, the fewer spectators, the better, but I could tell the Emperor hated the lack of discipline in his citizens.

I remember him shouting, "I want you all to see this! Show you what happens when you Dis-oh-bay." He had separated the syllables, then let out a low, dark chuckle, and left the podium.

What had I done to disobey? The Emperor has called it 'Rebellion'. Something about Disobeying his Supreme Lawfulness. 'Rebellion', my ass.

I had spoken out. Previously, I had been the Court Overseer's apprentice, the trainee to the advisor of the Emperor in court decisions. He was at it again, trying to prove the Innocent to be Guilty.

Guilty for what? Not making the Emperor laugh, apparently. The Court Jester was barely older than me, his job being passed down for generations. But apparently, the red-headed golden-eyes Jester didn't suit the Emperor.

With his head bowed, the Jester did not protest against the Emperor, lest his punishment be decreased to an even lower statue.

He looked to already be facing a #41, but one word from him would set him down to a #36; I'd witnessed it many times myself, the air from my boss's lungs puffing out into the stale air with disappointment. So the Jester stayed silent.

I, however, did not. "Hey..." I whispered carefully, and Court Overseer glared at me.

"Q-U-I-E-T," he signed quickly. I shook my head.

"Hey!" I vaulted over the gate that separated me from the Court floor. The Emperor glanced at me, annoyed. "This isn't fair."

The Emperor raised his eyebrows, "I'll let you off without punishment if you stop now, subject."

"No, I... I don't see how this is fair."

"Oh? Why is that? Please enlighten me." The Emperor brought his flask of wine to his lips primly.

"Well can't you just hire a new Jester if this one doesn't please you?"

The Emperor barked a harsh laugh. "That means time and money, subject. And money can't buy humor. Now, get off my Floor. You'll serve #48 when I'm done here."

A #49. "Clean the Court Floor." That was only the second 'best' punishment. There were 50 punishments in the Emperors Code Of Laws. They increased in severity as they decreased  #1 had never been used, for as far as I'm concerned.

This poor Jester... serving a #41 for the rest of his life: a street vendor. It may not seem so bad to you, but vendors are doomed to live their life on Mortem Avenue, the street that literally sucked the life out of you, oh-so-slowly.

This jester, only 22, still so full of life, would be drained, as he wouldn't be selling anything; street vendors were the product, for the night-dwellers who lurked the alleyways. 

I cursed under my breath; this wasn't fair. "Emperor. I will not have this."

"Well, it's not your choice. Stop wasting your breath and my patience. Now, silence."

"Leave him alone! It's not his fault, Emperor," I said boldly.

The Emperor slowly stood, Grey eyes narrowing. "Subj-"

"No!" I suddenly yelled, "I'm sick of standing here watching you torture your subject s day after day! I entered the court system to change the way you rule; to help and guide you into making the right decisions. To make things fair, fair like it was with-"

"ENOUGH!" Emperor bellowed, a vein in his neck pulsing dangerously. "Do not speak of him in front of me."

"I can and I will!" By this point, I was out of it, knowingly throwing a fit like a toddler. "Things were better... with the Chairman!"

A look of shocked rage passed over the Emperors face. "Take... it back."

"I am sick of your ways," I spat, "Jumin Han."

"ELIZABETH!" Emperor screeched, and in a blur of white fur, I was pinned to the ground. The snow tiger growled at home, large paws pressed heavily to my torso, pinning me. I felt a crack in my chest. A rib.

"You address me as Emperor and by nothing else!" The tyrant shouted, face red. He glared at me, hatred in his eyes, "I sentence you to Punishment Number Two, and you all will leave this court immediately. I am to retire. Guards, bring him to the dungeons. Jester, I cannot deal with you now. Leave my castle."

And with that, the black-haired Emperor fled the Courtroom, and I was dragged to the dungeons.

...

To be honest, I'm scared out of my mind for the cold. All I've ever known is warmth... but I can feel the wind through my hair and an unpleasant tickle on my chapped lips now. The Emperor strutted forward, wrapping his cloak closer around himself as we walked briskly to the Wall.

I'd only ever b em this close to the Wall once, with a childhood friend, V... I don't see him anymore though. Another story for another time.

Anyways, big wall. It's made of an impossibly large amour of a steel-metal mix, and is approximately 60 meters high. Over the top of the wall is a ceiling made of fluff-like insulation and giant spotlights.

No one knows where the resources came from, but without them, we'd be subject to the cold. I guess this is the point; to keep us in the dark so we don't get any ideas. Mindless slaves to cower in fear of 'dangerous' ideas like Rebellion and Wonder.

The guards yanked me forward, and I grimaced. The Emperor glared at me with disdain as he stopped by the exit, a door built into the wall. He unlocked the large steel entry, unveiling the outside COLD.

I immediately wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep Warm. It was pure white, and endless expanse of frozen cold, and specks of white falling quickly from the sky.

The sky... I'd never seen it before. It was beautiful. A light blue, clouded over with a grey mist... The air was fresh, unlike the stale over-carbonated air of our kingdom.

"Name?" I snapped back into reality.

"Yoosung Kim."

"Yoosung Kim, of 21 years of age, previously housed in the East District, you are hereby banished from the Kingdom of Aithne."

And with that, I was thrown out into the Cold.