In Holtváros, there is a building. In that building is a room. In that room is a woman. For over three decades, she has known little but these four walls.
They are nice walls. The light from outside dances over them in fragments through the curtains.
People visit her, to bring her food and ask her questions, but they always leave, and they always lock the door behind them.
It’s alright. She is not alone. She is here with her husband, and her young daughter.
She speaks to them often, and although they are mostly silent shadows, easily pierced by the light on the walls, she can often imagine well enough to pretend that none of it ever happened.
But sometimes the man with the knife arrives again, and her husband’s blood sprays the walls and soaks the carpet. And because she is a witness, the man is coming for her, too. Faced with a knife’s edge, her strength leaves her, as it always does, and again, her daughter is forced to do what she cannot.
Her daughter is eleven, and small for her age. But when the man is dead and she looks up from the bodies, holding the dripping knife, her hands never tremble.
Her pale face and dark hair are splattered with blood. Her breaths are heavy and shaking. Her irises are wet black voids, eaten up by agony. Something has gone from her that can never return.
The streets ring with chanting voices. The people who visit tell her that everything is changing. Mercifully, her room remains the same. Still, when they tell her the happy news of the end of fate, she smiles.
A relief. When her daughter’s manifestation had first appeared, she had been wracked with silent sorrow at its cruelty—a target, on her back. With the end of fate, then, her daughter might be saved—not the shadow by the wall, but the one of flesh and blood, still out in the world somewhere.
Indeed, if things are truly changing, perhaps she’ll finally come and visit.
Naomi Szeresi’s first address to the opposition and the Egyországi public after her election as President, given in the capital city, Holtváros.
“First, I have to thank the people of Egyország for their support. These last decades have been tainted with the looming shadow of the Párt, long enough that many of us thought this day would never come. I am beyond glad that that is not the case, and that my trust in the Egyországi people was well-founded.
“The support for Szabad Egyország has been overwhelming. I vow to serve my term as your President well, and our Parliament shall not suffer for the fact that there are so many of us sharing power. We intend to cooperate fully on the future, and as always, with the needs of the Egyországi people as our direction.
“We have intentions to open up the borders of Egyország for discussion with our neighbours in Vyrhen. The technological advancements born here in the heart of Egyország are the driver of the modern world, and we intend to stop limiting ourselves with the insular foreign policy of the past. Additionally, we have plans to dismantle the vestiges of the inquisition and the deep scar it has left on this country.
“I myself have lived in Egyország my entire life.” [This minutes-taker notes that Naomi raises her hand at this point, showing the white bands on her skin around her wrists.] “My own manifestation had to be hidden for fear that it might mean something, and many suffered far worse under our previous rule. Coworkers, friends, family, disappearing or exiled, for the petty crime of consulting fate readers; the sheer scale of the injustice is unbelievable even now.
“The work of the Párt will be undone. And it starts with you. With the choices you have made at every voting booth across the country, and every choice we will continue to make together, stepping into the future. You have trusted me with this, and I intend to make good on the promises I have made you today.
“Your fate is, and always has been, in your hands. Thank you.”