16.

liminality

Johara existed outside of the span of time, and yet her body continued to age. Her hair grew, her nails constantly needed polishing, she could sunburn and heal. The cage, it seemed, protected her from all elements, including man.

The one time she could not kill an entire battalion of men, the cage defended her. Four men, survived from two hundred, came up to pry the bars off the cage. Part of the floor scraped away and shot through the bars, straight into the hearts of those soldiers.

It had hissed and grumbled at her, 'Use your talents, you stupid thing. Shouldn't have to defend you.'

She noticed that her clothes never became moth eaten or dirty, and always seemed to fix themselves whenever she split a seam. Over time, the embroidery become much more elaborate and sprawling. Near the end of her reign, she wore pure silver with no cloth in sight.

Living in between space and time, able to touch men but unable to be touched, never really took its toll on her.

Johara was never really meant for the world of men.