Free UNBREATHABLE by Hafsah Laziaf

swirling unto one another. Like the colors of Earth. And in the midst of the looping swirls, I see five letters. My name.
    “It's beautiful,” I say breathlessly. My fingers brush against his when I take them from him. My breath hitches. He notices, and when his eyes find mine, the corners of his lips are still turned up in a smile.
    I smile back. His eyes trace the curve of my lips. “You should smile more often, it looks good on you.”
    I want to laugh and at the same time, fade into the wall behind me. But I find courage somewhere inside me. “You should too.”
    He laughs and I almost forget to breathe. I want to grab ahold of his laughter and tuck it into my pocket to keep forever. “I'll keep that in mind.”
    “Am I interrupting anything?” I scramble to my feet as Slate steps in. His gray eyes are alight with the smile on his face.
    “No,” I say too quickly. Julian watches me, offering nothing. It only makes every breath harder.
    “Mm-hmm,” Slate teases. My neck is on fire and I don’t know what to say.
    “Alright, alright,” he laughs, raising his hands. But the knowing smile is still on his face. He looks between Julian and me. And when neither of us offers a word, he leans back. “Lissa, can you come with me?”
    “Of course,” I say, tucking the daggers into the sheaths that are almost permanent around my waist. I glance back at Julian before following Slate out the door. We walk in silence for a few moments before I break it. “Where are we going?”
    “To eat,” he says simply.
    “We usually eat in the training room,” I say slowly. For the past month, it’s been Julian, him, and me. He tilts his head.
    “I know,” he says with a smile as we climb up a flight of stairs. “But today, you’re eating where the others eat.”
    He leads me to a wide room with an elongated round white table in its center, large enough to seat at least fourteen or so people. The iridescent ten-pointed star in a glossier white spans from one end to the other. But what takes my breath away is the wall behind it. The wall in front of me.
    It’s completely glass.
    Slate chuckles softly when I cross the room, unable to hold my jaw up as everything, everything , spills open before me. From here, at the top of the Tower, even the hill where I felt so free looks minuscule. The rows and rows of houses look as small as me, and the Chamber looks like a cube I can fit in my hand. I can see the people in the market, like sticks darting to and fro. Everyone avoids the gallows, though children run up and down the platform’s rickety steps.
    Everything between, around, and beyond our small settlement is red.
    “It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?” Slate asks. I nod quickly.
    I turn to him. “Is this where we’re going to have lunch?”
    “Along with the Chancellors, yes,” he says.
    My eyes widen. “But-I-why?”
    He fixes me with his gray stare, his expression serious. “The Chancellors have no power, Lissa. Everything they do, every life they take, it’s all because of the Jute, and more importantly, Queen Rhea. They don’t deserve your fear or hatred. They’re only trying to keep as many of us alive as they can.”
    “They know Earth exists. They’ve known even before Gage saw it,” I say flatly. My eyes stray to the hill, where I stared into the sky on countless nights.
    “They have no choice but to hide the truth. The Jute are capable, Lissa. The humans who came to Jutaire came prepared with countless amenities and supplies. They came here with the purpose of living here, not dying out. The Jute took it all. Fighting back is pointless.” He sighs and steps back toward the table, sinking into one of the chairs just as the door opens.
    Chancellor Kole walks in, followed by three other men—the other Chancellors. I’ve only seen Chancellor Kole because he meets the people, even if only to kill us.
    “You look different,” he says flatly. I haven’t seen him in a month. I pretend I don’t hear him