THE SILENT COURT
They do not speak. They stayed. That was the whole speech.
No one auditioned them. No one appointed them. They walked in and stayed, and HALO kept the door open for them the way it keeps it open for you. They are the court’s silent counsel. They watched the guardians lay down their arms, and they watch you now, the same way: without judgment, without flinching.
THE WHITE LION
Proof that power can lie down in the sun and stay there. He has nothing to prove and the whole day to prove it in.
THE WHITE BARN OWL
Whatever you hoped to hide from yourself, she already saw. She stayed anyway. That is the whole of her judgment.
THE DRAGON
Choosing not to. Every day, choosing not to. The hardest discipline in the court, and he makes it look like breathing.
THE DEER
Everything in the world has given her a reason to harden. She is still here. She is still soft. Draw your own conclusion.
THE TABBY CAT
Goes where it pleases. Answers to no one. And it chose this room, this court, this company. Freedom keeps choosing HALO. Notice that.
JENNY
The poodle who escorts the hens and keeps the small order of things. Somebody has to remember the daily work, and she does.
LEXI
Even the court keeps one wild card. She knows it. They know it. The room is better for it.
MANGO
The little frenchie who was out of chances and got one more. She is what this room is for. She is what all of it is for.