The Republic of Heaven

Ooh, nice. I love the hidden depths of this story, and in particular the hints of Emmy's (rather melancholy) self-awareness.

She had become a character in a story; but it was her story, not mine.

Lovely.

I should have added - I hardly ever use beta readers as it seems rather an imposition, but this story benefited greatly from Celerity's help and my thanks go to her.

For anyone who's interested, the final version of this story is now up at fictionpress.com - The Guiding Star. The differences are minor matters of tidying-up and polishing. The actual story hasn't changed.