Episode One

   "I serve the Queen. The Queen is my bread. The Queen is my milk and my solace." The chant of a thousand voices rose to Nefario Chill upon his gilded throne. He quelled his disdain and bowed his head. He waved a hand across the crowd, a gesture of acknowledgment and dismissal. Guards directed the crowd out through the stone archway at the end of the great hall.
   He was a lone cold figure, a dark smudge against the grey stone, high upon a dais.
   The workers retreated out of the gloom into brilliant sunlight upon the wide terrace. Below them a vast jungle canopy, a lush, humid domain teeming with life spreading beyond the limits of vision. They would only see this view once in their lifetimes.
   This was that moment, the day they entered into the Queen's service,  standing before Lord Chill to receive his blessing at the beginning of their working life.
   They were juveniles all. Small in stature as was all their race. Burnished brown skin, black or brown of hair. Strong and healthy, all eyes wide at the spectacle of seeing their forest world spread out before them from the pinnacle of Lord Chill's towering structure, known as The Polis.
   Lord Chill stayed upon the throne until the hall was empty. The great doors swung to a close and the glass globes hanging high above filled  with luminescent jelly, casting a greenish pall over the scene. The distasteful monthly ritual was complete. He could resume his preferred activities.