Beyond the Tower

| Thirty-Three | Snow White

I curse the skies.

Part angry, part terrified, I turn back around. The clearing is... clear. They're not there.

How? How? I can still hear Snow screaming. She can't be gone. Except she is. My eyes dart frantically around, but all looks serene, still, and painfully empty.

No. No, it isn't. A flicker of motion has caught my eye, and my breath catches in my throat with it.

They're in my tower. Through the open window, thirty feet up I can just see a flicker of motion, just hear the wails on the wind. I don't know why they're in there, but there's no doubt about it. Panic rips through me as thoughts race across my mind- what to do, what to do, what to do? I have to go there. I have to go save her. I see now, she wanted me to come because Mother was holding her at threat, and like the horrible person I am I let her be tortured, or whatever is happening now.

But how can I go back to the tower? How? My prison?

But how can I not?

I already let her die once. I won't let it happen again. I knew that I would have to face off Mother when I ran from the palace, nothing has changed now. Taking a deep breath, I'm about to take off when I feel a hand clamp around my wrist.

"I know what you're thinking, Ivy," says Lily. "But you can't go back. Not to your tower. It's too dangerous."

"Let go Liliana," I say, shaking my head. "I have to go. Snow is my best friend and I won't be able to live with myself if I don't help her now." As if to prove my point, the sounds of shrieks on the wind suddenly intensify, feeling like they're cutting me right to the bone and core.

"I know, I know," she says, swallowing. "But we have to go get help first. I'm not letting you go up there again. I already lost my sister once, technically before I was even born, I'm not going to lose you again."

I shake my head again, getting more and more desperate by the second, remembering the long trek through the woods to get here. "There's not enough time. And who are you even going to get? I'm the only one who can face her off, I'm the only one not affected by her magic."

"It's too dangerous."

I narrow my eyes. "You're not stopping me now. I'll never forgive you if Snow dies because of you. Let. Me. Go." On that word, I rip my arm free from her grasp and turn back towards the tower. Panic ripping through me, I do the only thing I can: run. And not away.

My bare feet pound across the sharp rocky ground, back across the path that not five minutes past I thought I'd finally left for the last time. My lungs scream for air, my feet ripped apart again, but I ignore it all. Snow tried to get me to stay with her. Now I get why. I let her die once. I'll not let it happen again.

I should have known that just because Mother was her fairy godmother didn't mean she favored her. After all, she played herself to be my mother and hasn't showed a lick of kindness towards me. But it was easy, far too easy to get caught up in her trap. And now Snow will pay for my foolishness. Again.

All too soon I'm at the base of the tower. My world skids to an abrupt stop as I curse myself for not planning ahead. What exactly did I think I would do once I got here? It was so much easier to picture myself saving her when I wasn't facing my prison. I glance back towards the edge, but I can't for the skies see Lily. I wonder if she's gone to get help. I hope so. But at the same time, I hope not. Not another person who could get hurt at Mother's hands, not more pain I'm responsible for, no more blood on my hands.

I pace back and forth for a moment. I have to crane my neck severely to even glimpse the top from down here, directly under, thirty feet below. What to do, what to do?