“She makes me furious, but for the life of me, I love her!” The queen shouted. “Make this stop. Now!”

Sasha felt pain all over her, and although she recognized the queen's voice, she couldn’t get a grip on the situation.

“I have a bad feeling about her”, the king's voice rumbled. “ She ain’t ours, she belongs to the witch.”

“I will not hear another word!”

“You will regret this”, the king said.

Sasha remembered. The ambush, and the hooks that tore open her flesh. The smell of rotten meat. The pain that still seared through her body.

“It would kill me if anything was to happen to either of my girls or Elias. You know that.”

The queen's voice was soft, she pleaded to the king, stroking his chin.

“Please make this stop, heal our daughter.”

The king sighed, reluctantly passing the invincible barrier.

“I will heal her, but it will be your pleasure to dig out those hooks”, he said. “And get her out of that power field. I can’t do nothing until she is out on the other end.”

When the queen started tearing the hooks Sasha cried out.

“Be still my child. No one could use magic inside of this dome. I will have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“Can’t you get me out of this first?”

“There’s the catch, this trap is as old as the castle. Only by passing the dome, climbing up to the roof, and finding the hidden entrance up at the wall will you be able to walk through it. And even after that, you will only be granted to pass through it. You would not be able to use magic once inside of it.”

“I am in no shape to climb anything.”

“That’s why we will cheat”, the queen said, brushing Sasha’s hair aside as she gently pulled at the hooks, twisting them until they let go of her flesh. It did hurt. “I will carry you over the barrier.”

Sasha wouldn’t say she had a memory of the queen's work, she blissfully entered the dark worlds of dreams. She heard her sister's voice singing lullabies, remembering when they had been young and running around in the forest. They had made the best tree house there was. With soft feather moss laying on the floor and a glitch in the ceiling where they could look at stars. Now she was there again, lying shoulder to shoulder with her sister, listening to the sound of the night and looking at the strikingly beautiful sky. They were flying out of that glitch, as two bats in the night. A sudden movement got her to turn her head as she felt herself tumbling down towards the earth. No sound came from her lips, her body stiffened, not answering her prayers to move the wings.

It should have hurt, but when she hit the ground, a lightning bolt erupted from her body, a shock wave coming from inside her, dark electric twisted energy, sourced from a flaming orb buried in the depths of her soul. She laughed softly and started to sing on the same melody as her sister had sung before. It was a beautiful night.

”What the fuck has he done this time?” Elias hissed.

She heard his voice, wakening her from her slumber, but she didn’t want to open her eyes just yet, it was too soft, too nice, being in the cocoon she was in, just below the surface of awakening.

“He went too far this time”, the queen sighed.

“I told you not to thrust his promise. He just cares as long as he gets caught.”

“I will find a cure for it, I need to.”

“How long have you searched mother, and how far would you let him go?”

“Enough!”

The queen snapped, but soon after Sasha felt her stroking her hair, the voice gentle as a breeze. “You do care for her Elias?”

“I do.”

“Then take her away from here. Take her back to her village. I will have the cottage rebuild and we will keep her away from the castle. I could visit her, and the king would never know.”

“You will lose both sisters that way.”

“I know, but as things are right now, I have little choice. I just need some time to untangle this mess. It’s getting dirtier for each year.”

The queen rose from her chair, the sound of her shoes against the floor echoing in the room.

“Are you going to the tower?” Elias asked.

“Yes. I will send up some food for you.”

Sasha waited until the queen's footsteps were no longer heard. She flexed her arms, letting the magic whisper in her body, the marks of the needles were still there, but the wounds had sealed, and it no longer hurt.

“What is it about the tower?” Sasha asked.

Elias turned around, sitting on the chair next to her bed and laying his hand on top of hers.

“So you are awake. How do you feel?”

“Good”, Sasha said, not wanting to think about what had happened. Not yet. “Now tell me, what is all this fuss about the tower really about?”

Sasha waited, Elias was silent, and she thought he would refuse to answer this time as well, but her surprised her.

“The queen is keeping something from me”, Elias said eventually. “Something is off with the king, I told you he is sick. She knows, but she refuses to tell.”

“He is an asshole”, Sasha said.

“He has not always been”, Elias said, “or at least I remember else wise.”

“Why don’t you go into the tower yourself?”

“It's locked to her bloodline, and the power of the elements.” He laughed bitterly. “Now I know why I was never let in.”

Sasha rose from her bed, going to the window, not caring her body was only covered in a nightgown.

“Let me guess, when she leaves the tower she will go directly to the king, and then she will sleep. We will not get a better opportunity.”

“No”, Elias said. “I promised to take you away from here. The king did not only try to hurt you, Sasha, he tried to kill you.”

“And you do always keep your promises?” Sasha said, smiling wickedly at him.

He wanted to have the answer about his father. She would give him the opportunity, and then her debt would be paid. She couldn’t allow herself to sink any deeper.