Page 102 of Down from the Tower

“I was meant to have a sister,” Rapunzel says more quietly.

“Details.” Dorah rolls her eyes when suddenly her gaze lands on me. She throws her hands out in front of her, trying to distract her daughter. “There, Rapunzel! That’s who you need to strike! He’s the one who took you from us! It’s his fault that you have lost your way.”

She doesn’t turn but instead raises her hands. The subhuman glow is bright enough to illuminate the cracks and grime in the walls of this old room. Her hair follows suit until the light it provides is like standing outside during midday. “No. My Reaper showed me the way.”

I half expect her to rush the Queen, slam her hands into her and bake her alive. Instead Rapunzel claps her palms together and the wild hair floating around us surges like snakes, moving to strike the Queen.

Dorah’s screams echo through the room, blood spraying across the walls where the hair strikes, breaks, and pulls at her limbs. I raise my brows as I watch Rapunzel’s rage take form, literally pulling her mother apart.

That hair can do more than snap a neck. It can take a life piece by piece.

The princess falls to her knees as Dorah screams, her shrieks pitching off the roof before Rapunzel’s hair drops the Queen’s limbs. Collapsing, her heated hands fall to the floor, and her handprints burn into the stone as she gasps.

I’m at her side in an instant. Some of her hair brushes against me and my clothing sizzles at the contact. She’s hot enough that she’s roasting.

Dorah continues to shriek, her limbs torn, burned, and snapped at odd angles. It’s clear that Rapunzel acted clearly on emotion. The Queen is bleeding profusely from the spots where limbs were severed and the blood soaks the floor and tattered gown beneath.

Breathing heavy, she stands again and screams down at her mother, her hair shining to life once more. But I tighten my grip on her arm, causing her to pause. She blinks when she sees me, looking as if she just came out of a trance.

Eyes so pretty, blue rimmed in shining gold. It’s the most I’ve ever seen of that golden ring, and it shines as bright as her hair.

She gasps, focusing on me. “Z-Zarev?” Her hands fall slowly to her side, the power fading.

I glance at Dorah, who’s screeching cries dwindle to pained sobs. I can feel the pull of her spirit, and know she will only last a few minutes more before succumbing to the sweet release of Death. I have no idea if her spirit will linger like Modred’s now that the spirits are being called here, but she isn’t someone I care to send on.

I run my fingers up her arm to grip her shoulder. “Ask her your questions, Princess. She’s already on the verge of passing.”

Some of the rage in her eyes disappears, and I watch as her hair calms from violent whips to calmer, subdued waves, like she’s caught up in the wind. Breathing heavily, she blows out several breaths before she can speak. “She killed Rosen.”

“Who?”

Rapunzel lifts her gaze, and I see the pain behind her rage. “My sister. They gave her to the Mad Queen.”

She drops, her knees forward on her hands again, but the stone doesn’t burn this time. Panting, she takes several breaths, and I glance up at what’s left of Dorah.

Tears streak her cheeks and I’m sure it’s from the pain. Her lips move, but she looks like she’s in shock. The faster the pain registers, the quicker she will go.

Clearly her throat, she coughs on blood as it clings in her mouth, her eyelids sagging. “I - I made the right choice.”

Rapunzel’s head snaps up, and I think she’s going to go at the Queen with her bare hands. “By choosing me?”

Her lip twitches, like the Queen is trying to smile. “T - the tea did its job. So much p - power.” Dorah’s voice is scratchy and becoming weaker. “You’re magnificent, daughter. You bear the Golden Curse well.”

Rapunzel screams in frustration, her voice echoing throughout the chamber. When she calms down, she asks, “What did the tea do?”

Dorah starts to chuckle, but it rolls into another cough. The pull of her soul is stronger, and I know she’s slipping. “Gold throughout, princess. L - little bit of Phoenix Rose and some gold infused w - water did the trick.”

Gold infused water, just like the book said.

She coughs, the sound turning to a gurgle. Blood leaks from between her lips, her eyes turning glassy. I grip Rapunzel’s arm when she lurches, looking like she’s ready to ask more questions. “She’s not going to answer.”

Dorah takes a shuddering breath, and slowly Rapunzel’s flying locks calm down enough to hang limply around her body again. She shakes off my hand to stand and I lean back on my heels as she approaches the Queen.

I expected a blowout, but the last two people who died at Rapunzel’s hands brought her to tears. She’s crying now, but it doesn’t appear that she’s sad.

Taking another shuddering breath, Dorah’s fingers twitch towards her daughter. Rapunzel kicks her hand back; the Queen is too weak to fight back.

“My… golden… flower-”

---