Chapter Nineteen
Once there was a boy who slept in an enchanted tower, his back flecked with whip marks from battles lost and monsters who’d won.
He wore a crown of cherrywood and firebird bones, gifted to him by his sisters who were trees in the forest. But they had not been able to protect him, and his capture meant endless years of torture.
The boy whimpered in his sleep, waiting for the whips to return.
Instead, a witch climbed through his tower window. She wore a cloak covered in the gold dust of wishes, and she promised to save him. For a price.
“Take this ax,” she said with a coy smile, “and cut down every tree in the forest. Then nothing will ever harm you again.”
“But the trees are my sisters,” he said, his bones already filled with dread.
“Why do you care for them?” the witch asked. “They do not love you. They did not come for you. Take the ax.”
He began to cry, but he took the ax.