Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 14- Scarlet

Queen Pandora strode into view, yanking Cassandra's mother by the collar. "You have thirty seconds to get back here or she'll be hurt."

What?! Where's Liam? She has to be kidding, I can't make that decision!

As if answering her question, Liam jogged back through the clearing. His hair was rumpled from the wind and he appeared worried. "Cass? What happened, are you okay?" His gaze travelled across the scene laid out before him and shock distorted his features.

The Queen called out once more. "You have twenty five seconds to return. I wouldn't push it if I were you."

Liam looked even more startled before. Tears streamed down Cassandra's face. It wasn't fair, she couldn't choose between letting down her mother or Liam. Hope drained from the world, bleaching the green forest black and white.

"Twenty seconds! Hurry up and decide, the old hag doesn't have all day," Queen Pandora sneered.

Cassandra looked at her mom slumping down on the ground. Her face was pale and clammy, sweat dripping down her temple. Adhita's once immaculate hair was now frizzy and out of place.

Queen Pandora cackled and shouted out a warning that she had just fifteen seconds to decide. Cassandra's heart beat faster as she frantically tried to make a decision. Liam's face had concern etched into his features.

Blood boiled as it ran through Cassandra's veins, white hot fury bringing the promise of revenge and justice. Nobody who did things as terrible as this could get away unscathed. Cassandra's mind focused to a pin point, narrowing with remarkable accuracy on the unfairness of the situation before exploding into anger.

Queen Pandora was despicable, Cassandra had always known that, but nothing was worse than this. One thousand whippings could not equal such pain.

"Ten seconds," sung Queen Pandora with a smug grin on her face.

Cassandra turned to Liam, who had helped her escape and gone through so many adventures with her, not once turning his back. She then looked to her mother who had raised her and taught her what was right and wrong in the world. Without that support, she wouldn't have been able to flourish as fully as she had.

Logically, Cassandra knew that the right thing was to go to her mother's aid. She'd only known Liam for a week, thought it felt like so much more. If Cassandra didn't go to her mom, the Queen would murder her. If she went though, they lost all hope of escaping and that meant letting down Liam.

Queen Pandora chirped with glee as she observed Cassandra's inner struggle. "Seven seconds!"

Small dots of pain prickled behind Cassandra's eyes as water obscured her vision. This was it. There was no way for her to choose the right thing, only the less wrong. Last minute choices ran through her head as she weighed the pros and cons, each second seeming longer than normal.

"Five more seconds until your time is up." The Queen tightened her hold on Cassandra's mother and retrieved a deadly looking dagger from the folds of her dress. It had a beautiful wooden hilt intricately carved with complex designs. Perched atop of the hilt was the deadliest blade Cassandra had ever laid eyes on. Polished crystal curved into a perfectly sharpened edge, shimmering in the sunlight like a thousand menacing rainbows. No doubt it could slice through skin by the faintest of touches.

Adhita weakly opened her eyes to gaze at Cassandra from across the field. It was maddening to see her mother closer than they'd been in days, yet so far out of reach.

"Three seconds."

Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Cassandra's heart beat rapidly in her chest as if trying to free itself from her rib cage. Had it really been just thirty seconds since Queen Pandora had presented her with the decision? It felt like ages had passed, slowly counting down to whatever terrible choice she made.

"Only two more seconds." The tears flowed faster still and left small tracks on her dirt-stained face. Indecision still riddled her body even though she was just two seconds from having to decide.

"One second."

Cassandra shakily inhaled and then exhaled slowly. How was she ever supposed to decide?

"And ze-"

"Wait!" Cassandra cried. "I can't choose between them, I just can't do it."

"Well I'll choose for you if you can't be bothered to decide," Queen Pandora chided.

The crystal dagger arched downwards, puncturing through Adhita's heart. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked down at the gaping hole. Scarlet rubies kept falling from the wound to soak into the earth. Cassandra's mother smiled at her daughter one last time and crumpled to the ground.

"Run, Cass! She's already gone, it's too late to save her," Liam yelled.

Keeping her eyes back at her mother's body, Cassandra stumbled into motion. It felt much too soon to be back in action but she couldn't let Liam down, too.

As she ran, Cassandra felt her pain numb into a dull throb, forcing it away. It was only when they stopped that she let her grief escape.

Sobs racked her entire body and she shook with all the pain she had ever felt. Tear after tear streamed down her face without stopping as she attempted to rack some air into her lungs.

At some point Liam must have put his arm around Cassandra in an attempt to comfort her. She nestled into the crook of his arm and tried to bury herself away from all the world's suffering.

She's gone, she's really gone. I'll never get to see her again or tell her how much I love her.

The tears kept falling and Cassandra let them. Eventually though, the tears subsided into snores and the pain into soft dreams. It seemed that after all, unconsciousness held the key to relief.