Fairy Tale

As dawn breaks, Leah, Charlie, Jaya, Eris, and Eye follow the sound of Hana’s weeping to her throne, where she is cradling Red Molly’s body. Charlie shoots Hana several times, killing her.

Leah leads the group into the palace. She still has power over the structure, and doors open at her touch. In a long hall, Charlie glimpses a massive pile of gold and gems behind a pane of glass: This is where Mr. Bowditch, “with permission or without it,” (557) sourced his riches.

The group comes upon the ransacked reception hall once owned by Jan and Cova. Beyond the reception hall is a room from which three tall, palatial spires rise high into the sky. At the bottom of the central spire is a platform. Leah advises the group to begin cranking the wheel which activates the platform’s lifting mechanism, asserting that “we must go up to go down” (563).

The group clambers onto the platform, which ascends the spire. Charlie hears ghostly voices whispering ominous threats, and black shadows begin to swirl around them as they rise higher and higher. Finally, the platform stops at a small landing near the top of the spire. The group proceeds along a narrow catwalk and through another door.