Golden Stair Read Online Free Page B

paced away from Ivy. Ivy’s shoulders slumped, bile rising in the back of her throat as she watched her mother fall apart in front of her.
     
    “No, Mother,” Ivy cried. She fought back tears, her chin quivering, and she put herself in front of her mother, trying to stop her pacing. “Mother, look at me, please, I love my life here.”
     
    “But you would rather be out there?” her mother screeched, flinging a hand in the direction of the window. “You would rather be out there on a battlefield? Do you know what is out there? Do you ? Today I saw the werewolf king nearly gutted by the vampire king, his intestines spilled in a mess all over the grass, reeking of feces and blood.
     
    “The god of the kingdom of Mu was using his terrible power, calling the blood from the veins of his enemies until even the smallest injury was nearly fatal. The angel from the kingdom of Meropis circled like a vulture in the skies, swooping down on anyone who tried to leave.” She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes protruding as she clapped her hands over her ears. “And the demon.” She shuddered. “The demon was the worst of all. Even in the midst of battle, he couldn’t deny his lust.” She bent over, grimacing as if in pain. “He filled the air with the wails of his victims.”
     
    Every word out of her mouth flowed through the air in a tangible cloud. A sickly scent, like rotting vegetables, seemed to follow the words as they slithered into Ivy’s mind, twisting her stomach into tight, aching little knots and filling her with icy dread. She tried to rid herself of the insidious nightmare, tried to hold on to the images she’d conjured earlier, images of adventure and righteous battle, but her imagination fed on her mother’s descriptions, painting the most frightening picture she could ever dream up. It caught her up like a physical force.
     
    The cries of the dying echoed in her ears, and for a moment she imagined she could feel drops of hot blood spattering her skin. She whimpered and her knees gave out, spilling her to the floor. Still the nightmarish images continued, tormenting her as if she were out there, crumpled amidst the carnage. She could hear them, see them herself, as if she were stuck in a particularly vivid nightmare. Ivy couldn’t breathe, couldn’t fight the hysteria rising like a phantom inside her. When she finally collapsed, her mother gathered her in thin, skeletal arms.
     
    “Shhh,” she whispered, rocking Ivy as if she were a small child. “Ivy, I do not want to scare you. I only want you to understand what is out there. I want you to understand why you must never leave this tower.”
     
    Ivy sobbed against her, her mind fuzzy and clumsy. She couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t feel anything beyond the guilt and despair wracking her body. Her skin burned as if she were fighting off a fever, adding to her delirium. A voice in her head jeered at her, shaming her for her pathetic need for rebellion. The words vibrated like balls of energy, swirling and growing stronger with every syllable. Her mother faced such terrors for her, all to keep her safe, and here she was complaining that she wanted to leave because she was bored . Shame, shame, shame.
     
    “Ivy, I love you so much. I would fight in the war every day for the rest of my life for you. And I know you want to help, and I love you all the more for that. But surely you must understand why that can never be?”
     
    The weight of her mother’s words pressed against Ivy, bowing her farther toward the ground, deeper into her mother’s embrace. Her mother was right. How could she ever have considered leaving? “I don’t want to lose you,” Ivy whispered, feebly trying to shove away the fog in her mind. Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away.
     
    “And you won’t,” her mother soothed. “It is because of you that I still go on.” She leaned back and took Ivy’s face in her hands. “Where would I be if you were not