Chapter 2

It went back to when I was little, as far back as I could remember.

I watched my parents smile at Aurora, and I watched that smile go flat into a hard, measuring look whenever it turned on me.

The guards shadowed her carefully, while asking one of them for even the smallest favor only earned me a scolding from my parents.

"You want the guards to do everything for you. Their job is to keep your sister safe every minute of the day, not to run your pointless little errands."

My father snapped, "What if something happened to her? Why can't you ever think about your sister!"

My mother stood beside him with her eyes on Aurora. She gave me one sideways glance and said angrily, "Maybe the prophecy is this jinx's fault in the first place. Without her, my daughter would live past sixteen."

All I could do was lower my head and take it.

Everything in that house belonged to Aurora.

Once I overheard my parents talking in the study.

"Is there really nothing left?" My mother's voice came through, hoarse.

There was a long silence before my father answered. "I've posted a reward. I've poured out everything we own just to buy our daughter's life."

"How much time is left?"

The study stayed quiet for a long while. All that came out of it was one long sigh.

I did not understand any of it, so I went to Aurora and asked her what was going on.

Something finally moved in that calm face of hers. She said in a faint voice, "I'm sorry, Neve..."

"I didn't want it to be like this either. I'm sorry." Then she looked out at the far sky and said nothing more.

Seeing her like that put an ache in my chest.

My parents found out I had gone to her, and my father, strict as he always was, lost hold of his temper completely.

"Neve, can't you use your head for once! Your sister is already hopeless about her own life, and you go and set her off.

"That is your sister. If she dies, you will never have a sister in this world again!"

I could not hold it in any longer. I burst into tears. "Why does she get to have things I can't have? Why is she the only one you ever see? Anything she wants, she gets. Anything she wants to do, you back her all the way. Is there a second daughter in your hearts at all? Why do I have to live in her shadow, why..."

I pointed at Aurora, sitting across from me. "If you want to die, then go die. Give me my mom and dad back."

My eyes were red from crying, and I stared straight at the two of them.

Meanwhile, Aurora sat off to the side, quietly wiping her own tears.

The veins stood out on my father's forehead and his face went red. He stood, slapped me hard across the face, and gave the order to put me out of the castle.

Aurora threw her arms around him, her voice breaking, begging and begging him not to throw me out.

My parents saw how upset she was, and in the end they could not go through with it.

They ordered the guards to take me back to my room.

It was only later that I learned prophecies really do come true, and that my sister really was going to die.

The memory thinned out. My see-through shape blended into the night, and my sight came back into focus on my parents walking Aurora to her room, settling her into bed, starting a bedtime story...

My mother saw the heavy snow drifting past the window and could not help sighing.

"Is Neve really all right out there?"

My father frowned and said nothing for a long time.

At last he set his jaw like a man making up his mind.

"Aurora has one day left. The least we can do is give her every minute of it."

He stepped over, patted my mother's shoulder, and said, "Neve is a good girl. She'll understand. Once tomorrow is over, we can give all of our time to her."

Aurora lifted a weak hand. "Mom, Neve, she..."

"It's all right, it's all right. Tomorrow will pass safely. Don't be afraid," my mother said softly, after Aurora's eyes had closed.

Meanwhile, I floated outside the window, watching all of it.

My father said nothing. He only ordered the guards to unlock the front doors.