Lord Victor

---Katherine---

I had always imagined the evil lord to be an old man, or at least middle-aged. But the face staring back at me with amusement was the one of a cute teenage boy. Raven black hair stood in short spikes on his head, gelled and well-groomed. His face was angular, his cheekbones high and his jaw sharp. Long arched eyebrows shadowed his eyes, which were deep-set and emerald green, with long sweeping lashes. His lips were full and blood-red, which stood out against his porcelain skin with the barest hint of blood running underneath. It was then that I realized his clothing was made to make him appear taller and more intimidating; his boots added on at least a full three inches to his height. However, underneath all that, was a boy not much older than me.

"You like what you see?" Lord Victor's voice jolted me from my thoughts. I didn't realize that I was staring at him.

"No. Of course not. You still have an ugly face." I tore my gaze from him, embarrassed. I can't believe that for a moment, I thought the evil lord was cute.

"Sure I do. You know what you thought, Katherine. Now come with me; I have something else to show you besides my 'ugly face'." He motioned for the soldiers to release me. I jerked my arms back and rolled my shoulders while glaring at Lord Victor.

"What makes you think that I won't run away?" I asked. In response, Lord Victor simply smiled. A split second later, a searing pain flashed through my body, leaving me curled on the floor and gasping.

'This will make you not run away,' Lord Victor's voice said gleefully in my mind. 'Katherine, I know you too well.'

"Come on. It's not polite to make your host wait for you." He spoke out loud. With a swish of his cloak, Lord Victor began walking towards a side door. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to my feet and followed, with soldiers trailing after me.

We exited the dark cave-like throne room and went up a flight of stairs carved into the mountain side. All the while Lord Victor was chatting away like we were old friends while I stayed silent, fuming and calculating how I could get away.

"Don't you like my decorations, Katherine?" Lord Victor gestured to a far wall at the end of a branched off tunnel that appeared to be drenched with blood. "I simply adore this hue of red."

"It's hideous." I replied, revolted. Lord Victor laughed and moved on.

After a few more twists and turns in the passageways, we emerged outside at the top of Devil's Peak. It was actually flat here, although the sides plunged down thousands of feet. I stopped in the middle and planted my feet.

"What am I looking at?"

"My dear Katherine, you'll have to come closer than that." Lord Victor did not seem to mind the heights and stood dangerously close to the edge. "I promise to catch you if you fall."

I snorted, but walked over anyway. I was not in the mood for him to send pain rippling through my body again. I stopped within five feet of Lord Victor and crossed my arms. "Well?"

"Just look at the view, Katherine. Look."

I looked. The lands of Crystallea spread out in all directions beneath me. I saw the tree tops of the Desederium Forest. I saw the rooftops of cities and towns, and the small cluster of villages. Green pastures stretched out for miles in the countryside. In the distance, half hidden by mist and clouds, I seemed to be able to see the tall buildings of the Rosewood Academy. Everything seemed so peaceful. For a moment, I understood why someone would want to have this all to themselves.

"It's beautiful." I couldn't help but marvel. Lord Victor nodded.

"Beautiful, indeed. And this will all become mine in a matter of weeks."

"We're going to stop you. You won't be able to conquer Crystallea."

Lord Victor laughed. "You're funny, did you know that?"

"The prophecy said—"I began to defend myself. Lord Victor waved it aside.

"Screw the damn prophecy. It was said by some crazy old guy who wanted free shelter and food. I can't believe the schoolmasters believed him. It's funny what desperate people would do."

"The prophecy is true! Otherwise, why would you be so intent on stopping us?" I retorted, finding the hole in Lord Victor's reasoning. He stopped laughing.

"Better safe than sorry. And besides, it's easier to enjoy your conquest without some bratty kids trying to stop you," he scoffed. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, I've seen your goals. I still don't understand why you brought me here. You haven't killed me yet. Isn't that your life mission, to kill the Rosewood Seven? Why not just kill me and have one less person standing in your way?"

"Oh, my dear, dear, Katherine," Lord Victor turned to face me, his eyes sweeping over my body. I stepped back, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "It's not fun ruling alone. I brought you here not to kill you, but to make you my queen."

I gagged. "Dream on, loser. Like I said, I would rather die than be loyal to you."

"I thought you would react this way." As if disappointed, Lord Victor turned to survey his future kingdom again. "But we'll see what happens when I have your little friends in my clutches."

"Harm them and you can forget about any chance of me being your queen," I snarled. "I swear, if you lay one finger on—"

"Aaron? Don't worry, I'll keep him alive. Maybe I'll make him your personal guard when you become queen. Or maybe I'll make him a slave?" Lord Victor smiled devilishly at me.

"That's not what I meant! I was talking about—"

"Who is it then? Lucian? Jason? Oh wait, I forgot, Jason's already dead." His words hung in the silence between us.

"What did you say?" I asked, dangerously quiet. Lord Victor tilted his head and looked at me.

"Oops, did I let that slip? I was going to tell you later, but—"

Suddenly, I had my hands around his collar, pushing both of us dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. "What did you say?! What happened to Jason?!"

I heard the shiiiing! of swords being drawn behind me. Lord Victor waved them off. "Ooh, tough Katherine. But careful—push me too far and I'll speak in your mind again."

I released him with a frustrated growl. He smoothed out the creases on the front of his robe before saying, "Jason's dead. He died not long after you were abducted."

A buzz went off in my head, drowning out all other thoughts. Jason's dead. Like, gone. Forever. How? He was such a great guy, funny and charming. He was our elemental master, and the most powerful of us all. He was supposed to make it to the end. I thought he would be one of the Destined Three. I could only imagine how much pain Ashley and Lucian were in. The former was his crush, the latter his best friend. Ashley had confided in me even back in the Academy that she had a crush on Jason, though she never worked up the courage to tell him despite my urging. And now, they would never be together.

This was our first death. It was hard to wrap my mind around the concept of someone never coming back, never talking to me again. I didn't even get to say goodbye. Jason and I weren't that close, but he was my best friend's crush and one of Aaron's best friends. Not to mention, after all these days on the quest, all seven of us had grown closer.

Lord Victor was watching my reaction and observing me like I was some interesting science experiment. I didn't like the smirk on his face.

"You killed him," I growled. "You killed Jason!"

"I didn't; one of my henchmen did." Lord Victor shrugged.

"It was your orders! If you hadn't ordered them to ambush us, nothing would've happened! Jason would still be alive!" My fists bunched up by my sides. Lord Victor noticed.

"Well, every war has its casualties. And the dagger wasn't even meant for him; he jumped in front of it to save Ashley."

"Nobody tries to kill my best friend either!" The pent up anger and sadness and fear erupted. I leaped for Lord Victor's throat.

And then I was on the cold rocky floor, my body twitching with pain. My abdominal area felt like someone was pouring scalding water on it. My vision darkened. A pair of combat boots appeared at the edge of my vision.

"And nobody tries to kill Victor," Lord Victor's cold voice sounded. "I admire your fierce loyalty, Katherine. Together, we can accomplish so much more. Think about my offer to you. Either be my queen and rule by my side, or watch all of your friends die in front of you and suffer a slow, painful death yourself. Your choice."

As the boots clomped away and my vision turned dark completely, I heard his voice in my mind again.

'You're certainly living up to your traits of beauty and fire, Katherine. Playing hard to get? No problem. I'll play with you, till the end.

'I'm much better looking than Aaron anyway.'