The Blood of Darkness

Chapter 6

The Dark King

"I don't know! I never saw her," the guard splutters, his voice shrill with pain. "Please don't kill me. I have a family. Children."

"How unfortunate," I say. "You'll be free to live once you tell me how she escaped." I motion to the Torturer, brought here from my castle in Rurik a few days ago. and he tightens his grip on the guard's arm, freezing his blood. I smile as the guard screams.

"I don't know! I swear! I wasn't even on duty last night!"

"You had just gotten off of duty though. You would have seen her in the halls," I state roughly.

"I didn't!" Tears stream down his face from the pain as he squirms against his bindings.

My men have grown too weak. No wonder I've had to have over fifty killed today. Luckily, my new Torturer is phenomenal.

"Kill him," I command.

The guard's eyes widen in terror. "No!"

A second later, his lips go blue and he slumps over, eyes open but unblinking. I dismiss the Torturer and stand over the guard's dead body. If I had had more time, I would have had his family brought here and killed his children in front of him. See how that would have gotten him to talk.

Leaving the cell, I walk briskly through the prison halls to the guards' chamber, following the path Valerie and the traitorous guard took.

It's not that I don't know how Valerie escaped. The knowledge that a guard helped her and the trail of Dark Blood through the castle made everything obvious. The problem is that she was able to escape, which means that this castle should have been better guarded and patrolled. That is remedied now. Although I do need to appoint a new Captain of the Guard.

The only problem left is that Valerie escaped, and I need to get her back.

But even that problem will be fixed soon. I sent my Personal Guard to Trivette to retrieve Valerie, and they should be back any minute now.

Maybe when she returns, she will finally have come to her senses, for this facade of dark power cannot last much longer.

I think she's caught between who she is and who she wants to be. She wants to be good, but she isn't. She's a monster. Beautiful, but still a monster.

I used to think that monsters were created, like me, not born. That is, until I met Valerie. She changed everything.

I was 18, and it was a few weeks before I would execute the plan to kill my parents. We were visiting Nieves for the annual discussion on trade.

The Crown Prince was a bit over a year younger than me, and had never seemed to like me. In all the years I had visited, he would always go off with his sister and the Captain of the Guard, and the three of them would always avoid me. Not that I cared, of course.

With nothing better to do, I just decided to roam the halls of the ice castle and contemplate what my next steps would be after killing my parents.

Then a girl, a few years younger than me, rounded the corner of the hallway, dressed in black leathers with a sword slung at her hip. I stopped in my tracks.

I had stood for 18 years and not faltered. The day I met Valerie, my legs shook.

She was beautiful, powerful, and everything I had ever wanted. And breezed right past me without saying a word. She didn't turn back as I watched her walk down the hallway. Even after she turned down another corner, I still stood there, as if I could still see her long white braid swishing back and forth with her every step.

It was there that my plan developed. I would come back, and make her my queen. And together, we would rule the world.

That plan did not go as I had originally planned, but she will be my queen. I will weigh her down with all the Lychnus shackles in the world and force her to sit on the throne.

It's not that I don't care about her, because I do. She can have whatever she wants once she is my queen. I want her to be happy. But if she disobeys or disrespects me, she has reason to be punished.

Of course, a year's worth of torture didn't seem to have much effect on her, so I will have to think of some better methods. But maybe she's had a change of heart, for I would truly hate to hurt her again. I'd much rather love her.

~

It's getting rather late, and my Personal Guard still hasn't returned. I stand at one of the highest castle windows, in my personal chambers, hands clasped behind my back, watching the silent kingdom before me. Due to the new curfew I imposed today, the kingdom is dark. Perfect.

Part of me misses Rurik, my wretched and wonderful kingdom, but Nieves is entertaining. By killing the beloved Royal Family, I have wrecked the people so thoroughly that they cower whenever they hear my name. People fearing you is just another way to verify your power. And who doesn't like being feared?

What's even more satisfying is being called evil. Because it is meant as an insult, and people go on and on about how wrong it is. But those same people are the people that have overlooked and ignored evil, which is the same as permitting it. Then, once it affects them, they persecute it. Do they not realize that they brought it upon themselves?

Like Rurik already has, it is easy to accept evil, because it is, above all things, seductive. After all, our hearts are monsters. That's why our ribs are cages.

It's a few hours from dawn when my doors bang open. I whip around.

"My king," the messenger drops to his knees in a low bow. I find it amusing how some hate me, and others praise me.

"Yes?"

"Word has just arrived. Your Personal Guard is dead."

I stiffen with shock. They were the best soldiers, hand-picked by nobody other than me myself. Not that I bothered to learn their names though. "Killed?"

The messenger nods, still in a deep bow. I can see the fear spark in my eyes, just as the anger has sparked in mine as I prowl toward him.

I yank him to his feet. "By whom?" My voice comes out as a growl.

"I am not sure, my king." His voice trembles. "Your Personal Guard tracked the escaped girl who you have been seeking to a rather opulent townhouse in Trivette. One of your spies saw the five of them enter, then the windows went completely dark. None of them emerged."

Wrath consumes me, and in one smooth motion, I snap the messenger's neck.

My sweet, menacing Valerie darling, what have you done now?