Katherine
Aaron told me how he and Indigo were too far away to help when I fainted and was carried off by two Evils. He told me how Ashley was overwhelmed, but Jason arrived in time to save her. He told me how he saw Jason's murderer but was too far away to do anything. "I saw a man in black throw something towards Jason and Ashley," Aaron said. "Jason shielded Ashley with his body and aimed water at the weapon to stop it, but somehow, it didn't work. The dagger pierced him straight through the heart, and he died in Ashley's arms. By the time we arrived it was already too late." Aaron, whom I never seen cry, was sounding a bit choked up. I dipped my head and focused my attention on the pieces of straw that I was braiding together so that Aaron could calm his emotions.
"We built a funeral pyre for Jason." Aaron finally said after a few minutes. "I thought that after all he's been through, he deserves a hero's goodbye and a safe passage into the afterlife. No one was there to honor him and whatever, but to us, Jason deserved all the honors in the world." I nodded solemnly.
"I wish I was there to pay my respects," I said wistfully. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. But anyway, how did you get caught?"
"Ashley and I came to rescue you. I followed her through the maze of passageways, because she seemed to know what she was doing. I thought that as a spellmaster, she would be able to sense where you are or something." Aaron twisted a piece of straw around his finger distractedly. "I guess I was wrong. She was leading me into a trap."
"You didn't notice that anything was wrong? Ashley wouldn't have felt entirely comfortable with leading you to your demise. She would have shown some suspicious signs."
"Now that I think about it, the deeper we went the sicker Ashley looked. I thought she was claustrophobic or something." Aaron said thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side. "And then at one of the last few passageways she had to stop and rest. I went first, and she followed behind, instead of her leading me. And then I was so sure that we've arrived at the prison cells that I ran on ahead, assuming that she was right behind me. Did she even follow me?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But I know that Ashley would feel really guilty, and that's why she can't bear to watch you get caught. The guilt would overwhelm her."
"Maybe. I was so sure that we were close to you, I didn't think about anything else. Ashley pointed left, and I went left, but it was a dead end. I turned around to ask her if we took a wrong turn, and she was gone." Aaron looked off into the distance, remembering the details. "I heard a sound behind me in the empty corridor, turned around, pulled my sword out, but didn't see anything. Then something or someone hit me from behind, knocking me flat to the ground and stabbed something in my neck." He rubbed at the back of his neck, wincing at the memory.
"A sedative," I offered. "Whoever attacked you injected it into your bloodstream while you were distracted."
"Yeah, I guess so. Then I woke up and found you staring at me from five inches away." Aaron turned to look at me and grinned. I blushed with embarrassment.
"I fell over while trying to get a good look at you," I said, flustered. "I wanted to make sure it was you."
"Or were you too overwhelmed by my handsomeness and swooned?" Aaron grinned wickedly. "Too bad no one was there to catch you." I was so taken aback by this comment my mouth was left hanging open, and my brain short-circuited. Aaron laughed, the sound waking me from my trance and leaving me feeling even more mortified.
"I'm just teasing, Kath," he smirked at me. "You looked like it was true for a moment."
"I did not! Honestly, Aaron, I thought you were more mature than that." Huffing, I reached over to try and punch him in the shoulder playfully. Aaron twisted away, and I lost my balance and fell on my face again, leaving Aaron in hysterics.
"Again, Kath? Gosh, I didn't know I was that hot." Aaron laughed until his face turned red. "Oh, Kath, you're so funny."
"Aaron, you're such a douche." I crawled back up and slapped his shoulder playfully. "Did you come not to rescue me but to poke fun at me?"
"No, no, Kath, I did come to rescue you," Aaron chuckled. "But you're too funny-looking for me to not laugh."
"I—what? Funny-looking?!" My voice went shrill.
"You should have seen yourself. Your mouth was hanging open like 'Oh my gosh he guessed my thoughts. Oh no how did he know I was in love with him?'" Aaron doubled over in laughter again. Honestly, what was with guys and their weird humor?
"Aaron! I was not—I did not—ugh!" Frustrated, I punched his shoulder, but Aaron merely turned the other way and continued laughing. I landed more punches, and then suddenly Aaron had grabbed my wrists and pushed me back onto the floor.
I blinked, unsure of when Aaron reacted so quickly. I was dimly aware of the straw poking my back and the cold dirt floor beneath my head, but what mesmerized me was Aaron's playful eyes that were mere inches above mine. His bangs dangled in front of his face, which loomed above mine. I caught a whiff of mint, like the poultices Rachel made for my wound.
"No, no, Kath, no punching the handsome dude," Aaron grinned evilly at me. "You'll hurt me."
"Please, Aaron." I rolled my eyes. "Your muscles can't be that weak."
"Well you have fists of iron, so my flesh will be no match for you," Aaron replied, gazing intently into my eyes. I blinked some more, feeling myself flush again. Why do I always end up on the floor? It was the third time in a matter of hours!
"Actually, no, I'm stronger, because a gentle shove made you fall again." Aaron changed his mind. I stared back up at him, wondering if I could shove him back when he was still pinning my wrists down.
"A gentle shove? Aaron, you pushed me."
"Yeah. A gentle shove."
"No, it was a harsh push. What if I got a concussion from the impact? I could've broken my arms or something." I huffed. "I thought real men don't hit girls?"
"I didn't hit you. Besides, if you actually were to get hurt I would've caught you." Aaron dipped his head, leaning down closer to me. My breath hitched in my throat. "You're just fun to play around with."
"Now wait a second mister, who said anything about—"
"Katherine? Aaron?" An unsure voice sounded from outside the bars, as if afraid that they were intruding on something. Aaron released my wrists and I rolled out from underneath him, kicking him in the shins as payback for pushing me. Brushing the dirt from my clothes, I looked up to see Ashley standing on the other side of the bars.
Aaron and I both stood up. "What do you want?" Aaron growled, all the playfulness gone from his face. "Haven't you tormented us enough?"
"I..." Ashley looked to me instead. "Katherine, can you come here for a second?"
"Don't go," Aaron said harshly. "It's a trick."
"No, it's not. I just want to tell you something." Ashley refused to look at Aaron. Her eyes pleaded with me. "Please, Katherine. I won't hurt you. I will never hurt you."
"As if." Aaron snorted. "Kath, don't listen to her."
I hesitated. Something in Ashley's expression told me that she was genuine. And deep in my heart, I still saw her as my best friend, the person who I stayed up late at night with and shared all my secrets. I started forward, but Aaron grabbed my arm.
"Don't, Kath. I don't want you getting hurt. This traitor already hurt us enough."
"Katherine, please, I just want to tell you something. It's important. I swear on my soul that I won't hurt you. Please." Ashley grabbed the bars in desperation, pressing herself on them in an attempt to reach me. "You can trust me, Katherine."
I shook Aaron's hand off. "I can handle this." Slowly, I closed the distance between Ashley and me. "What is it?"
"I can't believe you guys actually believed me. Seriously, how dumb are you? You should have known that Lord Victor's offer was a thousand times better than whatever this stupid mission yielded." Ashley raised her voice and projected it towards the end of the corridor, where the guards were standing. Then she turned her attention back to me and lowered her voice.
"I don't have much time. Katherine, here, take this." Within the folds of her cloak, Ashley drew out a small brass ring with four keys dangling from it. She glanced around furtively and placed it in my palm, closing my fingers around the cool metal. "One is for your prison cell, the other for the treasury. Two others are for locks that will get you your things back. I would advise you two to escape sometime during the early morning because that's when the guards change shifts and the hallways are usually empty. It would be best to do that a day or two from now, since Lord Victor is bound to be on high alert after Aaron and I came in. Once you're out, go to the others and continue towards the Northern Mountains. That is Lord Victor's true stronghold and where his source of magic lies."
"Thanks, Ashley." I said gratefully, pocketing the keys. "But I thought you were working with Lord Victor?"
"Of course I'm working with Lord Victor. I'm done with the lies that the Rosewood Elders have been feeding us." Ashley raised her voice again, making sure that the guards down the hall heard. Then she turned her attention back to me.
"I was. I won't deny that. He promised to bring Jason back for a very small price, and I agreed. I was too overwhelmed with grief to think clearly. I didn't know he wanted me to bring Aaron to him."
"You should've never listened to him in the first place!" Aaron exclaimed from behind me, his arms crossed. I shot him a look.
"Listen, Katherine, I don't have much time. Lord Victor is expecting me to do something for him again. I know I have made a terrible mistake, and I know that nothing I do will ever make up for this. But I hope that by giving you the keys I can ask for your forgiveness." Ashley's eyes shone with tears. "I came here to get you out. I am getting you out."
"Why won't you take us with you?" Aaron asked. Ashley glanced up at him.
"It will be too hard and suspicious. Lord Victor already doesn't trust me entirely after that little squabble we had. I'm trying to play it cool and maintain the trust so that all of us can get out of here safely. Kath, I hope you forgive me. This might be the last time we see each other, and I want to leave knowing that you don't hate me."
I grabbed Ashley's hands through the bars and held them tightly. "I forgive you, Ash. I knew that you wouldn't truly betray us. You're my best friend, and even after all of this I still can't bring myself to hate you entirely."
"I'm sorry for your pain, Katherine and Aaron. Take care. If we're lucky, I'll see you tomorrow back in camp." Ashley smiled a sad smile. "But I'm pretty sure Lord Victor will be sending assassins after me, especially since I'm not useful anymore. I'll try my best to lure them away from the rest of the group."
"Tell Indigo and them to not come rescue us. Tell them to continue on the mission if we're not out within three days." Aaron drew closer to the bars. Ashley nodded.
"I have to leave now. I wish you guys the best of luck."
"Be careful, Ash." I said softly. "We'll see each other again, I promise."
Ashley smiled. Then she ducked her head and spoke in my ear: "I thought Aaron was going to kiss you for a second. You two would make such a cute couple."
I drew back, my cheeks flushed pink. Ashley winked at me and walked down the hall and out of sight.
It was the last time I would ever see my best friend again.
* * * * *
"Remind me why you brought us here again," I said, squinting in the sunlight. Lord Victor had ordered his henchmen to bring Aaron and me back up to the summit of Devil's Peak almost immediately after Ashley left. We were untied, but our arms were held behind our backs by two strong soldiers.
"I have a...surprise for you two," Lord Victor said casually, surveying the landscape again. "Although I'm not sure how you'll like it."
"Where are my things? My weapons and my bag? And my cloak?" Aaron asked, struggling against his captors. "If you damaged anything, I swear—"
"They're in the treasury, locked up with Katherine's sword," Lord Victor replied. "Don't worry, they're nice and safe with me. Why would I ruin such nice things? Especially if they're important?"
"How are they important to you? Those are our weapons. I'm pretty sure you have plenty of fancy swords in your weaponry." Aaron finally stopped writhing and accepted that he wasn't going anywhere. Lord Victor turned to look at Aaron curiously.
"You don't know? You don't know the value of your own treasures?" Lord Victor seemed appalled. "My, my, Aaron, you can't be this stupid. The Elders must be getting old, sending a dumb child like you on this mission."
"Hey! Don't call him stupid. He's the smartest boy in the Academy," I defended Aaron. "If you're so smart, why don't you enlighten us, Lord Victor?"
Lord Victor turned to me, shock written all over his face. "You too, Katherine? The boy's ignorance I can understand, but you? Kath, you're supposed to be smart."
"Don't call me Kath. Only my friends can call me that." I growled. "And no, I'm not smart. I'm not the mastermind; I'm the warrior." Lord Victor sighed softly.
"You stupid, ignorant children. What do you know about the Destined Three?"
"They're the three people who make it to the end," Aaron said. "They're the most powerful of the seven."
"Very good. But what about the Destined Three is special? What do they have that the rest don't have?"
"They have the spear of light, the cloak of victory, and the Sword of Destiny," I answered. My brow furrowed as my brain suddenly figured out what Lord Victor was hinting at. But why do I have such a hard time of believing it?
"Ah, Katherine gets it. I knew she was smart." Lord Victor looked at me approvingly. "Have you realized it, Aaron?"
"No," Aaron said stubbornly. "What is it? I don't see the connection."
"Child, your cloak is the cloak of victory. Her sword is the Sword of Destiny." Lord Victor explained patiently. "Too bad none of you have the spear of light with you."
"No way. No freaking way. That is Augustus' cloak and some random sword given to Kath by the sorceress Madeline Rowan. There's no way those two items can be the legendary items in the prophecy." Like me, Aaron was struggling to make the connections.
"Child, how dense are you? Why do you think Katherine just conveniently received a magical sword? Why do you did you just coincidentally won a legendary cloak? They are both magical items, hidden until the right person comes along. That being said, I doubt anyone else realized their potential, because no one knew they were the magical items." Lord Victor shook his head slowly and turned to gaze at the forests surrounding Devil's Peak. "It's almost time."
"Almost time for what?" Aaron demanded. "You can't just call someone stupid and then abruptly change the subject. I'm sorry I'm not an evil genius like you."
"Patience, my dear boy. The heavens reward those who wait." Lord Victor continued to survey the landscape while Aaron and I were held captive, forced to watch the unchanging scene with him.
It seemed like hours before Lord Victor finally spoke again. "Hey, look aren't those your friends?" He pointed down at a dense part of the surrounding forest. Both Aaron and I followed his finger.
"I can't see anything except trees," I said. "You're going to have to enlarge it for us to see."
"Don't worry, I have magic." Lord Victor waved his hands in the air. A shimmering ball of air the size of a large bowl emerged, acting like a magnifying class. I saw the tips of tents within the bushes, and some movement in between the trees. Beside me, Aaron sucked in a breath.
Lord Victor, sensing Aaron's tension, smirked and zoomed in. Now I could see shimmering figures moving around. I saw Indigo talking to Ashley by a tent. I saw Lucian sitting by Rachel on a log. They didn't know that Lord Victor had already found them.
"What are you going to do?" Aaron asked with a hint of fear in his voice. "What is the 'surprise' you have planned?"
"You'll see. Everything is in place, right, Charles?" Lord Victor looked at one of the soldiers standing by the edge of the cliff. He bowed his head respectfully and nodded. Lord Victor, satisfied, turned his attention back to the magical magnifying ball of air. Aaron and I watched with a sense of foreboding.
"I swear, if you hurt them..." Aaron warned. Lord Victor ignored him and looked at me.
"Kath, I've given you nearly a week now to think of my proposal. What do you say, Kath?"
"First of all, don't call me Kath. Second of all, how do I know you'll keep your promise?"
"I assure you, if you remain loyal to me, I will remain loyal to you. I swear upon my heart and soul that no harm will come to your friends as long as you cooperate with me. That includes your dear boy Aaron here." Lord Victor's gaze penetrated me as I tensed. Aaron looked between the two of us wildly.
"What is he talking about? Kath, what is this?"
"He wants me to be his queen in exchange for your and everyone else's lives." I said quietly, avoiding eye contact with Aaron.
"No. No way. You can't say yes, Kath, not to this creep. He's not going to keep his promise anyway. We can fight him together. He's lying to you!" Aaron struggled in his captors' arms again. "Kath, don't listen to him!"
"I don't know..." I hesitated. "If he will actually let the rest of you go, I think I'll be willing to make that sacrifice."
"I promise I won't go after the remaining Rosewood Seven if you remain my queen," Lord Victor cut in. "You can trust me, Kath."
"No you can't. You can't say yes, Kath. I won't allow it. I'm sure Indigo and the rest of them would rather we die together than you being with this dude!" Aaron's voice was getting louder and louder. "You can't say yes, Kath!"
"I don't want to watch you guys suffer! I can change this—I can alter our fate!" I turned to look at Aaron. "If he really will keep his word...if he really will spare the five of you, I'll say yes."
"No, Kath!"
"Yes, Kath, I promise I won't hurt your friends." Lord Victor was getting impatient. "Now hurry up and make a decision!"
"I..." Something in Lord Victor's tone kept me from saying yes. "Are you sure you'll keep your promise?"
"Oh for god's sake." Lord Victor threw up his hands. "Perhaps you need a little incentive." He directed his hands towards the forest, where our camp was situated. "This will show you what happens if you keep me waiting for too long."
A loud boom rocked the earth, and we felt the tremors that followed, even from this height. As Aaron and I watched in horror, our campsite erupted into flames.