A/N: I'm back with another chapter, and I also appreciate the review from guest reviewer Mogor. The feedback is much appreciated! However, from here on out, things start to get a little...crazy, so to speak. I think you'll know what I mean after this chapter.
Chapter 13: Daku
"What?" Ezra watched as Victoria looked at Daku disbelievingly, even as the magicians restraining her released her and stepped back. "What do you mean?" She said, her green eyes narrowing as she stood up shakily.
"It's very simple, really," Daku said casually as he looked at the brunette Human. "You've had enough time now to experience how life with the 'other side' is. Not what you were expecting, I take it?" Victoria remained silent as she tilted her head to the side, and Ezra couldn't read the expression she had on her face. "Don't think I wasn't keeping my eye on you while you were gone, Shadow. My spies are everywhere. I saw how you expected these rebels to treat you, though you never let it show. Your idea of their nobility, honor, and virtuous personalities never quite held up against them, did it? Even your so-called friend, Alena, rejected you when you returned to your home and treated you as less than the soil on your boots. And these people? They will never trust you, believe you can be better when it's so much easier to hate you. Why stay with them, when you can come back to people who will give you what you've always wished for?"
Victoria inhaled sharply as Daku continued to speak. "Yes, back into my employment. Back with your Dark Magicians as though you never left. There, you had everything. Respect, acceptance, belonging, strength, power, and, most importantly, justice. You can have all that, and more. You know you want it."
"I..." Ezra turned his head to Victoria as she spoke, her gaze darting away from Daku's. "...I don't know what your talking about. You're mistaken."
"Don't underestimate me, Shadow; you know far better than that, my dear." Daku spoke back. "You forget that I can see into your mind and know your deepest desires. It's noble that you tried to adapt to the hand you were dealt with with these things, and attempted to do what you could to belong with them, but deep inside, you know the truth. The life you've tried to carve for yourself with them is hollow and empty, unlike with me. Admit it: you miss being with the Dark Magicians, you miss being Lieutenant Shadow, and you miss being my right hand. You miss everything about the Dark Magicians. And you'll never belong with those rebels."
Ezra narrowed his blue eyes at Victoria as Daku continued to talk, and the teenager had no doubt that Victoria would take his offer. It was probably the very opportunity she'd been waiting for all along. "I know you hate them and their injustice and mistreatment of you. With them, you will have nothing, but with us, you will have everything that matters. All you have to do is say yes, and you can have it all back. You can take your vengeance upon these pitiful little life forms, and I'll even make you privy to what I have in store for them. I have plans for these rebels, you know. So what do you say, Shadow?"
Victoria was silent for a few moments, and as she inhaled to speak, Ezra braced himself for Victoria's undoubted yes. "I will admit," Victoria said first, "that maybe, all that...is true. You are right about all those things, after all. Maybe I do miss that life and what I had with the Dark Magicians. Maybe I do hate the Phoenix Squadron. Maybe I do want them to pay for never taking a chance on me," she said bitterly as she caught Ezra's eye for a moment before turning her attention back to her former employer. "Maybe that's what they deserve." Ezra waited as a determined look entered her eyes, certain that he knew what Victoria was going to say. And then...she'd probably kill him and the other rebels. "No."
Wait, what? Had Ezra just heard right? Had he really just heard Victoria Violetta say no? His eyes widened as he looked at her disbelievingly. Daku appeared to have been struck speechless by the girl's words, as he slowly blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. "I will admit," Victoria continued, "that you almost had me. Almost. But. There is one thing you should have taken into account. I'm not," she said as she gripped her bird pendant, "the naive little pre-teen that found you and did everything you said. I will never bow to you again. Because as much as I hate them, hate him," she snarled as she clenched her jaw, "I will always, ALWAYS, hate you far more!"
As Ezra watched, Daku's eyes narrowed coldly. "You realize," he said calmly, sending a chill down the young Jedi's spine, "the punishment for your treachery, child."
"I do," Victoria said with a sneer, flipping her dark ponytail over her shoulder. "And I don't care. So go ahead; kill me. It's a moment I've been waiting for for years."
"Oh, I'm afraid you've misunderstood, dear one." Daku said as he looked to his magician guards. "You forget: I don't give traitors what they want. Only my followers, and they know what they have to do now." With a nod at his followers, Daku watched coldly as the magicians fell on Victoria and started to beat her. Ezra inhaled sharply and tried to get away from his guards, but one held a blade against his throat, and all he could do was watch the fury of the magicians, wincing with every cry of pain that came.
Jezebel walked briskly down the tunnel, eager to get back to the rebels, who she should be meeting up with when their tunnels converged. True, the apparition had been...unplanned for, and it would take time to explain why it didn't let her go with the others, but she was confident she could adapt her plan to work around that. After all, her abilities were now ten times stronger, and she didn't know of anybody who'd be able to stand up against her now. She took a calming breath to reassure herself. Everything would work out according to the plan. It had to. If it didn't...well, that didn't matter, because it wouldn't happen.
Looking ahead into the tunnel, Jezebel was relieved to finally see a light up ahead. Good, it must be the rebels. She quickened her pace, eager to move on with the plan. But as she got closer, she was disappointed to see that, instead of the rebels, it looked to be a girl holding some sort of light in her hand. Jezebel squinted her eyes as the girl got closer, and her features became more visible.
She was a young Human, no more than eighteen years old at the most, with dark brown hair that was loose below her shoulders. She had pale skin, wore torn, ragged clothes, and had a golden tattoo of some bird on her cheek. Her eyes burned dark blue, and as Jezebel watched, she saw that the light was a ball of fire. She was a magician.
"Who are you?" Jezebel asked the girl as her eyes narrowed. The girl looked closely at Jezebel, and her eyes widened, then narrowed angrily.
"You," the girl said angrily. "Jezebel Ramkodah."
"How do you know me?" Jezebel asked, confused. Where had she met this girl before, if she knew the Twi'lek?
The girl scoffed as she angrily said, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you've forgotten all about me, Jezebel. After all, we were never really friends, now, were we?"
"What are you talking about?" Jezebel asked as her hand reached for her weapon and the other girl appeared to get even angrier by her words. "How am I supposed to know you?"
The girl let out a bitter laugh as her eyes glared accusingly at the middle-aged Twi'lek. "It's Storm, Jezebel! Me, Violet Storm, your old friend."
As soon as Jezebel heard the name, her eyes widened, and she stiffened up as the memories began to swirl through her mind. Violet Storm. "I-it can't be!" Jezebel stuttered out. "You're dead! You died! You can't be here!" And the plan...the plan would be ruined if it really was her.
The Twi'lek magician concentrated and, with a small effort that surprised her, even though she knew her powers were amplified, let loose with a huge fireball hurtling right toward Violet. Jezebel watched, though, as the younger girl easily deflected the fire, tossing it into a wall carelessly as she advanced. "So, I see you're the one who stole the Phoenix Blessing from its true owner. That just makes it easier for me to take it back." With a growl, Violet leaped at the Twi'lek woman, and for a few moments they rolled on the ground as Jezebel struggled to get the upper hand. She jumped away from the Human, but Violet followed her, hurling fire daggers at her. "You'll finally get what you deserve, Viper!" Violet cried out angrily as they continued to fight, but, no matter how hard Jezebel tried, even with her new powers, she couldn't catch the other magician off guard. It was like she knew what she was going to do before she even knew it. Desperately, Jezebel concentrated and, with all her might, shot off a huge stream of fire, which Violet met with her own fire stream.
"How are you here?!" Jezebel cried out desperately. "How did you survive?! Tell me how!"
"Well, let's just say that when you know a Phoenix Magician," Violet shot back darkly, "things tend to not stick to the original plan!" With that, the Human ran up to the Twi'lek and, before Jezebel could attack again, grasped her wrist tightly. The blue Twi'lek twisted, trying to break free, but it was all in vain as Violet closed her eyes, and her hand started to glow blue.
Jezebel felt a pain unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and cried out painfully, feeling as if all her insides were being turned inside out and burned. She dropped to her knees as the pain enveloped her for what felt like ages, before Violet finally let go. Cradling her smoking wrist, which now bore the imprint of Violet's hand, she looked up to her foe, and she gasped.
Violet was completely encased in a golden glow with traces of blue, energy crackling around her form. As the Twi'lek watched, the glow intensified, and she hid her eyes as the glow turned lighter, and suddenly burst away from the Human. Opening her eyes, Jezebel saw Violet lying on the ground for a moment before she got up dazedly, showing a lock of her dark hair had become white. But that wasn't all. To Jezebel's shock, she suddenly realized that she herself felt...weaker than before.
"What did you do?" Jezebel cried out, horrified at the loss of her new powers. She'd just gotten them, and now they were gone!
Violet gave a haughty laugh before answering with a glare, "I gave...what you stole back to the rightful owner, Viper. Now you know what it feels like to have something important taken from you."
"NO!" Jezebel shrieked, utterly taken aback by the fact that the plan was ruined now. Everything was falling apart. And...it was all her fault. That little resurrected witch. With a shout, the Twi'lek magician leaped at the Human girl, her nails elongating into claws as she slashed at Violet's face. With a cry of pain, the Human fell to the ground as her head snapped to the side from the blow. When Jezebel saw Violet's head turn back so she could see her face, the blue Twi'lek was smugly pleased to see three bleeding lines slashed across her idiotic tattoo on her face.
But the pleasure at Violet's pain was still utterly engulfed by Jezebel's anger at her. Grabbing the weaker girl, she slammed the brunette's head into the hard ground, then threw her at the wall again and again, her fury at the Human's meddling controlling her. "Why are you here now? What is your secret?!"
Though Violet was quite injured and weakened from Jezebel's treatment, she still had the gall to laugh. "Oh, secrets are what you want? Well, why don't you start with your own secrets?"
"What do you mean?" Jezebel said, narrowing her eyes at Violet as she pinned her harshly against the rocky wall.
"Come now, Viper," Violet said weakly as blood dripped from the cuts on her face, and her gaze strayed from the Twi'lek. "You ought to know better than to try to play me again. I know you have a plan; you always do. And I'm sure you're just dying to get it off your chest. To show just how absolutely brilliant you are to carry out your plans. Besides, you're going to kill me anyway, so it's not like I can tell anyone afterward."
Jezebel blinked her eyes in surprise. It would feel good to show just how important she was to her king's brilliant plan, and Violet was definitely right. She was going to kill her afterward for thwarting part of her plan. "All right, then, Violet," Jezebel said haughtily as she pressed the Human harder into the wall. "Here's the plan: I was to infiltrate the rebel cell known as Phoenix Squadron, and act as a lowly technician. Over time, I would gain the trust of the rebels there, and begin to prove myself in battle. Eventually, I would admit to my status as a magician, but act as though I had run from my king and his people. Sob stories like those always work on those kinds of soft-hearted people, you know. Anyway, with my status as a magician ousted, they would begin to see how beneficial I am to their cause, and allow me to work my way up in the ranks as I continued to prove myself in battle, eventually coming to be promoted as one of their top officials, and, the commander of the rebels. With their trust in me firmly cemented, and my magic powers leading the front lines, I will take down the Empire and establish the rebel government as its leader. Then, King Daku will have the rebels under his complete control with me as their trusted leader."
"And what about coming here, and getting more power, if they know you have magic?" Violet asked with a sneer.
"Well, if you must know, I had heard of this spell some time ago, and I wished to help my king with his mission. And, well, there was one rebel that I knew would eventually find me out. You see, I've tricked this Jedi boy into believing he has magic powers. Of course, if he ever tries to use magic in battle, he'll realize my deception, so...I'll simply have him put...out of the way while we're here. Also, there is the Shadow to contend with. My king has faith that she'll wish to return to his employ, but I have my doubts, to be honest. We'll simply have to see about her. If she refuses...well, she can be dealt with. And Ezra Bridger can have a little...accident when I meet with him again. And his friends will certainly believe it. After all, you know very well just how...well, how much non-magicians need guidance by our kind."
"My, my, that's certainly sc-scandalous," Violet said acidly, but also weakly, as her injuries were taking their toll on her. "How do you suppose those rebels would feel if they ever found that out, I wonder?"
"They aren't going to find out!" Jezebel said, slamming Violet into the wall again harshly. "They don't realize how much they don't know; how much people like me must help people like them. And how much they can never find out the truth."
"Well, I think you're a little...late in that...department," Violet said as her head began to drop. "You might want to turn around now, Viper."
Breath caught in her throat at the Human's words, Jezebel turned around to see the horrified faces of...the rebels. Her eyes widened, and she bit her lip nervously. Their tunnel must have finally merged with hers, allowing them to find her...like this. But it was okay. She could still salvage it. The plan had to work! "Hey guys!" She said brightly, dropping Violet behind her as she turned to fully face them. "So...you found the tunnel merge! That's great! How about we try to find Ezra now—"
"How can you be like this?" Hera asked, a disgusted look coming over her face. "How can you just pretend you weren't beating that girl and telling her about lying and betraying us? You were using us this whole time? And acting like we haven't heard anything you just said to her?"
"It-it's not like that!" Jezebel said desperately, feeling the plan starting to crack in her mind. "You don't know what you're talking about at all! You can't possibly understand how this is for your own good! Besides, y-you need me! I'm a magician! You need my kind!"
"We don't need anything from you if this is how you're planning on treating us, like we're not even people!" Sabine said angrily, pointing her blasters at the Twi'lek magician. "So drop the act!"
No. This...it couldn't end like this! She couldn't fail! The plan...it was all falling apart! This was terrible! She was...she had to...she had to warn King Daku!
Closing her eyes, she backed up to the rock wall behind her, stepping over Violet in the process, and used her magic to melt into the wall and disappear to the other side. She then broke into a dead run for where her king kept his ship, trying to get through to him on her wrist comm. The plan...it was all ruined!
"Stop," Daku proclaimed. "Let her go, magicians." At their master's words, the magicians that had been beating on Victoria for who knows how long all stepped back, and Daku stepped forward to where Victoria lay. Ezra watched with a wince as Victoria's former master lifted her up by her hair, which had come loose during her beating, dark strands falling in front of her face. Victoria's face had turned so pale she looked completely white, and she looked like she was using all her strength to just keep awake, sweat pouring down her face. "Now, now, Victoria," Daku said coldly as he dropped her to the ground again. "This is quite a predicament you have. I sensed your abilities had left you when I found you here first. But now, I sense they are beginning to return. That is...immensely interesting. But you won't be saved this time. Not by me or anyone else. And now...you will pay the price for your treachery."
As Daku spoke, his eyes began to glow purple, and Ezra eyes widened at Victoria as she cried out painfully. The young Jedi saw the girl's body contort painfully on the ground as she continued to shriek, and an ominous chill ran down his spine, especially when Victoria got up jerkily with stilted movements. Somehow, Ezra didn't think that Victoria's movements were her own doing as he took in the horrified and fearful expression on the girl's face. "No! No!" She cried out as her body took out her blaster at her hip, and clumsily pointed at...Jaecar. "Stop! Please!"
"It's okay, Victoria." Jaecar said, even as he attempted to struggle out of the rock wall, to no avail. Ezra watched as the prisoner locked his eyes with the young girl, whose hand was starting to shake, and her jaw clenched up. And, if Ezra wasn't mistaken, he spied the telltale sign of a wet sheen in her green eyes. "Remember, we knew this would happen one day. You've prepared yourself for this day. And so am I. I'm ready for whatever he has, so long as...I know that you'll never follow him again. Just...don't forget...why...my friend."
"Yes, well, now that your little speech is over, traitor, it's time for you to die in a way you both will dread," Daku said casually as his eyes glowed brighter. "You made your choice, Victoria. Now, you must live with the consequences." With a nod of his head, Victoria's blaster discharged not once, not twice, but three times, into Jaecar's chest.
All Ezra could do was watch as the man's body contorted, then stilled after he got out one last gasp, his eyes dim and unseeing, and Victoria screeched harshly, tears falling down her face. "No, NO! Not this!"
"Come now," Daku instructed his magicians and Victoria as he pulled a broken metal sword hilt from his cloak, ignoring the girl's chilling screams of grief as he began to walk down the tunnel. "It's time for my work to finally be done."
"You think that girl Zeb and Hera took back to the Ghost is going to be okay?" Sabine asked Rex as they jogged down the tunnel together, trying to find Ezra. "She looked like she was in pretty bad shape."
"I...can't really say," Rex said nervously, still shaken up by the revelation of Jezebel's deception towards them. She must have been one of those Dark Magicians she had claimed to escape from. How could he have not realized it? "But I hope she can be saved. I can't place it, but she somehow seemed...familiar to me. I feel like she can help shed some light onto this whole mess."
"She must be able to if Jezebel was trying to kill her to keep her quiet." Sabine said sensibly. "Wait...I think I see a light up ahead."
Rex looked ahead in the tunnel and, sure enough, there was some sort of light up ahead. The two rebels quickened their paces as they came to a part of the tunnel where the walls were smoothly polished down, and a cave opened up. The light was so bright for a moment that Rex couldn't see, then, as his eyes adjusted, he saw someone.
A young Human man stood in front of a large hole in the center of the cave with his arms spread wide. The bright light had come from a large fire that was burning in the hole. As Rex watched, the man spoke an unknown language, and the flames grew higher. Rex shared a look with Sabine: this man must be a magician, and right now, they were both wary of any magician they met. The two rebels both drew their pistols, and Rex concentrated on firing a stun bolt at the man. His finger pulled the triggers, and two bolts shot out from his weapons straight at the man.
But then...there was blur, a golden glow, and the two bolts came shooting back at the rebels. As Rex and Sabine dodged them, the clone looked to see what had changed the shots' courses, and felt his stomach plummet at the sight.
Victoria Violetta stood just in front of the magician, brandishing a golden lightsaber. Apparently, she had deflected the bolts. But...there was something off about her. Not only was her skin dead-white, but her anguished expression and...tears on her face?—clued the old captain into the fact that something wasn't right with her. Not to mention her stilted movements. A chill went down his spine as the other man turned, showing a pale face, short blonde hair, and eyes that were literally glowing.
"Ah, our guests have arrived," the man said coldly in a dead voice as he swept a gloved hand out in front of him. The air by him shimmered, and Rex inhaled sharply as he saw Ezra Bridger suddenly appear, restrained by two other dark-clothed people with a blade at his throat. "I admit, I did wonder if you would come to find your ally over here. But it is...pleasing...to me that I judged your kind correctly."
"Who are you?" Sabine asked as she and Rex aimed their blasters again at him. "And what are you doing here?"
"Who am I?" the man said as he raised an eyebrow dubiously. "I...am Daku, king of the Dark Magicians. And I am here to finish some personal business, as well as to make sure none of your kind leave this place alive, now that you have found me. Shadow, finish them."
At his words, Victoria jerked, brandishing her lightsaber in a clumsy stance as sweat dripped off her face. But though she appeared clumsy, the two rebels quickly realized that wasn't true as she flew at them with a speed and ferocity that seemed unnatural. Focusing on the brunette magician, Rex shot his pistols at her, and tried to move away from her. He remembered just how dangerous lightsabers were from his time in the War. His bolts were useless as Victoria's limbs moved in a blur, deflecting each of them before moving forward again. "Victoria, stop!" Rex yelled as that unsettling feeling returned. "What did you do to her?" He yelled at Daku, whose eyes glowed brighter.
"I'm just making her remember the truth that she will always belong to me." The Dark Magician said. "And those who are deemed traitors, like the Avril, will meet their dooms in the most unexpected of ways." As Daku spoke that, Rex suddenly realized that the prisoner, Avril...wasn't with them. He didn't have much time to imagine what kind of fate the man had met at Daku's hands before he just barely dodged Victoria's next attack. Sabine shot her pistols, too, but the brunette magician deftly dodged them and harshly kicked the Mandalorian into the polished tunnel wall, where she lay. As Victoria jerkily stepped closer to the unconscious girl, Rex was briefly stunned by the image that appeared as her reflection in the wall. Instead of herself, she looked like...some kind of hideous, scaly animal he could barely look at. "As you can see," Daku went on, "my traitorous student's reflection shows just how grotesque she allowed herself to become after she betrayed me. Now she will never have another chance to have what she once did."
Victoria held her lightsaber over her head as she approached Sabine, no doubt about to cut her down. Rex shot his pistols at her, desperate to keep the attention off of the wounded Mandalorian. "Victoria, stop!" He shouted again as she swiftly deflected the bolts and turned to him, her feet stepping over one another awkwardly as her attention turned to him. "I know this isn't you doing this, so fight!"
Victoria gave a dejected scoff as tears ran down her face. "If only I could. But this is King Daku. He always wins." She swiftly kicked Rex in stomach, and the clone flew into the opposite wall, his blasters falling out of his hands at the same time. He tried to grab them again, but Victoria kicked them out of his reach as she menacingly advanced on him with her lightsaber, a resigned, dead look coming over her face. "It's pointless to fight him, even if I'm killing you." She raised the saber over her head, no doubt to strike him. "I'm...sorry...you never got to know." Rex closed his eyes, waiting for the strike that would kill him, even as he wondered what she was talking about.
"Wait." Daku's voice rang out quietly, yet commandingly, and Rex opened his eyes cautiously to see the lightsaber no more than an inch above his head, quivering as Victoria held it, hovering above him. Sliding his gaze over to the blonde Dark Magician, he watched as the man raised his comlink to his mouth. "What is it, Viper? You know how much I don't wish to be interrupted when I am in the middle of fulfilling my purposes." Rex couldn't hear the caller's answer, but he heard Daku respond to the person. "What are you talking about? Why should my plan fail?" After a moment, Daku's glowing eyes widened, and, with a slight hint of concern in his voice, said, "What. You are certain it was her?" Another moment later, Daku said, "Very well. We shall discuss this unexpected factor on my ship. I shall meet you there." Ending the transmission, the magician's gaze landed on Victoria and Rex as the glow in his eyes faded. "Shadow, I relieve you of my command. But remember: you can never escape me, and I will return to finish this." At his words, Victoria fell to her side with a pained cry, and her lightsaber slipped out of her hand as she began breathing shallowly. His gaze swung over to Ezra, who glared at him angrily. "Release this pitiable little Human. We're leaving." The two people holding Ezra hostage let go of him and stepped back as Daku reached into the blazing fire pit. Taking his hand out, Rex saw the man was now holding a metal sword, the top half of it glowing orange before fading away to black. And with a sweep of his hand, Daku and his followers vanished, as did the fire, leaving the four remaining Humans alone.
"What...just happened?" Ezra said as Rex roused Sabine, slinging her arm over his shoulder.
"I...I don't know, kid," Rex said, still stunned that they had been spared, for the time being, anyway. "But we need to leave this place now. Hera and Zeb are waiting. So grab Victoria, and let's get out of here."
Jezebel sat next to her king as his ship took off, nervously twining her fingers together, waiting for him to speak to her. The plan...it hadn't worked. She wouldn't be able to fulfill her king's plan for the rebels now. For the first time she could remember, she...actually failed her mission. Because of Violet Storm, and how she'd somehow managed to cheat death. Her hands untwisted and clenched together angrily as she thought of that girl. She had believed that Rebecca Storm had taken care of her sister all those years ago, after Violet had refused to join the Dark Magicians and serve King Daku. Apparently not, and now she'd ruined everything.
"So...Violet Storm has returned, then." Daku finally spoke in his normal dead tone as the ship entered hyperspace. "And you couldn't take care of her fast enough without the rebels overhearing my plan, not to mention that you panicked and retreated before you thought it through. Even without your powers being amplified, your abilities are sufficient enough to perform a basic mind-wipe spell on them. Then you could have easily explained away the death of the girl. However, you did not do those things. Your mission...has been a failure, I'm afraid."
"I...I know, my king," the middle-aged Twi'lek hung her head, ashamed of disappointing her king. Not to mention the punishments in store for those who failed their missions, but she knew she deserved all he would no doubt have for her when they got back to his system. She failed. She never failed. And it was all Violet's fault! "I will humbly accept all you have in store for me."
"Yes, I should do that very thing for your failure," Daku said coldly, and Jezebel waited for his ruling. "However, I can see a way at least part of this may be salvaged. You say Violet Storm reacted very emotionally to seeing you again?"
"Y-yes, my king," Jezebel stammered cautiously as her gaze slid over to look at him, and a confused look came over her face. What did he mean? "She was very...angry for my previous role I played all those years ago."
"Hmmm," Daku said thoughtfully, "this tells us something, my child. Though her body has appeared to heal itself from her previous injuries and such, it is clear, from your account, that her mind has not done so. That means that this sword," he said, taking out the now-reforged sword of the First Dark Magician, "still has some hold on her, and so does he, to an extent. Scars never truly go away, you know. And that means...we may not be able to go through with the original plan, but we can still strike fatal blows to our most important enemies. If our cards are played right, and you don't panic next time you face the unexpected, we can still ruin them."
Jezebel thought over what King Daku said, and, despite her failure, began to smile. This could work. She could still give the last word to Violet. That'd teach her to try to cheat death again.
And this time, she would not fail. Never again would she fail her king, no matter what.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that, and leave a comment down below on your thoughts, please! Remember, reviews are food for a fanfiction writer's soul, and I'll see you all in two weeks!