It was pitch black and cold. All the candles and torches hung on the black walls seemed to do was augment just how bleak it was. Jo was fighting a losing battle against her nerves as she was marched down corridor after twisting corridor. The two boulder-like guards who each had a hold of one of her arms didn't speak or even look at her. Dedra walked in front, leading the way. Occasionally glancing back at her over his shoulder. Whenever he did this, Jo narrowed her eyes and tried to look as angry as she could. If nothing else, she was not going to let him know just how scared she was.
This was what the whole quest had been about. This was the evil they had been trying their hardest to defeat. The one man who threatened all they had come to love since their arrival in Vaniria was just a few more steps away and Jo wasn't sure that now she was about to face him…would she be able to stand up for herself and, more importantly, the thousands of people whose freedom she represented.
They stopped walking outside a pair of huge black doors made of thick black wood, engraved with sharp and angular patterns that seemed to ooze evil out of every knot and crack.
Jo barely had time to register that this was the moment she had been waiting for and take a steadying breath when the doors were open and she was marched inside.
The battle was about to begin…
The room appeared to be empty, although the word room didn't really do the place justice. It was a great hall, like the one in Vaniria in which she had danced with Guillaume, her fiancé. Just thinking the word brought a smile to her lips. One she quickly hid. She wasn't going to drop her guard for even the briefest moment if she could help it. The room was bare, apart from a throne on a raised platform at one end, swathed in black, gauzy material from above like some elaborate canopy. It looked like a spider's web. And the thought that some similar monster may lurk within waiting to entrap anyone weak enough to stray to close sent a shiver down Jo's spine. The walls were hung with similar drapes and the windows soared from the floor to the very beams above, but the light pouring in seemed to be swallowed by the darkness of the décor, stripping it of all it's warmth, making it cold and sterile.
" Stop…" A voice called out from the shadows. " You may leave our guest, and make sure you close the doors behind you all…"
Jo frowned, she could see no one.
Dedra gave her a quick glance as he bowed his head slightly and turned to leave. His turquoise eyes a mixture of emotions too complex for Jo to read in the seconds she had to look into them but something there, something she saw made her feel she wasn't the only nervous one here. Dedra marched out and was followed by the two 'boulder brothers' who sloped out of the room, closing the enormous doors behind them.
Jo cast her eyes around, searching for the source of the voice.
" Hello…?" She called, her voice sounding much more confident than she felt. She turned slowly on the spot. " I know you're here…show yourself and stop wasting my time!"
" As you wish…I've been expecting you for sometime…" The voice replied as movement near the throne drew Jo's eye to it. And there he stood.
Obsequious.
Smooth, black hair fell down onto his shoulders, around his pale skinned face with its coal black eyes. A finely structured face with a well defined jaw-line.
He was taller than she had expected him to be, a least a head taller then Guillaume, who towered over her anyway.
He smiled, a thoroughly unpleasant and very possessive expression, as his eyes locked with hers. Jo found she couldn't move, almost paralysed by his dark gaze.
" Welcome to my humble abode…" He practically hissed as he slithered across the floor towards her, long black clothes hiding his limbs and making his movement seem even more ghostly and disturbing. " It's a pleasure to finally meet you at last…" He reached out to take her hand but Jo suddenly recovered the ability to move. She snatched it out of the way, back handing him across the face as she did so. A small smile of satisfaction on her face, maybe she would be able to stand up to him after all.
" The pleasure must be all yours then," Jo replied, watching as he slowly rubbed his cheek where here blow had struck. But when he lowered his hand he didn't not frown or make to return the blow, he simply grinned at her. A truly evil grin, with a worrying glint in his black eyes.
" Such passion…just as I had expected…"
" What do you want…?" Jo asked, trying to ignore the way in which his eyes roamed over her as she stood before him.
" Oh I want many things…" He whispered as he began to walk around her. Circling her the way a predator circles its prey. Reaching out for a moment to feel the texture of her hair, until Jo shook it free from his fingers and glared at him warningly. " But first things first, I feel there are certain things, certain facts you should be acquainted with…things that you must know about why you're here…things about the heritage of Aesina and Vaniria…"
" You might as well save your breath, I already know all about the second heir, about Julia…" Jo said proudly.
" Really…? Then you are more clever than I had given you credit for…" Obsequious pondered for a moment. " However, although you may have worked out who Julia was, once, I doubt that you have any idea of what happened to her and where she is right now…" Obsequious voice oozed over to Jo. " Do you…?"
" Well…not exactly, no…but neither do you!" Jo countered as bravely as she could. There was something very unnerving about the way he kept staring at her.
" I thought not," Obsequious chuckled to himself. There was something about the condescension in his tone that started to make Jo's blood boil.
" We know she might still be alive out there…" Jo started but the smug expression on the dark lord's face stopped her dead.
" Not might be, she is. And she's not out there…" Obsequious drew his face closer before whispering, almost conspiratorially. " She's in here…!"
" You mean you have her in this castle?" Jo demanded hotly. " Well if she is here it makes no difference…my friends are only awaiting the arrival of our friends and their armies and then this castle will be stormed, she will be freed and you, you pathetic little man, will be ours to deal with as we wish…" Jo smirked. " Whats that look for…?" She asked after a pause.
Obsequious' face held an expression of slight amusement combined with almost parental affection.
" Do you honestly think this is all going to be so simple…?" He asked.
" Well, up until you said that…yes…" Jo admitted candidly. " Why? What are you going to do to stop it being so simple…?"
" What if when your friends storm my castle, should these armies arrive, the missing Princess isn't here…and neither am I…?"
" You're going to run away…?" Jo exclaimed. " Wouldn't surprise me one bit you cowardly son of a-"
" Not me…we." Obsequious corrected.
Jo frowned.
" …what do you mean, we…?" Jo's brow lowered over her green eyes.
" You and me…we…"
" And why would we do that…?" Suddenly Jo felt a nervous sweat breaking out in her palms.
" Because you're the heir to the Vanirian throne…"
" You must be joking…"
" You're royalty, Jo…"
" This is utter nonsense!" Jo said plainly. " I couldn't be less of a Princess if I tried, and if you don't believe me I'm sure Aradia probably has a list as long as her arm of all the un-regal things I do!"
" That may be the case, but it's the truth," Obsequious continued.
" I knew you were mad, but now I can tell you're completely crazy!" Jo all but yelled at him.
" Think of all that has happened since you arrived here…all the things you've seen and heard…all the things you've known…" His tone remained calm.
Jo frowned.
" Have you never heard of a thing called coincidence before…?" Jo retorted although her heart wasn't behind her words anymore as the cold feeling of doubt started to creep into her thoughts again.
" Coincidence is one thing…memories are quite another…" With that Obsequious waved his hand in the air between them and a ball of mist appeared. Jo squinted against the brightness of it for a moment or two before an image started to become clear. It was the face from her dreams. It was Ju, the little girl from her dreams…
The face began to change. The eyes remained fixed on hers while the rest of the face began to age. Almost as if she was watching a film in fast forward, the little girl started to grow up. Her freckles spreading slightly over her changing face shape. Her mouth becoming more determined while her dimples became defined cheekbones. Jo shook her head in disbelief, trying to turn her head away but Obsequious was by her side in a flash, forcing her head to look back into the mist. The little girl was nowhere to be seen. Jo knew the face looking back at her. It was a face she had seen hundreds of times before, reflected in mirrors, windows, rivers and lakes. It was her own face.
" No!" Jo screamed, waving her arm through the mist and causing it to evaporate.
" Oh I am sorry…did I upset you…?" Obsequious asked, drifting around to stand before her once again. Jo took a moment to gather her thoughts together before lifting her head to look him straight in the eye.
" Your little magic trick there, whilst impressive, doesn't prove a thing…any one can see anything in anything given the right stimulus…" Jo said smoothly.
" So why are you trembling so much…?" He stretched out a pale hand and ran it down her arm. Jo stepped back, yanking her arm away from his hand.
" Maybe because it's freezing in here…honestly, black on black…hardly homely is it…?"
" Your sense of humour is charming…" Obsequious said thoughtfully, looking at her the way someone evaluates a new puppy or a new house. Sizing up the good and the bad.
" Well I'm glad you think so but if you have nothing else to talk to me about…I'll take my leave…" Jo bowed her head slightly and whirled around, striding confidently towards the door.
" It makes no difference whether you believe me now or later…the fact is you are who you are…and you're here…" Obsequious called after her.
Jo rolled her eyes and tried to open the doors. They were locked, not to mention the fact they looked like they probably weighed the best part of a tonne a piece.
" What's the matter…can't we open the doors…?" His mocking tone danced around her ears like an annoying insect.
" We could if they were unlocked…" Jo turned back and gasped in spite of herself for Obsequious was stood right behind her.
" And why would I do a silly thing like leaving the door unlocked when I have someone as important as your Highness in here with me…I couldn't have just anyone wandering in here now could I…?" He stepped closer towards her, backing her against the doorframe, cornering her with his tall frame.
" Don't call me that…" Jo said through tightly clenched teeth.
" Why ever not…?" Obsequious looked genuinely bemused by her request. " I'm only using your rightful title, Princess…" He smirked.
Jo raised her hand to slap him again but he caught hold of her hand and pushed it back against the door with surprising strength.
" Now…you hit me once…I will not tolerate it again, do you understand me…?" He leant into her, she could feel his breath against her skin and it nauseated her.
" Just who do you think you are…?" Jo asked bravely. " I'm not a child to be told what I can and can't do…"
" No, you're right…" His gaze travelled lazily down her body as he held her against the door before returning to her face, covetousness clear in his expression and again the nausea swept over her body. " You are no child, Jo…but you are my prisoner. My property until you are released…"
" Sorry to disappoint you but I am no one's property…" Jo smiled sweetly before quickly lifting her knee and catching him in the groin. He groaned and doubled over as Jo pushed him aside and made her way back into the centre of the room. It was further away from the door, but there were no corners here she could get put into.
" We'll see…" Obsequious finally said once he had recovered his composure and wandered back to face her. " You'll learn to appreciate the advantages of being on my good side…"
" I don't think so," Jo said tightly.
" Well, you'll have very little else to do once I've taken over Vaniria…" Obsequious laughed but stopped when he noticed Jo was laughing too. Almost hysterically. " And just what is so funny…?" He commanded firmly.
" You are!" Jo laughed, wiping tears of amusement from her eyes. " Do you honestly think that you and that stupid lap dog of yours, that complete bastard Aitor, have any chance against…"
" Aitor? Oh you must mean Dedra," Obsequious' eyes sparkled malevolently.
" Dedra?" Jo exclaimed before shrugging. Whatever his name was it didn't change what he was, or what she thought of him. Although that name did sound somehow familiar… " Well, whatever he calls himself, you have no chance…do you hear me, no chance…the people aren't afraid of you anymore…not that I can see anything that they should have been afraid of in the first place to be honest…"
Obsequious looked at her again, that same gaze of appraisal before smiling slightly.
" You must be tired, I think it's time you went to your room…"
" What are you going to do? Send me to the tower?" Jo scoffed, hoping that humour might distract him long enough for her mind to try and think of a way out.
" Nice idea," Obsequious smirked with obvious humour. " You really are utterly remarkable you know…"
" And you really are a complete sh-!" Jo started but he cut her off.
" You and I will be leaving here in the morning, after all it's about time you went home…don't you think…?" Obsequious wandered away from her, pulling on a cord and signalling for the 'boulder brothers' to come back in. " Take her Majesty to the tower, and make sure no one leaves or enters that room unless it is myself! Understood…?" He barked, the two hulking guards nodded their understanding although Jo wasn't entirely sure whether they had genuinely understood or rather it was simply a reflex reaction to being asked a question.
"And as for you…." Obsequious spun around to face Jo once more, his cloak fanning out around him momentarily looking like dark, black wings. " Get some rest, my dear, you'll need it. It's a long way back to Vaniria and we shall not be stopping until we get there…"
" I'm not your dear…" Jo started to say but was hauled off of her feet by the two guards and carried out of the room, Obsequious' eyes fixed on her until she had gone out of sight.
Jo was carried up a winding staircase until they reached a large wooden door. On the other side was a small, round room. Obviously at the top of one of the many towers in the black castle. Jo felt herself being lowered to the ground before the two guards closed the door and stood in front of it.
" Can't see me getting out that way then…?" Jo murmured to herself as she brushed herself down. She looked around. The room was empty except for a simple bed with a blanket and a glass-less window. She sat down on the bed and looked around, shivering as a cool breeze came in through the window. " Home sweet bloody home…" She muttered as she looked out of the window at the grey covered sky outside. There would be no escape, not tonight anyway.
