Scarlett sat stiffly. Perhaps that was why Saytrix was so terrified of solving their mystery. It lead to other things. Crimsroseyn had never been attacked. She’d read stories and news articles about other cities outside of her own that had, though. She never realized the seriousness of it all.
“They managed to hack into our country's government's official security system and send threats. This was recent. Until further notice, the messages remain confidential.” Scarlett licked her fangs absently. Fear. Was that what she was supposed to feel? She’d pieced it together.
Whatever the government was planning, they were preparing for the worst. Something big. And they were trying to use different kingdoms to control whatever they had planned. They didn’t only just want fully trained Vampric knights from the kingdom, but they’d also wanted the skilled younger Vampric, as well. It made sense. Anxiety suddenly washed over her. She’d never been in a war. She’d never intended to be in a war. She only wanted to become a knight. To be a part of the Kingdom, amongst the royal. She wanted to be powerful and mean something. Not to risk her life fighting a war against something that had nothing to do with her. Or did it?
“Yes, the Vampric Knights from your kingdom have been notified and are already being trained for this exact war that will be happening in due time.” He paused like a dictator would in the midst of discussing a plan. His expressions were so intense, Scarlett thought. Lucian looked as if he were the type of person who was immune to genuine laughter. He looked to the ceiling, and then back at the audience of Vampric students who carried a series of blank, distraught expressions. He sighed, a flicker of compassion flashed in his eyes but only for half a second. “We need you all, and we aren’t left with much time. At my palace, you will be pushed to your limits and ready for this upcoming war.”
“So we don’t have the choice to leave if we wanted? We just belong to you Fey creatures, now? I won’t leave my life behind and I’m not gonna’ let a Fairy, like yourself, tell me, a Vampire, what to do.” A smug Vampiric boy interrupted him. The Vampric boy laughed with the two of his friends beside him. “So what, there's a war? Big deal. Doesn’t mean we’re obligated to listen to you.”
Scarlett turned her head and wanted to punch him. Ryan Ravstone. Typical him, he’d always been problematic. His arms were folded, his eyes narrowed and daring. Lucian rolled his eyes boredly. He made a gesture to the royal security guards that were at the two double doors at the back of the room. Scarlett turned her head. “Eliminate this one.” He ordered, with his arms crossed, and his chin up.
“Yes sir.” They responded in unison.
Everyone watched, as the guards picked up the Vampric boy, violently. There was a girl that shot up, and flashed an angry expression at Lucian. But before she even got a word out, he interrupted her. “Postpone this and you perish, too.” Scarlett wondered how the media would act if they really knew about the harshness of their precious Prince Lucian.
With quickly formed fear in her eyes, slowly, she sank down back into her seat. The boy struggled against their grasps, shouting and begging at them to stop, until they shot the JK-77A gun. There must have been Glycarian infused. Black blood spilled out from his white shirt as it stained. His body limp. The Vampric students gazed in quiet horror, as the guards took him away.
“Y-you can’t just do that!” Shouted the blonde girl who was sitting behind him. Her eyes bulged.
Lucian sighed, and fixed the collar of his shirt, and narrowed his eyes. “I do whatever gets the job done, sweetheart. Read the contract.” He spoke, and gazed at her. The richness of his hair was styled into perfection. “Death doesn’t amuse me. Shouldn’t amuse you, either. It happens. It won’t ever stop happening. And nobody’s immortal. Not even you Vampric.” He said. “Does everybody understand?”
Scarlett covered her mouth.She wanted to believe there was a way out, but there wasn’t. She signed the contract. At the beginning of the year. Like Lucian said. Cold anger shot through her veins, as she clenched her fists. She hated him. She didn’t understand how he could have just killed an innocent person. How he could compare something as precious as life to something disposable.
Lucian inhaled. “Apologies for the disturbance.” He said with a smirk. There was a beat of silence. He then licked his lips. “In exchange for your hard work, you will be given coinage and any estate in the Vampriclands of your choice. This is of course, once the war is over.”
The room held a violent sense of shock and hatred, but also fear somehow lingered. The way that Lucian constructed his death was too casual to just get over. The money and place to stay definitely mattered to Scarlett, she could do so much with it. But was it worth it? Acrimony grew from Scarlett’s heart and decorated itself around Lucian’s presence. He killed the boy for no reason. She thought about her stepmother and possibly her stepfather, how they were killed for nothing. How could he have killed a student deliberately like that? His parents were going to be devastated, his family was going to be devastated. He had a life, and Lucian took that away.
She dug her fingernails into her palms sharply. He gazed into her light eyes intensely for a split second, and then back to everyone else. She folded her hands, and fixed her posture. Lucian cleared his throat, as he lifted an eyebrow. “Today, you must pack immediately. We are taking off in the afternoon. Questions?” He smirked, “Great.”
Chapter|Ten
She stood in the line to