+++++ A few months later

The Dark Queen sat upon her throne, black dress pooling around her feet and a black crown upon her head. Her eyes were black, the only thing contrasting the deep color was her pale complexion. She was in the middle of a hearing with her advisors, when she heard the huge black gates to her kingdom rumble open. Shooing the advisors away, she waited for her soldiers to march into the throne room.

Footsteps thundered on the black marble as a hundred soldiers marched in, escorting fifteen men bound in chains. The Queen grinned wolfishly, tapping her long nails on the armrests of her throne. The lieutenant of the force she sent out stepped up, kneeling before her throne.

"Report." She commanded, her voice washing over the prisoners like an icy wave. The lieutenant straightened, head still bowed.

"The rebels were captured, my Queen." He said. The girl rolled her eyes, not that you could tell because they were all black, but she did.

"I know that, you moron. Battle summary." She said with a huff. The soldier trembled, his breath caught in his throat at her dagger-like gaze. Her eyes narrowed at his silence. "You are new, are you not?" She questioned. The man nodded shakily. She smiled slightly and beckoned him over. Cautiously, the man came closer, not wanting to disobey her. He soon stood right in front of her. The Queen rose from her throne.

"What is your name, Lieutenant?" She asked, staring into his eyes. He struggled to get the words out for a second.

"Daiton, my Queen," He replied. She nodded uninterestedly.

"Daiton. When you were recruited into my military, you were required to memorize the laws of my kingdom, were you not?" She questioned. The man nodded shakily, still confused as to where this was going. "And you were told of the punishment of breaking one of these laws?" She continued.

"Yes, my Queen." He replied.

"And tell me what the fourth law of this kingdom states, Daiton." She ordered.

"Never deny the Queen." He recited, shaking like a leaf, her presence alone causing his blood to freeze in his veins and his brain to become foggy. The Queen, who had turned around after asking him to recite the law, quickly pivoted towards him. Her hand shot out and gripped his jaw, ice spiderwebbing from her fingertips. His jaw erupted in pain, the ice seeming to burn his skin, frostbite already setting in.

"Then why have you denied me?" She asked softly. The other soldiers in the room stood emotionless, knowing that if they reacted in any way, they would be next. The prisoners, however, stood in shock and fear, wondering how she could do this to her own citizen, to her own soldier.

"I'm sorry!" The man cried, trying to get out of her crushing grasp. She would have none of it, tightening her hold until she heard a sickening crack as his jawbone splintered. The man screamed. She dropped the man's writhing figure, turning around to face her throne, the fierce light of the braziers beside it cast creepy shadows across her face.

"Leave." She commanded, her voice hard, but the volume was quiet. Even then, the soldier heard her, quickly crawling away from the throne, desperately trying to escape her icy clutches. The Queen turned to watch him whimper and writhe and crawl along the black marble floor. "Pathetic." She snarled, making eye contact with a familiar bowman in a hidden balcony. She gave an almost imperceptible nod, the familiar deadly thwang of the bowstring signaling a death sentence. The queen's smile dripped with malice as she watched Daiton's body jerk as the arrow found its mark in the back of his head. He didn't even have time to scream before his body fell limp, his last breath leaving him.

The prisoners stared wide-eyed at the scene that had played out in front of them, a cruel and clear display of not only the Queen's power, but her authority and almost joy in the death of another being. The leader of the rebel group, Taeyong, shivered at the thought of what she would do to them. He blamed himself for not paying attention and allowing Winwin to get captured. He also blamed himself for walking all fifteen of them into a trap and getting them captured.

"Now," The Queen said, turning her gaze back upon the prisoners, "What should we do with all of you?" She asked, fake curiosity glistening in her tone, a playfully predatory sparkle in her eyes.

"You could let us go?" Kun, one of the sub-leaders of the rebels suggested. The Queen enjoyed their inability to get away. She smiled in false thoughtfulness, sitting once again on her throne.

"Oh, I don't think so. As much fun as it would be to let you out in the courtyard and watch Boris hunt you down and use you as target practice, I have a much better plan in mind." The Queen's smile had not faded as she spoke, a shadowy apparition appearing behind her, just long enough for Taeyong to catch sight of him.

The leader of the rebels paled. He was supposed to be banished to a different dimension, what the heck was he doing here? And what was he doing right behind the... Taeyong almost gasped at his next thought. Ten was controlling this random girl and forcing her to be his puppet until he no longer needed her. She was going to rule Ebony lands as an extension of his will and law.

Suddenly, Taeyong felt bad for the girl. She probably hadn't wanted this. It probably wasn't her choice to become a banished king's puppet. She looked older with the black eyes, but discounting that, she looked twenty-one, maybe twenty-two? She was young and had her whole life ahead of her, yet she was trapped by an insane warlock with a thirst for revenge and an ego bigger than the solar system if his parent's stories were accurate. The Queen's smile faded.

"You." She said, pointing to a soldier with a blood red sash. The addressed soldier stepped forward. "You are the Captain, are you not?" The soldier nodded. "Not anymore. You are now the Lieutenant. Everyone else moves up. Now." She said, sitting down on her throne. "Report." She ordered, her dark eyes flashing dangerously.

"We were patrolling the North Gates when we found one poking around the village outside the gates. We interrogated the villagers, but before we finished, he left. When we confirmed that he was a part of the rebel group, we followed him, tracking him to the edge of his camp. We caught him, left his weapons and a note for the leader at his doorstep, and waited for them to come to us. They came to rescue this one," The man said, pointing to Winwin, " but we captured them and brought them back." The new lieutenant finished, quickly bowing to the Queen before stepping back into his place. The Queen nodded.

"Where are the rest?" She asked, staring directly into the man's eyes. If the lieutenant was scared, he didn't show it. His face was an emotionless wall.

"As soon as we captured these ones, I realized that the younger ones were not present, and dispatched a small group to round the last six up. If my group found them, they should be here--" The man was cut off by the rumbling of the Gates. A dozen men walked in leading six members of the rebel group. The Queen smiled maliciously, her eyes glinting with a sick delight.

"Good work, Lieutenant. You are dismissed, but leave the prisoners with me." She ordered. The soldiers bowed, then left, marching out of the throne room. Their footsteps faded in the enormity of the castle, leaving the twenty-three men alone with the evil Queen. She slowly stood up from her throne, her dress pooling around her feet like ink. Each prisoner was chained by both hands to the ground, allowing only a small amount of room for mobility.

The Queen walked towards Taeyong. When she stood in front of him, she reached up, taking his chin in her fingers, turning his head this way, then that way. She dropped his head, but when he made no move to look at her again, she slipped a finger under his chin, her long black nail poking his skin. She clicked her tongue condescendingly.

"It's disrespectful to not make eye contact with people, Taeyong." She said, a sadistic playfulness in her tone. Taeyong's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open for a second before he snapped it closed. "Yes, I do know your name. I know all of your names, but that doesn't really matter, does it?" She said, smiling sweetly.

"What do you want?" Yuta asked through gritted teeth. He was getting fed up with the Queen's total carelessness with their lives.

"What do I want? What I want is none of your concern, what is of your concern is what my master wants. And right now," She spoke, leaning close to Yuta's ear, "You should be very concerned." She whispered, her voice sending chills down Yuta's spine.

A translucent form materialized behind the Queen, black robes floating almost imperceptibly. His cat-like eyes reflected evil intentions as he sauntered towards Taeyong. A collective gasp and a few sprinkled exclamations were pulled from the group as their former king walked among them, the only thing representative of his prison was his transparent, flickering figure that blinked in and out of existence randomly. His eyes glinted with malice and a sick glee at their distress and shock.

Ten was the Dark King.

(A/N) Like I said in the tags, a guy gets shot in the back of the head with an arrow. You guys should really read the tags, half of them are just me being a weirdo when I'm trying to describe something and the other half is me forgetting which site I'm on and using AO3 tags. 

Also #BadassBoris  

We love this man

Have a good day/night babes! Stay safe!

-L