Queen of Darkness WATTPAD VERSION [Inter-Universal Protectors: Book 3]

21

When Amneris appeared across the table from her, Tara choked on her morning tea. "How the fuck do you do that?" she exclaimed between coughs.

"You need better shields," was all the Queen said, reaching forward for a donut. She twisted it between her fingers before devouring the entire thing in one bite.

Tara only stared. There were wards around the castle; wards that no one, not even Amneris, was supposed to get through. The fact she could appear out of thin air whenever she pleased sent a chill down Tara's spine. It was a wonder the female hadn't appeared in the middle of the night to slit her throat.  

"Where is your entourage?" Tara asked, attempting to hide her moment of fear.

The small smile which appeared on the female's lips told her she'd failed. "They're somewhere." Amneris leaned forward. "So, Tara, I hear you had a little break in last night?"

She gulped. "Yes, we did."

"Do you have no guards?"

As a matter of fact, they had several thousand guards. Somehow, the intruder managed to slip past all of them and gain entry to the room of the Frozen Ones. Only a select few knew of its existence. How the woman who broke in knew, Tara had no idea.

Seeing that she wasn't going to answer, Amneris spoke again. "Are you certain it was my mother?"

"We are," Tara nodded. The system had confirmed it. 

The woman had been caught on one of the many cameras dotted around the chamber. Her face had been spotted by one - barely. The system recognized her as Nephthys Topanga, a member of the previous Terpolite Court serving under the Dark King Enliatu before his imprisonment. Nephthys hadn't been seen since by anyone and had been presumed dead. 

"Show me what she stole," Amneris said. 

Tara grimaced. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's a very restricted area," she started slowly.

The Queen's eyes flared cyan. "Then give me access."

There was no way to argue with her and live. "Of course."

Amneris stood, tilting her head in a way Tara knew meant that she was to lead the way. Tara did so. She lead the female through twisting passages and down staircases as they made their way to the base of the Castle. Lower. Until they reached an ancient looking stone arch recently reinforced with beams to keep it from collapsing. 

Tara only stopped when the reached a second archway. She placed her hand on the stone and a section of it rolled away. She stepped aside to let Amneris in first. The female, clearly not knowing what to expect, stopped as she came into the room, eyes wide.

* * * * * * * * 

It was safe to say the Frozen Ones were far from a myth.

Amneris was in awe. The room was massive. It seemed endless. Chambers made of a mix of silver crystal and ice glowed against the dark stone of the room, all extending as far as the eye could see. Only a few were glowing. Amneris could make out the outline of many other crystals which were not glowing. 

She made her way down the stairs - careful to avoid stepping on the red crystals - and into the room itself. Up close, the chambers were huge. Possibly three times her own height! In the ones that glowed was a person. Men and women. The unlit chambers were empty. Waiting. It was as though they were waiting for someone to step inside. Perhaps they meant to hold people as the others did but something stopped them . . . 

Tara showed her to one particular empty chamber. "Until yesterday, this had a woman in it," she said.

Amneris looked over the open chamber. There was a small console - at least, it looked like a console - on one side. It had been stabbed several times with a knife, the knife itself still there. Amneris pulled it, observing the blade. It was made of a light metal. A very familiar light metal. Where had she seen it? 

Her attention was pulled to a message crudely carved into the crystal. Tara noticed it too. "Okay, that's impossible," the Terpolite muttered. "Nothing has been able to even scratch it."

Amneris brushed a finger over the message, hissing when it burnt her. Whatever had been used to carve it had been infused with scarlet budtorite. Or a variation of it. She looked over the symbols, easily able to read them. "It's written in the Old Language."

"What does it say?" Tara asked.

She read it aloud. "I am Aurelia. I have not forgotten the past. You turned the sky blue. You murdered my mate. You slaughtered my people. I am coming for you-" Amneris cut herself off.

"What?" Tara urged. "What does it say?"

"I am coming for you, Anmerankh-Karareia."

The two women glanced at each other, back to the message, then to each other again.

Tara spoke first. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Amneris exclaimed. "I didn't know this room existed until today!"

"You must have done something," Tara countered, "for your mother to free one of the Frozen Ones."

"Well, to be fair, my mother hates me so I didn't actually have to do anything." She shook her head. "But this Aurelia person? I've got nothing. Maybe . . ." She spun to Tara. "How old did you say this room was?"

"I didn't."

A pointed look.

"But it's thought to be millions of years old."

"Millions of years. Sky turning blue. And my name." Amneris frowned. "The sky turning blue millions of years ago. Why does that sound familiar?" she asked no one in particular. 

"Back to the books?"

Amneris nodded. "Back to the books."