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

22

Amneris was seated in one of the black lounge chairs on the top floor of the Library, book in one hand and the knife found in the chamber in the other. The knife itself bothered her. The blade was silver, sharp, and crooked in shape. And also very familiar. That was what brought her to the book she'd been flipping through for the last hour. 

In short, it was a collection of all of Lyriumia's most famous weapons. The weapons of Kings, Queens, Warriors, and Heroes. Amneris had been obsessed with this book as a little girl. It was one of the first things she read after having her sight given to her and learning how to read. Most of it was written in the Old Language but there was the occasional switch to another she didn't recognise. 

She was half way through the book when a picture of the knife in her hand appeared. No wonder she recognised it! The knife was called Oathkeeper and, according to the page she was reading, it had been missing for the last . . . thirty-six hundred years. 

Amneris glanced between the page and the knife. Thirty-six hundred years. That was around the time someone broke into the Palace and stole several items. Since then, the shields had been given a major upgrade. The culprit was never found . . . Well, if nothing else, this solved the mystery of the culprit. It was either her mother or someone working for her. 

Tilting her head back until it was half off the lounge chair, Amneris slammed the heavy book shut with one hand. Thoughts swirled around her head as she attempted to put the picture together.

Several million years ago, Terpolites sealed themselves in unbreakable crystal-and-ice chambers within a secret room.

Thirty-six hundred years ago, someone - presumably Nephthys - broke into the Palace. They stole Oathkeeper, a knife able to scar the crystal despite the light metal it was made of. 

One day ago, Nephthys used the knife to break into one of the chambers and frees a Frozen One who then proceeds to leave a threatening message in the crystal before the two made their escape. 

She was missing something. 

Something obvious.

Amneris let out a frustrated cry and rubbed her hands over her face. 

There was a laugh from behind, followed by someone sitting across the table from her. Jay's scent hit her as he reached over for the book and knife, dragging both towards him. "You know," the Fae male said, "you have a lot more history books at the Academy than here. Why not look through those?"

She waved a hand. "All the important ones are here."

"Never know." Jay opened the book to the page where Oathkeeper's information was. "There might be something helpful in those books that you don't have here."

"Doubtful."

"I can go look."

"If it pleases you."

Jay laughed, "If it pleases me? Who are you and what have you done with Amneris?"

She waved a hand again.

"You okay?"

"Oh, super," Amneris snapped. "I just found out my mother - who I hoped was dead in a ditch somewhere - is alive and well, and that she just released one of the thought-to-be greatest warriors of the Terpolite people. I am fantastic."

Jay tilted a head, making him look like an animal assessing his prey. With a grunt, he pushed himself to his feet and vanished into the stacks of bookshelves. He was gone for minutes, possibly longer, before coming back with a tiny book. It looked to have no more than one hundred pages. Possibly less. Tiny compared to some of the books in the Library. Amneris looked down at his other hand. Three scrolls were grasped tightly in it. 

The scrolls were dropped in front of her. Jay kept the book to himself as he returned to his seat. Amneris cocked her head to read the title. "The Legend Of The Frozen Ones," she read aloud, fingering the papyrus on one of the scrolls. "Sounds interesting."

"Could be a good bedtime story once Carmin has her baby," he said casually. 

"You want to read a Dragonoid child Terpolite bedtime stories?" Amneris asked incredulously.

"Is that a problem?"

"I'd never let my child be read Terpolite bedtime stories."

"Ah. Last I checked, your child was a young woman."

"Teenager."

"Same difference."

"Hardly."

Jay's eyes flicked between her and the scrolls. Amneris sighed, unrolling one. She gaped at the text. "How did you even know where to find this?"

"I spend a lot of time in this Library," he said. "And, as your Advisor, it's my job to be informed of things you do such as stealing from the Library of Alexandria."

Amneris coughed, reading over the hieroglyphs. "It wasn't stealing. It was saving. And why am I reading a scroll dated shortly after my death?"

"You work on Xix. I work on the Frozen Ones."

"I should be working on the Frozen Ones."

Jay gave her a flat look. "When it comes to anything remotely related to your mother you tend to go a bit - what's the word? - berserk." 

"I do not go berserk."

"What was it you said you did the last time you saw her?"

"I, uh, scarred her body in a way that would never heal properly," she said sheepishly. 

"Berserk."

"Self defence."

"You have anger issues."

"I'll take your head off."

"And, in doing so, will prove my point."

Amneris glared at her Advisor. He glared right back. They looked away at the same time. 

She hated when he had a point. Amneris couldn't deny that she did have a habit of going crazy when it came to her mother, but she thought it was perfectly justified. This was, after all, the woman who made her childhood a living nightmare.

"Hey . . ."

Jay met her gaze.

"If you think there's something useful at the Academy, go look. Say you're there with my permission and they should give you anything you need."

He nodded.

"Maybe check on Hathy while you're there?"

"It's been four days since she left," he muttered. 

"And my mother is on the loose," she countered.

"She starts class tomorrow."

"Then go within the next week. Just go sooner rather than later."

Jay held her gaze a little longer. "How about I go sometime next week?" he asked. "That way, we can check through here and she can get a good start on classes."

"That works."