Amneris was seating in one of the black lounge chairs on the top floor of the Library. She had a book in one hand and the knife found in the Chamber – Tara hadn’t tried to stop her from taking it – in the other. The knife bothered her. It was so familiar. The blade was silver, sharp, and crooked in shape. Its hilt had a crystal with swirling blue and red energy inside. Amneris was certain she’d seen it before.

That was what brought her to this book in particular. It was a collection of Lyriumia’s most famous weaponry. The weapons of Kings and Queens, of Emperors and Heroes. Even a few thought to be held by those found in the Chronicles. Amneris had always enjoyed this book. It updated itself thanks to an ancient spell, meaning the information was always accurate. Most of it was written in the Old Language, though there was the occasional word in another language even Amneris didn’t recognise.

An image of the knife appeared on a page almost halfway through the book. The title ‘Oathkeeper’ was underneath, followed by a short description:

The famed knife of Crux, Leader of the First People during the Age of the Gods. Created with the purpose to break through any material infused with the Blue or Red crystals of the God Worlds. The name ‘Oathkeeper’ was given as a reminded of the oath taken by the First People – to keep Vivus. It was passed on through his linage, eventually finding its way to the First Naiu’Idis A.K. Imam-Hadi.

Interesting but not useful. Amneris scanned down to the end of the large page.

Oathkeeper was stolen from Kiloqua’s Vault 3,600 years ago by an unknown Demi assailant. It was not seen again until it was used to breach the Warrior Chamber of Crita’s Castle and free one of the Sleepers.

Oathkeeper was recently recovered by the Naiu’Idis Amneris Topanga.

Amneris chuckled at the final sentence. These things really did update themselves quickly.

She read the date of its vanishing again. Thirty-six hundred years ago. Amneris hummed in thought. That was around the same time as someone broke into the Towers at Kiloqua, somehow accessing the Vault hidden well beneath them. Several items had been stolen. The shields had been given a pretty big upgrade. The culprit was never found.

Amneris flipped the knife in her hand. If nothing else, they now had the answer to that. Her mother, or someone in league with her, had stolen it.

Amneris shut the book with one head, leading back against the lounge. There was something she was missing. Something extremely obvious that would explain why Nephthys would—sort of—return a knife stolen thousands of years ago despite its power, and why she would free one of the Frozen Ones. Amneris knew it was probably staring her in the face. She mentally ran over what she knew:

The Chamber of the Frozen Ones was a legendary place thought to house some of Terpola’s greatest warriors from a very long time ago. Nephthys had gone to the effort to free one in particular, someone named Aurelia. Whoever this Aurelia person was had sworn vengeance against Amneris.

But that didn’t make sense. Unless . . .

Amneris shot upright. A room dated back billions of years ago with chambers filled with sleeping warriors. Her name on a revenge message. It wasn’t Amneris that Aurelia was after, but the woman she was named after. Aurelia wanted revenge on the First Photon Queen!

Who had been dead for a long, long, long, long time.

Amneris fell back again. This was going to be problematic. Had Nephthys purposely told Aurelia about the shared name? Perhaps she’d tricked Aurelia into thinking they were one and the same. That did make sense. Amneris knew her mother certainly would sink that low, but there was still something else she was missing. Something that would explain why Aurelia in particular had been the one to be freed. Whatever it was, there was no way it would be good.

Someone reached over her shoulder to hold the knife. “You know,” Jay said, coming to sit in the chair across from her, “you have more history books at the Academy. Why not look through those.”

“All the important ones are here,” Amneris said.

“Never know. There might be something helpful in those books.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I can go look, if you want.”

Amneris sighed, taking the knife back and holding the blade up to the light. Was it glowing? “If it pleases you.”

Jay laughed. “‘If it pleases’ me? Who are you and what have you done to Queenie?”

She glared at him.

“In all seriousness, are you okay?”

“I’m super,” Amneris snapped. “I just found out my mother – who I hoped was dead in a ditch somewhere – is alive and well. Not only that, but she just released one of the Frozen Ones from Terpola, the thought-to-be Greatest Warriors of their age. Why would I not be okay?”

Jay looked over her, assessing, and vanished. He appeared out of the stacks minutes later with a tiny book. It looked like there were no more than one hundred pages. Possibly less. Three scrolls were in his other hand.

The scrolls were dropped in front of Amneris. Jay kept the book to himself. Amneris titled her head to read the title. The Fall Of The First Dark King. She raised an eyebrow at Jay. “Where did you find that?”

“Our Library has expanded since opening trade with the Terpolites,” he put simply. “They have some interesting books that none of us know about.”

“Everyone knows that story,” Amneris said, sitting back with a laugh. “After the fall of Atlantis, the First Photon Queen broke the rules. She took her vengeance on Terpola, attacking Crita and the First Dark King directly – Ohhh. Got it.”

“The events and dates, and the message left for you line up,” Jay said. “Who knows, there might be something in the Terpolite version of the story we don’t know about.”

“Suppose that makes sense.” She unrolled one of the scrolls, brows raising. “Where did you even get this?”

“As you Advisor,” Jay said, “it’s my job to be informed of things you do. Such as stealing from one of the Libraries of Alexandria which conveniently had interaction with the Acheron Family of Terpola.”

Amneris coughed. “I wasn’t stealing, I was saving.”

“Besides,” he continued, “when it comes to anything remotely related to certain blood relatives, you have a habit of going a bit berserk.”

“I do not go berserk.”

Jay gave her a flat look. “I’m sorry, what was it you said you did last time you saw her?”

“I burnt and scarred her face,” Amneris answered sheepishly.

“Berserk.”

“Self-defence!”

“You have anger issues, Queenie.”

“Do you want me to take your head off?”

“And prove my point? Sure.”

Amneris glared at Jay. Jay glared at Amneris. They turned away at the same time.

Amneris hated that he made a good point. While ‘berserk’ was a bit of a stretch to her, Amneris knew she didn’t have the best self-control. Her powers had an annoying habit of doing whatever they wanted whenever she got pissed. A lot of damage had been done in the past because of it, there was no way to deny that.

But this was different. This was one of those times where her anger was justified. When faced with the one who force-activated her powers when she was little through some highly illegal means, Amneris had a tendency to lose her head. If Nephthys was willing to risk coming back to the God Words . . .

“When you go to the Academy,” Amneris started, “can you check on Hathy?”

Jay looked up from the book. “It’s literally been four days.”

“I know, I know, but with my mother on the loose . . .”

“Alright,” he said.