Chapter 22

Aymeri paced back and forth as Jorlyn helped Kumud bathe. Tears mercilessly fell from her eyes as she tried to gather strength to piece everything together. Absolutely nothing was as it seemed and it petrified her. There were so many secrets...or were they hidden truths? Either way, what did her mother hope to gain by keeping everything from her? And just what was behind those other doors on the floor where her sister was kept?

She thought about the humming emanating from one of the rooms, the way the room beckoned to her, begged for her to open the door. But why? What was there? More magick? She had to find out. Calling out to Jorlyn that she'd be back, Aymeri made her way out of the room and right into Drystan.

"Where are you in such a hurry to go?" Drystan asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I..." Aymeri sighed, thinking of a lie to tell him, then simply settled on the truth instead. "I am going back

to the red floor."

"Are you insane?" He pulled her back into her room. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

Aymeri rolled her eyes. "Of course, I do! But I have to go! It's urgent!"

"What is so urgent that you are willing to get yourself killed by going back up there?" Drystan's stare was hard, but it was far from cold. Instead, it was warm and full of concern.

She explained to him about the humming, the way the room was calling for her to open the door. While Drystan didn't like it, he certainly seemed to understand that she had to go back there, so he went with her.

Once they were up the stairs, Aymeri centered herself and closed her eyes. Alright, what are you and what do you want from me? She knew better than to ask aloud as it might make her sound insane. Not too long after she asked the magick—gods, that did sound crazy! —for it to call out to her, the humming filled her ears again and it felt as if a hook attached itself to her dress and began to reel her forward. She couldn't stop herself from walking toward the room. Placing her hand on the doorknob, she realized it was locked.

"Now what?" she asked aloud. She didn't have keys for this floor—at least she didn't think she did. Taking s deep breath, she curled her fingers around the door knob. Instantly, it turned in her hand, startling her.

She exchanged a confused look with Drystan before entering the room, which lighted as soon as she stepped in, and the door closed forcefully behind her. The room was three times the size of her chambers and the ceiling was twice as high. Considering this was the top floor of the palace, she wasn't too surprised by that. Just like Kumud's room, this room had no windows. Instead, it was filled with crates, chests, and books. Thousands of books!

The humming deafened her as it bounced off the walls and reverberated through her body. "What is all of this?" she wondered aloud, not expecting a response.

Drystan took a deep breath. "I need you to sit down."

Aymeri turned her full attention to him. "Why?"

"I'm about to tell you now."

Aymeri definitely didn't like the sound of that but she crossed the room to a chaise and sat anyway.

"When your mother came to me, it wasn't just because she needed my army to wage war against Dimia. It was also because she needed my army to take a boon from her."

"To take a what?" Aymeri's eyes were wide, anxiousness and confusion laced into her tone.

"The Maudlin family—your family—is a class of magickal beings known as sentinels, as you know. Sentinels were created to guard magick and ensure it would not be used in ways that could harm others."

"Yes." She took a deep breath and crossed her arms in front of her. "I've heard all of this. Madam Bheva told me. My father told me. When I was a little girl, Father used to read me all kinds of stories about Veralun. One story in particular was about a sorceress who infected the creatures and a powerful mage had to lock all of the magick inside her body to ensure it never escaped again. All magickal beings ceased to exist and all enchanted jewels were taken and locked aw–"

Aymeri's mouth fell open and she stopped recounting the story she had heard. She realized the truth of what she was saying, and she frantically went about the room and opened the crates and chests.

"No, no, no...no...this cannot be. Drystan, please tell me none of this is real!" But she saw it in his eyes that it was.

Tears filled her eyes and pain lacerated her chest. It all made sense. The moment her mother died, when magick was unleashed in the kingdoms again, it wasn't all of the magick. Ser Parzival must have known it. It wasn't just that Dimia wanted revenge on her father for leaving, she wanted revenge on Treoles for harboring the magick! "Dimia is after the magick, isn't she?"

Drystan nodded. "Nothing dark has been released...that I know of..."

Aymeri was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

He took her hands in his. "When your mother came to Bréīn, she passed on the dark powers to me and a handful of my royal guards who are now yours. The plan your mother left for you was because she knew you would protect the kingdom at any cost."

Tears fell from her eyes just then. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why did she leave all of this for me to deal with? Why couldn't she just tell me?"

He cupped her face in his hands. "Because she knew you were strong. She knew that you wouldn't allow anyone to help you. That you would take it all into your own hands and she didn't want you to suffer."

"Why wait until now, Drystan? Why didn't you tell me all of this before?"

He shook his head. "Our job is to guard the Sentinels and keep them safe. Had I told you, you wouldn't have been safe. We didn't know who murdered your mother. Then, we didn't know what was happening up here. We ended up discovering your sister. Each time I wanted to tell you, the stakes became higher and your life became more important to save."

"Now what am I supposed to do with all of this?" There must have been hundreds of jewels in here. Given the severity of her pains, she knew she couldn't take in all of this magick.

"You are the only one who can recapture the magick and free the people from its curse. You are the true sentinel guard now. Let me return the magick so you can stop Dimia once and for all." Aymeri nodded as Drystan held out his hands to her and she took them. The warmth from his hands filled her entire body and she could feel the surge of the power followed by a crash.

Aymeri and Drystan ran from the room and down the staircase as several windows blasted into the hallway followed by a woman dressed in gold with long blue hair. Wind gushed through the broken windows as she entered, glass crunching beneath her boots.

"Where is he?!" Her voice boomed as she manifested a sword out of thin air. "Tell me or I will cut off your head."

Aymeri took a deep, centering breath as she called the fire to her hands in the shape of a large ball. "Do not come into my kingdom and demand me to give you information!" Aymeri declared just as loudly before sending her fireball at the woman whose sword deflected it.

Grunting,Aymeri formed another. "He is of no use to you or anyone. He is sentenced to a miserable, lengthy death."

"Impossible!" The woman roared using her magick to shove Aymeri into the wall, then sent Drystan flying out of the open window.

"What is all—ohhells!" Jorlyn screamed before charging at the woman who effortlessly sent her flying backwards.

The distraction was enough to give Aymeri time to summon her bow. She nocked a flaming arrow and sent it right to the woman who grabbed it in her hand and snapped it in half.

Is this how my life is to end?

"Pathetic little witch." A smirk formed across the woman's lips. "You have no idea who you're going up against."

Aymeri got to her feet and nocked her arrow again, ready to send it flying. "I know everything about you, Queen Dimia." She knew how much it would have pained the self-proclaim empress to be knocked off the pedestal she created for herself. Dimia was no empress and Aymeri refused to let her have the satisfaction of being called such. A true empress would not cut off supply to one of the kingdoms under her control. She would instead nurture it.

"That is Empress Dimia to you!" Dimia raged, electricity forming in her hands.

How is she able to do summon so much magick? Is that what dark magick looks like?

Aymeri dropped her bow and held her hands out. Streams of fire spewed from her palms and cut off the jolts when she realized there were several pieces of crystals embedded into different parts of the steel armor protecting the woman. All of them similar to the blue one on Ser Perzival's cane that had been smashed to smithereens moments before he succumbed. She pushed as hard as she could, and pride swelled in her being as she saw Dimia wavering as she directed her fire at two of the jewels until they, too, cracked and fell out of her armor. "You are nothing without your spells," Aymeri pointed out. "Just like him, those crystals you wear are all you have."

Shaking her head, Aymeri closed her eyes and hoped her plan would work. She thought of endless arrows piercing the enchanted jewels on Dimia's body. When she felt them whizzing past her, she all but squealed in delight.

Rage bellowed out of Dimia as she realized her defeat and in one swift motion, she was gone from Aymeri's sight. The Sentinel queen dropped to her knees and heaved, pain lacerating her body. How did her ancestors harbor magick belonging to the entire continent without suffering?

Hands wrapped around Aymeri's forearm helped her to her feet. "I have you," Jorlyn whispered as she helped Aymeri to her room. The queen hobbled up the winding staircase against her friend, praying silently for the staircase to end. Once they were finally inside her room, Aymeri lay on her bed and took ragged breaths. She wanted to close her eyes but she feared death if she so much as blink.

"She is going to come back," Aymeri stated. "We need to be prepared." Aymeri moved to sit up.

"Not right now you don't," Jorlyn stated, placing a hand to Aymeri's chest, gently pushing her back into the bed. "You need to rest."

The queen knew Jorlyn was right, but she didn't have a choice. There was no time for resting with Ser Parzival locked in the dungeon and Dimia looking for any semblance of magick she could find. She would find a way to fix the enchanted objects and she had an inkling the dark queen was going to make them more powerful. There was no way she'd would be able to break them next time.

"I need to recapture the magick. Drystan was going to give the boon back to me, to make me a sentinel again, the way it's supposed to be. But she came just as he was about to."

Jorlyn shook her head. "You can't!" She stood up, her gaze hard as she stared at Aymeri. "Didn't Drystan tell you what happened when that magick was taken away!"

"My father did." Aymeri's voice was soft as she tried to reason with Jorlyn. "I know it cost many creatures their lives and I'm sure life poured back into them as it all came back. But if magick continues to surge through our world, more beings like Dimia will rise, Jorlyn, and we can't let that happen."

"Then recapture the dark magick and banish it!"

"It does not work like that." Aymeri turned to face Drystan who limped into her room and took a seat on the chaise. "To recapture magick, you must have only light, or light and dark. Dark magick alone will rot you from the inside out, turning you as evil as Niria who rules the Underworld."

"Then how do you suppose we stop her?" Jorlyn rested her hands on her hips, anger flaring in her eyes.

"There are thousands of magickal objects upstairs calling out to the magick that inhabited them. It's going to take days, but it can be done. If we find the right objects, we can lock the dark magick inside of them. But only a true sentinel can call it. I only bear the boon; I can't do anything with it."

Aymeri knew what she had to do. She had to take the boon back from Drystan and claim her rightful status as sentinel. She wasn't sure what would be required of her, but one thing was for certain: she had an army backing her and a family she could rely on.

Taking Drystan's hands, she closed her eyes and called the boon to her—or rather the boon called her to it. The second Drystan's hands touched hers, the magick felt like fish swimming through her flesh. Endless heat filled her bodes from her toes to the tips of her fingers. It warmed her like a mother's love, filling her with hope and knowledge. Suddenly she was filled with thoughts and…

Are these my memories?

One scene flashed before her eyes. Her father lay dead on the floor and Ser Parzival towered over him, the same cane she had broken was tight in his hands as the blue gem filled the room with its light. Her mother arrived moments later, but both Ser Parzival and the staff were gone, and no words came out of Aymeri's mouth. Did he erase my memories with the light from the staff?

Just as suddenly as that memory faded another surged into her mind. Memories of her and a boy, a little older than she, talking in the garden, sharing a platter of cookies. Her mother and a king and queen—she could tell because of their crowns—sat at a nearby table conversing over tea and the same cookies she and the boy ate. Was this Drystan? Were these the same memories that Drystan had of her?

Next, memories of her playing with a little girl, running through the palace and laughing, reeled through her mind. She didn't have to wonder. She knew it was Kumud. Her mother didn't lie to her after all… The memory faded into a new one, one of a scared ten-year-old Aymeri hiding in the corner as Ser Parzival yelled at Queen Ismana for letting the girls play. No wonder he stole my memories. He didn't want me to know Kumud...Was this when she stopped going to see her? Why didn't she ever try to remind me? Why didn't she continue to take me to see my sister?

Fire raged through her and just as she thought of the dungeon, she was in it.

Her fire lassoed around Ser Parzival as she raged. "How dare you! Those were my memories! That was my childhood! And you snatched it all from me! All the while she told me my sister was alive! I could have saved her! But you...you took all of those memories from me! Why?"

"Because you knew too much!" Ser Parzival said. "You always got in the way! Every. Single. Time! If you had just stayed in your place as the child you were…none of this would have happened. Your mother would have been dead long ago. But no! Precious little Aymeri couldn't leave her mother's side! Even with all that magick bound and locked up, your sentinel ways were etched in your veins." He spit on the floor, his eyes mad with anger and hate.

"You knew about the magickal objects. That's why Dimia is as strong as she is…"

"Of course, I knew! Your mother trusted me like the blind rat she was!"

Aymeri squeezed the fire rope tight around Ser Parzival, her anger taking over her as she wished him dead. One squeeze and she knew he would disintegrate.

"Aymeri, no!" Drystan's voice called from behind her. "If you do it, you're no better than them, using your magick for evil instead of good. Let him go!"

Aymeri turned toward Drystan, her eyes red with pain and tears. "After all he's done?!"

"Let your people decide. Tell them everything."

Her people. Drystan was right, she had an entire kingdom to protect. Ser Parzival was no longer the threat, only Dimia was.

She nodded and let him go, using her magick to leave his cell. "Tomorrow," Aymeri agreed.