Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• sixty-six •

//song: smoke & mirrors - agnes obel

I looked at myself in the mirror and touched my cheeks.

Somehow, I got fat while in the Underworld.

Did I gain weight?

What the hell?

Everyone always told me I was too skinny for my own good, that I looked too sickly. My mother always worried about me and she tried to overfeed me if she could.

But now as I looked at my reflection I realized I actually looked healthy.

My wrists no longer looked hollow, they were filled in a healthy way.

I shook my head. It seemed impossible.

Someone knocked on my door gently.

Knowing who it could be, I answered. "Come in!"

Leah opened the door slowly. Despite us never getting along, she had a genuine smile. "I was asked to help you get downstairs to dinner. Were you able to find something to wear?"

I nodded, standing from the small vanity I was doing my hair in front of. "I found a couple of things in the wardrobe. Surprisingly, everything was in my size."

Leah's smile didn't waver. "They just wanted you to be comfortable when you woke up, Altea- E-Emmy."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Emmy, of course!" She chuckled nervously, fidgeting with the pink dress she wore. She looked like she was royalty dressed in the finest materials and made up properly.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out with you and Damien," I finally said. Admittedly, I thought she'd be more broken up about it.

She only smiled. "Its for the best, Emmy." She extended a hand. "Come on, I'll show you and Mehnit to the dining room.

I pressed down the simple dress I wore. "So, I look okay for dinner?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "You look fine! I couldn't have picked anything better."

I met her and Mehnit in the hall and after shutting the door, we walked down quietly down the hall.

As soon as we walked out of the hall through the massive doors I'd seen before, guards met us.

They bowed quickly towards us, their eyes never leaving their surroundings.

I balked but Leah took my arm and gently led me away. "You're a Lady, right?" She asked quickly as she arms through mine and let my hand rest on her arm.

I slowly nodded. "Yes. Right." That must have been why they bowed.

My stomach was in knots, something didn't sit well with me. "Did I really miss a lot? I mean, this amnesia, how much did I miss out on? Could it have been magic by the Tattoo Man? Or the Magister?"

Leah listened intently, her brows furrowed in concentration.

"Kymra said that it took a lot of power - was it to not have me remember? Maybe the Tattoo Man told me something that no one else can know about? Or their secret base or something?"

Leah shook her head. "No, none of that. They were defeated. They're gone."

Something in me told me she was right. I tried to concentrate on how I knew, how I could possibly know without remembering defeating them. If I had sprung the trap, maybe magic made me forget it?

A memory cropped up and before I could catch it, it was gone.

As we walked the slow clipping of our shoes on the stone filled the hall. It threw the sound everywhere, echoing around the empty walls. Somewhere nearby, I heard a group speaking. There seemed to be a lot of life in the Keep.