The Final Downfall [Inter-Universal Protectors Series: Book 2]

Colt Kymmer shot upright in bed, a cold sweat covering his body as he panted. Out of habit, he scanned the room. It was too dark to see even with his adjusted eyes, but he could swear someone had been watching him. But that was impossible. The guards stationed outside his room would stop anyone from doing so.

He untangled himself from the sheets, a cool breeze dancing across his skin as he stood. Colt felt around the room until he found desk. The candle he’d been using earlier was still sitting where he left it after a late night of reading. Lighting the candle with his heka, Colt used the light to scan the room. There was nothing. The room was empty. He decided it must have been a night terror. Those were common these days.

Colt trod carefully as he made his way to the balcony connected to his room, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman in his bed. As no one was around, he didn’t bother dressing properly before standing outside. Colt placed the candle on the sandstone barrier and rested his arms beside it, looking out over the city. His city. Kemet was quiet at this time. The silhouette of the city was barely visible in the light of the heavens above. It was mostly dark, though there was the occasional flicker of firelight from inside few homes.

He turned back at the sound of movement from his room. Raising the candle, he was able to see Amneris’ outline. She had now overtaken the entire bed, one leg draped over the edge from under the sheets. Colt smiled as she murmured something in her sleep before sighing contently. He didn’t remember her entering his rooms but was glad she had. Being able to hold her at night assured him everything was alright. She was alright.

Amneris sat up suddenly, staring straight at him through the darkness. Her eyes reminded him of a predator’s in the way they glinted. He went to her, placing the candle beside the bed before sitting. Colt reached out to caress her hair. She purred at the touch.

“Did I wake you, my Tali?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” She smiled at him. Colt loved that smile. “You were talking in your sleep,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Yes. No.

He lay down, head in her lap. “I dreamt that you died many summers ago and I brought you back to life years later. You hated me. By the Gods, you hated me so much.”

She said nothing, only listening as her fingers ran soothingly through his hair.

“Then, years after that I died too. I was brought back by some woman who put me in a different body.” He looked up. “When I found you, you did not know me.”

Amneris lifted his chin to kiss him. “I’d know you anywhere, Sn’da.”

He took her hand, entwining their fingers. “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that, when it is time, we go together.”

“I promise.”

Colt kissed her hand and moved across to bed. He held his arms out to her. With a soft smile, Amneris crawled over and lay down, pressing her back against him. She pulled his arms around her waist, sighing contently as she drifted back to sleep. Colt kissed her neck before closing his eyes. This time, no night terrors came.

The second time Colt awoke, he was alone.

Panic washed over him. Had the night terror been real? Had his Tali gone to Aaru without him?

No sooner than the thought crossed his mind, she walked into the room with a small tray in her hands. She sat cross-legged in front of him, placing the tray on the covers. Leaning over, she gave him a lengthy kiss. Any fear of her leaving vanished in an instant.

“Good morning, sleepy.” Laughter was in her voice as she pointed across the room to the balcony. The Sunboat had long since entered the world of the living. People were wandering around Kemet, going about their daily duties, and few children ran across the roads.

Colt gaped. “Why did you not wake me sooner, Tali?” How much of the day had he missed? Had anyone come to see him? Had there been a council meeting? How many lessons had been missed?

Something hard bounced off Colt’s nose.

He faced Amneris only to find her glaring, another date between her fingers. “Stop thinking so hard,” she ordered. Expression softening, she asked, “Don’t you think I would’ve woken you up if you had to be somewhere.”

Colt couldn’t deny she had a point there.

While his Tali was . . . Tali, she never let him be late for a lesson, meeting, or audience. Colt assumed it was done out of habit from her other job.

Being Queen of Lyriumia took its toll on her more often than she admitted.

There had been times where he found her laying on the floor of their rooms, too exhausted to make it to bed. Colt would be the one to carry her the rest of the way, though her handmaidens did it almost as often.

There were even more days where Colt would stand on the balcony and watch Amneris have a one-on-one match with the Captain of the Guard in the main yard of the Palace. Many of the soldiers would stop and watch, as would some of the nobles and children. Apparently, Darius had insisted she come to him when those days came about to save Colt from suffering through her fury. Not that he didn’t have a fair share of it.

Amneris handed him a mug, oblivious to his thoughts. The smell alone told him it was sahlab, one of her favourite drinks.

“Thank you, my love.”

“So formal today, dear Sn’da.” She pushed a strand of their matching auburn-gold hair behind a pointed ear. “Is there something you would like to tell me.”

No. Yes.

“That night terror,” he started. “It felt real. When I awoke, I begun thinking this was the dream and – ow!”

“I’d say you’re awake,” she said innocently, drinking from her mug.

Colt rubbed his now-aching arm, a red mark forming where she pinched him, and glared at his wife. “You are . . . truly a pain at times.”

A smirk appeared on her lips. “You only now figured that out?” she asked playfully. “Everyone else figured that out over ten summers ago.”

Despite how it felt, Amneris had only been living in Waset for the twelve ten summers. The Palace, his home, had become her home after certain . . . events took place two summers later. She returned to Lyriumia often but would stay here just as much. Kemet had become her second home. At least, that was she said.

Oh, how his life had changed since then. He was married to a Goddess whose magic also ran through his own blood, though no where near as much. It had been enough to make a difference in the War she unintentionally brought with her from Lyriumia. That was over now.

It ended barely a year ago. Colt and Amneris were the ones to end it. He could still see the events clearly. They’d joined their heka, allowing for her to harness her full powers – that of the Photon Core – without self-destructing. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was all they needed to defeat Enliatu. All that remained of the Dark King was a ring. Colt had no idea what became of it, though Amneris assured him it was somewhere safe.

Since that ended, the both of them had had more time to focus on their respective duties. Amneris’ being running a planet and Colt’s being the preparation to be the next Kemetic King. There were other things, of course, that he’d been meaning to bring up, some of which Colt knew she thought about just as often. Now that things were settled, he knew the idea of having children had crossed her mind at least once. It had crossed his own many more times. Not only that, but it was clear she was far from against the process involved–

Colt caught the next date thrown at him, giving Amneris a flat look. She aced like nothing happened. “Your attacks are becoming more predictable.”

She gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her heart. “You dare doubt my abilities?”

He felt a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Never, my love. It was a mere observation.”

“Be careful with those observations of yours,” she said, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. “Who knows where they could lead.”

Colt threw the date at her. She caught it in her mouth. “Since you were up so early,” he said, “you can tell me what we are to do today.”

Amneris snapped her fingers and a papyrus scroll appeared in her hand. She handed it to him.

Unrolling it, Colt frowned at the list. “We have quite a lot to do,”

Placing her chin on his shoulder, Amneris made a show of reading it. She touched the scroll. It caught alight. Colt dropped it to the floor in surprise. Together, they watched as it burned to ashes.

He gave her a look of disbelief.

She only shrugged. “Oops.”

Colt pushed her from the bed. She fell with a shriek, though was beside him again in an instant. “You have done it now, Tali.”

“What have I done this time, Sn’da?”

“You have ruined our plans for the day.”

“Surely you have other plans.”

Colt moved the tray from the bed. “Other plans may have crossed my mind.”

“Oh?”

“They involve you laying still for w while.”

“I don’t like it already,” she whined, pouting.

“Oh?” He climbed over her. “You normally only complain when I stop.”

Amneris shrugged. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Is that a yes?” Colt asked, kissing her neck. “We both know I will do nothing if you say no.”

No means no. Stop means stop. No questions asked unless something is wrong. That had been their agreement when they first got together.

“It’s a yes,” she said.