Whispers of a Dead Empire
Chapter 169

Redrick Pov:

It felt like only a few heartbeats had passed when I closed my eyes. When I heard a shout from the lobby. “Where is my mother?” I sat up and felt the start of a sleep deprivation head ache seep into my mind. The shrill voice also didn’t help me any. Though I recognized the voice. Calixa did say that her daughter may be an issue while she’s gone. But she couldn’t be that bad. She was just a child, after all.

I rolled out of the bed and pushed myself to the door. Now, what was it she said to do? I couldn’t seem to remember, as I stumbled out towards the source of the commotion. “Don’t make me ask again. Where is my mother?” Nyx’s voice assaulted my mind, as I pushed down the length of the hall and turned the corner and glanced down towards the central room.

Nyx stood surrounded by the six cloaked figures that escorted them out of the domain. Each of them were facing her, and staring her down, until one stepped forward and spoke to her. “Princess, the Empress informed you that she and Commander Alessia were going out for some time.” His voice was deep, almost as if it were coming from a drum.

“She did no such thing.” Nyx stamped her foot onto the ground, and the wooden flooring underneath it cracked from the sheer force. I didn’t realize that the child was so strong.

“She did. She also asked us to remind you to remain here and listen to Redrick. Now please return to your room.” What I assumed to be the commander of the assembled guard crossed his arms and I caught a glimmer of a golden bracer before his cloak consumed it once more.

Nyx stared up at him, with nothing short of pure defiance, but as she opened her mouth to speak, he overtook her. “She also said that if you refused to listen, that we reserve the right to confiscate all of your books.” At those words, her jaw dropped and her tan flesh turned almost snow white.

“You wouldn’t dare.” She stammered out, seemingly shocked.

“We have permission from the Empress, so please princess do not force our hands.” The hulking cloaked figure stared down at the child, and didn’t give any ground.

She stared up at him before she turned her head away from them. “I can’t believe that she left me behind me.” She murmured as she spun away and headed up the stares.

Perhaps I should do something to step in, or at least keep the child occupied, till Calixa returns so she won’t get into any trouble. “Nyx.” I called out to her as I leaned against the railing.

“What do you want?” She stopped mid-step and stared up at me and her eyes raged like twin emerald fires.

“Come with me to my office. I can get you some food, and maybe some magical equipment.” As I spoke, what the empress told before she left came back to me like a crashing wave.

She eyed me for a moment and crossed her arms. “I want at least three unique items.”

“Two is the most I’m willing to give you. If you don’t take it, I won’t give you any at all.” I straightened up, and stared down at her, trying to discern any emotion on her face.

“Two works for now, but next time, I want four.” She still stood there, frozen in time, as she stared up at me, and her eyes were scrunched slightly.

“Deal. Now come along.” As I said that, I glanced back to the spot that the bodyguards were, and saw that they had already vanished. I didn’t know what skills they had as a palatine, but I could tell that the skill they used to disappear belong to assassins, but I knew that there was more. The question is what, though.

“If you lied to me, I’ll make you pay.” She narrowed her eyes at me, and I could see a wand poke its head out from her sleeve.

“Relax, I won’t lie to you.” Her mother was a powerful ally, and I wouldn’t risk losing that. Not with what was at stake.

“Okay then.” The head of the wand disappeared back into her sleeve, and she skipped down the flight of the steps she was standing on, and quickly scaled the next set. “What are you feeding me?” She asked as she got closer, and I could see the clear signs of excitement in her eyes as she got closer.

“Well, whatever you want, really.” I didn’t have a set dish in mind. I was just doing this to be nice and to try to cultivate a better relationship with Asteria.

“Surprise me. I like food.” She crossed her arms and walked past me without sparing me a further glance. Which, if I was to be honest, was a bit irritating, but it was to be expected when dealing with nobility. At least her mother was easier to deal with.

“Of course. What do you want for equipment, then?” I asked as I followed her down the length of my hallway. Now, it was just time to test the waters and see what I was dealing with. The serpent people said that she was one of their great ancestors. A dragon, if I remembered correctly. The only issue is that no one has really interacted with dragons in quite some time. It’s been a few centuries and many of even the longest lived adventurers who knew the dragons have long since passed.

“Something that I don’t have.” She stopped in the middle of the hallway and spun around to look at me. “Just show me what you got, and I’ll let you know what I think.” Her eyes dimmed a bit and now twinkled slightly. I had some rare things, some of which I probably shouldn’t hand over to a child, but a deal was a deal at the end of the day.

“Sure thing.” I forced a happier tone through my lips, and I mentally sighed. She was a little strange if you asked me.

“Good, good.” She hummed as I followed behind her and watched her skip away. It was also a little strange with how fast her emotions changed. Not even two minitues ago, she was in distress.

“So, do you know where you are going?” I asked as I glanced around the hallway. As far as I knew, she hasn’t been down this far.

“Yep.” She didn’t bother to look back as she skipped towards the door to my office.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. I’m never wrong.” She nodded her head curtly as she skipped towards my door and then stopped to wait for me.

I felt a mental burden press down on me as I listened to her. I realized now what Calixa meant when she said that her daughter could be hard to handle. I was also feeling like she did this intentionally. The willpower that I conjured to get out of bed was slowly fading, as I pressed it open She happily nodded and skipped into the room, and dashed to a chair.

“Now bring me your end of the bargain.” Nyx told me as she nestled into a chair, and shot me a wide tooth grin.

I had to suppress another flare of annoyance that threatened to lash out. Calixa must have the patience of a saint if she was willing to handle something like this. “Sure. I’ll have Miranda do it.” I raised my voice slightly, knowing that she would hear me as I walked over to my chair and sat down. “Miranda, would you also get us some food? What ever you want to make.”

Nyx glanced around the room and her face scrunched up slightly as she her gaze landed on me. “Is she your mate?”

“Mate?” It was a strange word coming from the child. But in a way, it was also heartless. It implied that there wasn’t any emotional connection.

“Yeah. Mother says the proper term is girlfriend or boyfriend, but mate just makes more sense to me. So is Miranda your mate? Do you love her?” She leaned forward in her seat and eyed me.

It was making sense why she acted, how she did. But I wouldn’t say that she wasn’t smart. She was just a little Naive. “Well, Miranda is.. special to me, so yes, I do love her.” She’s been around here for a while, and makes my life easier. Lately I have found myself falling for her though, so that was a plus.

“I see. Love is interesting. It was a concept I didn’t understand for a while, but it has been making more sense to me. I thank you for the knowledge.” She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms once more.

“So… whose is your mother’s mate, then?” I picked up on her words and tried to shift it in a way that Nyx would understand, while giving me information that I could use in the future.

“Ms. Alessia. She’s been mother’s mate for as long as I could remember. Why?” She tilted her head slightly as she answered my question.

“I’ve known your mother for quite some time, and she mentioned nothing about being with someone.” In this case, I think honesty would be the best way to approach her, so she doesn’t shut me out.

“She doesn’t really talk about it. Even with me. Mr. Kharon says that’s just how she is. So I don’t really push the topic.”

Ah, so it would probably be for the best then if I didn’t bring up the fac that I know knew she and Alessia were together. It would also answer the various questions that I had in regards to them and what Alessia’s status as a chosen was. But really, it didn’t matter all that much to me. Good for them. I was just curious about what those two were. Now it was time to deal with the child before Calixa got back. Mostly since I didn’t want to risk her rampaging around the house.