Queen's Blade Bitoshi Retsuden: Tome of the Ancient Princess

Queen's Blade Bitoshi Retsuden: Tome of the Ancient Princess is the second of the Queen's Blade Bitoshi series, and details Menace's beginnings.

Story
Menace awoke to a cheerful voice calling her name, feeling slightly discomforted and uneasy. She questioned the strange woman who knew her name, and asked where she was, in which the lady replied, the "Swamp Witch's Castle". The woman was revealed to be Melona, a subordinate of the aforementioned Swamp Witch. Melona told Menace that she had been resurrected by the Swamp Witch as one of her minions. Menace's thoughts then went to her kingdom of Amara, which she then asked about, leading Melona to pull out an old tome, as she began to recount what was in it.

The King of Amara and Menace stood on a balcony above the citizens, with the king telling Menace that she will soon inherit the kingdom of Amara. She soon acquired the living scepter, Setra, and they quickly became good friends. Additionally, she was taught martial arts by Anarista, who had pledged alliance to the royal family and had become a minister.

Menace, already skilled in close-quarter combat, was still not on the level that Anarista was, and everyday in the courtyard the two would spar, to improve Menace's skill level. She began to see Anarista as an older sister, and with the way the kingdom was going, Menace felt relaxed and content with her life. Everyday after martial arts training was over, Menace would get an oil massage, unknowingly laying on top of a bed of servants, who were not allowed to move, and if they did move for the hours that Menace was getting massaged they would be dropped down the "Hole of Slaves". Setra had a bad feeling about Anarista, as it saw some hidden darkness in her heart. However, Menace did not believe Setra's judgements and figuring them harsh and unneeded, told it that she could discern who was malevolent and who wasn't, and that she shouldn't be spoken to as if she was a child. A small breach of trust was fostered between the two friends.

Later, Anarista was sent to the Kingdom of Sadler to negotiate their surrender to the Kingdom of Amara. She soon returned with a enormous gift from the Sadler King. Setra, wary as ever of Anarista's actions, proceeded to talk to Menace in a backroom. Setra told Menace that the two kingdoms had long been enemies, and it appeared very suspicious that they would surrender so easily. Menace mentioned the fact that the Sadler Kingdom brought a tribute, which in Setra's eyes was a trick to fool them. Menace, not believing the accusations, reminded Setra that the Sadler Kingdom as bowed down to Amara Kingdom once and for all. Setra told her to not be so naive about the situation, which was misunderstood by Menace, and they ended up arguing.

In the Royal Hall, a party to celebrate the victory of Amara commenced, and the Sadler gift was put on a pedestal, which would soon be opened. However, the lid burst open, and hundreds of Sadler soldiers came from the gift box, along with magicians controlling deadly insects, who massacred the Amarans in the hall.

Menace hurried to find her father amidst the bodies strewn about on the floor, and she found him, albeit on the verge of death, along with Anarista. She asked Anarista to help her father, who retorted that she betrayed the Amaran Kingdom, to get revenge against the king. Menace, even after hearing what she had done, could not bring herself to believe that Anarista had done something like this. Anarista then attacked Menace, holding her in upside down in a submissive technique. Anarista told the Amaran princess to give up, or her father would die, which forced Menace to give up.

After Menace gave up, Anarista then made her a slave and kicked her down the Hole of Slaves, who proceeded to get revenge on the princess for the wrong doings to them. As her last hours of life went by, she thought about the condition of her father, and how she couldn't apologize to her friend, Setra.

Still hanging on to her Kingdom's ways, a resurrected Menace escaped from the Swamp Witch's castle, to see if her kingdom as still in effect. She arrived in Gainos, and ended up being disoriented in her new life, with the new ways escaping her comprehension. Someone ended her a hand, and as she looked up, she saw it was Anarista, the very same Anarista who had destroyed her kingdom.

She immediately attacked her, and found that her wounds healed up as soon as her attacks finished, to her astonishment. Anarista then grew several sets of arms and viciously attacked Menace, sending her crashing into a near by junk store. As Menace rose, she couldn't think of any way to defeat Anarista, and then heard a familiar voice, and noticed Setra in the pile of junk at the store.

With Anarista further attacking Menace, Menace gathered up her strength and brutally attacked Anarista with black flames, which she later realized was the curse power from the Swamp Witch. After the attack, Menace realized "Anarista" was actually Melona's prank, which she shapeshifted into her to gauge Menace's strength. Menace then began to realize that Anarista must have felt the same way she does now, lonely and misunderstood by society, and then apologized to Setra for not believing him, and returned to the Swamp Witch's Castle.

Trivia

 * Nowa makes a cameo in the "12th Act" of this book.