Page 38 of Of Monsters Of Kings

His reaction didn’t bode well, and perhaps my choice wasn’t smart. King See could easily take the one-fifth I had left. I did know that while I was a monster from dusk until dawn, I was still a creature without specialized skill to get by with. I couldn’t plan for five years. I had to plan for a lifetime.

“King See has somewhat claimed you, Lady Perantiqua,” Will Be mumbled.

Has Been shot him a look.

“She doesn’t know enough to prevent a misstep. We must uphold his purpose,” Will Be replied to his silent admonishment.

Claimed me? “Like a good seat at the circus? Like a bargain deal on slightly stale bread?” How did a person claim another?

Prince Has Been grimaced. “Not in such degrading terms, lady. He’s somewhat claimed you, and so you have somewhat of his protection.”

“I’m unfamiliar with this concept of claiming.” I looked between them. “If he’s somewhat claimed me, then I’m somewhat unclaimed.”

Will Be fidgeted in the door. “I can see how you could come to that result. But while he’s only somewhat claimed you, he’s unofficially completely claimed you in a sense, and so if you were to go calling on other kings, it may… infuriate him.”

“We’re not supposed to test her,” Has Been hissed. “It’s too much.”

I was really putting them in a spin as well as myself. Somewhats were vague things to deal in. “How about we go back to the part where King See asked me to begone? I’ll oblige and return to the hotel.”

The tension in their shoulders didn’t dissipate.

“Now we know what you mean to do,” Has Been said crossly.

As for that, I wasn’t a seat at a circus or stale bread and was therefore unclaimable, so whatever King See had decided about unofficially completely claiming me to somewhat a degree was just that—his decision. Not mine.

“Kindly thank King See for the idea of claiming, though I can’t accept at this time. I thank him for his protection during the last month as I slept and apologize for his lengthy blindness. Remember to ask about the tithe, please. Don’t forget, I implore you.” I walked from the chamber, then glanced back.

Just one thing bothered me. Two things, but they seemed in the same avenue. Why did King See get so angry at the idea of me meeting King Bring? I asked the second aloud, “Why did King See somewhat claim me?”

Will Be had the look of a defeated someone. I wonder what ailed him so.

He said, “He can’t be sure what you mean in the scheme of things, lady. He is the king that sees, and until he sees what possibilities you bring to the fate of the pulses, our liege will not risk a single precious hair on your exquisite head.”

Has been was as confused as Will Be was defeated. He whispered, “He did not need to be blind for a month. The lady could have done as well elsewhere.”

“Any number of things might’ve happened,” Will Be answered him, then threw me a serious look. “You need to leave now.”

“My, I never guessed things were so dire,” I said, my heart sinking at how I’d put them all out. “I’ll leave right away.” I took a step, then hesitated. “Just… King See’s caution when it comes to the blindness I bring makes perfect sense. He’d like to keep me safe until he knows if I am important. I wonder at the rest of it, however, the part about not risking a single precious hair.”

“His words, not ours, Lady Perantiqua,” Has Been told me. “His words exactly.”

My face warmed. Such an utterance put a rather different spin on his reasons for enduring blindness to keep me guarded. An entire month. Whisperings of “precious” and “exquisite” made a claiming seem far less associated with stale bread and far more associated with courtship and romance of times long gone.

But then he’d asked for me to leave the instant I woke.

King See has somewhat claimed you.

Best not to read too much into the whole affair. My ignorance in this world seemed without limit, and I had far greater concerns at present.

“I must disagree with King See on one point,” I mused. “I feel this is a time for risk instead of caution. Though, perhaps I feel that way because I’ve never been blind, except to the world of monsters.”

The princes watched me, expressions solemn.

I quickly walked down the grand hallway as they exchanged furious whispers.

Will Be called out just as I reached the stairs, “Lady, our liege will expect that not a single precious hair on your exquisite head is harmed despite your return to the snuffed space. Just to be clear.”

To be clear with them, nothing had been less clear in my very unclear life.

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