Page 42 of Of Monsters Of Kings

“More than most,” Hex replied.

I listened to him jam more shards in. They worked steadily along the wall. I wondered if they would continue work on the other walls once this was complete or if that was when the capture would happen.

Sigil muttered, “A person who does nothing gets on with everyone, and what that means is nothing, too, just like them.”

I remained silent, sure that was an insulting comment again. “If King See views possibilities, what does King Bring do?”

Toil snorted. “Why, he brings, of course. He can bring a person any number of things, good or bad, pain, happiness, riches, and despair. King See has his eyes, and our liege has his charms and curses.”

He could make someone rich or happy with a potion? “What’s a charm or curse made of?”

“Depends on the recipe, doesn’t it, Lady Patch,” Hex answered. “Oftentimes they’re a potion, or sometimes a salve or sugary crystal. Then there’s the matter of how the curse or charm is applied, which changes the nature of the bringing. Is the charm swallowed or rubbed in anti-clockwise? Is the curse stabbed or inhaled as a toxic fume? Is the bringing boiling in design, or must it chill the soul to best adhere? There are many thousands of nuances to the esteemed work of our liege.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine, just as I couldn’t begin to imagine the thousands of nuances of King See’s work. “What is King Bring’s goal then? Do these curses and charms help his kingdom and hinder the others?”

I assumed King Bring ruled one-fifth of Vitale too. Maybe he wanted two-fifths of it.

The three monsters stopped in their work, and I adjusted my sidelong gaze in case my mind shimmered and squeezed.

Toil drew his bulbous form to full height, which would be around my shoulder height, unlike his towering daylight form.

He declared, “Our liege undertakes the most noble of causes, Lady Patch, and he is the only king to do so. Our liege vows to save the world from extinction and end.”

My brows lifted. “That certainly is noble. He seeks to return the world to how it was before The End?”

“What the saved world will appear like is unknown,” Sigil answered. “But he vows to mend it.”

Maybe I’d misjudged this King Bring. The idea of curses was a chilling one, but by all means, he seemed to intend well. “You say he’s the only king that wishes to save the world. How is it that King See doesn’t wish the same?”

I wouldn’t have thought him capable of great villainy. There had been ample opportunity for See to do ill by me, and perhaps he did break one of my bones, but for the most part, he’d done far more for me than anyone ever had aside from my mother. He’d endured blindness. He’d allowed me this hotel and still hadn’t claimed his snuff share. He’d somewhat claimed me, yes, but I was yet to learn if that was a heroic or villainous action. The king sat on a throne of bones, and had a menace about him quite terrifying, but for some unfathomable reason, I would’ve expected him to pursue noble causes.

“The reign of King See slips,” Hex scoffed. “Once, he was nearly as great as our liege, but time has weakened his morality. From the dawn of the new age to now, time has eaten away at him. He grows more and more a shadow of who he was.”

A terrible fate. “You say he does nothing now. Do you mean that while King Bring intends to save the world, King See intends to let the world do as it will?”

Their replies were snarled and scathing of the king who had helped me more than anyone other than my mother. I pressed my lips together and took no part in it. Instead, as they belittled the seeing king, I took note of their progression. The three princes were nearly done with this wall. What would they do once it was over?

I’d formed somewhat of a plan as they’d worked, and it suddenly occurred to me why King See had only somewhat claimed me. He’d done so hastily, just as I’d hastily formed a plan just now. He must have made the choice in a moment of pressure. A hasty plan must rankle to someone who likely hadn’t ever done a thing hastily or uncertainly.

Maybe that was why he’d also kicked me out when I woke, then not sent his princes along though an entire week had passed.

I hadn’t given full thought to how much I’d inconvenienced the king with my presence. For him not to see all possibilities when he’d always seen them was like how I’d been human one day, then monster the next. King See must feel horrendously out of depth, and yet he’d endured that to ensure I rested in safety.

The princes finished the wall and glanced at each other.

“There are still shards in the box,” said Toil. I heard a squelch of slime and watched him peer upward to the moon from my peripheries. “There is time plenty to see out our king’s order. Lady, are there more mirror shards to be had? We might as well carry on some.”

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that.”

I pointed them to the top floor and listened as they smashed mirrors up with carefree abandon. The job had taken me hours. When they blinked in their curious way to the wall behind me, I shifted to the other side of Mother’s grave to keep them in my sights. It wouldn’t do to disappoint Toil by relaxing my guard.

I rolled the black petals between my fingers. How strange that there should be five petals on a hellebore flower, when my question involved five kings. “King Bring seeks to save the world. King See does not seek to save or ruin it. Tell me of the three other kings, then. What is it they desire for the world?”

Perhaps I could rewrite my letters with such knowledge to better persuade them.

More snarling and scathing. Then Sigil said, “King Take and King Raise behave as boys on the cusp of manhood. They show no respect for the responsibility of their task.”

“Was their task to save the world told to them?” I asked.

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