Page 92 of Of Monsters Of Kings

“In arousal, seductress.”

“I know what it is to seduce, and I have not done that here. You arouse yourself, sir.”

He didn’t answer straightaway and took a breath before he did. “You wish to be clear that I, alone, am responsible for my romantic feelings and carnal thoughts. Are you to become princess to See then? I must mourn the loss of you, if so.”

My mind flashed to the gray lilies that had filled my courtyard and covered Mother’s grave. There was a message in how I’d felt about the sight, I was certain. I could not lose myself to everything King See was. I was my own monster too.

“I am not King See’s princess, sir.”

“And will you be so in time?”

“I am not experienced enough to understand the effect of time, sir, so I will not answer that. But I am my own monster. Of that I’m sure.”

The mouth in the king’s torso opened and shut in a sliding whisper of teeth. “Then will you be my concubine, fair maiden?”

I’d resolved to keep open to the idea in case my life took a sudden turn to hardship, but having seen Bring’s kingdom, I could imagine myself in this house and in this kitchen. The rocking chair outside appealed.

“Where do you sleep if your house is all kitchen?” I asked instead of answering him.

“There are two chambers upstairs.”

“One for your princes and one for you.”

He boomed a laugh, and his lower mouth moved in silent twin laughter. “My princes sleep outside, happy in dreams of what will one day be. My princess sleeps in the second chamber.”

Goodness. I’d forgotten her. “Of course.”

The king leaned against the bench behind him, then crossed his arms. My eyes lowered to his torso again.

“I eat every curse and charm made,” he explained.

The king swooped to pick up the spoon holding the remnants of liquid curse, then shoved the spoon into this second mouth. There was a gulping sound, and Bring shivered. Black veins crept across his crimson skin, then faded away again.

I nodded. “I see.”

“You do?”

“That is how your strength grows over centuries.”

His exhale shook. “You do see. You are more ancient than anticipated and very articulate, Lady Patch. My princes have mourned the shortness of your slumbers. Tell me, how you fathom matters of kings enough to present them in such a well-rounded fashion?”

Bring had slumbered one thousand years to become this ancient, and hiding the connection between my slumbers and changing ancientness felt prudent.

“I am most sorry for the mourning of your princes,” I answered.

“My question remains. You are made of mysteries that torture. You stir a fire long forgotten, fair maiden,” he said with a small growl. “I lust painfully.”

“Do you discover this tonight? You made the offer of concubine months ago.”

He chuckled. “My mind lusted from the start to have your power blindness at my disposal. King See is formidable, and though he has vowed to remain impartial to the fate of the world, he still works to ensure no king can affect fate. A great thing if he were to be blind, Lady Patch. Then I might save the world. When I saw you in death some time ago, I lusted for you intensely, but having conversed with you, I can see there is none other like you, and so my lust consumes me.”

I hadn’t known that See inhibited others in this fashion. “If you saved the world, King Bring, would all be as outside your thatched home?”

Emotion choked him. “All would be outside, fair maiden. Animals roaming free. A glowing world where plants and trees and flowers grow. A world restored and happy.”

An idyllic picture of a life outside walled cities. How different that life would be to what I’d known. In that world, a person might explore and make what they wanted of themselves regardless of specialized skill. Invalids might be openly cared for with plenty of resources to go around. “Why do you seek to save the world from extinction when no other king does?”

He unhooked his bubbling cauldron from the tripod above the crackling flames. A hiss and stench of burning flesh filled the kitchen, but he didn’t cry out in pain.

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