Page 109 of Of Monsters Of Kings

The thin voice barely reached me.

I gasped, then cupped my hands around my mouth. “Huckery? Prince Huckery!”

“Lady, are you well?”

“I need help. I can’t seem to escape Raise’s kingdom.”

“No wonder, lady. It’s inescapable. I understand why you called for help.”

I shot Prince Sign a look. “Did I?”

“The booming before, lady. Your statement ran with an air of certainty, and I felt inclined to help you also.” The prince sounded baffled by the turn of events.

“Huckery,” I shouted. “I need you to gather the other princes.”

A pause. “We’re present, lady. How might we help you?”

I’d somehow called twelve princes to my aid. “I can’t say. I can’t walk up the stairs, and jumping grows harder as Raise’s power resists me.”

A longer pause.

“We have just the thing. Never fear, lady.”

My bottom lip trembled at his words. I was afraid. Not of dungeons and torture, but of living out immortality in a lonely maze.

Beside me, Sign muttered, “What in the love of the pulses are they doing?”

He had better eyes than me because all I’d noticed was the disappearance of the pinprick of light.

“We’re coming, lady,” Has Been shouted.

The familiar voice nearly undid me.

“I feel beholden to point out that this landing is nearly gone,” Sign said to me.

I glanced down. Drat.

The arrival of the other princes had filled me with fresh resolve. I shot to my feet and bent my legs.

This jump was pitiful. I made it two landings up, and stone fell away as soon as my feet touched the platform. I scanned above, and my heart leaped into my throat when I spotted Huckery.

He swung between stairwells and held hands with Loup, who clung to Unguis with his other hand.

Gangrel was strung between Unguis and Sanguine, and Vassal connected all of them to Toil.

Sigil was next and clasped forearms with Hex.

Has Been came after.

Then Is.

At the very top, and not visible, I deduced that Prince Will Be anchored the rope of princes to my conservatory. Their rope wasn’t long enough.

“We need more length,” Huckery snarled.

The princes abandoned their hand-to-hand chain for a foot-to-hand one.

Their rope still fell short.

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