Page 120 of Of Monsters Of Kings

It was just that he hadn’t decided on his purpose.

It was just that he didn’t believe in love.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Goodness.

My.

Bother.

Drat.

Three princes awaited me.

My wooden horse scraped into the courtyard, and I kept a hand clutched in King See’s velvet jacket to keep the ends together as I slid off the mount. Goodness, these princes would see more of my skins and stitches than most monsters ever had, but naught could be done about that, so I’d face the moment with bravery. How wonderful to simply deny fear and doubt with my mind.

Mother yawned the steed away. Did she know where I’d been and how I was dressed? I grimaced at the thought.

“Good evening, Prince Sign,” I said after, then nodded at two other princes.

One swept a bow. “You are the burst of full moon between sunshowers, lady. I’m Prince Seal.”

I dipped my head. “A pleasure, Prince Seal.”

The last prince met my eye, and I knew him immediately.

“Prince Deliver,” he said, sweeping a bow. “I have been peeking at you for a while, lady.”

He was the eye through the glass panel in my conservatory.

“You did give me a fright the first time I noticed you,” I replied. “Thank you. And I apologize for the hostile nature of our second exchange. I was in a terrible mood.”

“Think nothing of it,” the prince answered.

I approached Sign and took one of his hands in mine. “Prince Sign, I must apologize for how I spoke to you yesterday. You did not deserve my judgment over how you would or wouldn’t defy your liege. Did you get in a lot of trouble then?”

A shadow flittered across his eyes. “A little, lady. Nothing undeserved. Though I cannot regret helping you somewhat.”

“I didn’t understand your actions, Sign, but now I start to,” said Seal.

Each of their gazes had dropped to my velvet coat. They would know who it belonged to, and now their liege would know also. “What does King Raise seek from me tonight?”

“He wishes to remind you of your contractual obligations, lady,” Seal answered. He drew a contract from his pocket.

I frowned. “I formed no contract with him.”

“You didn’t, no. But our liege learned that you’re made of parts from fifty female ancestors. This sparked a memory, and our king recalled an odd deal made with a strange human twelve hundred years ago. In short, Lady Patch, you’re part of an ongoing contract made by your ancestor. You’re already in servitude to my liege.”

I tilted my head. “And that is how the fifty mothers in my line managed to make me. They made a deal with King Raise long ago.” I shifted my focus to Seal. “The price was a withering disease.”

He untied the document in his waxy hand and scanned the contents. “Yes, lady. It would appear so. Painful and premature death is the description here.”

King Raise was playing games with me. “My ancestors paid the price for me. If I were in servitude to your king, then I would not still have the power of choice.”

The faces of the three hairless princes smoothed.

“I could see how you might interpret that,” Prince Seal said. “But there is some question surrounding the wording in the contract as to whether you’re correct or whether you’re legally in servitude to our king.”

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