Page 33 of Of Monsters Of Kings

More whispers. Who would want to see me?

Sigil said louder, “He’ll take his share.”

I pressed my ear against the door. Take his share of what?

“She doesn’t wish to come out tonight,” Toil told them.

“Make her. You act like one of King See’s weaklings.”

I pulled a face, then wondered that I considered Is, Has Been, and Will Be somewhat as friends after so short a time. Becoming a monster could do that to a person.

Toil shot back, “She asked nice enough.”

Sigil groaned.

There was silence after. Mid-discussion, they went quiet. I pressed my ear against the door for what felt like an hour or more. Nothing.

Quiet as a mouse, I crept to the window and braced myself to encounter another eye. I snuck a look through the tiniest gap in the drape. They weren’t there.

Not outside the door. Not anywhere in the expanse of courtyard visible to me. I couldn’t hear them.

My heart continued to hammer. They’d tricked me once, and they’d mentioned King See. Then there was Hex’s comment about the man who’d want to see me and take his share. That worried me enough that I nibbled at my bottom lip, stitch and all. I’d heard another skeleton crew say something similar, and they’d turned out princes to a monster king.

King See only ruled one-fifth of Vitale.

I walked backward until my legs hit the mattress. I sat and stared at the door, trying to figure out the ways of monsters, but I didn’t have enough of any information to make such connections.

King See had said the other monsters in Vitale weren’t those I should know better.

I hadn’t enjoyed meeting one king, really, though he’d been courteous enough to give me some answers despite also breaking my collarbone at an earlier visit.

I wanted to heed his advice, but he was just the monster I knew. Who was to say that dishonesty wasn’t his vice?

One thing was in my control.

Securing valuables. They’d mentioned something about his share. If they meant the possessions in Hotel Vitale, then I had to act now.

I crept to the window and peered out again. Clear. I slipped out and closed the door behind me. The most valuable items were the linens, cleaning supplies, and food. Mirrors were very valuable, especially uncracked ones, but there wasn’t much of a market for them in Vitale. Not many had the money to throw around on such luxuries. I’d store the best mirrors and leave the cracked ones.

I locked the laundry door after entering. “They must be gone.”

A good thing. I had work to do.

Upon turning, though, I noticed something very strange. Where there had been five cleaning carts, now only four remained. I shifted my focus to the open shelving. I’d counted these items hours prior. I could tell at a glance there were fewer than before. Picking up a stack of tea towels, I proceeded to count, and then the remaining stacks too.

Exactly one-fifth was missing.

I counted the single sheets and the queens. I counted the cleaning supplies and even the soap holders, spare plugs, and cutlery.

One-fifth, gone. One-fifth of everything.

My mouth dried, and I abandoned care to burst from the laundry and dash to the kitchen. Trembling, stitched-up hands fumbled for the right key. I shoved inside and crossed into the cool room.

Like the laundry, I could tell at a glance not all was how I’d left it.

“No.” I mourned. “Not the canned goods.”

One-fifth of my future was gone. How had they moved everything, just the three of them, in such a short time? Why did they take one-fifth, no more and no less? There was a veritable bounty here. Locking the kitchen again, I wandered from room to room to confirm that one-fifth of the furniture was taken, the mirrors, rugs, artwork, and shower curtains too.

---