Page 35 of Of Monsters Of Kings

“Goodness,” I replied. Compared to that, three weeks wasn’t a long time at all. Plucking a hellebore, I rose to standing, facing my mother’s grave. The three men, who I could guess were princes by now, lurked behind me. “Do you think King Bring would help me to know myself then?” I asked.

Perhaps I would go to see this King Bring. Was it wise after See’s warning?

I turned and opened my mouth to speak, but every part of me froze as I looked upon the three princes. Their forms bulged. Their stature was half of what it had been in daylight. Eyes wide and streaked with blood drew all focus and held it in prolonged terror. I could barely discern that while some wisps of hair stuck out here and there all over their bodies, in other places, a viscous slime slickened it flat.

My mind squeezed and shimmered, and as the shimmer encroached past the edges, I recognized that this was the point where the impossible overwhelmed me at last. Stopping this shimmer was a futile endeavor.

“Not this time,” I told them.

And that was that.

Chapter Nine

Clearness in conquest

Proved murky at best.

Istretched on the bed, by far the most comfortable cloud I’d experienced. My jaw cracked on a yawn as I stared at the ceiling.

Then frowned at the ceiling.

My neck craned as I sat. This was not Hotel Vitale.

“Lady Perantiqua.” Has Been entered carrying a delicate glass tray, and I could not think of a larger contrast given the size of him.

“Has Been,” I rasped.

He set the tray on the bed and passed me a goblet of water.

“Thank you.” I drank and cleared my throat. “Why am I in King See’s palace?”

Has Been hesitated. “There was somewhat of a turf war.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You looked upon King Bring’s princes in their true form. I arrived with Is and Will Be to find you fainted at their feet. We assumed they’d injured you, and discovering the right order of events took some… time.”

My gaze darted between his eyes, wondering if time was all it took to discover the truth. Has Been wasn’t in his monstrous dusk form now, his true form as he’d referred to it, and neither was I.

“I recall looking upon them.” My breath quickened as my mind drew up their bulbous forms and slime.

Has Been waited, eyeing me.

“What is it?” I ventured to ask.

“This is usually the part where you faint for another week.”

Another week. “How long have I slept?”

“One month.”

I flopped back onto the soft pillows, and I could feel the squeeze and shimmer eager to claim me. Clutching tight to the bedcover, I pushed away the feeling with considerable effort. “I see.”

“King See doesn’t, but that has its perks as it turns out. For instance, he was blinded to the possibilities of Bring’s princes all of a sudden. Something so small as a snuffing share might’ve escaped him before, but the sudden blindness of you alerted him.”

I could thank King See for the rescue. I made a mental note to inquire what a snuffing share was once my mind felt up to it.

“Tell me, what did they plan?” Remembering their wide eyes, I shuddered.

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