Page 50 of Of Monsters Of Kings

Will Be was struggling hard to pull the letter back as though he wanted to simultaneously snatch it away and also hand it over.

Has Been ducked, squinting at the looping handwriting. He choked on a breath after reading, then promptly lost his golden, daylight glow.

“Has Been,” I scolded, then gasped at his pallor. “What has happened?”

Has Been jerked from his stupor, though none of his goldness returned. “Lady Patch, this letter speaks of an offer to become concubine.”

“Concubine,” Is and Will Be echoed with at least the same amount of horror I’d felt when holding the mirror shards.

I froze. “What? What does that mean? Companion? Cleaner?”

The three princes stared.

“Concubine,” Is repeated.

“I don’t know what that is,” I admitted. “I had thought from the context, it meant a personal servant.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You’ve never come across the term?”

I shook my head and witnessed the exchanged looks between See’s princes.

Will Be’s features, already unblemished and conventional in daylight, grew almost grotesquely smooth. “Concubine means that King Bring would like to place you in a cage. He views you as an enemy.”

The feeling under the words was… monstrous. I felt the wrongness of them under my ribs, and I’d never felt anything like that in a monster’s presence. “You dare to utter half-truths.”

The ground shook underfoot, sending concrete dust and debris leaping.

We all paused to observe it. I’d made my surroundings feel my rage, and that wasn’t the strangest thing to happen in a while.

I resumed my glaring at the prince.

“I did dare, but I can see that was disrespectful,” Will Be said, then frowned. “Though it is right by my liege, so why would I not lie?”

I had no answer to that. “Kindly speak the full truth.”

Has Been cleared his throat. “Concubine means a mistress of daylight, Lady Patch. A fate unfit for the likes of you.”

Mistress of daylight. “I can’t fathom what you mean. Why is daylight important?”

“Because monsters sleep in daylight, or do other things such as pursuing pleasures of the flesh.”

Oh. “Goodness,” I blurted. “King Bring wants me as his permanent daylight plaything?”

“Yes, mistress,” Is answered. “I’m glad you’re horrified. ’Tis no fate for you. He cannot have a second princess, and so he seeks to chain you to him via the only other, uh, friendly way possible.”

Has Been smirked. “Bet he’s not crowing over his princess now.”

“He hasn’t crowed over her in centuries,” Is replied.

I held out my hand for the letter, and Will Be passed it back. I reread the contents, then lowered the crumpled paper. “He doesn’t even know what I look like. Isn’t that important in the exchange of pleasure?”

The three nodded.

Has Been said reverently, “Most assuredly he has heard that you’re not confined to one skin nor stitch, and that width and depth do not limit your smile that torsions into unseen dimension and wonder. His princes would have spoken of your delightful and intriguing conversation and the moonlight of your voice. He will know of your monstrous rarity, Lady Patch.”

I toyed with the piece of paper as an outlet for my awkwardness. “You speak of these things like they are magnificent.”

The three princes were dumbfounded.

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