Page 95 of Of Monsters Of Kings

“You enjoy seeing me this way?”

“I enjoy that which might drive you to accept my offer. Do you think ill of me for it?”

“I do not.”

“Ah, she understands. Wish that I had no princess. Wish that I had not rushed in that regard.”

Despite my curiosity, I asked, “Is that what you did?”

“I thought a princess was the next vital step to saving the world. Alas, she is princess in title only. We share no touch nor thought. We share nothing, and I would share everything with you.”

“I can’t look upon kings, let alone touch them.”

“A trivial matter. There are other pleasures to be had.”

“I’m aware.”

He whipped to fully face me. “You are? And so King See has sampled what is mine.” The house darkened and shook again. Minutes passed before it regained its warmth and welcome.

King Bring growled low. “I am jealous beyond reason. I have never felt jealousy in immortality. ’Tis a sign, dear one. I am meant to fight for you.”

“Do not fight, sir. I will decide if we are meant for one another.”

“Your answer strikes me down as has the sight of you. I see our life together with you as my equal, though concubine in name. We shall know otherwise, my recipe reader, my charm deliverer. Already, you become my muse. You inspire me to go on saving the world.”

I didn’t repeat myself. I would be the one to choose the life of concubine or not. He would figure that out, and this way, things wouldn’t sour before their time if I decided to turn him down.

In all honesty, that life appealed more than ever. The vision he’d painted was as beautiful as his kingdom, and the vision was just that—not real. This place was a fantasy I wanted to live in. I wanted to cling to it and believe it, and yet King See’s gothic palace was equally as beautiful, though set in stark reality.

King See’s kingdom was the cold truth.

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t choose fantasy in the sky.

“I cannot predict what the future holds for us,” I told Bring. “But I accept your offer to witness what transpired between Take’s princess and King See. What do you seek as payment?”

“You have stunned me with your beauty and your ancient conversation, fair maiden. I only seek that you think of me in a good way until our next meeting.”

I considered that. “Only until our next meeting?”

“Yes. I will continue to earn it thereafter.”

He could have asked for much more. “Thank you, King Bring. I accept your offer and charge.”

The king whirled to his cauldron, and red smoke erupted from his long coat to obscure the sight of him as mortar and pestle grated and banged. His singing was wordless and booming, and his house rattled me to the ground.

When I looked up, King Bring was leaving the kitchen through a door on the far side.

“Look to the cauldron, Lady Patch,” he said. “See the truth, and know I relish in your pain because it brings me hope of a life with you. I vow as I have vowed to save the world that you will one day be mine.”

I felt a sudden and terrible fear at his declaration. The king didn’t utter the words flippantly, and I got the sense that I’d made a terrible mistake by not shutting down the idea of us for good.

The fear dissipated as the simmering of the cauldron demanded attention. King Bring was gone, and I got to my feet to approach the bubbling concoction.

The surface gleamed crimson, and then a moving image disturbed it.

A princess, beautifully monstrous beyond anything I’d seen, loosened the shoulder of her transparent gown. The gown pooled at her feet, and she crawled over a bed to straddle a nude male. King See’s face remained blurred, but I recognized his grace and coiled tension.

He stroked a chalky hand through the princess’s long, black hair, and stiffened when she took his length and pressed it between her thighs.

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