Page 96 of Of Monsters Of Kings

The princess whispered from curved lips, and I sorely wished the cauldron allowed me to hear their voices because I got the feeling he’d just replied.

She rocked slowly at first, and when his hands settled on her hips, she started to writhe and rock as though her immortality depended on serving him. His hands helped her as though he shared the sentiment.

I watched them move together.

I watched more.

I watched it all.

Chapter Twenty

In and out,

Out and in.

Take care those,

You let within.

“Where have you been?” The voice was menacing and quiet, though thunderous in the way it rattled stones and buckled metal.

I closed the door to my wall of bars and leaned against it after, not yet ready to walk from shadow and be looked upon by him.

“You were with Bring. I could tell when I became blind to him,” King See answered when I didn’t.

“I was in his kingdom, yes.”

“Did he trap you there?”

“He did not.”

I could choose the petty path to see what jealousy could be inspired in See, but I felt responsible for where that may lead. No wrong had been done by anyone. Whatever had transpired between See and the princess wasn’t done in spite of me. I was too tired to know what to do after watching the images in Bring’s cauldron for three days and two nights, so I certainly wouldn’t make things worse in the meantime.

The stones on the courtyard jumped and leaped again, and I heard the metal of my wall of bars whine in protest.

“King See, desist. I am not Bring’s concubine.”

“I do not cause the leaping of your courtyard, lady. It is not I who must desist.”

That was me? Or was it Mother? Me, most likely. Perhaps the hotel didn’t like that my heart felt as heavy as my eyelids. “Apologies, sir. I haven’t slept.”

He lurked near my conservatory, and his reply was tight with everything he wanted to ask. “Why have you not slept?”

He assumed I’d been wrapped in pleasure for the duration. Should I tell him then? I thought that I should so he was aware of what had transpired and why I might be unsettled.

“I must apologize again, King See,” I said. “I spent three days watching every moment shared between you and the princess of King Take. When I made the deal with King Bring, I had not thought how private such things were, and that I was greatly invading your privacy. When I began to feel myself spying on private moments, I still didn’t look away. Alas, this is a monstrous vice I wasn’t aware of. I hope to choose better in the future.”

His voice softened. “What exactly did you watch, mistress? What deal did you make?”

I’d watched the cauldron and had seen See behind the princess and shoving into her. I’d watched as his face buried between her legs. I’d watched him pull her against his side before they slumbered. That was the worst part.

“She is special to you,” I said.

“I’d thought so. As it turns out, she never was.”

“I saw what I saw.”

“You don’t see yourself clearly, mistress, and so your view is colored. Bring showed you the moments I shared with Princess Take, but not those between times, and he did this on purpose.”

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