Page 128 of Of Sockets Of Stitches
The black scented the air, and then like the formidable beast it was, the wave blurred my way.
I leaped into the tunnel after See, and was devoured by darkness that deepened when the olden rock resumed its position over the entrance. To block evil for however long it could.
I blurred through air and sand, and when arms scooped under my legs and back, I naturally clung to the person who had caught me.
See set me on my feet.
“The cave of five soldiers,” I said, glancing around. We were at the door that I had opened after winning the five keys of kings.
A hissing echoed down the cave tunnel, and See gestured me beyond the door, pulling it closed after us.
“Daughter,” rasped my mother in the darkness beyond.
See struck a flame into being. Though the two of us had no need for its help seeing, my mother did.
I crossed to Mother, who sat on the ground before the hole where the olden rock first was. “Mother, are you well?”
“Well enough, my Patch. So full of feeling to see you dressed as a bride. You agreed. He was not so sure that you would. He said that your connection was great, and he could not fathom all that you might on the matter.”
Even powerful prince consorts feared rejection.
I peered into the gaping hole left by the olden rock that extended to the center of the world. Sand still poured into thistimer of the world’s ruin. And the top of the sand was in sight, very close.
“Help me to stand, Daughter,” Mother wheezed.
I did so. I knew better than to argue with her. Though once she was standing, I released some power to keep her there.
The ghost of a smile haunted her gaunt face. “Thank you.”
I went to stand by See, darting looks between them. There was one thing I would never share with monsters, and that was the knowledge of how they had lived before me.
I had no idea how unions were meant to go.
But See had seen four. He took my hands in his.
“I gather with two monsters who have made the choice to join their immortality,” Mother rasped. “These two monsters who have transcended love, who share a heartbeat and destiny, who have traversed through the grave to understand their unique and magnificent romance.Theirsis a companionship and understanding and trust unprecedented, one worthy of a queen and her chosen prince consort.”
Everything shared with See rose in my mind, and I watched them play out anew inhisgaze. Power whipped at our clothing, swirling the sand around our feet. Every experience and feeling and pain and happiness.Goodness,but my minds and heart wished to explode with them. The richness of us was nearly too much to bear.
He slid his palms up my forearms, and mine along his in a twin movement. See gripped my arms near the elbow, and I copied him.
“For a prince consort, a queen will be soft when she can, and choose him above others when possible. For his romance, she will remain warm when otherwise coldness might claim her. Her immortality will be spent in forgiveness, whether in the receiving or giving of it, for her heart is the heart of monsters, and hers is a love transcended.”
See rested his palm against my heart.
I waited as Mother coughed, then said, “For a queen, a prince consort surrenders all he was, for he recognizes the gift granted by this union and by the romance with such an ancient creature. He has been chosen by her because he has earned this honor. He is strong enough to tether her to warmth through the ages. His immortality will be spent in forgiveness, whether in the receiving or giving of it, for sheismonsters, and he must tend to her heart, to her queendom, and to her monsters in immortality.”
My breaths were shallow as I rested a palm over See’s heart.
We did not blink as we stared into each other’s eyes. This, our last moment or the first in a saved world.
“Here they stand in mind,” Mother said, and her voice was thick with tears.
See touched a finger to my forehead, and I did the same to him.
She said, “Here they are in power.”
My prince covered my eyes, and I covered his.
