Page 28 of Of Sockets Of Stitches
When I reflected on the way kings and princesses and princes had existed in whispers and half-truths and secrecy for so long, then I could only surmise that this monster of truth was a marvelous gift. “We are much stronger for the truth. You are exquisite.”
The skeleton’s white bones flushed an aged and ancient yellow. “I feel embarrassed by your compliment because you are a great queen. Your confidence in my existence nurtures my self-esteem for the same reason.”
There was such a need for Candor in the wellness of monsters and humans. She would train us away from lies and denial.
“Valetise, what of Picket?” I asked as the wardrobe monster slid her needle away.
“He toils on the perimeters of your queendom as always, Your Majesty.”
I raised a brow, and her lips twitched.
Valetise was dressed in a shimmering gray gown this evening that hugged her curves, a drastic shift from her usual severe black garments. “Picket is enamored by me at last. Defense of you and monsters is his purpose, but no defense against me exists in him any longer.”
Happiness permeated my chest. “This is well. You are in love.”
Love.
She flushed. “The sight of him steals my breath so, and the feel of him robs me of thought. He is a thief of my judgment and a disruption to the very ground I stand upon.”
Steal, rob, thief, disrupt.
How different my views of love. The words Valetise used to describe her warm feelings illustrated exactly how much love took from her. Her breath and thoughts, her judgment and feeling of stability. She was swept away in self by another.
I must remember that Candor was present.
I said, “There was a time that I envied your ability to simply love. I am truly happy that love exists, and that you may delight in the feeling, even if love is not meant for a queen.”
Candor did not add to my comment.
Valetise curtsied. “Thank you. I had not wanted to feel all of love’s warmness when you were in turmoil over King See. I feel free to love with abandon now that my queen is powerful in all ways.”
That Valetise had not felt happy to love during my turmoil was a sign of my previous fragility.
“Shall we attend the feast now, my queen?” Valetise murmured.
I nodded, and Candor slipped back into the walls of my queendom as I left my private chambers with Valetise in my wake.
I pondered her confession and felt the rightness of what she had said. I felt powerful enough to withstand any hurt now, but I had not seen the signs of my vulnerability before.
He had. And he had shared the truth with me so savagely.
The truth could be gift wrapped and made palatable. Just now, I might’ve informed Valetise of how weak love was, and how it limited her and stole away her self. But there had been no point to that truth beyond the truth. Valetise would never be a queen, so she did not need to be aware of all a queen must consider.
Telling truth did not need to be cruel.
King See could have chosen to speak all of his observations in kindness, constructively and toward a heartening point. Hemight have shared the truth to support me instead of tearing me down.
But he had not, and now no warm feeling remained.
Clanging of goblet and laughter of monster lifted into the midnight air of my queendom as though a goddess danced under the moon. A smile touched my lips as I neared the dining hall, for I was about to be in the company of monsters.
That was a matter of joy.
I entered the dining hall to find Candor there. Valetise left my side to join Picket, and then the clanging of goblet and laughter of monster halted for a time as I floated to my seat at the head of the table.
Howdeeplygratifying to peer down the extreme length of the table and find an empty seat. I had prepared myself to be annoyed by the sight of King See’s milky gaze, but the five copper panels holding shackled kings were arranged around the table, and no monster sat opposite me.
Good.
