Page 50 of Of Sockets Of Stitches
“Free,” I said. “In the sense that you are my subject and obligated to always support my queendom in every way possible. If you do not, then you will reside here again until trust can be rebuilt. Do you fathom how long that would take?”
He paled. “I would not dream of working against you, mighty queen.”
I doubted this king would. If he did, though he did not yet know it, I would shackle his princess here in his place. Or should I say the soon-to-be Grand Duchess Regnant?
And did I anticipate defiance fromher? No. But immortality was long, and monsterdom was ever changing, so I would not leave kings and duchesses in any confusion about what would happen should they work against my queendom.
I clasped my hands behind my back. “Raise, you are now a duke. Your duty is to manage the stairway duchy in line with the ideals of my queendom. All humans are my subjects, and none belong to you. All monsters are mine forevermore. Your purpose remains the same—you will grow your power, and thus mine, byraising.Be warned that I will not tolerate distraction from your purpose. Princes might not exist to keep you to task any longer, but a queen exists instead.”
Fear radiated off the sudden tension in his shoulders. “Yes, my queen. I hear what you say, and I will do what you command. I… am a duke.” He glanced at other kings. “What are they?”
“Nothing, currently. Their titles are empty, and they have naught.”
That appeased him. Raise squared his shoulders. “I am a duke. I will not drift from my purpose, my queen. You have my word.”
King Raise was ever a foot soldier, so he would certainly drift from his purpose, but his failure would give me leverage to replace him. Just in case his princess did not convince him in a timely manner. And when he failed, which would be soon, then a princess would become a Grand Duchess Regnant, and King Raise could moon over his union all that he liked.
King Raise glanced at the others. “Will you free anyone else?”
I shook my head. King Change would remain shackled… because he could not change, which was of growing concern. King Take would remain here because he was rather carnally desperate from lack of princessly satisfaction, and freeing him would interfere in the healing of his union. King Bring would remain because he had not earned the inner right to see Princess Bring.
I glanced at Bring. “How goes your inner work, sir?”
“Denial clings to all I unravel, Great Queen. Just when I feel a breakthrough has been had, I see that I have denied some or other of my wrongdoing. Then there is ever the confounding point of how much vanity and evil was mine, and how much was caused by another.” He lifted accusing eyes to King Change. “You were meant to be my brother.”
Change sneered. “We ceased to be brothers when we became beasts. Each of you has deluded yourself for an age.Weakness. You cling to each other because you cannot fathom the magnitude of what happened and what might happen—and what we were put in charge of. Your denial runs deeper than you can imagine. Do not bother seeking to undo it.”
King See said from behind me, “You are my brother, Change. You are all my brothers. We shared unthinkable experiences before monsterdom, and we have shared them since. I do not care that you think differently from me, for the love I have for you is real.”
His forgiveness was so very authentic.
How did he do that? My attempt had been fragile indeed, but then… I had forgiven King Change too.
By understanding him. I exhaled as the thought reverberated.
King Change did not scoff at See’s words. “See, of all kings, I have thought best of you most often. But we are not brothers. We are monsters, and monsters do not deserve family or good feeling.”
If Change had rooted the reason for rejecting kingly brotherhood in his ruin, then nothing would convince him otherwise.
So I would not waste my time and energy on the matter.
As the other kings argued the point with Change, I circledthe olden rock. As I circled, my power was drawn into the rock and out to its twin through the grave. So that was the point of the olden rock—even when I did not enter the grave, I could access its knowledge and gifts.
I blinked several times as the circle of my mothers in vigil superimposed onto this world. They were notreallyhere, but I could see their grayscale bodies, and their lips moving in chant. I tilted my head as the circulatory system of the world’s sickness and ruin superimposed in this world too. Lines of brilliant white lightning snaked out from my conservatory.
I paused to listen to kings, but they had not interrupted their bickering, and so I could assume that kings could not see this map. Which was well, as King Change possessed great connection and would undoubtedly try to keep his union as frayed as possible to prevent me saving the world.
I did not need to trip through a grave to see the world’s sickness. I could see everything from here.
The world’s sickness and ruin stole my breath anew.
“What do you see?” said King See.
I had stopped by him as I stared outward at all that ancients had tasked me with fixing. “I see a lot to do.”
A pause. Did he glean that I meantA lot to fix?
“How will you do it?” he asked.
