Page 56 of Of Sockets Of Stitches
“How do you fare?” I perched on the side of her bed.
She hummed. “Like a building was crashed over my head. Such power burned in me and through me. I am unhurt, but… wrung out.”
Huckery said, “That is how princes felt after ancients filled them with power. I am told.”
Princess Change and Princess Raise wobbled in, each supported by a pawn. They fell onto the bed in a sprawl.
Princess Raise said, “Was that the largest sickness we will face?”
“No,” I replied. “That was one of the smallest.”
Three sounds of dismay arose from my champions.
Princess Change gasped. “I cannot fathom holding more power. Or holding it for longer.”
The most brilliant of them in connection said, “We need Princess Bring.”
I had come to this connection also. “Huckery, what is Princess Bring’s approximate age?”
“She is yet to go through the blobbiness of puberty, my queen.”
Preteen.I assumed that she would be ready to resume hermantle and purpose in adulthood. “Her growth is great. She will be ready soon enough.”
But other princesses required rest, though I was impatient to visit another sickness.
And also fearful of sacrificing another stitch and mother.
Princess Raise growled. “You resist your reckoning.”
I inhaled. “Yes, I do. But I will not continue doing so. I must trip through the grave again, but first we must discuss your unions. Princess Change?”
“He does not respond to me, Your Majesty. I talk for as long as I can, and as often as I can. This is tiresome indeed.” There was a hint of anger in her voice.
“If your talking has not yielded a response, I suggest shouting.”
She stared.
“Princess Take?” I said next.
“He is very desperate, but if anything, this robs him of all thought and leaves no room for diversity of feeling. I am inclined to remove this cloak and work in a different way.”
I considered that. “You do not believe he will break?”
“Not before me, and I glean that he must break himself.”
Her word choice rang in my minds. A wisp arose, and I took it and felt my lips curve. “Ah, yes. You are quite correct—he must break himself.”
Three princesses shuddered as my voice brushed against them.
“W-what do y-you mean?” stammered Princess Take.
But I looked at Princess Raise. “And what of your duke?”
“I have set the foundations, my queen. We have spoken long of how you conquered him and of how I knew of the keys to his kingdom. I have pointed out my ability to keep to task.”
Not fast enough.“How long have you spoken on such matters?”
“Most of the time he has spent in our duchy since you freed him. But do not fear. I have upheld his purpose in that time.”
