Page 7 of Of Sockets Of Stitches
Or was this creature just a creature in the haze that was yet to kill me?
I must fix her,I told the creature.
He stopped stalking and growling.
Yes. Whatever his origins, there was a way to tame him, and there were no coincidences in monsterdom or queendom.
While in the haze, I was meant to heal the deepest parts of me.
If I was meant to heal myself, then I was meant to be queen.
If I was meant to be queen, then I was meant to return.
If I was meant to return, I was meant to eliminate the threat of King See.
Revenge.
The woman lifted her head and glanced at me. Tears streaked lines through the dirt covering her face.
We will not let him win,I told us.We are queen.
She trembled a smile.
If there is truth in what he said, then there will not always be truth.
She nodded.
We must get better, my love.My minds sighed as one.We must get better for our monsters.
The woman stood on shaking legs, legs so thin that I feared they would snap. I had not seen the stitch and patch of her before now, but they were apparent as she uncurled and drew tall.
Any fear and pride I felt was rivaled by the shock of discovering that she had not been curled upon herself.
In a sense.
As the woman uncurled and drew tall, I saw that she had been curled around a child. The child had no stitch nor patch, and she was naked, mud and blood caking her.
And she was me too.
Chapter Five
I had relief
forever, really
on distraction of body
distraction of necessity
distraction of survival.
The child would not respond, no matter what I asked or supposed about our turmoil. But as I continued to try, the creature had shuffled forward to snore heavily close by, tamed by my attempts to know my pain.
I felt grateful for the reassurance. If I could help this child, then I would be stronger, and when I returned to my monsters, I would be everything they needed.
You are me when I was human,I said to her.
She did not tremble as the woman of me had, but her stillness was worse. She was numb, as if dead. Already caked in mud and blood, if she did not move, then nature might growover her.
