Page 29 of Of Sockets Of Stitches (Unworldly City #4)

Chapter Twenty

Of pubescent monsters.

“ W hat thoughts occupy you so?”

He asked the question from the lounge, and I arched a brow that he could not see.

I answered, “I had not thought my thinking was so loud.”

“Not to others.”

Just to him. “You place yourself on a pedestal.”

“It is where I belong.”

“I am glad for any monster to be so confident,” I replied.

He laughed low at my rebuff.

We had slept for several nights in the same manner, with me in bed and with him in the lounge.

There was an unsettling normalcy to it that disturbed with its quickness.

This monster might have betrayed me, and yet in three days, I had allowed him to wiggle back in.

Or place himself on a pedestal. At least in the eyes and minds of other monsters, none of whom would have missed that See was sleeping the day away in my private rooms.

Passing the day away was helped by my exhaustion when I returned every dawn, having stitched together another wounded vein of the world, though I had been driven last night to canter Life through the streets of Vitale until my minds calmed.

I exhaled and rolled to my side. “I am thinking many things, as ever. I ponder the reason that ancients gave the Raises their faces back. This could be a cost, or it could be a hint of something more. In line with that, I am considering that monsters formed their systems based on the ideals of five kings, but there are no longer five kings. I must reflect on the cultures, lives, and values of monsters, and consider whether we are existing our best existence. Those are two of my thoughts, amongst others.”

“Weighty thoughts indeed.”

“They are not overly heavy when placed on the scales of the world’s end and ruin.”

There was a pause.

Here was where I might get up for the night, then disappear somewhere around the world. But I had a romance to heal. “And your thoughts, sir? What are they?”

“Of my neck, and of the consequences of this couch made for a queen and not for a monster of great height.”

I smirked. “That must be uncomfortable.”

I threw off the bedcovers and sat in front of my vanity as Valetise bustled in from the wardrobe.

“Another busy day of world saving, my queen?” she murmured.

“Just so,” I replied, and thought another thought.

The one where, at this rate where two princesses and a duke could cope, we were only managing to heal one wound a night.

Each time they passed out. I could only tackle the smallest wounds, too, as the champions were certain that anything more would be too much to bear without Princess Bring’s help.

Princess Take swept into the room, grunting a hello at the exiting King See.

“Any sign of your king?” I asked her.

Princess Take had returned from the haze and clawed back through the grave the night after I had reversed the Raises’ purposes.

As anticipated, the issues in her union had barely been hers.

As someone who had struggled greatly in the haze, I was awed that the princess knew her self so well and truly.

Otherwise, the haze would have kept her much longer. As it was her king.

“No sign,” she said, and sighed. “Is he well, do you suppose?”

“I could not guess, Princess,” I replied. “What news do you bear?”

“The news that Princess Bring is sneaking out at dawn. Pawns noticed this morning. She appeared to have consumed vast quantities of human alcohol.”

“The teen years have found her.”

Princess Take snorted. “Seems like it. But pawns are very stressed, and before I tortured such weakness from them, I thought you might wish to be… alerted.”

“Are you asking me if you can hurt other monsters because they are worried about a young princess sneaking out at dawn?”

She grimaced. “I apologize, my queen. I should have known better than to disturb you with such a trivial issue. I shall torture them accordingly.”

We were out of alignment on this topic.

How to soften the blow of disappointment? “While I appreciate your attention to detail, Princess Take, in this instance we must take care not to create animosity against Princess Bring by punishing pawns. I will go to speak to her to resolve the discontent.”

The princess managed to erase her shock and disappointment soon enough. “As you command, my queen. I will await further orders before striking and stabbing.”

“Please do.”

Valetise finished my hair. Climbing into the armored dress was simple enough, though sitting in it would not be.

Princess Take trailed after me to the second level, and a wan Sign opened the door to Princess Bring’s chamber. There were fresh rips beside his mouth. Pawns were stressed indeed.

The princess was within. When we entered, she glared at me.

Princess Take snorted and leaned back against the wall to watch.

I withheld laughter at our teenager’s defiance. Goodness. “Good dusk, Princess Bring. How are you after your dawn escapade?”

Brief panic lit her gaze before she adopted an expression of defiance. Her squelch made her thoughts clear enough, but she hissed, “ I am not a child.”

“You were two days ago though.”

“But I’m not now!”

“No, I can see that.” I waded to the only visible armchair to perch on the back, then recalled my armored dress. Standing must suffice.

She blinked. “You do?”

“You are nearly an adult.” Another two days should do the trick.

Princess Bring glared at the pawns. “Then why are you locking me up?”

I smiled. “The quickness of your growth is new to us. We have been safeguarding a child, not locking up a young adult. I can see you are quite capable of roaming queendom, but please do stay within the wall of bars for now.”

She switched her glare back to me. “Why? Why can’t I go where I like?”

“Because if you are old enough to venture where you like, then you are old enough to return to your service as lady’s maid to a queen. You are old enough to resume your mantle of queen’s champion to battle back the ruin of the world.”

Uncertainty ran damply over her blobs. “What are those things?”

I tilted my head. “Do you have any memories from before? ”

The teen princess considered that, then shook her head. “My first memory is of feeling happy in sand, and then my second is of when you found me.”

She did not recall her union and king? Her previous life spent in so much self-doubt and indifference and pain? “Princess Bring, ancients have given you a wonderful gift.”

“What’s that?” she snapped. “A cage?”

I bit back another smile. “A fresh start.”

I hoped that she remained this defiant and confident forevermore. “Are you drawn to serve me, Princess?”

She roamed over the sand, shivering at intervals at the exfoliation. “There is a little whisper that tells me to do what I can for you. There is a whisper that assures me I will one day be filled with great power to serve you.”

“You are not driven to this yet,” I said.

“And that is how you can be sure that fullness awaits you. With how great you already are, I can barely fathom what treat awaits us all. Patience is difficult, Princess, I know. But you have power, and you have purpose, and you are surrounded by monsters who love you.”

She deflated.

“Monsters,” I added, “that were very worried when a princess they loved disappeared.”

Princess Bring’s top blob wobbled and she erupted in wet sobs. “I-I was only going to look out of the g-gate. And then I was only going to l-look at the humans.”

“I know your heart, Princess Bring, and so I know that you never carried malicious intentions. Yet we exist in immortality, and there are not many monsters in existence. Make what apologies feel right in your being, and make amends if they are warranted, and then the matter is done and over and put to rest.”

Princess Bring cried harder, and I left her to be with teenage angst.

I took up a pace on the landing outside .

Princess Take exited the chamber and watched. “You are growing maddened with purpose, my queen. Power fills me to subdue you.”

I stopped and gripped the balustrade as I drew in a large inhale. “Yes, I grow maddened. One thing waits in front of another and another, and all must be unlocked to save the world. I have the tools but none of the circumstances.”

“You refer to Princess Bring’s youth, and to the absence of my king.”

“Those, and more.”

“Sometimes it is best to focus on what we can do. The time to heal ruin will come soon enough and will certainly be unrelenting when it does. What remains to be dealt with?”

An entire list, but nothing but the end of the world felt pressing. “Humans. My romance. Any number of changes.”

“Pick one,” she growled.

I glanced back at her, and my eyes widened at the swirl of ancient power in her gaze. My , but she was not joking. “I shall.”

“That is well. Or I will pick one for you.”

“I will consult with Princess Change.” I summoned her, under careful watch of Princess Take. I had only once experienced this side of my champions, and that had ended with Princess Raise punching me in the face.

Princess Change found me in the throne room. “You called, Your Majesty?”

“How goes your intimate and vulnerable conversations with King Change?” I demanded.

She clasped her hands together. “I am only managing two a night, what with passing out after we heal a vein, then waking the next dusk.”

I nodded. “Is there progress?”

“None, Your Majesty. None at all.”

As dreaded. “What do you believe stands in the way?”

“The purpose and reason of him. ”

Hellebores rubbed at my temples. “Which is to say, everything of him stands in the way.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip. “I had wondered… the duke said you reached into him and ripped away his kingliness. You took away my reason for being too. My queen, could you rip away a monster’s ruin?”

I leaned back to consider that. “A monster without their reason for being is no monster at all. As for the kingliness of him, that is not his issue. He would be a great king indeed, if he was simply able to change. There is such foresight and ingenuity in him. Princess Change, I am so sorry.”