Page 30 of Of Sockets Of Stitches (Unworldly City #4)

She dashed away a tear. “I had thought that we were on the same team, is all, but now I realize that he could love the idea of me while I was always on his team. Queen Perantiqua, what is to be done?”

I steepled my fingers. King No Change was my biggest problem. The other relationships, even mine, held some hope for resolution. What to do with a big brick wall who was still a monster that I understood and wished to help?

If he could not change, then he was not fulfilling his purpose to help me save the world. If he was not doing that , then another must play that role for him. But who else could partner with Princess Change? Who else could she suddenly love? No one was ancient enough for the task.

Except See.

My stomach dropped, and I banished the idea, but not the unexpected feeling.

“I can only answer that I am pondering the solution, Princess Change. This does not rest on your shoulders only. An answer exists, and this will be revealed. I am certain of that. Cease your visits to your king. We shall see if your absence sways him.”

But it would not.

We both knew .

I tugged Duke Raise to me.

He sauntered in, a great frown upon his face. He tried to smooth the frown away, but having not held any expression for an age had weakened his facial muscles greatly. “What is it? I was with my duchess.”

“Try again, sir,” I said quietly.

The duke yelped as my power flowed around him. He swept a bow, then knelt before my throne. “My queen, how might I assist you?”

“Much better. You might assist me by telling me of humans. How do they fare?”

“Humans? How should I know?”

“Because that is your purpose for me,” I answered.

He grunted. “I’m a champion.”

Usually King Take was the one to improve my tolerance.

More often than not, this monster had served to alter my perception.

“Sir, you are my human liaison always, and my champion when required. ’Tis your duty to report to me on all matters of humans so that cultures and lives and systems might be improved. ”

His face slackened.

“Your princess used a radio to track humans, sir.”

“She did? How did she know to do that?”

I released a breath. “Because she was very wise in connection. Sir, I task you with solving the problem of how you intend to gather information on humans. But you will report to me weekly, and more often if I call on you.”

“Surely pawns can do that.” The duke waved a hand in the air.

I blurred to him and the duke sprawled back over the stones.

“ Duke, ” I said. “Do you seek to inform a queen of how things will go?”

“Of course not!” He scrambled to stand .

“Your new station will require some adjustment. But there will be adjustment. You have a task to fulfill.”

I returned to my throne.

The duke swept hands through his oily hair. “Might I have a hint, my queen? So as to, uh, focus my task.”

Save me from dukes. “Here is an overarching theme for you, sir. The world is in a state of precarious ruin because of the fatal flaw of humans. Which is their tendency to form and adhere to convention—in other words, to always deny large parts of themselves for fear of what the rest of humankind might think of them.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Terrible habit that. I was in the business of raising, was I not? Most of the contracts I forged with humans were due to appearances—whether physically, romantically, or financially. Such motivations grow stale over centuries. I much preferred motives like revenge, jealousy, and spite by the end. At least they were…”

“Driven from honesty to oneself?” I supplied.

His expression lit up. “Exactly.”

Unconventional.

Duke Raise mused, “Why do they hide themselves so?”

I sat forward at the question. I sat forward with good reason. “What was the reason for your facelessness?”

He looked up. “I did not wish to give anything away, of course. Easier to negotiate great terms when someone cannot guess at parts of you.”

“Easier to wear a mask,” I murmured, then scanned his face. “But what if you no longer could?”

The duke rubbed at his jaw. “Yes, well, it’s an adjustment. A vulnerable feeling, but I had lost some connection with the monsters around me, though I did not realize it. There is something important about seeing what a person is about, me included.”

Ah. I inhaled and enjoyed the click of reckoning. “Sir, ’tis your lucky and lazy day. A queen has fathomed the exact direction of your role in supporting my queendom.”

“Not humans?” he asked hopefully.

“Humans,” I said. “But here is your exact task—you are to remove their masks. Unless we counteract the fatal flaw of humankind, the world will lead to ruin again and again. I aim to save the world, and keep it intact forevermore.”

“But… they are so programmed to convention,” Raise said in clear horror. “How can we achieve such a thing?”

I smirked. “How indeed. Good luck with the conundrum, sir. And now you are called to your champion duties.

“I shall never see my wife!”

“Of course you shall, sir—when you remind her to take her nightly hellebore tincture. Remember that she will need to drink it each night until the end of her enforced slumber.”

I swept past him, but paused when Princess Take emerged from the shadows.

She snapped at me, “Work on your romance.”

No power swirled in her gaze.

“Princess Take, I am aware that ancient power no longer fills you.”

Her sultry lips curved. “Worth a try.”

Worth a try…

That about summed up my queendom tonight.