Page 31 of Of Brides Of Queens

I long that it will not be so, and that you might join me in my queendom at the earliest moonlight hour of your convenience.

Queen Perantiqua

Ihad run over the letter one hundred times in my mind since sending Toil to deliver the message before dawn. I’d had little to do with female monsters, and though I very much enjoyed my first interaction with Princess Bring, some doubt wound about me about whether she had felt the same.

If Princess Bring did not come, then other princesses might not rush to meet me.

This evening, Valetise had dressed me in clinging gold silk. The material hid nothing—not any curve or jut of bone—but thefabric also flowed and cooled my skin. I felt revealed and relaxed at once.

Was this dress for me or Princess Bring?

“What if she does not come?” I asked my mirror. Tarnish disappeared from the copper that framed the mirror, and the conservatory’s message was loud and clear.

Do not doubt yourself.

My conservatory also liked King See, so I should not let a building dictate all of my thoughts and actions.

A distant squelching met my rather great ears, and I gazed upon my reflection in wonder. “She is coming! And goodness, my hearing is excellent when I seek to use it. I can pinpoint her whereabouts a block away. But I’ve forgotten what this mirror is about, haven’t I? This is when I should marvel over myself, not let the worries get in. So here, I am true of heart and mind, and a princess has much to enjoy and gain from my company. I should not doubt if she will come. I should doubt why she would not.”

Tarnish returned to the copper framing.

Sometimes buildings were right.

Just not in the matter of King See.

I raced down to the courtyard and approached Mother’s grave. The hellebores rustled at my presence.

“I know,” I replied. “Everything will be fine.”

A hellebore parted ways with its sisters to float to the cobblestones, and I picked the bloom up and pushed the stem behind my ear. “Thank you, Mother.”

The coiled rope by the wall of bars swayed upright as the squelching grew louder. The rope monster heaved and heaved at the gate, and managed to open it just enough to admit Princess Bring. I thought Hex had moved the rope somewhere more comfortable.

I walked forward. “Princess Bring, what a pleasure to see you again. Thank you for coming tonight.”

A black cloak covered her from head to toe, or from top blob to bottom blob. During her last visit, she had told me her reason for covering up. Bring had convinced his princess that her monster was not beautiful. I did not believe he had done so with cruel words or acts, but lack of attention and compliment and positivity had convinced this woman away from loving herself.

Princess Bring executed a small, squelching curtsey. “I was honored and excited to receive your letter, Queen Perantiqua.”

She had used my proper title, and that made her one of the first monsters to do so, and to do so without any strings attached. The last of my doubt left me.

“I am happy to hear it, and I must thank you,” I replied. “During your last visit, you inspired a revelation in me that has revolutionized how I treat myself.”

An embarrassed sliding noise. “But me? Do you jest? I would not have thought to inspire anyone.”

“You must inspire a great many, I beg to disagree, for you have inspired a queen. Will you join me in my conservatory, Princess Bring? A loneliness creeps upon me since queendom that I never felt much in plain monsterdom. Princely friends have become princely pawns, and that leaves somewhat of a void.”Especially now romance has become transactional.

“Loneliness is a f-friend that I cannot be rid of,” she stammered. “I will do what I can to help another escape such a friendship.”

Perhaps we would help each other.

She blinked up the stairs behind me, and when we entered the conservatory, I was grateful to find two chairs and a table set before the eastern view that displayed King Bring’s thatched kingdom on its rocky pedestal.

“Thank you, Mother,” I chimed.

Princess Bring slimed her surprise, spinning on the spot. “Your mother is here? But how wonderful.”

“Not here in this conservatory. She is buried in the courtyard, but she provides for me in death as only a mother can,” I explained.

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