Page 63 of Of Brides Of Queens

His face was a blur, as ever, but now that I had met his princess, I did wonder if King Raise had a face at all.

“Queen Perantiqua,” he said. And his voice was terrible. And his menace was clear.

Here was a king come for his princess. Here was a king who loved his princess, and who desperately wished to fix the warping of their union. Though my fear of his kingdom was no less, my fear of the king had faded somewhat, even if I had ruined his three-year foreplay.

Because King Raise had a weakness.

He loved someone. Unlike Take. Unlike Bring. Unlike… I frowned at the thought of See, who really should love.

I could not remark one way or another about King Change—but I assumed love might not be a concern of an immortal set on ruination.

Raise, however,loved.

I had never seen love as a weakness, and yet I fathomed how this dent in Raise’s armor widened possibilities. Where I might only negotiate with Raise based on his wants, that no longer held true. Now I could negotiate and overpower him based on his wantsandthose of his princess. Though… overpowering him felt a brave and foolish ideal when in the face of his rage as I was.

Goodness, how fury shimmered the air around him.

“King Raise. You send your fifth against me this night,” I said as the last of the rubble hit the ground several blocks away.

His fury blasted outward, and my balloon trembled against the force, shrinking three feet.

“You will answer for this, pitiful queen,” he roared.

My balloon shrank again.

This pitiful queen had his princess, but I might not remind him yet. “You owed me a capture, sir.”

His growl shook the ground. “Return my princess, or I will flatten this poor excuse for a kingdom.”

Queendom. “I cannot. I have made a deal with Princess Raise, you see.”

His breath caught. His fury and growl sucked in to hide. “She would never do such a thing.”

I grimaced. The princess had resisted his amendment efforts for three years. I had forged a deal with her in hours. I found myself hesitant to hurt his loving feelings where I had monstrously anticipated doing so. “I assure you that she has, sir.”

The ground shook in a different manner. Not one of fury—a shake of tremble and fear.

“What deal has my princess made with you this night, Queen Perantiqua? We might deal in the breaking of it.”

King Raise’s focus shifted before I could answer.

He had spotted her. Love must tune a person thus.

Princess Raise’s voice rose from my queendom, and my excellent ears located her in my conservatory. I could not see her from here, but King Raise clearly could from his position.

“My love, she speaks truth,” warbled Princess Raise. “I have bargained with the new queen. She has granted me a room in her queendom. At my request.”

I closed my eyes at the terrible ring of her last three words. Exhausted humans who staggered across rubble felt the horrendous weight of them, too, and they fell to their knees crying. Some dropped in cold faints.

At my request. At my request. At my request.

One could argue that my retaliation to Raise’s capture attempt was complete. For a human had stabbed me in the heart, and now Raise’s princess had stabbed him in the heart for me. This was how a capture should be done if one could bear the icy coldness of such an act. I was not sure I quite could.

“You wish to be away from me?” he asked her hoarsely. The king rose in the air, not drifting closer to my queendom. He hovered higher until reaching the eye level of his princess in my conservatory.

Their voices carried in the eerie quiet of dawn.

“I do not wish to be locked up,” she replied. Tears clogged her throat. I could imagine that tears might stream over her blank face.

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