Page 67 of Of Brides Of Queens

Vice.

Alas.

Ifelt fortified and prepared in my outfit as I entered my conservatory before dusk. Valetise was a magnificent monster, and this full-length skirt that belted at my waist over a white blouse was just what I’d needed—something practical and no-nonsense.

Princess Raise sat on her chaise, listening to a crackling radio.

“I did not think you could beat him, but you did.” Her body was coiled to flee, like a cornered animal. Her posture was a silent order not to mention her sobs and the torment of her lover’s exchange at the battle.

I did not take orders from princesses, silent or otherwise. “You won the last battle for me when you sent your king away.”

Princess Raise blanched. “I—I?—”

“I hope you are feeling okay in heart, Princess Raise. I felt the pain of your lover’s conflict in every stitch. I do wish that you could both resolve this before too long passes.”

A shadow darkened her blank face, and how amazing that a blank face could shadow at all.

She did not answer my comment, and I did not venture to voice more.

“I’m coming, dear heart!” Princess Take’s scream rocketed through the air.

My eyes widened. “Are the Takes still at each other? Goodness, but all day?”

Princess Raise snorted. “All day. That is the fifteenth time she has screamed those words.”

Fifteen times. Then I was happy for her and impressed by him. For his sake, I expected he could not resist her. For her part, I expected that she wanted me to know of her endurance and irresistibility and how she had applied these qualities to another king.

Raise smiled. “How nice to hear her voice again, though I would prefer to scream fifteen times for my king.” Her smile faded.

I could agree on the last part. With the state of things between See and me, our pleasure-making had been suspended also. “You were up all day too?”

“Listening to the radio, yes.”

Listening to the radio to distract herself from turmoil of the heart.

“You drew nearly every monster here,” she mused. “They were curious to see how you might battle, as was I.”

Curiosity could have that effect. I strode to the mirror to hide how little bats had erupted in my stomach. “Everyone? Like whom?”

“King Change did not come, though he intended to before the end. King Bring arrived in time for the second attack.”

I had not noticed.

I did notice my reflection this dusk though. In the copper-framed mirror, I saw a queen who had won a battle. I saw a woman who could feel the pain of others’ tragic love despite conflict with them. Pawns had battled for me and puffed with pride to receive my hellebore badges. I had engaged ancient thought to set three pawns free to their king’s call. Before my queendom, I stood firm and strong when Raise’s terrible stairway erupted from the ground. His blasting fury had not forced me to slumber, either, even if it shrunk my balloon.

I saw my capability and wonder very certainly this dusk. Not every night was this easy, and so I appreciated this moment greatly.

“Bring left before the end?” I smoothed the front of my skirt.

She snickered. “What end? He took himself in hand when embers caught your silk dress on fire. Your exposed leg was too much for the limits of his lust. His stairway erupted, so to speak, and perhaps mortification drove him back to his kingdom before you might notice the wet patch on the front of his trousers.”

The idea of a king masturbating while I battled was a new one. I would not mind if another king had done so. As it was, if King Bring wished to pleasure himself over me—which I had already assumed he was doing—then I would prefer to remain ignorant of the time and date of the occurrence, and what part of me had inspired the act. Nevertheless, the humor in Raise’s voice summoned a grin to my lips. “Shall I ask about his departure when I next see him?”

The princess replied, “He might erupt like my king’s stairway all over again.”

I laughed and looked back at her gasp. She was awed by the delightful sound of my amusement.

I sat on my gilded throne facing her chaise. “Was anyone else here?”

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