Page 101 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

I felt gloomy and doomy this evening indeed. There was such a smell in the air that warned of change and interruption and pain. And I staggered under the weight of all my hopes and dreams for the royal gala. “Ancestral mothers leave me in the poorest of moods these nights, dear pawns.”

“They should support you,” Is grumbled, somehow managing to pat my hand as he helped me across the courtyard to the waiting wagon.

They should support you.“That is not their duty, Is. Their duty is to…”Guide me. Protect me. Stand with me. Or against me, if needed.

I reached the open door of the wagon and released Will Be to grip the side. “But I am weak.”

“Yes, my queen,” Is clucked, playing his role well.

Or was I weak? I could not be meant to just rely on my guides and protectors to decide every move for me. What was the point of possessing queenly connection, if so? I took a breath. “I am not as weak as I thought.”

“Uhh,” muttered Will Be, glancing at Is.

“A queen will go on,” I declared, then accepted their help to enter the wagon. I said very quietly indeed. “Will Be, take care that someone minds Candor. I suspect that the subterfuge of the situation will be too much for her to contain.”

“I will see it done, my queen.”

They drew the curtains after, and I sat in darkness, listening as my subjects gathered behind the wagon. There was a shout, and the wagon lurched forward.

My stomach lurched with it, and I pressed a hand there.Goodness,I was nearly nauseous with this meeting. See was as he had ever been. Such knots over a simple royal gala.

If this was love, I wanted it gone, for I could not think of anything related to queendom with the thought of him and us and heartbreak swimming in my mind and heart.

I tried to harden and steel myself on the drive, and to put love in its proper place. Love colored all, however, so the idea of a proper place was laughable. I could not feel hard and steely if I was to feel respect and trust and appreciation.

I held my head as it pained. “This corset is very tight.”

Which was no lie. My waist was cinched to monstrous proportions. All the better for the dramatic flare of feathers exploding around my hips. They framed the glimpse of my gray sequin underwear, which was a leotard under my plunging corset. My breasts felt in danger of toppling out, which was clearly by design. King See would be robbed of focus.

There was a trickle of power, followed by a tickle of ego.Seductress.Ah, I could always rely on her for confidence. Oddly, considering the start of my monsterdom, I now had complete confidence in the allure of my dusk physique.

In her I found strength again. I latched onto her surety.

This gala felt like a goodbye. That was the issue. This goodbye was a coming together of so many factors and ploys and monsters. See might break my heart. King Bring might be conquered. But what saddened me was not those goodbyes.

In two days’ time, I must walk into the haze.

This was a goodbye because I could not be sure of my return, nor of returning as I was. There was the source of my sorrow and tight breaths and climbingneedsfor this gala to be perfect in every way and feeling.

“Monsterdom will never be the same,” I whispered.

There was another call, and the wagon halted for a time before lurching on a short way.

We were inside the portcullis of King See’s gothic palace.

I first came here to plead with him for a job at Hotel Vitale. My smiling lips trembled at the memory. How long ago that felt.

The wagon door opened and chalky white fingers—huge in size—curled around the edge of the curtain to slide it back.

King See peered in at me, and I met his solemn regard.

“A queen cries, and I would hear why,” he said.

Did she? I lifted fingertips to my cheek.

King See snatched at my hand after. He snapped an order over his shoulder and a glass vial appeared in short duration.

The king swiped the vial over my fingers to catch the sole remaining tear there. He pressed the lip of the vial to my cheeks to catch more. “A queen cries over me, I fathom. The rain of her heart, a rarity. I must have them as a memento.”

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