Page 102 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

He spoke of mementos. Something to remember me by. This king saw so much and always had. We shared the thoughts of how this gala must be.

Relief swept through me.

“You assume the tears are for you, sir,” I said.

King See pressed in the stopper, then tucked the tears inside his embroidered black coat. “’Tis no assumption, magnificent beauty.” Only then did he suck in a harsh breath upon seeing me.

He could not have done worse than to appreciate my rare tears before my body, for then—in a swooping beat—I understood that King See loved me despite his every word and forced action.

I laughed because there was no amusement and only pain in our destiny. “I require your help to exit. Or at least that you might remove yourself from the doorway.”

My king did not unlock for the space of ten seconds, then he held out a cloak. “This would be wise.”

I took the cloak, meeting his milky gaze as our fingers brushed. He could not see the future of me, but this king could certainly see the future and present moments of others. “I should have asked you.”

King See would have been able to provide King Bring’s whereabouts.

His lips twitched. “But then you would have had your answer.”

I clutched the cloak. “I did not want it.” For then this terrible goodbye might have come sooner.

“There is something in the saying of humans where they speak of keeping your enemies closer,” King See murmured very quietly.

King Bring had hidden close to me to keep himself free of King See’s sight, I could connect. If I had known, my pawns might have fleeced the queendom with success.

I settled the cloak around me and drew the hood up, then accepted King See’s arm. He wrapped his arm across my upper back, and my feet barely touched the ground.

We stood aside and watched as shackled kings were unloaded from the float. Princess Take had transported them on their coppered panels from the conservatory, and pawns worked in mixed trios to wheel them into the palace.

“Pawns work as if they had no king,” said King See.

Toil worked with Gangrel and Has Been. Sanguine worked with Deliver and Loup. Sign worked with Unguis and Is. Huckery sat before his king and did not help at all. Princess Take lurked behind him, smirking, and likely anticipating how she would tie him closer to my queendom for his pawnly refusal. My, but what would become of him under her marshal when I entered the haze?

So much unfinished business. I drowned in the thought of it. My knees shook and King See tightened his hold, drawing me closer against his body.

My shallow breaths were no breaths at all under the heavy confines of the thick cloak.

“Let us retire within,” stated See. “The queen is very sick.”

Candor shouted, “She is?—”

Has Been covered her jaw bones with a large, white hand, and the truth of my sickness remained unuttered. How terrible this must feel to her.

King See mostly carried me into his gothic palace and did not stop in the falsehood until we had wandered to the heart of his palace. My knees had remembered their function by then, and I peeked out from my disguise to check for windows.

“He will not hear anything from here,” said King See. “He will see naught. Here kings will stay during daylight, for they are the only monsters who might seek to betray the truth of your ruse. I will lock Princess Change in my dungeons overday.”

The dungeons? Goodness.

“Perhaps she could stay here too.” I removed the cloak and draped it over a high-backed chair.

We had entered a large room that boasted several sitting areas as well as a dining table. A bar occupied one corner. I had noticed that bars often decorated King See’s rooms.

King See lowered his head, stealing my attention back. “Princess Change has been digging up your queendom in an effort to undo you, Perantiqua. She will be locked in my dungeons during the day because I wish to punish her.”

If that was not a romantic gesture, then I was unsure what was. “This is your palace, sir. Do as you wish.”

“I shall,” he answered. “A little longer.” The roguish smile that accompanied the words disarmed me, and I was hurtled back to a time when he had appeared a god to my weak human mind. How had we arrived at this place of romance and camaraderie where I understood him and where we shared small amusements? The immortal god I had first met now trusted me to be queen, even to be queen of him. Staggering. Soul-altering.

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