Page 117 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

Though I never would have seen a repair of union between the two royals.

Princess Bring slimed away with Princess Change. Both princesses cast wide-eyed looks at their kings over their shoulders. And neither king ignored them. Not the dying king, and not King Change either.

I carried King Bring to the new copper panel carted here from my conservatory. The shackles were in place. I set him against the panel, then stood back. King Bring wavered on his feet, then fellhardto both knees.That will do nicely.

“Your key, sir,” I hissed, unable to hide the menace of obsession.

His left hand was lifted by ancients, and as his fist was unfurled, a key was revealed. The key to the bringing kingdom.Ah.Bliss awaited me—the end of another obsession. I took the key.

I might have walked past this key any number of times and never guessed the truth, for at first glance, the key was nothing more than a simple brass leaf. At closer glance, the tiny notches on the leaf’s stem were apparent, and only they gave away the importance of this object.

Five keys.

I used my power to stand King Bring up again, and this time the shackles slammed shut, satisfied that obsession was met. I bound the shackles with a stitch from my hip.

“Five kings are conquered,” I rasped. I would need to trip through hellebores without delay. Perhaps I should not have shackled him here, but I had three pawns who could transport me to hellebores in the space of a few seconds.

Strangely… I felt no squeezing or pressing on my mind at all.

“King Bring, how do you fare? How goes your plague?” I stood in front of him.

He hacked a weak cough. “I detect no change.”

I strode around the perimeter of the room to inspect pawns.No visible change.

King Change started to laugh, and that confirmed that which I preferred to deny. “The conquering has not solved the plague.”

“Was there more to conquering than the simple shackling of kings?” mused King Take.

King Change’s laughter swelled, and I tuned the sound out to focus on his brother.

I answered, “There was an order to the conquering of kings. I had to conquer them absolutely. They were then shackled and stitched.”But each time, I gained power and tripped through hellebores.

Usually completing a set of monsters—whether pawn or princess—resulting in an exponential power increase.

Something was wrong.

Princess Raise made the connection at the same time. “King See is not here.”

I exhaled my relief, quietly so as not to alarm simpler monsters. “Is, Has Been, and Will Be, kindly fetch your liege from his chambers. He may not stir, but carry him here, and clothe him beforehand.”

The pawns bowed stiffly, then limped and hobbled away, a far cry from their usual easy lumbering gait.

Five kings must be shackled, that must be it, for I had never truly shackledandstitched King See. While no cause for alarm, I could connect the sloppiness of not doing so. Kings must be treated the same in obsession. All details must be adhered to—securing the key from their left hand as they knelt ontwoknees. Conquering in fullness. Shackling and stitching too. I would shackle See tonight. Just for the sake of satisfying ancients. Kings would not always be shackled, and See hardly ever. Eventually, all kings might come and go in the tending of their old territories on my behalf, akin to barons, perhaps. Once I believed them trustworthy, and once I was unshakeable in power and connection, then they might move freely.

Princess Bring returned, and she immediately slimed to her king. “But is there anything I might do to lift your pain?”

He asked on a sigh, “No, my princess, there is naught. Tell me, though, did you miss me? Did thoughts of me fill your head as thoughts of you filled mine?”

I grimaced. Princess Raise and Princess Take muffled their snorts. Other kings grinned, and every single pawn present found somewhere else to look.

“There was a rise and fall of feelings toward you that confused,” the princess admitted with an embarrassed squelch. “But I must confess that I spent most of my time satiating the towering lust of my body with pawns. There had been such a building up, you see.”

Her king took a long moment to absorb that. “With pawns? But which one?”

His princess glanced behind. “Why, all of them, my king. I did not wish them to grow jealous of each other, so I split my time evenly. And efforts, for if I let one empty between my blobs, then I had to let them all take turns, or they might feel lesser in my affections.”

King Bring’s mouth fell ajar. He dragged in a breath. He spluttered, “You… they have filled you? For how long?”

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