Page 37 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

“You are ancient and wear a crown. The answer is yes. I respect what you are created for.”

I frowned at the surge of warmth in me at his words. “Thank you. And what are you created for?”

“You. As for my action—my game—I feel the building of my final calling, a heaviness under my ribs that heightens at each growth in your power and queendom. I must surely alter against and soon, but I have no grasp on how I will interact with the full version of you. My purpose is to belong to a queen, but what is my purpose for a queen? I had thought for a time that there was none beyond me providing pleasure and keeping other kings away, but the heaviness in me speaks otherwise. There is something for us beyond what we are now.”

I did not move, not even to breathe. King See rarely offered so much.

He blinked. “So my game for now is still that of being your only king. We must enjoy such simplicity.”

Wisdom. Yet how amusing to consider a claiming king a simple matter when not long ago, the matter had felt complicated indeed. “I will heed your words, sir. You see much and mostly consider your choices very well.”

“You respect what I was created for, in other words?” he mocked, but his smirk faded. “This is well.”

Because respect was stronger than love, so he believed. Though I did not voice this aloud. He had tried to seduce me out of tutorage, and now he sought to distract me with romantic musings.

“Begin our lesson on war, sir. I am eager to be intrigued, and you are failing in that regard.”

King See laughed low. “My sincere apologies, maiden.”

He tugged at his sleeve and slipped out of his embroidered coat, then draped this over the couch as he walked behind it. I took the opportunity to enjoy the improved sight of his towering frame.

Another seduction attempt.

I remained silent, and he chuckled.

“A lesson in war then,” said King See. He leaned on the back of the couch. “What know you of war, Perantiqua?”

“More with every midnight, and this will be no different. But you might assume I know nothing of war, sir, and go from there.”

He shook his head. “I cannot assume such a thing, for I have already seen a queen battle. Her instincts are commendable.”

I narrowed my gaze at his appreciation, but said nothing.

“I will start at my beginning instead,” he mused. “That is what interests you truly.”

See was not a fool. I flipped open a buckle on my thigh.

King See flashed a grin, and his teeth were as brilliantly white as his chalky skin. “I remember very little of my training as a human soldier, but one aspect remains. That is that small habits matter greatly. In a human sense: the making of a bed, the checking of equipment, the care of physical ability. In a kingly sense: meeting with princes, observing my subjects, and engaging with my power. Small habits are the difference between life and death to a human soldier, or victory and loss to an immortal. In war, the tally of these small habits is weighed on each side, and that is how a victor is decided.”

I undid another buckle. “I would imagine the number of soldiers and the quality of their weapons have something to do with victory.”

“But what is a man worth? A skilled one versus an unskilled one, and a fit and healthy one versus a weak and sickened one?” he countered. “What use is a quality weapon that has not been cared for nor practiced with?”

He had a point. I freed a buckle over my breasts.

His cruel lips curved. “In an immortal sense, our monstrous physiques need no help to stay strong or agile or fast. Our skills are ever honed. Our power is our power, and instinct readily unlocks its vastness, though I grant that quickness of mind alters its application.”

I recalled how I pulsed heat into slime to free myself, though I had never used my power that way.Another buckle.One over my stomach.

“But.” He ambled along the back of the couch. “The small habits of immortals are weighed just the same as humans in order to discover the victor. Who is paying attention? Who is collecting information? Who is maintaining their subjects and kingdom? Who is forging alliances? Who is pushing forward in purpose? Who is… metaphorically… making their bed.”

He perched on the side of the armchair opposite. “Do I get a buckle for that part?”

I lifted a shoulder and shook my head.

King See hummed. “I offer you tutorage in these small actions which ensure queenly success. For this lesson and two more, I shall coach you in the ruling of your queendom. Everything from pawn to princess, and the inside workings and out. When I am done, you will be untouchable, though never from me.”

I undid a buckle, for what he said did interest me. When I first rose to queendom, this was the mentorship that I had assumed See would grant me. For free. Though queenlier with each dusk, I had much to learn of operating a queendom. This knowledgedidseem to arrive when intended, however… and I had a steward now, and a lady’s maid. I was learning how to wield and manage my pawns—just this dusk I had set my stairway pawns on watching King Change, for instance, and the others on watching for sudden ruin experienced by their kings and princesses.

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