Page 44 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

My brow cleared at the unexpected find. “Golden fate. Up and out weaves golden fate feeling ancient in gifted wisdom… And ifgolden fatedeems fit, to mend.”

Iwas golden fate. That had to be right. The phrase was mentioned in both verses. Seams was too.Grasp the world’s fraying seams.“Union is seam,” I muttered. “Well, they are certainly frayed.”

Golden fates and seams were important, so my instincts warned, but I could gain no more clarity in them today.

And none of that connection explained why my attack on King Bring was halted.

“Werebeast pawns,” I said heavily. “Speak to me of the time when princes met kings.” I already knew how princesses came to them, but princes had met their kings before that.

They were quiet in the wake of my question.

Loup asked, “Your Majesty, what did you wish to know?”

“How came princes to know their king and to look for him at all?”

Unguis said, “We were filled with ancient purpose. Princes were birthed after one hundred years in the womb, and we each made our way to our king after. We found our kings and were happy to be in the company of other monsters. Then came the understanding of how princes would be needed to keep a king to his purpose. The surge of power was a shock at first, but the pattern of this soon became clear. That is all that happened. We are the simplest of monsters, you see.”

“And therein rests some of your exquisiteness. A diamond might appear simple too.”

The compliment was met with whines and a scoff from Huckery.

“Did all princes arrive to their kings so easily?” I asked next.

Huckery grunted. “King See’s were most delayed. His came after our king’s.”

There was a stirring in me. “And what king earned his princes before King Change?”

“King Raise,” Loup said after a moment. “I believe.”

“Yes,” agreed Unguis. “I recall because King Take was making fun of him so.”

“And King Bring believed himself so high and mighty for being first to gain princes,” growled Huckery.

Bring. Take. Raise. Change. See.

The order of kings kept arising in the same patterns.

And in the original poem of kings:

Bring. Take. Raise. Change. See.

Three princes, each, shall come to thee.

Monsters to guide kings to thrones,

To keep real monsters chained with blood and bone.

But I had tried to conquer Bring. Whatever the order of kings referred to, that order was irrelevant to my obsession.Orthe manner in which I had attempted to conquer was incorrect.

This felt more likely in hindsight.

“Your mind is burdened after our words,” Huckery murmured as the towering tops of the brick walls of my queendom came into view.

“Yes, Huckery. But fear not. My mind is almost always burdened with one figuring or another.”

“I do not fear. That is not what a pawn needs to do,” he answered.

“I am envious and happy for you, werebeast pawn. It seems a great while might pass before I might be fated to lighter days.”

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