Page 56 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

The doors opened, and surprisingly, the armchair and skeleton did not suck away in stone.

Princess Take swept in with the air of a person inspecting the space for an underabundance of cobweb, rather than a princess who must convince a queen of her meaningful contribution.

I did not greet her, but left the princess to her inspection instead.

“Her pride demanded such behavior,”came a confident voice from the wall and an armchair.

I shot my skeleton monster a curious look. She spoke of Princess Take’s reason for delaying with an inspection.

“Who was that?” snapped Princess Take.

My lips torsioned. The newest monster was not whispering any longer. Not since a queen had conquered a king.

The princess dismissed the skeleton monster in the corner to continue her inspection. “Boring décor. Tasteless minimalism. Lacking in regality.” The princess sniffed. “Nothing unexpected.”

My shoulders shook, for Princess Take offered small amusement in immortality. There would not be many monsters by the end who would speak to me in such a way, and this princess might manage to walk the line between too much insult and an interruption to the norm. In plainer terms, this princess might humble me now and again. I could appreciate that necessity, for I would have ultimate power and rule all creatures forevermore.

The skeleton said, as clear as night, “Insulting the queen helped Princess Take to accept the sorry change in her fate.”

Princess Take whirled. “Who is that? I shall have your head!”

She spotted the skeleton in the armchair. Our newest monster did not seem particularly bothered by the angst she had inspired in a princess… who must exceed her in power.

How brazen and magnificent.

Princess Take glanced at me, and when I did not offer an explanation, she faced me and crossed her arms.

Her pride ached indeed. The princess wished me to beg her to stay, yet as beautiful as she was, she did not possess my power. A good thing, for I could not imagine what it might be to look upon her then. The princess was enough moonlight, but not too much.

“Well then?” she demanded.

I should not laugh at her. She was very upset and bristling.

“Princess Take,” I saidverysoftly.

She screamed as if stabbed. Her arm-crossing was lost as the princess clutched her throat. “Y-yourvoice.”

My voice, yes. Two-tone since returning from mother’s grave. My usual voice, and then a rumble of thunder that would better belong to a giant. I had taken care to speak softly or not at all since returning for fear of overwhelming simpler monsters.

“Did the conquering of a king or a trip through a grave cause this change?” she whispered, and black flooded out in a mask around her eyes, reacting to her fear and awe.

I tilted my head. “Both.”The word swept through the throne room as a breeze without truly arising from my lips, and the princess yelped, spinning in a circle and rubbing at her arms.

She was wordless, and how could she not be?

I was as a king now. I would imagine that a battle with another king might lock us in an infinite war where neither could ever win. Which was why kings did not fight at all, no doubt. I would certainly not win against two kings, though.

But a queen was finally, at last, as powerful as a king. My queendom had expanded to fill the city center and connect all kingdoms. And I had only just encouraged Picket not to work as hard, the poor fellow.

Other kings would not fail to notice the new size of my queendom, if they had not already heard tale of my march through Vitale with King Change trotting at my heels.

“The queen was filled with thoughts of her grandness,”the skeleton stated.

I cocked a brow at the wall. The skeleton wiggled her toes. A cheeky monster indeed, though shy at first meeting. She certainly was not afraid to voice her honest thoughts otherwise.

“Whoare you?” demanded the princess.

She was not speaking to the skeleton. The princess swallowed hard as she gazed upon me, not quite able to look into my eyes. “What will you become?”

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