Page 82 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

Yet.

There was no trace of plague on King See either. I supposed that had something to do with our hearts beating in tandem and destiny and the like. “Do any princesses show signs?”

“Not that I have seen, Your Majesty.”

Kings were sick, which had made sense. But for pawns to follow… that implied a culling of monsterdom. That erased my connections of a plague deadline, and made the plague more of a certain thing that I might just manage to prevent.

Bother and drat.

“The queen discovered the truth of matters and did not like them at all,”said my narrating skeleton monster from the corner of the lounge. Her armchair tended to appear in public places, such as this lounge or the throne room and dining hall. Those conversations I wished to remain private, were private. My private spaces had remained empty of her presence too. How she knew when to appear and not was a power all of her own. I did like how she got to the heart of matters.

I smiled. “There are no skeletons in the closet in this queendom. Not even the queen’s.”

“Your Majesty?” Princess Bring said uncertainly, but the skeleton tipped her invisible hat.

I said to the princess, “Order pawns to look after themselves this night. They are not to stress themselves. They must be focused on self-care. Gather all princesses in this lounge immediately.”

I paced the lounge until princesses gathered. Take took the other armchair, and the others sat on the three-seater couch opposite us.

Princess Take and Raise appeared drawn by recent events but at peace. Princess Change was dutifully despondent and numb, but I could sense a simmering in her too. She would not cease trying to free her king until he ceasedwishingto be free. Though he apparently did not wish for that at all. So shame did drive her, as Princess Bring had informed me. How could I help her to override that?

I rubbed my temples. “There exists a plague on kings and pawns. Perhaps this will spread further in time—to princesses and humans and animals and a queen.”To Valetise, Picket, and my new narrator.

Princess Raise said, “This did not worry you before, my queen.”

“I had believed ancients gave me a deadline to conquer kings, and that once this conquering occurred, the plague would miraculously resolve. There is still some sense in that, but I have gathered you so that we might consider other healing avenues to explore. This is not something to sit back and allow to play out, if at all avoidable. I have been recently and often warned of the danger of passivity with time.”

Princess Take said in awe, “My queen, you have grown wise indeed.”

I felt fear, more so, though I was far closer to fullness. Maybe that was true power—the knowledge of potential loss. On my shoulders hung the weight of one thousand burdens. I could bear these in the freshness of new queendom while bursting with hope. If these burdens existed in twelve hundred years? What weariness of heart would reside in me?

My narrating monster stated, “The queen felt more fear as the most powerful than she ever had as the weakest.”

That was truth, no more and no less.

I scanned the princesses. “Each of you has a natural affinity in the running of my queendom. Speak of what you have recently observed. By chance, we might figure out more of this plaguing puzzle.”

Princess Take said, “I settle into the role of marshal with ease. I have seen that pawns adore their queen, Your Majesty, even tormented werebeasts. Though I anticipate some resistance from them in acts of defending their queen, I believe your conquering of their king has given them more clarity than ever.” She smirked. “And I will ensure all else is clear for them. They will not escape punishment.”

“For the other pawns, I defer to your methods of… teaching, Princess Take. In matters of fragile werebeasts, I have formed an understanding with them. For every choice they make between king and queen, they owe me a tithe. The nature of this tithe will tie them more firmly to my queendom. I am of the opinion that the longer they spend in my queendom and in positive company, the quicker they will recover their spark.”

Princess Bring burst out, “I would wish them all the cheerful sparks in the world!”

As I would wish her too.

“I see the wisdom in this,” said Princess Take. “I shall discipline them such. But in short, from the perspective of marshal, there is no upset within your walls because your underling monsters adore you. Outside of your walls, I feel no confidence in allowing your valuable cargos to be transported without my personal presence. There is much to threaten their safe arrival from human mobs.”

I looked at Princess Raise.

She laced her fingers together and rested her elbows on her knees. “Operations of human skulls and skeletons are at an all-time high, my queen. Around the globe. A world war approaches, humans fear, as it becomes clear that the efforts of skulls are to take over pulses entirely. The various sectors of Vitale, which have always denoted different kingdoms, begin to unite against the criminal activities of the skulls. But many humans agree with the skulls that ’tis time for a revolution.”

I leaned back on the armchair. “Which king denotes the skulls?”

Princess Raise spread her hands. “I had initially connected that the skulls belonged to King Bring, as he remained unconquered. You recall that I had previously separated the various actions of humans to align with the intentions of yourself or five kings?”

“I recall.”

“That may have proven true at first, but their actions grew… murky and mixed until I could see neither here nor there. They did not appear to be operating with six agendas at all. There seemed to be two agendas.”

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