Page 99 of Of Skulls Of Shackles

She curtsied. “None, Your Majesty. I will transport them on the copper conservatory panels. ’Tis no matter if you do not doubt the strength of their shackles.”

I answered, “I do not. That is settled. Onward to the finer details of duping King Bring. Set pawns loose in the city. They are to mutter here and there of the queen’s sudden affliction with the plague. She is hiding her sickness well, but grows daily weaker. I will be transported to King See’s in a wagon surrounded by sickly pawns only. No princesses. There will be no smiles. No joy. No hope. During the royal gala, my pawns will appear to die, leaving me apparently defenseless.”

“A picture of despair,” murmured Princess Take. “We understand perfectly.”

I nodded. “I am very sickly indeed.”

“The queen is dying,” said Princess Bring, and she sounded unaccountably sad, such was her large heart—the largest of any of us.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and fell back on the couch. “The queen is dying.”

ChapterTwenty-Two

Finales

Iclimbed from the grave and did not give voice to my growl of frustration. Mothers were unbearable. More and more with every visit.Enter the haze, enter the haze.They would not find contentment in my choice to wait. They would not desist!

“Three mothers to go. Perhaps then they will be quiet,” I wheezed, for I was meant to be dying with the plague. King Bring was likely watching through his eyes or through the eyes of his humans.

I staggered from the grave and Valetise and Princess Raise hurried to hook my arms over their necks.

“You are not well enough to attend this royal gala,” Princess Raise said angrily.

“This plague will not end monsterdom, Princess,” I replied in a frail voice. “A queen will go on as usual.” I hacked a cough after, then sighed wearily. “When do we depart?”

“As soon as you are dressed. Pawns are very ill, Your Majesty. Do you suppose that we should write to King See and cancel?”

I stomped my queenly foot, and even in jest doing so felt very good and nice. “We will attend the gala.”

I made sure to think of my forty-seven ancestral mothers at the same time so that my queendom shook with annoyance. Kings might notice such discrepancies.

“I go to dress,” I declared in a feeble voice.

“At least agree to be transported in a wagon,” called Princess Take from where she entered through the gate. A large wooden float was outside for the transportation of shackled kings.

“Wagon? I can well manage horseback.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, you are the strongest and most ancient of us. You might manage any number of impossible tasks the rest of us cannot imagine.”

I allowed her flattery to work. “You would do well to remember it, but I sense the worry in you and in my other subjects. I will ride in a wagon if it might lessen the worry, though I am very capable of riding my magnificent horse.”

Princess Raise said, “Thank you, my queen.”

I sniffed in disdain. “Valetise, come now. I am eager to meet with King See again.”

“He is surely eager to do the same,” said Valetise. “How could he not when you are bottled moonlight spilled over a midnight lake?”

They half-carried me up the stairs to my chambers. Once inside, I walked on unassisted, striding toward my chambers. “What shall I wear?”

Valetise disappeared into the large wardrobe chamber to my left. “My queen, I have not rested since you accepted the invitation. You will have four outfit changes for the first night of the gala.”

“But four?”

“Four. An evening gown, then a midnight dining gown. A daylight activities ensemble, and then a resting attire, which is really a second daylight activities ensemble. You will not rest, I gather. I imagine the second night will be much the same, but monsterdom has not revealed them to me yet.”

I kept my voice and expression smooth. “A daylight activity ensemble, and two no less, would imply that daylight activities are had.”

“I would imagine very many of them,” Valetise answered just as neutrally.

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