Page 7 of Of Brides Of Queens

King See himself once said,It is an immortal fool who believes seconds don’t account to days, decades, and eons.I had learned something of immortality this night. I had already taken time for granted like a fool.

Though on one point I did feel sour indeed.

Five immortal kings had spent twelve hundred years pondering their purpose. They had spent twelve hundred years fortifying their kingdoms and subjects for war.

And what of a queen?

Well, she would have time for neither.

Chapter Two

Undone by curiosity

Again,

Again,

And Again

My crown and the mesh veil hanging from it covered more of my body than my clothing. Valetise had decided to use my novel female form as a weapon—telling me so in as many words. I was the only monster queen. Kings had never seen the likes of me. Ancient as I was, I would play on my uniquities.

And if I wanted to torment King See too?

Then I would. Because such amusements should be taken when offered, lest immortality grow dull.

The jumpsuit was sheer, though white fabric flowers covered the most intimate parts of me. Otherwise, white mesh clung like a second skin to my arms, legs, and chest. In monsterdom, I had often worn dresses, and the lack of confinement around my legs was a welcome change, though one I could not feel grateful for if I wore jumpsuits every night.

Valetise had coiled my blonde hair into a tight and elegant bun that sat tucked inside my crown. The crown itself was atop my head but barely, and so clutched in my white-knuckled hand to keep it in place.

My wooden horse grated to a teeth-affirming halt outside the pink-washed white castle of King Take.

I released my crown at last, exhaling my immense relief.

King Take’s castle.When last I was here, I had attended a ball in my honor. A bloody and frightening ball.

The brightness of fresh pink stains around the castle windows spoke of the king “taking” many times in recent nights. I did wish that he would take without painting the humans’ blood on his castle for all to see. The act was crass and unbefitting of monstrous dignity. Though King Take might be a very hurt and damaged soul: a soldier stolen of his glory at the height of the feeling, then left in fragments from centuries of this midnight war. This king’s purpose totakehad created a direct conflict against his noble character from human days.

Perhaps other kings had not faced such a dilemma.

“Thank you, grand steed.” I patted the wooden horse.

My efforts to sneak out without the horse were thwarted when Mother noticed me creeping around the perimeter of the courtyard.

I could hardly tell her no.

I had just navigated the rotting bridge over the stagnant and stinking moat when a voice slithered from the entranceway shadows. “You again.”

A minion.

Whomever King Take took life from didn’t quite die. They became shells that existed to cater to the whims of his emotion and will. Lacking the dusk substance, these minions weren’t monsters, as I had mistakenly thought at the ball.

The voice slithered again. “You better have an invitation. Or make it worth my while, seeing as you’re dressed so pretty.”

What a drastic alternative to providing him with an invitation. “I did bring my invitation, in fact.”

I could state my queenliness or barge in, but royal monsterdom and impossible power were no excuse to be uncivil.

I untucked the king’s letter from beneath my sheer sleeve, and my brows shot up when a long and thin tongue whipped out to snatch the letter away.