Chapter 3

Chapter Three

A revelation of purpose.

I ’d had ample time to wish that this high-backed chair was more like a plush chaise.

“Witnessed by Prince Sign. Processed by Prince Seal. And a copy of the contract was distributed to all parties by Prince Deliver,” droned King Raise.

There was a long lull then, one that my brain had to study before realizing that the king was finished at last.

“Who is to say that you did not skip over or incorrectly recite clauses,” said King Bring as though waking from a slumber like mine. “I will need to study the document myself.”

King Raise flipped his palm, and the contract disappeared. “That won’t do.”

“You jest, trickery king,” said Change. “How can a tribunal tribune without proper information? Trusted information. While once you spoke honestly to us, you have not done so in centuries.”

Raise’s demeanor altered. He gained a hunch in his shoulders that made me wonder if he’d launch at the beastly Change. “I only speak truth to kings.”

See laughed low. “You speak the truth you have convinced yourself of, Raise. Your interpretation of the truth. Which is very rarely the actual truth.”

Raise hissed. “Truth is open to interpretation. Do not assume to know truth better than I. I am the king of truth.”

My brows climbed. Had he given himself that title? I couldn’t imagine a statement further from the truth.

“That is beside the point. With nothing to interpret, there can be no truth to decide,” Bring retorted. “If nothing can be decided, there is no reason for a tribunal in the first place.”

“Perhaps not,” Raise said, too quickly. “So until the tribunal has passed judgment, then per previous precedents, the Queen Perantiqua will pass into my servitude.”

Take chuckled, his feet swinging.

Bring stepped closer to Raise. “Your true ploy is revealed.”

“Not a ploy. A demand that precedent is honored.”

I hadn’t much listened to Raise after the first hour, but somewhere around midnight, a thought had occurred to me.

This tribunal had been an excuse to summon me. Kings had really gathered to hear my purpose, Raise aside.

This was about power.

Raise wanted a queen as his servant to make him the most powerful and undisputed king. None of the other kings could let that happen unless they could be sure of my purpose or Raise’s.

Raise had no obvious desire to ruin or save, so they were as unsure about him as me, and that was a dangerous combination, so agreeing to condemn me to servitude really wasn’t in the interest of any other king.

And yet.

The kings all considered Raise’s words now. That meant his words on precedence held weight.

King Raise did not expect that I would be his servant eternally, but he would hold me for as long as possible and do as much damage as possible in that time.

That would not do. I might not have set ideas of purpose, but I would certainly not let another set my ideas for me.

“I summon Sign, Seal, and Deliver,” I announced.

Raise snarled. “You dare to summon my princes.”

I clasped my hands on my lap. “Of course not, King Raise. I summon my pawns.”

I’d never intentionally summoned princes or pawns or princely pawns, but I recalled the feeling of a lightning bolt shot out on instinct. This time, I set my will upon three, then released my power.

Three stairways exploded through the white stone floor, sending debris hurtling in every direction along with thick slashes of blood. None stained my white mesh outfit, for which I was happy.

“My floor!” said Take, pouting. “You said you liked it.”

I grimaced. “My sincere apologies. The mess was unintentional.”

A scoff. “She cannot even control her power.”

“ You speak of control, Change?” Bring mocked. “How amusing.”

Sign and Deliver helped Seal to stand, and the stairways disappeared, though the destruction and disrepair of the ballroom did not. They brushed dust off their waxy skin, and blew the dust out of some of the rips in their skin. At least they had no hair, but their copper livery was very dirty.

“My queen,” Seal bowed, followed by Sign and Deliver.

“ And what of your king? ” Raise hissed.

The trio whirled, then blanched at the sight of their liege. Glancing at me first, they then partly bowed to Raise.

Deliver turned halfway back, so he was on his side to me. A bark of nervous laughter escaped him. “You called, Lady Queen?”

“I did.” I held my head high. My crown was slipping, but I refused to push the bothersome thing up. There was something very telling and annoying about the ill fit of the thing. “I would like to be sure of where I stand in regard to the contract forged between the first of my ancestors after The End. Kindly report.”

Deliver’s eyes bulged, and I grew afraid they might pop. “My queen?”

“You will inform me in this matter.” A threat entered my voice, and I wouldn’t have thought myself capable of such a sinister intention nor noise, yet there it was for all to hear. I would have preferred that Deliver help me without threat, but such was queendom. “All of you will do this.”

I pushed my will into them.

Sign cracked first. “The contract pertains to those ancestors who opted to wither. You did not. You do not meet the definition of ‘witheree’.”

Seal was next. “Our liege was new to his purpose. There are errors in the document that could provide you with a strong defense; however, the spirit of the contract was such that all withered mothers would be able to leave their daughters one powerful body part. That was upheld by our king and has been upheld by each willing mother. I agree with Prince, uh, pawn Sign, you are not a willful withering mother. The contract is fulfilled unless you were to change your mind.”

“I did not deliver a copy of the contract to the first mother,” said Deliver next.

All kings, a queen, and two princely pawns stared at him.

Deliver hung his head. “I found the copy centuries later at the bottom of the pile. As my liege was new to his purpose, so was I new to upholding his purpose. My liege, I am very, very sorry.”

“Give the copy to me now,” I ordered.

The princely pawn didn’t seem to have much say in the way he flipped his palm up. A contract appeared.

“If you accept that from him, then you admit you are subject to it,” Raise said in a chilling voice.

“I do no such thing.” I beckoned Deliver to me.

Deliver set the contract into my palm, and I gripped it tightly, and though Raise’s magic sliced at me and tried to overcome me like when I’d tried to escape his kingdom, I pulsed my own power and loosened his desperate attempt to imprison me.

“Shall I read the contract first?” asked Bring. There was a deep admiration in his tone, and I wondered what life the king imagined for us in the vibrant and thriving future he battled for.

I glanced at him. “No, I thank you, King Bring. There is no need for a tribunal tonight.”

I walked around Raise’s power toward the entrance.

“You were summoned to a kingly tribunal,” Change roared.

A silent scream fell from my lips at the power of his outburst, but I was stunned when his roar didn’t force me into fresh slumber.

I had strengthened indeed.

Any marvel over my new power fled as I turned to find King See standing between me and the beastly king.

King See had saved me from slumber.

Bring sauntered to stand beside See and between me and the other kings. My three pawns stood either side of me, too, and I hadn’t noticed them move to protect me. From their stunned expressions, I wasn’t sure they’d noticed either.

I met Change’s regard. “Yes, I was. Imagine my confusion over the kingliness of it when I am a queen. There is no precedent I acknowledge for how tribunals have been before me. Things must go differently now. Princes are now pawns. Five territories are now six. Monsterdom does not mean what it has meant.” I set my sights on Raise. “There is no tribunal. There is no future where I am your servant. Your power cannot hold me, as you have just witnessed.”

“There are ways,” Raise sneered. “Broken rulers are easily molded.”

The pawns either side of me stiffened, and I noted their reaction as any ancient mind might.

“Bravo!” King Take clapped. “A lovely speech, Queen Patch, but a speech just that. You are not the queen of kings, might I remind you. You are the queen of a hotel, and where one power cannot hold you, five might.”

I arched a brow. “You propose that kings agree?”

“There would not be five,” King Bring declared.

Take chuckled. “And I doubt there would be four with See’s mind in his cock. But would there be three kings?”

I sensed the keen intelligence that was the taking king’s true weapon. He was discerning of political and emotional undercurrents to a dizzying degree.

Take wished me to plead and beg for his support. I said, “I am not sure how you can break my heart if I am Raise’s servant.”

Take threw back his head and laughed, and I was doubly glad for the barrier of See and Bring’s power. Whether amusement or fury, I was vulnerable to uncontrolled feelings of kings.

The black around Take’s eyes flooded outward again. “ I will break your heart, young queen . I have been too entertained tonight not to see who you could become. The tiny, damaged vessels around your heart give off such a heady aroma.” He turned his head. “Did you cause this, See? Will she only choose you if broken? And,” the king lowered his voice, “what if she does?”

My heart skipped another beat at his words. He had already connected a startling theory that had just occurred to me this night.

My first instinct was to ignore his words, but I couldn’t help absorbing the words to consider later. “King Take, here is my offer to you. When I decide my purpose, you shall be the first to know.”

His glee rocked the walls. “I accept in anticipation. You delight me.”

“And you, King Change, it hardly benefits you to have me a servant,” I said.

“Do not assume what may benefit a king, pitiful queen of nothing,” he answered. “Raise is closer to joining my ruin than any other. One hundred years. Two. I could wait.”

Raise didn’t respond.

I replied, “What if I sought to ruin?”

“You will not ruin as you are,” Change said. “But you are a changeable monster, and so you might easily change toward ruin. Fragile and vulnerable in self and in body, and so I shall ruin you, and thus ruin See in the same act. I see only victory when I look at you.”

He meant every word.

And I could see the sense in them. I could feel them in the doubtful parts of my mind that I had vowed to strengthen with my daily trips to a conservatory mirror. This beastly king had surprised and terrified me with his cruel statement. I was vulnerable and fragile still. I would be for some time, both inside and out.

I did not much fear heartbreak of a romantic kind. That was a matter between me and a seeing king. But to be torn apart in self-esteem. That was my greatest weakness as a new queen and a recent monster.

King See interrupted the heavy quiet after Change’s speech. “So there is but one king who clings to this tribunal. A king who cannot hold this queen prisoner by himself.”

He circled to my right, coming as close as possible without pushing me to move as Raise had done. King See reached out the tiniest tendril of his cold, menacing power, and memories of his magic pulsing into me slammed to the fore of my mind.

“You are all warned,” he told four kings. “This queen is mine, and she has my protection.”

See stroked his power over my cheek and I sighed, betrayed by my body and even my mind for the space of a breath.

Then fury filled me hard and fast, and the heat and red of it nearly obliterated my senses of how to behave before five kings.

Fury would allow me to respond to See’s claim. And I couldn’t help that my voice was tight with ire. “You will all await my declaration of purpose.”

“We would hear it now,” Raise scoffed.

Take tutted. “Now, now. Her purpose is mine to know first.”

“Then she can whisper it in your ear,” Raise snapped. “We will hear it tonight.”

I had not intended to talk disrespectfully to kings—nor in a way that might anger them to action. But a stroke of power down my cheek had undone a fair amount of my civility.

This queen would not be claimed, and the rage I felt at See’s stroke of power only confirmed that.

Confirmed my fearful realization. But I could not think of that surrounded by such monsters.

“You will not hear my purpose this night,” I told Raise. “And Take shall hear it first of all.”

“Perhaps a queen has no purpose.” Change’s voice was a chilled murmur designed to spear into my esteem, and if not for my reined rage, maybe he would have succeeded in hurting me.

I turned from Raise and Take, from See, and Bring, and Change, as I glided for the hallway.

Over the occasional click of my shoes, I called back, “Never fear, King Change. I have ample purpose as a queen. It just has very little to do with kings.”