Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Things were not Left as before

It only remained they were Right.

H otel Vitale, in possession of four-fifths of its property, was not as I'd left it. Hotels were uniform by nature, and so lack of uniformity became easy to spot.

All was normal from the entrance barricade and past reception. Normality continued to my rooms on the first level. If I decided to walk past the second level, which I had a minute ago, then things took a turn to the new.

I'd ripped out window bars on the third level and smashed up mirrors to use for fortifications on the walls. When I'd last seen this level, concrete chunks and dust had littered the landing. I'd intended to clean what I could, but time had slipped away. And now…

"Goodness," I breathed.

Gone were the functional concrete steps, and in their place curved shallow and wider steps blushed blue and pink with dusk's greeting. Hellebores covered the balustrade in a curtain and encroached on the stairs in places.

I trailed my fingertips through their black petals as I obeyed the lure of the sweeping stairwell. Peering over the balustrade, I spotted a twin staircase that rose from the other end of the second level. The twin sets of stairs were as great arms hugging the hotel below, and at their center, where a head might sit on a person, was a circular building I'd be inclined to call a conservatory. I'd seen glasshouses at garden centers during field trips, and this building had that look, but the magnificence stole my breath and there was no apparent function to the space other than to be impossibly beautiful. No seedlings grew in trays, and no gardening tools hung on the walls.

I rested my hand on the dull copper of the conservatory walls and scratched at a patch oxidized by time into glorious patches of blues and greens. The glass panels interrupting the dull copper walls and ceiling at regular intervals around the conservatory were appropriately dusty, and a carpet of thyme formed the lush flooring in the building. I inhaled the lemon scent it released with each step I took into the incredible space.

I turned a full circle at the center. "How?"

How had this appeared? Who had done this for me?

This space, though empty, felt entirely welcoming. This place felt like me . I saw myself in the copper, some unblemished and some showing signs of time. Thyme itself was underfoot, the glass was clouded just like my future. The place was beautiful and also old, though it had just appeared.

I stood in the middle of my conservatory, breathing in lemon thyme and dust, and only then noticed a heavy drape of burgundy velvet hung across a panel in front of me. The pattern of the walls made me assume that a glass panel sat behind the drape, yet my instincts warned assumption was unwise. If this place reflected me, then it also reflected my fear of what I'd become. I'd heed my instincts in this and not touch the drape yet.

"Redecorating?"

Toil was here, and I didn't need to face him to know it with the delightful wet squelches he made.

"It seems so," I answered, glancing at my arms to check for the presence of stitches. They'd appeared, and the conservatory's appearance had distracted me from the itch of their arrival.

"We're here to capture you, Lady Patch."

Hmm. "Not today, Toil. That would not do."

"All right," he agreed, then muttered low, "But why would I not capture you? I was ordered to capture you."

He had questions for himself, and I had questions for myself. Hotel Vitale had changed, and this reminded me of how another building once did the same. King See's palace first appeared to me as an apartment. I could fathom how my subsequent slumbers and increasing ancientness had revealed more and more of his home and kingdom. Why couldn't my hotel change in the same manner?

As I became more ancient, the truth of Hotel Vitale was revealed. I saw this part clearly. But was this something all monsters received?

"Toil, Hex, Sigil," I said, interrupting them. "Do you have a home of your own?"

Sigil said, "Why no, Lady Patch. We have chambers, that is it. Our home is that of our liege."

That told me nothing. "When you awoke to your power, did your chamber grow as your power grew?"

"My chamber has never changed, lady. My power has never altered either."

"And the world as a whole, is it the same now as when you woke?"

"What does she mean?" Hex whispered.

These were matters above princes, I could tell. "It's of no matter. The way I see Vitale changes as I go, is all. I become more ancient and see more beauty, but I awoke to monsterdom in an unusual sort of way."

Toil said, "That doesn't sound pleasant to think a thing is one thing, then it becomes another thing. You wouldn't know what to expect from one minute to the next."

That was a good summary of it, really, and the phenomenon didn't just apply to buildings. I could sense the new strength in me. I'd been able to rip bars from windows before the last slumber, and now I felt certain of my ability to crumble the metal to dust if I wished. The strength reminded me of the power in Change's princes, of the way Huckery, Unguis, and Loup had lunged and snapped and buckled in the cage.

"You came early today," Will Be grumbled as he joined us, closely followed by Is and Has Been. "And you took up most of the courtyard with your trinkets."

I whipped to glance over my shoulder so fast that my brain rattled. "Trinkets?"

"Yes, lady. Cheap, worthless trinkets that one might expect of King Bring. The ones we brought you from King See are exquisite."

Hex jeered. "You're only late because you arrived and saw our trinkets, then went back to get yours."

"Your king seeks to entice the lady to concubine. Our king seeks to entice her to princess. Thus your gifts are blighted. Or do you suppose that station worthy of her?"

None of Bring's princes responded.

"Exactly," Is scoffed, and a strand of his hair fell to the ground.

I was intrigued. "I will see these gifts and be the judge of what is cheap and what is exquisite."

The princes bowed and didn't comment when I somewhat blurred past them in a boost of speed I hadn't possessed two months and eight days ago. The speed reminded me of Take's princes, if truth were told. I managed to slow to a pace reminiscent of a less ancient being and the princes fell in to walk behind the long train of my powder-blue puffed gown.

Trinkets were not the only things filling the courtyard.

Three werebeasts circled the courtyard.

"The other kings prostate themselves for your favor," Prince Huckery said after a snapping of his yellowed fangs.

"Good evening, Princes of King Change. How delightful that I can understand you in your true form now. Why have you come?"

"To confirm the whisperings of Take's minions. You're awakened and sane after our king's attack."

Take kept a close eye on all I did, and perhaps all that See and the other kings did. His minions were very useful, and I should consider their use and the matter of detecting and evading them. "I am sane, and will this enrage your king or the opposite?"

"Enrage, Lady Patch," Loup answered on a growl. "He has enjoyed the war with See since your death and mentally uncertain slumber."

War. I stared. "There was war during my slumber?"

"See did not divulge this?" Unguis said. "Nor his princes?"

I shot See's princes a look. "They did not ."

Each of them found somewhere else to look, which meant they'd had orders not to tell me. See had failed to mention anything about waging war when I woke, and this was important news to omit.

Has Been opened his mouth, but Huckery was quicker. He howled, then said, "When you died for a week, See declared war on Change. There has been much ruining in the world, and our liege thought of you fondly in this time. He spoke much of your potential. This evening, See's humans retreated, and so our liege's fondness of you will likely retreat too."

There was much to unpack in that. "His humans. Please explain."

"The humans in this pulse are split in five," Huckery said after a sigh.

"I've gathered. One-fifth for each kingdom. But the humans went to war for the kings?"

Loup grinned, and his black-spotted tongue hung from the corner of his mouth. "I doubt they know who they went to war for, lady, but they did find themselves in somewhat of a turf war. Just two-fifths of them, of course, because only two kings were involved. The rest scurried clear."

The problems of kings reflected onto humans.

I'd known each king's power affected humans in some way. Take drained "useless" humans. Bring used his charms and curses to deal out fortune or misfortune by turn. Change spread the curse of beastly behavior and thought to humans, and See—if I stopped to think about it—trimmed impossibilities if nothing else.

When Hotel Vitale became impossible based on whatever he'd seen, the king had closed it. See might resist shaping the possible path of the world, but he didn't hesitate to tidy up impossibilities.

"This turf war, did it wage in Vitale or all cities in the world?"

Loup bowed in answer. "All pulses in the globe, lady. The wars were of various origins. Some involved turf wars between those the humans call skeleton crews. Others involved a revolt against this or that law. I do not read the pulses as kings do, so I fathom only what I'm told of such matters."

Fascinating. "Is that why skeleton crews exist? As a cover for wars between kings?"

Nine princes chuckled, and the sound was delightful—the chuckling chime of See's princes, and the staccato snickers of Change's princes mixed with the rumbling laughter of Bring's princes. A princely orchestra. How nice to see them getting along.

"Lady Patch, no," said Has Been. "Skeleton crews are a cover for the movement of princes. Humans can be suspicious of anything out of the ordinary—a conventional weakness, you understand. They took notice of us moving about in threes when this pulse was smaller. Our lieges found it prudent to lean into this natural fear rather than cover it and risk deepening suspicions. At the time, we had recently woken and the way was less clear. We sought to lessen our vulnerability while establishing the kingdoms here. So our kings forced a number of human men to move about in threes. They ordered them to engage in pitiful acts of vengeance and cruelty. Our kings whispered the term "skeleton crew" on the air for a time, and soon the idea took. Humans started to form skeleton crews themselves, and the idea has persevered through some twelve hundred years."

I'd learned much today. "There was a time when kings and princes agreed?"

Sigil grumbled. "Think not of that, lady, for there has been a far greater time spent in disagreement."

In fairness, I couldn't imagine the kings seeing eye to eye. Some wished to save, and others to ruin, and some wished nor cared for naught.

The door in my wall of bars creaked open to admit three more princes.

"Is this a soiree then?" Gangrel asked, coming through first. "My liege will be annoyed not to have received an invite."

I'd never fully looked at Take's prince, but his body and face were as his feet, shriveled like all liquid had been pulled from his body. He dressed more finely than the other princes, and lace rippled at his cuffs and throat. I couldn't identify the shining material of his jacket, but the weapon across his back was a gleaming spear. Though the other princes wore weapons, too, none wore theirs as boldly as Gangrel.

"That is no way to greet me, Prince Gangrel," I scolded, then immediately wondered at my audacity in speaking such a way to a prince.

He was appropriately chastened and executed a hasty bow.

Goodness, his apology sat very well with me. My expectations for princes must have altered after recent slumber and increasing ancientness.

Behind him, Vassal and Sanguine trailed in, grandly dressed and carrying spears across their backs too.

Vassal blushed, stealing peeks of me.

"Lady Patch," he squeaked, bowing low. "I've anticipated this meeting since the honor of viewing you in my liege's ballroom."

I dipped my head. "Prince Vassal, a pleasure to meet you. And you, Prince Sanguine."

Sanguine dipped his head in return, and appeared a serious, reserved kind of monster. Very different to the forthright Gangrel and the bashful Vassal.

Twelve princes. Hotel Vitale was growing crowded. Especially with all of these trinkets.

Piles of golden jewels and gems towered high across the cobblestones. Ornate furniture scattered the space, draped with flowing materials that glittered and gleamed. "Are all of these for me?" I asked. "And just to make me amenable to the idea of concubine or princess?"

Unguis snapped, "Who seeks to make you concubine?"

His question was lost as the hellebores on my mother's grave parted way in a great rustle. Her grave caved into a widening yawn that dragged the stone surface down, stretching wider until half of the courtyard or more was a gigantic chasm. Trinkets toppled into the black hole. Gems and coins and furniture and more were sucked into the ground, and the rattle and groan made the princes leap back with shouts of alarm.

I watched until the last glinting diamond disappeared and the cobblestones returned as if they'd never shifted. The hellebores smoothed over Mother's grave with a satisfied rustle.

That was that. Part of me had worried about finding a place for all those trinkets. Mother must've liked the sight of them.

"What happened, lady?" whispered Vassal. "I have never seen such a thing."

I glanced at the prince. "You've never seen the ground eat anything?"

The prince shook his head.

"Neither have I," I told him. "But I've never seen much of anything that's happened to me lately, so I wasn't going to mention how strange this seemed by conventional standards."

Gangrel snorted. "Such cheap trinkets belong in the ground, lady. We have a trinket most rare and exquisite indeed."

I wasn't alone in peering around the courtyard, but no new pile of gems and coins appeared for Mother to yawn away.

Take's prince drew a thin letter from within his leather tunic and extended it to me.

I ran my stitched-on thumb over the fanged seal. "And what's this?"

Sanguine answered, "Nothing so common as swatches of satin or a chaise grandly upholstered. My liege gives you information, lady. Something no one else knows, or maybe something no one else wants you to know. He gives you knowledge."

How could King Take have anticipated that knowledge was what a new monster would particularly desire? I suppose he was once a new monster himself. "Your liege seeks to drive a wedge between me and King See."

The three princes nodded.

Sanguine said after, "Why did we answer that?" The three princes exchanged a confused look.

"Does no one ask why twelve princes accept her so blindly!" Huckery's savage snarl suggested he found these proceedings very bizarre—and more bizarre because no one else had mentioned the bizarreties at all.

He had a point. Here, twelve monster princes, three each to a different liege, and yet, here twelve princes together with orders concerning me.

"You're right," I murmured. "This is bizarre even by monstrous standards."

I hadn't been in a place to ask why prior to this, and I'd been busy learning what monstrous standards were—but my mind felt less like squeezing and pulsing than ever before, and more and more I could feel what might be normal for monsterdom and not.

So now, I took the moment to consider a few developments that were too impossible for my mind to consider before.

The hotel had changed quite drastically and magically.

My abilities had changed quite drastically and magically.

I woke from each slumber more ancient, and now I could see that my increasing abilities were reflected in the surrounding princes. I woke stronger like Change's princes and faster like Take's. I woke with greater awareness of action and consequence, and this was in line with what I assumed the power of See's princes to be.

King See had connected that each of my ancestors sacrificed a body part to make me, but connecting the dots on this new matter wasn't difficult in the slightest, and I could thank greater ancientness for that.

The answer was simple: The twelve princes here belonged to kings who'd returned their snuffing shares. With the return of each share, or coincidentally after each slumber forced upon me, I woke more powerful and my hotel altered to somewhat more of a beautiful garden sanctum.

One part didn't add up.

I recognized new speed and strength and awareness, but those abilities only accounted for three of the four kings who'd returned their snuffing shares. I couldn't see anything in me of Bring's princes. There was no slime, no blob, no blink. So after all that thinking, maybe no connection existed between snuffing share and hotel and power.

Perhaps everything was due to a few slumbers.

"Bother," I said.

"Is there something the matter, lady?" Sigil stepped forward.

I shook my head. "Just rather tired, Prince Sigil. I thank you."

I couldn't have said why at that moment I glanced at See's three princes, nor why they looked at me, but a private thought and burning memory intruded soundly and suddenly between us.

Their liege had told me how last night would go, and he'd been right. Midnight stole across my cheeks. I'd resisted. I'd touched. I'd despised him, and then I'd used the thought of him until the glorious end. And now, in the presence of his princes, who'd witnessed all King See foretold—and him blinded by me , apparently—I was very aware of what their thoughts were. I'd learned something last night, however, and the ability to bring myself pleasure was something I felt grateful and in awe of.

"Tell your liege I thank him for the return favor."

Has Been choked on his spittle. Is grinned. Will Be's brows shot to the third level, and the rest of us watched as they floated down to return to his face again.

"What favor?" Huckery demanded.

He wasn't alone, Gangrel and Hex echoed varying versions of his question. Many of the princes wished to know, but a wish might not be granted, so I ignored them in favor of prying open the letter.

I scanned the contents. Then a second time.

My heart sank before the ancient in me scooped the organ back into my rib cage.

"Lady Patch, what does it say?" Loup asked.

Sanguine sneered. "None of your business, beast."

I read the letter a third time.

Options, options.

My instinct was to keep this to myself. I had the choice to do the opposite though. King Take won either way, which would keep him in good favor. If I kept this information a secret, then no doubt I'd move forward in a manner that would confuse others. If I revealed the contents of the letter, then others would move forward in a different manner for me.

Take's gift was rare indeed because I had the choice between complete control or gathering more information again.

The nature of Take's information should be considered.

What he'd told me wasn't useful. He intended to generate emotions that aligned with his agenda to come between me and See. If he'd offered useful information, then I might have opted for control, especially as I couldn't remember ever having much control in life. As it was, this tidbit felt like a secret that could harm a relationship capable of long-lasting greatness.

The princes had come to a shouting standoff as I reasoned with myself. Goodness, I'd missed that altogether. Take's princes had their glinting spears out.

"I will read it to you," I announced, cutting off Unguis's lisping shout.

Their aggressive postures relaxed a smidgen, though glares continued to be thrown. Gangrel slid his spear back into its holder on his back, and Take's two other princes followed suit.

I read aloud.

Dearest,

I lament the ending of our last meeting.

I had hoped to dance a waltz with you,

though my princess bride is glad I did not.

Still, you sneak into my thoughts at dawn,

and so here is a thought snuck to you,

some company for your dawn, I hope.

As I take pleasure from many fleshes, so too does my princess.

She takes hers, regularly, from King See.

Ever Thirst for Thirst Itself,

Your King Take

I folded the letter and tucked the parchment into the neckline of my powder-blue puffed gown.

Then I watched each set of princes in turn.

I'd decided to relinquish control to gather intelligence of my own. So how would each respond? How would each king respond? Take's princes were understandably eager to witness the fallout. Change's princes, too, held an eagerness, perhaps sensing ruin ahead.

Bring's princes appeared happy and unhappy at the same time, both smiling and frowning. I supposed they were happy for the liege, and also unhappy this information might open me further to his offer of concubine. What turmoil they looked to be in.

Has Been, Will Be, and Is were another story. They seemed very, completely unhappy.

"What have you to say on this topic?" I asked them.

Is swallowed. "Lady Patch…"

Has Been's face smoothed.

Will Be blew out a breath. "'Tis true, lady. Yes, this information is true. King See is a man like any other, and an immortal, ancient one at that. Humans are not an option, and there exist few female monsters. Take's princess is the only woman who can withstand our liege's touch. In general, there exists a deal between the kings that princesses might go where they please."

The ancient in me understood what he didn't say—that immortality was lonely, and the immortal man and woman lusted as surely as a mortal but had few options for satisfaction. The rest of me… felt many confusing things, especially at the mention of our liege's touch .

"Everyone is okay with this sharing?"

"The exchange works for everyone in different ways," Unguis said after a lull.

My brow cleared. "In the payment of information and favors."

Twelve nods. Twelve princes who waited to see how I might process such news. They'd wait a long time as I had no idea how to process it either.

"I will be alone now," I told them. "Go back to your lieges today."

The princes looked crestfallen, even suspicious Huckery who attempted to cover his pity and curiosity with a scowl.

Has Been bowed. "Lady, King See will wish to know whether you are taken up in a jealous rage over this."

I wasn't sure yet. "Your liege can go on wishing."

Has Been's jaw dropped, and he picked it up, slotting jaw to skull once more.

"King Change will be happy at the promise of ruin. You will be in his good graces again," Loup stated, then tilted his werebeast head. "Are you okay, Lady Patch?"

How had the princess been with King See? In what physical ways? My younger mind wanted to know. The ancient side of me expected that a matter of the flesh could be just that, only a matter of the flesh. The ancient me understood that a woman did not need to be first, but there was victory in being last. The young in me shied from the magnitude of being last for an immortal king and didn't wish to consider this matter in much depth.

This information had achieved fresh imbalance between me and See, for I saw that, though he'd been my first in every way—my first arousal and seduction and self-pleasured thought—I'd been none of those for him.

"The parts of me must talk and figure this out. They feel differently about the news," I said honestly. "Go now. Do not return until tomorrow's dusk."

The princes bowed one after the other, even Huckery, and trickled away through my wall of bars. They pressed their faces, each monstrous in its own way, against the bars to peer back in on me. Clearly they believed this was enough distance, and I found the audience unwelcome tonight.

I trailed up to my new conservatory to be away from them, and I felt the tension drain from my shoulders. I paused in the shadows at the base of the beautiful new stairwell to properly appreciate how the night illuminated it. Halfway up, icy moonlight bathed the steps.

I blinked.

Then frowned.

I was standing in moonlight. "I?—"

I shut my mouth, then glanced down the stairs to the shadows at the base. "I was standing there a moment ago. I could swear it."

My slippered feet teetered on the edge of this step. I'd certainly been in the shadows and not the moonlight. I'd been standing… six feet away.

"Goodness," I breathed.

I peered down the stairwell again to the shadowed place. I thought hard of it.

Blink.

Lifting my head, I looked up from my shadowed spot to the moonlight-bathed steps above. I'd moved back six feet. Exactly. Now wasn't that curious indeed?

Wasn't that the puzzle piece I'd needed?

I blinked in six-foot jumps to the center of my copper conservatory. Laughter spilled from my stitched lips after the second blink, and the sound jolted, disappearing and reappearing with my body. How vastly enjoyable to travel this way. The sensation was akin to stepping in and out of a bubble. The world was there one moment, then gone again. A monstrous game of peek-a-boo. Yes, enjoyable indeed. I wouldn't have expected such.

I lurked before the heavy burgundy drape and twisted a smile in the darkness. "Four snuffing shares returned, four sets of princes earned, their powers in my slumber burned."

Slumber alone had not caused the changes in my power and hotel. Rather, the return of the snuffing shares had also triggered such transformation. There was a reason for my obsession after all, and my monsterdom made some sense at last because my obsession had gained the reek of purpose.

Of what my purpose might be, I couldn't say, but a mind didn't need to be ancient to figure out what came next.

I still had one snuffing share to get back.