Private Gehrig, of the King’s Own Guard had come down to check on the Gemelstone room. His commander had sent him to check on the Gemel servant who worked here. He dreaded this assignment. The always silent Gemel made him uncomfortable. It made him nervous she could communicate over vast distances with her other half. He quickly cleaned the room and walked into the side room to check it for the proper supplies. As he worked in the supply room, restocking the proper shelves, he thought of the maid Sally. He was quite certain she was the one. The thought lifted his mind and spirits, he began to whistle.
The door to the supply room opened behind him. He turned with a start. In the doorway stood the Gemel twin.
“Can I help you,” he asked with a voice sounding much steadier than he felt.
“Stay in here,” she responded. It was the first time Private Gehrig had ever heard her talk.
“What?” he asked.
“Your life and mine depend on it. Stay in this room.”
“Until when,” he asked.
“You will know,” and with that she left the small supply room and closed the door.
At this very moment, only a few floors above him, Grand Duke Agro began descending the steep stairs. Several flights later, he was in a rarely traveled portion of the castle. He walked through a maze of passages. After two rights and one left, he stopped and listened carefully to see if he was being followed. He heard nothing. He went down to the end of the corridor and took a right and then another right. And then his first left. Two and then one, three times repeated. That was the combination to get him to the correct room. After the second set he stopped again and listened. For a moment, he thought he heard a footstep. He waited until he was certain it was nothing and finished the last set of two right turns and one left. Then he opened the door at the end of the corridor. Inside the nearly empty room was a rug that matched the rug in the Gemelstone room. There were two chairs. In one, sat a gaunt figure.
Without a word, the Duke sat down in the empty chair. Immediately, the stone held by the skeletal figure began to glow a deep red. A raspy, hissing voice began speaking to the Grand Duke. He tried unsuccessfully to hold back the shiver he felt every time he came here.
"What news, my servant?" asked the sibilant voice.
The Duke cleared his throat with a quick cough. "All our plans proceed as directed, Master. The King will send his daughter to meet with the Northern Prince in the next few days. If everything proceeds according to your plan, they shall agree to be wed and the kingdoms will unite."
"If?" asked the voice.
"Well," said Agro, "The King seems committed to keeping his promise to his late wife. If the Princess doesn't want to wed the Northern King's brat, then the King will not force her to."
"And?" prompted the voice.
"If she refuses, I shall kill her. The meeting is to take place in my Duchy. If it goes badly, I shall kill her immediately and then return to kill the king."
"Excellent," said the voice.
Agro had once met the Ice Demon. It wasn't an experience he was eager to repeat. Even just hearing its voice, brought fear into his belly. He wrestled the fear back. Then, mustering a bit of unexpected bravery, he asked the question burning in his mind.
"And then I shall have my kingdom?"
The Ice Demon chuckled quietly through the Gemelstone slave. "Yes," he said, "then you shall have your kingdom."
After a moment of quiet, the Demon spoke again unexpectedly. "Change of plan, servant. Instead, kill the princess as she travels to your Duchy. Have her attacked and killed. Before you leave to your Duchy to await the princess who will never arrive, have your servants in the castle treble the poison in the King's tea. With that, he shall die before you ever return."
Agro's mind spun with the change of plan. Yes, he could make that work.
"What of the Northern King?" asked Agro, not quite understanding how the Northern King was to be eliminated allowing Agro to end up on the throne of both kingdoms.
"Leave it to me," demanded the Ice Demon with a harsh hiss. "Do your part, and all shall be as promised. This shall be our last communication through these slaves. Next time we speak, it shall be in your Duchy."
With that, the Gemelstone slave slumped back down in his chair.
Without a word, and unexpectedly quite pleased with the conversation, Agro strode from the room. As soon as the door shut behind, another door inside the room opened and out walked Gehrig.
He felt shaken to the core. There in her seat sat the Gemel lady, slumped. He put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond to his touch. Treason! Private Gehrig’s mind raced as he thought of what he had heard as he listened at the door of the supply room. He needed to get to his commander and report this immediately.
As soon as he reported this to his commander, he was certain to earn the Lieutenant stripe he so badly wanted. And with that a pay increase. The pay would allow him to ask the maid Sally’s hand in marriage. With this, a second man strode from the room without a backward glance at the Gemelstone slave. Private Gehrig turned the third set of steps and came face to face with the Grand Duke.
Unfortunately for him, the Grand Duke already had his sword drawn and promptly thrust it through his heart. Gehrig’s last thought was of the small stone cottage he had so wanted to purchase for the lovely maid. Now, it was all gone.
Agro wiped his blade on the King's Own Guard as the light in the guard's eyes flickered to nothingness. "Well," he exclaimed to himself, "that makes my job even easier. I shall have one of my guards assigned to the King's Own--and then demand he leads the Princess's trip to my Duchy. And after he destroys the Princess, I shall have him killed as a traitor." He smiled at the fortuitous turn of events and whistled as he strode up the stairs.
Down below, in a lonely chair, sat the Gemelstone slave. She felt all of the pain of her brother as his spirit was consumed by the Ice Demon. Tears flowed down her cheeks as the agony of her twin burned in her mind.