One Unaccounted-for Thing

Reaibn was vastly powerful, and growing more so all the time. However, Astra had in her possession something he did not anticipate and could not counteract: her family's ancestral dagger. Ensorcelled to be invisible, she was able to keep it (though not reach it) when chained naked in the dungeon. Astra thought it nothing more than a keepsake and useful item, but it was faintly magical. It was not an artifact of great power, but in the realm of magic there are some things that are anathema to each other.

Astra's dagger did not make her immune to Reaibn's power, but soon after he used the marble on her it dissipated the fog from her mind, and she was herself again. She did not know why she was able to shake off the compulsion, but what she did know is that she had enough of this madman.

With a yell, Astra drew the aforementioned dagger and used it to slit Reaibn's throat. Lord Fred yelled in astonishment "Astra! What are you doing?!" Reaibn's body fell to the floor in a torrent of blood.

"I only.. wanted to.. help..." he said, and then was still. Moments later, his corpse vanished.

"Astra! You have slain him! Was that absolutely necessary?!" demands Fred. "And where has his body gone? How are we going to escape now?"
"I will explain later! He was a manipulative evil bastard and had to go. Let's go!" and she grabbed Fred's arm and pulled him behind her as she headed through the castle corridors towards the kitchens. They could sneak out through the scullery door.
Fred was not convinced that Reaibn had been evil, but his guilt could wait until they made their escape.

In the highest room of the tallest tower, a man sat on a throne of cold iron. A frown on his face, he talked to himself. "Well, we tried that way, didn't we? If not the carrot, then the whip. Let us see what they will get up to, and when the moment is right they will beg us for assistance. Yes." Reaibn grinned, rolling his marble around his palm. One way or another, his will would be done.

1. Lord Fred and Astra escape out the scullery door.
2. Lord Fred and Astra run into the castle guards, who are curious why they are not at the coronation.

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