Igor was cursing the day he had missed the opportunity to at least try and take the ring away from Angela. He had given up without a fight which was pretty pathetic and unforgivable. Now the old King had died and Daniel was the ruler of Green
Valley. And what was even worse was that Angela was his Queen, his wife, which meant that she had just as much respect and protection as Daniel himself. Now things were a lot more difficult. He wished he hadn’t been such a coward. But as there was no point in crying over spilled milk, he decided to go back to his citadel and ask for Margo's advice. He just hoped she wouldn’t mock him, but he knew better. She was an old crow and she never missed an opportunity to mock him. But even so, he needed the old hag. That was why she did what she did. She too, knew that he was lost without her magic and advice. And she enjoyed every moment of it. Sometimes he thought she was pure evil. He couldn’t stand her and her stench but he couldn’t live without her, either. He kept telling himself that she was a necessary evil. It was best to have her by his side than on the enemy's side, that was for sure.
Igor had been away from his people for a year during which he had tried to infiltrate in Daniel’s castle in vain. He couldn’t delay his return anymore. He was wondering if his people were still there, waiting for him. He hadn’t known that he'd be away for so long. He had left Margo in charge of everything before leaving, even his money. Someone had to pay his little army while he was away. And as much as he didn’t like her, he trusted her. She’d been by his side since forever.
He was so broken to pieces that he felt he had to be glued together not to fall apart. He needed a new plan now. He couldn’t just barge in the castle, not alone anyway. But he decided to try to keep his wits together and search his brain for something else. It was the best thing he could do. But first he had to return to his people, to Margo.
When he finally arrived, he was content to see that his people were still there, greeting him, happy of his return. By the way they looked, it was obvious that Margo had done a good job and that she had paid them while he had been away. There were some soldiers guarding his citadel who seemed surprised of his return but glad at the same time. They greeted him with due respect and he didn’t sense any mockery in their attitude which took a bit from his sorrow of having failed. It didn’t really matter as long as he still had his people and of course, Margo.
He entered the citadel and headed straight for Margo's tower. He could almost hear her hissing already. Heclimbed the steps to her chamber in a jiffy and entered without knocking. Margo was mixing some brews at her working table, which by the way, were smelling horrible. She was obviously working on some new spell, some new incantation. When he entered, she didn’t even have to turn around to know it was him. She knew as she addressed him while she was still mixing in the boiling brew, with her back against the door, not being able to see him.
“Sssoo, my Prince, you failed…. You couldn’t take the ring…. from a girl…”, she said, blame in her voice, but not mockery. He could deal with that, he thought.
“Yeah… I was a fool, I shouldn’t have missed my opportunity, I should have tried while I had the chance. But it's too late for that now. She is Queen now and Daniel is the King of Green Valley. Things are a bit more complicated now, but not impossible I hope. Maybe with your help, Margo, I could… “
“So you were, my Prince, so you were… but don’t fret, there will be other chances, you just have to be patient.” Then Margo went on with mixing her potions and Igor knew that was all she was going to say for now. She was disappointed but he was just as disappointed with himself so there was no point in being bitter about it anymore. He left her there as he found her and went to his room which was pretty clean, to his amazement. She must have paid someone to keep it clean for his return as she surely hadn’t cleaned it herself. He was dead tired and all
he wished for now was to have a good night's rest. He took a cold shower and then he fell into a deep slumber.
On the following morning, Igor felt refreshed. He was glad to be among his people again. He ordered his generals to get him a list of his troops and of the provisions they still had. He had to see the numbers with his own eyes, to see exactly how many people he could count on when the time came for battle. Because the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was there was no other way. He couldn’t just filch that darn ring so he would have to rely on his men, on his army. He couldn’t delay the attack much longer as he was sure the barn and silo were depleting every day. He couldn’t wait until there was nothing left. He was well aware that no army would fight on an empty belly. So the final battle should be soon, while he still had enough provisions to feed his men.
When Morris, his general, brought him the list he had required, Igor could see that his hands were trembling and he knew that whatever he would read on that list was not going to please him. Morris almost dropped the list when he handed it to him, then he coughed trying to appear as though that had been the cause for his almost dropping it. But his anxiety was evident. Finally, Igor almost snatched the list from Morris'hands and then he sat back on his chair examining it carefully while Morris stood still, waiting for orders which never came. Igor bit his lower lip at seeing the low numbers but didn’t utter one word. Then he just said “Dismissed” while looking at Morris. He could see relief in his big brown eyes before he turned around and left the room.