The Twins by Gary Alan Wassner

emotion to such an inanimate object, he would have believed it to be as expectant and excited as was he.
    Placing the stone atop the velvet box and humming a deep and resonant note in just the right key, he sat down awestruck and witnessed what he had never even anticipated. The white stone glowed with power. As if melting, yet clearly maintaining its shape, it enveloped the box in tendrils of white light, so very beautiful to behold. The black velvet shimmered under the diamond web and then vanished as if it had never been there to begin with.
    Baladar focused his vision upon the stone as best he could, considering the brightness of the light, and he began to discern the clear shape of a ring suspended within it. It twirled and spun like a coin flipped by a child upon a table. Spinning faster and faster, the light from the ring filled the entire room with a dizzying, almost nauseating whiteness. As quickly as it reached its peak, the light abruptly vanished as the diamond and the ring fell to the stone floor, clattering and jingling. The velvet box was gone. Baladar retrieved the stone and returned it to the pouch.
    Fingers trembling, he deferentially picked up the glowing band of gold between his thumb and forefinger and held it aloft before his eyes. Ancient runes covered the ring, inside and out, most of which were not quite discernible to the naked eye,but he recognized a symbol here and there, as he examined it with care. It was warm to the touch and remarkably beautiful! He removed a thin, gold chain from around his own neck, slipped the ring over it and secured it once again, and although seemingly weightless, Baladar felt and sensed its presence against the skin of his chest. He hurriedly returned the implements of his work to whence they had come and left the chamber. Purposefully he scurried down the narrow, winding stairway from his tower room.
    Upon emerging from the stairwell into the great hall, he was confronted by members of the court who had no idea of what was unfolding right within their midst. The mundane tasks of running a large city seemed so far away and unimportant at the moment, yet no one else here was cognizant of that fact.
    “My Lord, would you be so good as to sign this document? It has been sitting upon my desk for three days now and the families involved need to partition the land before the winter rains wash the markers we set away,” the clerk of the 1st court said, thrusting a quill pen and a paper in front of him.
    “I am sorry, my friend, but I have no time now. Perhaps later this evening. Or even better, bright and early tomorrow morning. I have some business to attend to now.”
    Baladar dismissed him politely though abruptly, and rushed through the crowd gathered in the great hall, perfunctorily responding to those who would take no less than some kind of acknowledgment.
    I should have found a better way out of here , he thought, not realizing the time of day and just how crowded the grounds of the castle would be now.
    Immediately in front of him, the door to the courtyard loomed, and in only a short time now he would be on his way.
    Pushing the great oaken slab unassisted was a real test of strength, but not wanting to draw any more attention to himself, he did not call for aid. As it opened and he was about to take his first step into the passage just ahead, he felt a strong hand upon his shoulder.
    “Forgive me, my Lord Baladar,” the deep and resonant voice he recognized immediately said. “I must detain you from your obviously pressing calling for just a moment. A matter of importance, if you please.”
    “Yes, Darrel, what is it? I am late for an appointment with the new gelding in the outer stable. Before the sun sets, I promised the trainer that I would attempt a riding.”
    “Oh, I see. I will not keep you for too long then. But, I understand that we have a guest in the castle!”
    Baladar’s heart leapt at the last remark. How could Darrel know? This will change my