"Your Majesty." It came out as a nearly-unintelligible grunt from a large lump of a man called Gar. His twin brother, Big'un, stood directly behind him, dwarfing the large man with an even larger shadow.

Ylva lifted an eyebrow at the pair as she walked toward them. Her heels clacked loudly on the cold, ice floor of her castle. The half-giants began to shift their weight nervously. She stopped just shy of a meter from them. Goodness, they smelled.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. "Where is it?"

"It was snatched," replied Gar, not meeting her eyes.

"Snatched?! By whom?"

Gar looked to Big'un, who shrugged. Ylva felt her patience dissolve like snow under a summer sun. She hated Summer. Gar and Big'un began to yelp and hop, stomping their wagon-sized boots as she let the frostbite creep into their toes. Just as suddenly as she had lost her cool, she began to regain it. The half-giants stopped their awkward dance.

"Don't make me ask again," she threatened.

"Well...we had it, and then we didn't," said Big'un, his bass voice echoing off the ice.

"Go on," said Ylva, eyes narrowed. Big'un gulped.

"We stopped off for a pint and we set it down, just for a minute. When we turned around it was gone. Snatched."

"You idiots! You don't understand what you've done. When I say 'Bring it to me,' I mean bring it straight to me! No stops, no detours. You had one task!"

Ylva ended her tirade by giving them each a well-deserved slap. They grunted, rubbing their raw cheeks sullenly. She took a deep breath. Did she really have to rely on these two idiots? Of course, she knew the answer was "yes." She couldn't risk the other kingdoms finding out who was behind it all. Fortunately, she knew a little spell that forced the half-giants to keep her secret.

"Go back out there. Find. It," she commanded, pointing toward the door. "Don't come back until you have it."