"…And so, the poor major suffered a javelin in her heart, struggling in front of Death. The General tried to reach out his hand to save her, but no one could. She fell to the ground, with gore smeared over the last garments she would ever wear in this life. And as her rebellious soul was dragged to the Underworld, kicking and screaming in agony, hopes of victory filled the hearts of her adversaries." Grim closed his large book.

Mandy finished her warm milk and leant back in her bed. "Those memoirs are interesting," she said. She was not too tired; but the rules were clear for underage monarchs. These rules consisted of bedtime before 10pm, up at eight, everyday baths, no sugar of alcohol during weekdays and five hours of school every day except for Sundays. Sundays were reserved for outside activities, relaxation and entertainment at the theatre. Mandy took painting courses on these days and organized her huge napkin collection.

Grim dimmed the oil lamps. "Thanks. Good night, then."

"Good night," Mandy muttered; her eyelids were heavy as stones all of a sudden. Grim closed the bedchamber door and set course for his quarters, a pot of tea and a ton of paperwork.

Major Doctor Ghastly had never seen a more opulent place in her life. Jhonen con Carne was the last one she had worked for, but as he was apprehended, prosecuted and beheaded for treason against the Queen, she had been out of work, and the comfortable accommodations of his mansion replaced by various taverns and boarding houses for her part.

She adjusted her large, special-made spectacles. This was her biggest weakness – terrible eyesight. The corridors were empty. "So, what is your master plan, anyway?" she asked Boogeyman. "Yeah, yeah, we knock the chamber guards with good night-gas, and then what? We replace the Book with a voodoo doll?"

"No, no, no," Boogey retorted. "That's so last year. What I have in mind may surprise even a lady like you." He directed his gaze to Ghastly's bosom, more or less to scare her. She was not his type anyway. He liked his women young, very young, a fact he was glad did not come out among the inmates in prison. But Ghastly knew all about it.

"Gosh, you're a creep," she said and shuddered.

"Thank you, honey."

"Enough already!" Sperg exclaimed.

The Queen's bedroom was well guarded. No one was allowed near her door nighttime. In older times disturbing the Queen's sleep would be punished with beheading. Mandy's mother was the one to abolish this law, even though the Lodge was critical. They compromised by hiring guards educated in the protection of women.

"Ghastly?" Boogeyman said like a magician to his assistant. Ghastly had a makeshift canister in her shoulder bag that she pulled the pin out of and rolled it across the floor with her foot.

The effect was impressive for all the wrong reasons, as with most of Boogey's warped schemes. The color of the gas faded from dark blue to green to pink, and when it vaporized completely, three guards were face-down on the floor. The trio removed their masks.

"Now, that went just beautiful," Sperg looked at Ghastly, and both of them chortled.

Mandy was sleeping tightly, looking just like any other child. Boogeyman truly enjoyed seeing a woman so helpless and unknowing; this was after all a woman's place by his standards. He hovered by her side as Sperg crawled under the bed.

It was completely dark under the bed, but Sperg was very experienced in the art of stealing things. He dragged his fingers over the stone floor, and found the bolts he knew would be there, and triumphantly opened it. He did not notice losing his stolen Ouroboros emblem.

The Book of Hours was truly a work of art. The hardback was lined with white gold, and to their surprise, there was no padlock or code mechanism. There was a lovely decorated tab on top, as with most prayer books of that time, to suspend from the belt of a farthingale. Sperg opened it to reveal –

"There's no text."

Ghastly's jaw dropped. Boogeyman just looked down on his long, dirty fingernails as if he was bored. He had expected something like this.

"I know."

"Then why," Ghastly whispered ominously, "Did you drag us into this snake pit to find it?"

Boogeyman put on an insulted face. "Hey, I know what to do, sugar pie. After all, it was my plan, so don't worry. I would never do anything to wrinkle your face."

Ghastly had never been treated like this in her life. "You're a douchebag, Booger."

A snore from Mandy made the group jump and Boogeyman did not want to waste any more time. He sat down next to the Queen and very unexpectedly, tapped her shoulder. Her eyes flung open.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacy."

"Gri-"

He covered her mouth, and tapped her on the forehead. She fainted immediately, and Boogeyman wrapped her swiftly up in the blanket.

"You're actually kidnapping the Queen?!" Ghastly glared at him. "You're loonier than I tell people!"

Sperg looked out the door. "I guess we have four minutes before having to lay our heads on the block."

"Right." Boogeyman lifted Mandy up. She was as light as a feather.

The snowfall had died down in the night, and a dreadful cold had replaced it as the trio of intruders was running away from Dimhald Castle. The air snapped at Mandy's naked feet, and she opened her eyes. The wind was soon replaced by that strange sensation of water. Someone pulled up the blanket over her face and she was lulled back into a dreamless sleep.

Somewhere else, in the potions cellar, a very particular vial, whose contents had lain dormant had noticed a certain disruption. But now it started bubbling and from the bottom of the vial it reached up its dark tendrils. The cork was pulled, and disembodied voices started whispering gloomily from the depths of The Darkness. It floated, like a lazy waterfall, out of the bottle, down from the shelf, onto the floor, and slowly engulfed the entire room with its menacing murky glow. A smoky veil assumed form as an arm, and reached for the door handle…

Grim was up early for some, as he called it, "relaxation". By tapping his scythe three times music very ahead of its time, a dulcet jazzy flute and seductively beating drums emitted from thin air. He lit up a pipe which may or may not contain regular tobacco and turned pages in an illuminated manuscript mostly depicting magical creatures. The Dimhald Library was the only part of the castle Billy avoided, and therefore, Grim's favorite spot.

Grim was "relaxed", alright. He was lost in a vision in which a lovely harpy reached her hands out to dance with him, until he heard someone came running. He quickly put out the pipe and hid it, as well as the book. The humiliation if anyone found out he read that kind of literature? Unbearable.

"What's happening?" he asked the guards who came in, dizzy and disoriented. One of them had an injured nose.

One of the aquamarine – skinned guard flapped his bat wings. "The Queen is not in her bed. We looked everywhere; she's gone, even her blanket is gone!"

-

Grim felt very uneasy as he entered Mandy's chamber. The first thing he noticed was how ash from the fire place had scattered over the Tyrian purple and olive green carpet. Someone had knocked over an armchair, and the four-poster bed was an incredible chaos. He crossed the room and knocked on the door to her private boudoir.

"Mandy?"

No answer. Grim entered – the room was as tidy as it always was, in contrast to the other room. Uneasiness evolved into intense worry. He was about to run down the stairs as he stepped on something.

It was a Scythe Lodge emblem, and he had broken it. He picked it up.

The guard returned. "Last night, while we were guarding the Queen's door, we heard a noise from around the corner. But before we could investigate, this was thrown at us, and we all fainted."

Grim looked at the canister-like device. He immediately remembered it from his school days.

"The Queen has been kidnapped by the Boogeyman." Grim said sullenly; angry with himself for not having foreseen an incident like this. "But please, do not…"

The guards ignored him and hustled down the stairs. "The Queen has been kidnapped! The Queen has been stolen! They took our Queen!"

Grim followed as fast as he could, but the damage was done.

The rest of the court was gathered in the dining hall, where they were served breakfast by Granny Grim and Aunt Kali.

"They took our Queen!"

The people in the court stared at the guards. And then –

"They took our Queen?" a little princess asked.

"They took our Queen," the guard replied worryingly.

"They TOOK our Queen! Came from the left corner.

"Dey stall our Queen!" Granny Grim joined in the choir.

"They took our Queen!" Came from the people at the right corner.

"They took our jobs!" Billy shouted.

Everybody looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Billy scratched his head. "Oh, eh, they took our Queen!" He raised his fist angrily.

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