Pepper was right where she needed to be. She scurried out of the bushes and swept up the remains of J.R.'s body. Isis, knowing that he would have to be buried quickly since the ice would eventually thaw and the broken limbs rot, had ordered Pepper to bury the remains. Then, tomorrow morning, a casket would be lowered over J.R.'s remains. No one would ever suspect that the King's remains were under an already dug grave.
Isis supervised from her perch in the window, and when Pepper was done she scurried off to hide the evidence. Everything had gone according to plan and Isis couldn't have been happier. There was only one stage left in this plan and it was the most crucial if she wanted to get back to the Ice Kingdom. With a sigh, Isis fixed her hair and then sat down in her chair and opened her book for the wait.
xxx
Pepper was breathing heavily by the time she reached the stables, though she had no idea whether it was because she was old or because of the poison that now coursed through her veins. The thought that her life was now in Isis's hands still made her skin crawl. The Queen had changed over the years, the proud and kind girl she knew had turned into a hardened woman who refused to be walked on. She craved power more than ever now since she had been denied it for so long.
Pepper refused to acknowledge that she had been part of that change, though she sometimes lay awake at night, staring at her ceiling, wondering if Isis would be a different woman if she had helped her Queen that fateful day. Pepper did not dwell on that now though, not when her life was on the line. Isis had given her a job to do, and she would complete it in order to get that antidote. It was sad that her life had been reduced to this: living day to day like it could be her last.
Reaching the stables, the maid burst through the barn doors and ran into Gumball.
"Pepper! What's wrong?" Gumball asked, gently grasping her shoulders to steady her. Pepper, who was struggling to breathe, placed her hands on her knees while drawing in gasping breaths. It was so hard to talk, but she had to relay the message quickly or Isis would punish her.
"I-It's J.R.! He was murdered! I saw it with my own eyes!" She whispered after looking around over her shoulder to make sure that they were alone in the barn. Gumball's eyes widened and he gasped loudly, taking a step back.
"H-He's dead? " Pepper wanted to roll her eyes. What part of 'murdered' didn't he understand? Honestly, what Isis saw in him she would never know. She struggled to be patient with Gumball as she tried to push him in the right direction. "What happened?"
"I-I don't know! It all happened so fast!" To avoid trying to create some sort of wild story, Pepper decided to change tactics. "We have to go see if Isis is alright! She might be next!" She persisted and grabbed Gumball's hand. She didn't have to say it twice. They were both running back to the castle, Gumball chastising her the entire way for not checking on Isis first, the loophole in her story forgotten.
xxx
Isis was calmly reading her book when Gumball and Pepper burst into her bedroom door. She shrieked at the sudden bang and flew to her feet, her hand reaching into the folds of her dress to unsheathe a knife. She leaped over her chair and crouched behind it as a barrier in a matter of seconds. When she saw that it was just the two of them, Isis breathed a sigh of relief and sheathed her blade.
"Really you guys? You scared the Hell out of me!" She scolded with a light laugh until she saw the grim looks on their faces. Confused, she glanced between the both of them. "…What's wrong?" She asked slowly and it was Pepper and Gumball's turn to look at one another.
"Isis…" Gumball took a step forward, holding out his hand. She took it out of reflex, secretly glad that he couldn't even look her in the eye. Isis was practically bursting in her glee. She had to play this just right though. One thing said wrong and she would immediately be cast into suspicion. "J.R….he was murdered." Gumball finally looked at her and she remembered just in time to resume her façade.
Isis widened her eyes and took a staggering step back. "H-He's dead?" Pepper, out of sight from Gumball, rolled her eyes. Isis, seeing this, gave her a warning glance when Gumball pulled her into his arms.
"I'm so sorry Isis! I know you guys didn't really get along, but no one deserves to die." Isis felt her jaw tighten before she realized it. If anyone deserved to die, that bastard did. Indignant at Gumball's ignorance for all that she had suffered, the anger she felt caused her to tremble violently, only causing Gumball to cling to her tighter. The fool thought she was crying! If only he realized what she was really thinking. "What're we going to tell everyone?" Isis stilled and pulled away from Gumball.
"Tell? We can't tell anyone." She said matter-of-factly, wiping away at tears that she had forced to form in her eyes. Gumball looked shocked.
"What do you mean?! We have to tell someone! People are bound to notice that their King is missing, Isis." He argued but Isis silenced him when she held up a hand.
"Gumball. Think about it. It's no secret, as you pointed out, that our marriage wasn't exactly perfect like we were pretending it to be. When people find out that he's dead, who're they going to look to first? Me!" She reasoned logically, her nerves causing her to gesture wildly as her explanation got more frantic. Thank the Goddess it was the right situation for her to be so on edge or Isis would have given herself away right then and there. "We can't tell anyone!"
"But you weren't even near the scene of the crime!" If only Gumball knew. She just made it look that way. However, she was still playing the part, so Isis just gave him a flat look. There was a long pause before Gumball groaned loudly, running a hand through his hair like she knew he would. "So you just want us to hide it? How're we supposed to do that?" He demanded, grumpy in his defeat. Gumball couldn't argue with her logic. She could've been in another country and people would have looked at her funny.
Isis stared blatantly for a moment, cocking her hand on her hip, which made Gumball shift uncomfortably on his feet. "What?" He demanded just as she took a step forward, her eyes on his hair. Him running his hand through his hair had given Isis the opportunity she needed to make this work.
"Wait a minute…" Reaching up, Isis mussed up his hair with both of her hands till it was a tangled mess. Excited, she then turned Gumball around so he faced her bedroom mirror. He gasped loudly and leaned in close, rubbing his jaw with a disbelieving hand.
"You weren't kidding when you said I looked like him."
"Looked like him? You two could have been twins!" Isis exclaimed. "Don't you see Gumball? You could pretend to be J.R.!" Gumball froze, his eyes darting over to her.
"You're joking right?"
"No! This is perfect!"
"But I don't know the first thing about running a kingdom!" He protested, turning to face her so he could plead his case better. Isis, this stage of her plan finally on a roll, refused to give up now. Pepper, who had been standing quietly in a corner, piped up at the right on cue.
"Uh, Gumball…Sir…I could help you. I've spent enough time around the royals to know the basics. Enough for us to get by, and you'll learn more as you go." Isis clapped her hands together, beaming.
"Wonderful! We have a plan!" Gumball had turned back to the mirror, running his hand over his face.
"Do you really think this is going to work….?" He asked quietly and Isis nodded, coming up behind Gumball and placing a comforting hand on his back. Gumball looked up at her and then smiled, taking her breath away with such a simple action. "Well then I'm going to have to grow a beard. The only time J.R. looked this neat was on his wedding day!" Isis cracked a smile as Gumball stood up and, to her surprise, wrapped her in his arms. "So…that means we're technically married, right?" Isis, still very much surprised –her first real emotion since this whole conversation started—blushed madly which only made Gumball grin even wider.
"I-I suppose…"
"So…that means we can stay in the same room?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Isis, aghast at his audacity, smacked him on the arm with a laugh.
"I just lost my husband!" She berated, smiling to show that she was teasing.
"So…that's a maybe?" They both laughed while Pepper stood in her corner, sick to her stomach and ashamed at what she was a part of.
