"Gumball, I have to go back to the Ice Kingdom."
"What? Why!?" Gumball whined, propping himself on his elbow to look at her. Isis turned on her side as well, the bed sheets doing a poor job of covering them both. Not that they minded.
"Because the people are rebelling! And Luke is doing a poor job of containing the situation. If I don't remedy the situation, the Fire Kingdom will take its chance and seize my home." Isis reached out and caressed Gumball's cheek with a sad smile. She hated to leave him, especially now when they were closer than ever. Literally. She scooted closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her as she nuzzled his neck. "The Ice Kingdom's my home. I have to save it."
"I know Isis, but why can't you just give Luke some advice and send more troops over to the Ice Kingdom?" He mumbled into her hair after kissing it, pulling her even closer to him. Isis gave a content sigh, enjoying Gumball's warmth for a moment. It was nice to know that he didn't want her to leave either, but it only made this even harder. She knew it had to happen eventually though. She had already stalled long enough by staying for almost a month. Time was of the essence and Isis had dilly-dallied long enough.
"You know I can't do that. By the time my message gets to him Luke would be overthrown and the Fire Kingdom would have taken over before the troops even made it halfway to the Ice Kingdom. I need to leave now, Gumball." The playful whining continued as he tried to persuade her with showers of kisses, but as tempting as it was to stay one more week, she had to leave.
That morning Isis had her horse prepped for the long trip to her home Kingdom. Gumball went to wave her off and smiled when she saw him walking down the castle entrance. He wrapped her in another hug and Isis was willing to throw the rest of her plan away. Wasn't she satisfied with what she had now? The ruse was working fine, no one suspected a thing with Pepper aiding the supposed King, and she was with Gumball, her one true love, and they were happy. Wasn't that enough?
Deep in her heart she knew it wasn't.
Her old home called out to her, an old dream slowly coming back to life. A dream that she had put to rest a long time ago: becoming the Ice Queen. Isis knew, selfish as it was, that she would not be truly happy until she ruled the Ice Kingdom as well. So, with a heavy heart, she pulled away from Gumball, a sad smile on her face.
Pepper stood behind the embracing lovers, quiet as a mouse, but didn't escape detection. Isis could sense the poison that was still soaring through her veins. She had ordered the chefs to cook Pepper's meal separate from the others with the herbs she had given the maid that fateful night she had sworn fealty to her. When they locked eyes, the amount of hatred that festered in Pepper's eyes made her smile mockingly at the servant. The old woman hated that her life was in the hands of some pompous young Queen, never mind the fact that Pepper would constantly have to traverse between the two kingdoms in order to retrieve the antidote that would save her from her horrible fate. Isis held little pity for the woman as she turned back to Gumball. She put a hand to his cheek.
"Do not despair, dear husband, for I shall return to thee." Gumball gave his own attempt to smile as he stroked her face. Again, Isis second guessed herself. Could she really leave him? Was she making the right choice? This would be the first time they would be apart in almost the entirety of their lives. They locked eyes and this time Gumball smiled for real. He gave her a gentle, but forceful, push towards her mare.
"Go on! If you don't leave now, I'll never let you go." Isis smiled despite her sadness at their parting, mounting her horse. She held the reins and looked down at Gumball who inclined his head towards the castle gates, the exit. "You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't go."
If he only knew.
With new determination, Isis gave a brisk nod before jabbing the horse in its ribs with the heels of her feet. The mare burst into a gallop and they both left the Candy Kingdom on light feet and heavy hearts.
When she reached the Ice Kingdom border after a night's travel, much faster than a messenger would have dared run, Isis quickly ditched her royal garb and donned the clothing of a wife in mourning. A few days before she had set out on her long ride to her home, Isis had sent out a message to her brother and father that J.R. had died. She did not specify why or how, just that she was going to visit them for she needed the company. Reaching the castle, they welcomed her with open arms and arranged a private room for her with all that she needed. Isis flopped down on her bed and stared at the familiar ceiling. It was so good to be home!
The next day the three gathered in the family commons room and reminisced about the past while discussing the present and future. When Isis questioned about the health of the Ice Kingdom, the mood of the conversation quickly sobered. Luke looked away and the former Ice King took her hand.
"My daughter, your home is not how it once was. Riots happen daily as people demand to be fed and pay less for taxes. My –I mean, Luke's—men are attacked without reason. Every day I must visit families to inform them that their son or father is not coming home. Sometimes both. It's a heart breaking business, and my own heart grows weary. Not to mention that the Fire Kingdom is at our borders waiting for there to be coup so they can overrun the Ice Kingdom and pillage the town as they please. Then the Candy Kingdom," Her father's tone grew thick with contempt and it irked her. Until then Isis hadn't realized that she had considered the Candy Kingdom her home, and she did not appreciate how her father talked about it. Nonetheless, she held her tongue while he continued to mourn the deterioration of his Kingdom. She remembered, absently, that her folks should have been comforting her, not whining and complaining about how they couldn't run a Kingdom. Her sympathy quickly hardened as she continued to listen. "continue to reap the benefits of their hunting rights. Those troops are running this Kingdom dry! We have no source of income flowing the streets, to the point that even we are living like commoners." Isis had been polite enough not to mention that last night's dinner had been lacking, but apparently she hadn't kept her expressions in check. Luke, who had been silent the entire time, had slowly stiffened as her father moaned and groaned about their home. Isis had kept a careful eye on him, waiting for him to explode. She thought it a bit funny that it was not she who needed comforting, or pretended to need it anyway, but her family instead. They were going to rip each other apart without her help.
Luke finally lurched out of his chair, Isis realized that he had not, in fact, been drinking tea, and his wrath ensued.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" He raged while their father looked at him calmly.
"Did I mention your name anywhere, Luke?"
"Well, no, but you're talking about my reign! That's just like talking about me!" Their father just shook his head which only seemed to make Luke angrier. "What? Are you ashamed of me, Father? Ashamed of how I handle things? That I didn't turn out to be the prodigy son you wanted me to be?" He demanded, the smell of liquor rolling off him in waves. Isis was really surprised that she hadn't noticed the smell earlier. Luke took a step forward and lost his balance, crashing to the floor. His head nicked the corner of the wooden table as he fell, landing on the ground, barely conscious. Isis was on her feet in a moment and rushing over, but her father failed to move. Or refused to.
"Look everyone, the proud King of the Ice Kingdom." He muttered mockingly to himself, his face covered in shame as he walked out to leave his children to their own devices.
When she reached Luke, she tried to prop him up, but he was too heavy. Servants scrambled into the room to help and eventually they all got him to his room where they tended to him. Isis tried to wrap her head around what had happened. Her father, who had only showed love to Luke, was now ashamed of him? Why hadn't he offered his own advice to help Luke? It wasn't like he had no say in the Kingdom anymore and the state of their home was his fault as much as Luke's. What had caused their relationship to deteriorate so much?
Luke, after much prodding, finally awoke and looked surprised to see her there, holding a cool cloth to his warm forehead.
"Oh, Isis, we have missed you so." She could only assume that 'we' meant him and their father but she quickly shushed him.
"Rest. Recover. We can talk when you feel better." Luke didn't seem to need to be told twice since he fell promptly asleep. Isis, despite herself, smiled at her brother. It was indeed a shame that the King of the Ice Kingdom had been reduced to such drunken stupors. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.
While Luke was sleeping peacefully, Isis walked the halls of her home. Her plans at the Candy Kingdom had gone without a hitch, but here at the Ice Kingdom, things were unpredictable. The once familiar servants were now entirely new faces, faces she didn't plan on trusting anytime soon. She had to figure out how to ascend the throne though, and fast. According to her home custom, the grieving wife of a deceased husband only had a month to mourn. After that, the woman was expected to take up the role of her husband, or simply look for a new one. Since she obviously could not do the latter due to her arrangement of Gumball posing as King, then she would have to pretend to take on the role of the new ruler of the Candy Kingdom. Isis shook her head. That wasn't possible. She could maybe fool Luke, but not her father. That charade would not last long. Her father would see past her lies quickly. Besides, she would never be able to rule the Ice Kingdom if Luke was still on the throne. So…the answer was simple.
She would have to dispose of them.
Isis shook her head. Why was she thinking of this now? Wasn't that her intention when she set out to come home? She rubbed her hand across her face. Maybe she wanted to think that there would be another way for her to ascend the throne, but Isis knew better. The only way she could rule the Ice Kingdom was if she put matters into her own hands, just like when she bettered her life at the Candy Kingdom. Things had turned out wonderfully there.
Isis suddenly swore angrily at herself, causing herself to get a few stares from the servants busily scurrying to do their tasks. Was she really getting cold feet? She killed J.R. just fine! What made this scheme any different? Isis swore again because she knew exactly why.
These weren't some horrible oppressing husbands that beat and raped her whenever they had the chance. The people she needed to kill were her father and brother: family. She grew up with them and, damn it all, she still loved them. Isis still adored her father, even if he never really loved her till she did what he asked, and Luke…well, he was her brother so she had to love him, but liking him was a different story. But, despite all this love for them, they stood in the way of what she wanted. The Kingdom was suffering under Luke's rule and her father did nothing to stop it. She had to save her home. She had to rule.
It was her destiny.
Isis found a servant and told him to find her father and tell him to meet her in the dining hall before heading that way herself. When she arrived, the servants lollygagging quickly scattered and pretended to do something productive. Isis, resisting her urge to dismiss them, settled down at the table for the wait. The chefs, hearing she was in the dining room, quickly made a meal for her. As the food was being set down in front Isis her father walked into the room. He looked like he would rather be somewhere else. Isis frowned at her father, someone who used to be so familiar now looked like a stranger. He looked older and stooped over, his beard unkempt and his clothes disheveled. Gone was the father that took pride in his Kingdom and his appearance. He seemed to be the shell of a man. What had changed?
"You rang?" He muttered in a sarcastic tone and Isis's eyes narrowed even further but she said nothing about his tone.
"Father," she began, speaking loud enough for the servants to overhear, "come, sit with me." She gestured for him to take a seat across from her. As if with great reluctance, he moved to sit down and stared at her expectantly. Obviously, this was going to be a one sided conversation. "How is the state of the Kingdom?" Her father rubbed a hand across his face, a habit that she had picked up from him.
"Really, Isis? I explained this to you already. The people are rioting every day, demanding for food and money that we don't have. They're angry that they must pay so much for taxes and that soldiers are being housed in their homes so they can 'protect the streets.'" There was obviously more but her father refused to elaborate and Isis sighed inwardly. It looked like she was going to have to do all the foot work. She put on a surprised expression.
"Things are that bad? And you don't have any guards posted?" That gave her father pause. He looked at her, confused.
"What do you mean? Of course I haven't. Why should I? It's not like anyone listens to me anyway." He had muttered the last sentence bitterly and Isis couldn't help but think of how the tables were turned. She was the one who was calm and patient, trying to reason with a man acting like the sullen teenager she used to be. Isis had no idea how her father had dealt with her for all those years because she felt like throttling him.
"Because, father, the people are unhappy. Is it really that much of a leap to think that they'll take matters into their own hands?"
"What do you mean?" He repeated, propping his chin in his hand. Isis took a deep breath and struggled to find her patience.
"I mean, that they will try and find a way to get what they want." He looked at her blankly. "…to overthrow the government that caused the famine and debt of their home." She struggled to keep her tone respectful, but her voice came out mostly flat, a tone that she associated with talking to people who were a little low on the IQ side. Her father, his mind elsewhere, completely missed her disrespectful tone, which she was grateful for. She didn't know if she could sit through a lecture about respect when she was a grown woman and no longer living under his roof.
Her father, apparently reaching a conclusion, suddenly straightened in his chair, his eyes wide.
"They could storm the castle!" Isis nodded solemnly before leaning in as if to whisper a secret. This had been the moment she was waiting for, and the servants around them were straining to hear what she had to say. She couldn't have asked for a better moment to plant the seed of paranoia, for the perfect scapegoat for her sudden rise to power.
"Or…they could hire assassins." Her father practically leaped away from her like she was made of fire, fear written all over his face. Isis had to keep from laughing. It was so easy to rile up her father, especially when the circumstances were right. Though, she wondered softly to herself, why hadn't her father thought of this before? It was like he had lost all sense the moment he had given the throne to Luke.
"Assassins?! We must strengthen the guard immediately!" Without even dismissing himself from the conversation, the former Ice King ran out of the dining hall. Isis looked at the food on her plate, shrugged, and calmly began to eat while whispers of anarchy filled the halls.
