Toffee shrugged lightly. "It just goes to show that world politics are really childishly simple when someone comes along with a firm hand."
"Are you going to keep the ring?" Marc asked.
Toffee shook her head. "I think I'll just dematerialize it; I never did care about gems." She regarded him slowly from the corner of her eye. "I have just one last use for it first."
"Yes?" Marc asked with a note of apprehension. "What's that?"
"Just this," Toffee said. She slid her arms around his neck and drew him close. "One twitch of resistance and I'll double you up like a pretzel."
Marc sighed helplessly. "When you put it that way, what can I do?" he asked, and submitted unflinchingly to her kiss.
It was just as she drew away, just as she brushed her hand over his shoulder, that the ring exploded.
Actually it was only a burst of vibrant green light, but it was so intense that it blinded Marc, blocking Toffee and the valley from sight. Marc squinted against the brilliance and waited for it to die. But when it did there was only an infinite blackness where it had been.
"Toffee?" Marc called tentatively. "Toffee, where are you?"
"Goodbye, Marc," Toffee's voice said through the darkness. "Goodbye, you old reprobate."