Eye of the Needle

Quick flashes of diamond split light strobed through the darkness as the precious stones were thrown to one side.

“Diamonds? Mere rocks. The planet is chalk full of the things. More common than a proper handshake.” The old man said, his jaw a hard line.

The bowed figure that had presented the diamonds retreated with stooping backward steps. The old man’s servant ushered the next in line to the foot of the crudely formed thrown.

“I present to you a gift, in hopes of gaining passage through your gate.” The man was young, his features pale and flawless. His spine was perfectly straight and his posture spoke of nobility. He extended his offering the the old man’s servant, who in turn presented it to the old man.

The gift came wrapped in a small velvet bag. The old man unlaced the bags tie strings and upturned its contents on to his wide palm, the fingers of his other hand discarding the bad and descended on the gift like overly muscled talons.

The old man held up two small metal objects, stared at them for a moment then turned to the young noble. “What have we? Two used bullet yes… but used on who?”

The young noble looked pleased with the old mans reaction and bowed with a flourish while saying, “They were used to kill Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.” As if sensing the next question the noble answered preemptively, “The tragedy lays in the fact that no one knows which of the two bullets killed which of the mean. They have rested together in my families vaults for more than 10 thousand years, and I have always found them to be the most significant of my families holding.”

In the dim light of the old mans chamber, sitting upon his rough granite thrown, the old man held the bullets up to what light there was. His eyes, looking through more than distance, held on the peculiar treasures for nearly a minute.

“A fine piece of history. A fine puzzle. Well and good that they find their final resting place here…” The old man closed his eyes and slowly placed the bullets into his mouth and swallowed.

The noble nearly shivered with thanks as the old man’s servant lead the young noble through a red door behind a black curtain.