"Is your name Ferdinand?" The Queen asked, gently rocking her son. Her arms tightened around the child as the imp shook his head.
"Wrong again, miller's daughter. Only two attempts left!" The imp smiled, revealing crooked teeth. The queen glanced around the chamber, searching her mind for a name she hadn't tried. She knew from the previous two nights that this trial was hers alone. Her husband the King had awaited the coming of the imp the night before; only to fall into a deep slumber from which he had yet to awaken.
"Is your name Helmfried?" She asked. The imp released a shrill laugh, shaking his head.
"Only one attempt left!"
The Queen looked at the child in her arms. Peacefully sleeping, the babe was ignorant to the fact that his future rested on a name.
Without looking away from her child, the Queen spoke. "Is your name Melchior?"
The imp bowed his head for a moment, then lifted his hand. With a snap of his fingers, the child disappeared from his mother's arms.
"I have claimed what was owed." The imp said before disappearing as well.
Staring at her empty arms, the Queen wept.
Far away from the distraught Queen, the imp carefully set the child in a cradle. After watching the sleeping child for a few moments, the imp spoke. "Sleep well, my heir."
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