The Realm of Zinombria

Rosalind looked in the gold framed mirror, the intricate designs of roses intertwining each other. As her green eyes rested on her reflection, she studied the expression of boredom on her face. As her servant and only friend in the castle, Miriam, braided her long blonde hair back, she sighed.

"Is everything alright?" Miriam asked. Rosalind was glad she had stopped calling her 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty'.

"No, Miriam, you know quite well it's not," Rosalind replied, with another sigh.

"If this is about you making plans to run away from the castle, then I'm honestly tired of hearing it," she replied, instead, fastening the end of her braid with a sapphire-blue ribbon, to match her dress.

"Alright, fine," Rosalind said, standing up and turning to face Miriam. "Then can we please talk about this...guest that Father has invited?"

"It's better than courting princes, is it not?" Miriam asked, amused.

"Certainly," Rosalind said, smiling. She was seventeen and will be eighteen in the next summer solstice. According to one of the laws in the Kingdom of Ellesmere, a girl had to be married by eighteen, and this was no exception to the royal family. Rosalind thanked the Heavens when her parents rejected the last prince, for he was cruel.

Her thoughts went back to the guest that was arriving at noon. "What did Father see in this street performer? He never really has any interest in such things."

"Olive told the Queen about him," Miriam said. Olive was one of the maids who served the Queen. "And Her Highness wants to see this magician in person. It is a great honour indeed."

"Magician," Rosalind said, as if testing the word. "There's no such thing as magic, just a whole lot of foolery. Very absurd to think that Mother would be fascinated with such a person."

"Oh no, Rose," Miriam said, with a bright smile. "This magician does a lot more than make fools of people. I've heard he can fly, make himself invisible and hide the moon."

"What utter nonsense, Miriam," Rosalind said, laughing. "That's not possible."

"Well, we'll just have to see for ourselves now, wouldn't we?" Miriam said and added in an excited voice, "I can't wait! It's been a while since we've seen such performance!"

~

Rosalind was most surprised to see the so-called magician when the guards in the castle gates announced his arrival. He was in his twenties it seemed and he was quite good-looking, with dark hair with navy-blue at the tips of his fringes, blue eyes and a cheerful face. He was wearing a dark grey suit that framed his figure perfectly. Apart from that, he seemed to be just an ordinary man, and Rosalind just sat to the King's left on her throne, a smaller version of her father's, while her mother sat towards his right.

"Your Majesty, it is lovely to make your acquaintance on this wonderful day," he said in a rich cool voice as he bowed down.

"So you're the magician that the people of Ellesmere are talking about," the King said, not in a rude manner but rather out of astonishment. "I wasn't expecting you to be so..."

"Charming? Handsome?" the man asked, cheerfully. Rosalind rolled her eyes.

"Young," the King said, finally with a small chuckle.

"Yes, I get that quite a lot," the magician said, nodding.

"So shall we start with your performance then?" the King asked.

"Yes, of course," the magician said, still grinning. Rosalind looked at the man, resting her cheek on her hand, wondering what kind of tricks this man was going to do. "May I have a candle, please?" he asked next.

The King ordered his servant, who arrived with a candle. The magician placed the candle on the table set for him and stepped a few inches back. "I think the trick I'm planning to do won't work in the light." He swiped his hand from right to left, causing the candle to light. At the same moment, the heavily draped curtains fell down on the tall glass windows, the room going dark besides the candle. Everyone gasped at the same time. Rosalind sat up straighter, curiously. She watched as the magician's face was illuminated by the candlelight when he stepped forward.

"Now how many have you seen a flower made out of fire?" he asked aloud as he placed his hand near the candlelight, all his fingertips joined at the top. He slowly opened his hand and the fire in the candlelight turned into a lotus, it's petals unfolding. Rosalind's mouth hung open as she watched the outline of a lotus, growing bigger and bigger. The magician raised the lotus and then spreading both his arms wide apart, the lotus burst into flames and turned into butterflies.

"Flames made out of butterflies?" Rosalind muttered as she watched awestruck as the butterflies made from fire flew around the room briefly illuminating the place with light. Then the magician made the butterflies fly to the center and turned it into one fireball.

"Has anyone seen a phoenix?" he asked next and then, from the fireball, a head of a bird peeked out, that resembled a peacock. Next, the body and in a final swirl, the magician made the fireball burst, causing the phoenix to go about the room in a flight. Rosalind couldn't take her eyes off the magnificent bird soaring in the grand throne room, which she had only read about in stories. The magician made the phoenix take three turns in the room, everyone gasping and shouting and excited at the show. Then he made the phoenix fly a top the candle, where it slowly curled in on itself and turned smaller and smaller. Until it became the small flame atop the candle again. With another swipe of his hand, the flame died out and the drapes opened, causing everyone to squint in the sunlight.

The magician bowed and everyone applauded, the King asking him what he wanted for a reward.

~

"You were right, he's no ordinary magician," Rosalind said, still awestruck by what she witnessed. It was unbelievable. The flowers, the butterflies, the phoenix. It was beautiful. And yet, something felt strange to her.

"I told you so," Miriam said, cheerfully. "And he's quite handsome, don't you think?"

"He's alright," Rosalind replied, shrugging. "Seemed arrogant."

Miriam gave her a look that said, You should stop judging people. Rosalind shrugged. As she passed a window in the corridor, she watched the magician wonder about in the rose garden. He looked around as if to check whether or not someone was looking. Rosalind stopped in her tracks to watch, suspiciously. 'What's wrong?" Miriam asked, turning back to look at her.

"The magician-" she was saying, but in a blink of an eye, he vanished. Rosalind gasped as she leaned against the window, looking around.

"What about him?" Miriam asked, confused.

"He was just there and he vanished," Rosalind said, pointing at the rose garden. Miriam checked where Rosalind was pointing but gave her a doubtful look afterwards.

~

On the streets the next day, Rosalind and Miriam, dressed as peasants, looked at the magician as he made a dying flower come to life. Everyone in the crowd cheered as he bowed, people around him placing money in his box. This was no trick, she thought to herself. No one could do that. As the crowd dispersed, Rosalind and Miriam approached him.

"May I help you ladies?" the magician asked, standing up.

"How is it possible for you to make a dying plant come to life?" Rosalind asked him.

"Sorry?" he asked, scrunching his eyebrows.

"Yesterday at the castle, the trick you did with the flames," Rosalind went on. "That is no ordinary trick. Then you vanished in plain sight in the rose garden. I couldn't sleep at all yesterday due to all the thinking I've been doing."

The magician raised his eyebrows in recognition. "Princess Rosalind?" he asked.

"Quiet!" the two girls said in unison as they looked around. According to another Royal Law, a princess is not supposed to go out and about in the town. Rosalind sighed then asked, "Is there some place we can talk in private?"

"In here," he said, opening the door of a house right next to him. Miriam gestured Rosalind to sit down, but she shook her head. "What is it you want to know, princess? Weren't you impressed with my show the other day?"

"She was more than impressed, honestly," Miriam stated, making Rosalind glare at her.

"Oh that's great then," the magician said, grinning. "I was afraid my first impression was bad, seeing how bored and annoyed you looked."

"Never mind that," Rosalind said, blushing with embarrassment, ignoring the magician's amused look. "I know what you did was not a trick. I know what you performed yesterday was real magic."

"I've been trying to tell her that it can't be true, but she keeps on insisting," Miriam said, sighing.

"And what, if I may ask, made you reach that conclusion?" the magician asked.

"How you made the flames move with your hands. You managed to light a candle and close the drapes at the same time when you've never even been inside the throne room so you couldn't have been prepared beforehand. Making the dead flower come to life? That's no trick. You vanished in plain sight, I swear I saw you in the rose garden," Rosalind explained.

The corner of his lips quirked upwards. "How very observant. Now, what if it is true? What would you do then?"

"I want you to teach me," Rosalind said, without hesitation.

The magician blinked his bright blue eyes. "Make you my apprentice? Why, princess?"

"I'm a slave in this kingdom," she answered, directly. "All my life, I've just been a slave to the Royal Law. I've always been fascinated by stories and what I saw yesterday was something out of a book. I want you to teach me magic. Please." She slightly bowed her head.

"Rosalind," Miriam began, however, the magician looked at her carefully.

"I must say, I'm very impressed you noticed that my tricks aren't tricks but actual magic, princess," he said. "However, if you want to learn, I can't teach you here. In fact, the only place to gain and learn the various magical arts, is in a different realm called Zinombria."

"Where?" Rosalind and Miriam asked, confused.

"Zinombria," he replied, smiling. "That's where I'm from. I would gladly teach you magic. But, if you really want to come to my realm, you won't be able to come back here. Are you willing to sacrifice your kingdom, your family, your friend? It's a huge decision to make, princess."

"This is absurd," Miriam said, who'd been listening to the conversation with disbelief. "I thought you were a brilliant man, but you're some kind of lunatic. Rosalind, let's go."

"Whatever you just said, is all of that true?" she asked, ignoring Miriam.

"I swear on my life, it is true," he replied, crossing his arms. "I'm not from this world. I'm from a different realm, a different dimension, where magic does exist. I would gladly teach you magic, however, like I said, you would be sacrificing a lot, think about it, princess. "

"Rose," Miriam said again.

Rosalind pressed her lips together as she watched the magician, who finally had a serious expression on his handsome face. As she faced Miriam, she already knew what her answer would be.