The Princess of Darkness

Chapter 9: Magic

Chapter 9

I woke up to a bunch of sun in my eyes. I blinked for a few seconds and then sat up in my amazingly comfortable bed. Something was wrong though. Usually I awoke to the sound of Isabelle, Jennifer, and Amelia arguing. This morning it was eerily quiet and it felt very peaceful and calm.

I got out of bed and changed into the most casual articles of clothing in the closet: A pair of black jeans and a blue t-shirt that matched a nice grey blazer that I found. I put this on and then put on some makeup.

At home I had never worn makeup. My mom used to wear it when we went to funerals and meetings, but that was just some old powder that they sold at the town square. This stuff was a pallet of every color from gold to pink, red to green etc. I tried out some gold but it looked completely awful. The orange made me look sick, and the brown was dreadfuly boring. Who decides to use such awful colors? No one can make these look good I concluded. I settled with a dark blue color and a little mascara.

Nothing special, I wasn't even sure that I would even be seen by anyone today. If I left my room it would be unlikely that I would run into any of the other princesses, or anyone else who would judge my appearence.

It was strange in the palace because everyone cared about their hair, their shoes, their makeup, etc. I admit that even I had been obsessed with how I looked ever since I had discovered my reflection. I was still very interested by the mirrors that lined my bathroom.

After making myself look slightly better than I had looked when I awoke, I opened my "closet" door. I had recently decidedthat the "closet" somehow allowed anyone who opened it go anywhere that they wanted to in the castle. You had to invision where you wanted to go, grasp the handle, and then push in, and you would end up in the place that you had hoped to go.

I imagined the hallway that was outside my room, and I pushed the door open. I walked down the hallway, it felt so nice to walk in comfortable shoes instead of the 5 inch heels that Isabelle usually insisted that I wear. There was a portrait of a woman dressed in a long old-fashioned gown on the wall that I hadn't noticed before.

There was something strange about the woman in the painting. It was obviously an old work of art, but it seemed too perfect and bright to be as old as the frame, and the woman's clothing implied. Another odd thing was that the woman in the portrait's dress was black. Not a dull grayish-black like the dress that I had worn for the first Elimination Ceremony, but an inky black that looked as if you could reach out and touch the fabric.

"Ah, so you've discovered the Queen of Darkness"

I turned around to see who had spoken. It was Michael, the guard who had ushered me to the first dinner, and the Elimination Ceremony.

"Is that the name of this painting?" I asked, and pointed to the vivid portrait.

"No, the painting is called "Queen Elle," he paused and studied the painting for a moment. "Queen Elle was known as The Queen of Darkness."

"Why?" I asked.

"I bet you've noticed that some things are a little strange in this castle." I nodded, and Michael continued speaking. "Well it isn't just strange occurances or coincidences, it's...Magic." He looked very serious but I couldn't help but laugh.

"Magic isn't real Michael, you aren't a little kid anymore. You're to old to believe in magic." I said in between giggles.

"No, this isn't little children's tales where fairies grant wishes and witches stir boiling cauldrons to turn humans into rats. This is complicated spells and complicated incantations that only the royal born of Mortalius can wield." He gestured to the painting of Queen Elle. "This queen was the first person in all of Mortalius to gain powers. She was a normal girl, but when her powers were discovered the king proposed to her and then they got married. All of her decendants have her powers just as she did." Michael finished.

"So even Alex and the queen and the king can perform magic?" I inquired.

"Why do you call Alexander Alex?" Michael asked, I blushed. "Anyways Alexander can, the queen can't because she isn't a decendant of queen Elle, but the king is a very skilled sorceror."

"Okay, but I'll have to see it to believe it." I joked.

Michael smiled. "I'm sure you will." He winked and walked down the hallway and shut the door behind him."

Magic, I thought. I wonder what it's like to have power like that running through your veins? I pondered this, and I walked back to my room questioning all that life is now after I lknow magic exists.