Short Stories

Reino de la Magia

This book was originally written to be more like a children's story but you know. Anyway, I just wanted to publish it on here so yeah. -Izzy

   In a world far from ours where magic was essential for life, there was a kingdom named Reino de la Magia, or the Kingdom of Magic. The kingdom was ruled by King Alejandro and his wife, Queen Carmen. In this world, it was possible to transfer magic, but doing so was very dangerous. Once the magic of someone's body had disappeared, they would disappear too. To find someone to transfer the magic willingly was the only problem for Alejandro and Carmen, though. They did not care about what would happen to the people they stole the magic from.
The king and queen were not strong enough and did not know of many other people that were. Therefore, they could not transfer the magic. Even if they had found someone willing to do it, the price to have the magic restored was hefty. But still, they claimed they would do anything for the magic of their residents.
   So when they finally found a sorceress with the ability to give them the magic, they did not hesitate. "Give us the power of the whole kingdom," they demanded. The sorceress though, did hesitate at first, claiming that once the magic was taken, they would have to face the consequences until they found someone new to give it back. Without thinking, they accepted and the process began.
   As all the people of Reino de la Magia slept, the magic was drained from their bodies. Without magic, they resident's bodies turned to rust. But even when they had all the magic they wished for, King Alejandro and Queen Carmen were still not satisfied. For, magic was only used for two things, to give or to take. But with no people to take from and no people to give to, the kingdom grew boring and still.
   Carmen and Alejandro sat on their thrones waiting for their servants. They rang the bells and hollered their names, but nothing happened. It was then when they finally realized what they had done. Not only were their friends and family gone, but their servants were too. The two grew sad and bored.
   While they sat feasting on all of the kingdoms wonderful treats, the rest of the world began to starve. There were food shortages and famine everywhere you went. Everywhere except Reino de la Magia, that is.
   Years later, a strange woman arrived in town. She wore a dress made of pure gold underneath a beautiful cloak that was woven with the finest of silk. On her back laid the crest of Brujería, the center of all magic and sorcery. As she walked through the abandoned streets and alleyways, she questioned the silence. When she finally noticed the rusted body of what looked to be a baker, she finally understood what had happened.
   She kneeled down and brushed her hand carefully across all of the rust with pity. "All these poor souls," she thought to herself, "living on the brink of life and death. They still don't understand." The woman lifted her head towards the castle sitting on top of the hill and then back down to the body, "I think it's time we meet the casters of this spell."
Back in the castle, the King and Queen lay resting on their thrones after feasting once again on the food that rightfully belonged to the townsfolk. They eventually drifted to sleep until they were awoken by the slam of the doors of the grand hall. "How could that be? I thought everyone was gone." Queen Carmen stood up slowly. While Alejandro seemed completely satisfied with his actions, she had always thought differently. All she wanted was to be able to walk around town being greeted by all of the kind people of the kingdom.
Her eyes widen with glee as the women entered the room. "Who do you think you might be?" Alejandro was angered by her sudden presence. "La Reina de la Magia," she stated. "I have come from the grand city of Brujería. Samuel is hosting a festival this year to celebrate the winning of the final battle. But as you may know, food is scarce and we have heard that Reino de la Magia is filled with it."

   Alejandro stood up next to Carmen. "Well, you have no right to take the food that belongs to us. You may now take your leave." La Reina de la Magia turned to leave as she was told when Carmen tugged on her arm. "No, please help us. We have made a terrible mistake and we want to fix it." Reina could see the sincerity in her eyes. The only problem here was Alejandro.
Reina thought back to when she had first been told about Reino de la Magia. "The castle holds the widest varieties of fruits and vegetables," Samuel said. "Rumor has it, they have never ran out of delicious treats ever since the kingdom was built centuries ago!"
She then walked closer to the king and proposed a deal. "I will return the magic to your people and in return, I shall receive half of the kingdom's food supply for the festival." The queen nodded and shook Reina's hand while Alejandro just stood there. He would do anything to please his wife, but giving away the food, that was definitely not a possibility.

   With a slight grin, he too shook Reina's hand. Reina smiled as well and closed her eyes. "Hold my hands," she demanded. The two did as they were told and the transfer began. Blacks and blues of all different shades appeared circling around them. In just a matter of minutes, the spell was over and all of the layers of rust on the citizen's bodies started to crumble away.

   Queen Carmen was pleased to see her lovely servant, Evangeline, return to life. "Queen Carmen!" She shouted and ran into Carmen's arms. Reina turned and asked the king, "Now, where is the food?"
   Alejandro laughed. "Oh sweet child, don't you know that those "treats" are special to us? We need them to run our kingdom. You cannot take them for simply returning magic that we intended to keep."

  Reina's smile quickly faded into a frown. "I am very aware, Alejandro. But, you have promised the food and I intend to take it. If you shall not award me with the food, I will have no choice but to take something else from you."

   The king laughed once again and shoved her out of the castles while slamming the doors shut behind her. Reina screamed through the entrance doors. "I am La Reina de la Magia of Brujería and trust me when I say I will make you regret this!" With that, Reina returned to Brujería to fetch her spell book.
   If she took all of the magic, the poor, innocent townsfolk would suffer too. It was against the laws of sorcery to do such a thing. Instead, Reina decided that because of their selfishness, the two rulers or Raino de la Magia should suffer the same fate their citizens were supposed to when they stole their magic.
   The very next day, Reina returned to the castle. This time she wore a long, black, Huntress' cloak above her new, grey gown. Reina knocked three times on the tall doors, but no one answered. She kicked the door open only to see nothing inside. The castle was as quiet as a mouse.
   She kept walking to find a door creaked open, letting out the smallest gleam of light. Reina's eyes widen as she saw all of the sweet snacks sitting still on the balcony. Before she could even think about taking them, King Alejandro grabbed her arm and pulled her back into another hallway. "What do you think you're doing here, little witch?" His voice was filled with venom as he spoke.
   Reina laughed and replied with "I made you a deal. I will give you one last chance, and only one. For I have been able to overlook your cruelty for the kindness in Carmen." Now it was Alejandro that laughed. "You cannot possibly think that I would ever give you those foods." The sorceress looked at him with a piercing glare. "I would be careful with what you say, your majesty," she mocked.
   When the girl was painfully aware of his decision, she threw off her cloak and began to sing. It wasn't just an ordinary song, though. The song she sang was written by the devil himself. It was said that anyone ever unfortunate enough to hear it would turn to dust.
Alejandro laughed when he recognized the tune. "Silly girl, you do not scare me. I am King Alejand-." His words were cut short as his face started to disappear, along with the rest of the castle. "If you can't actually give something away, don't bargain for it."
 The kingdom and all of its inhabitants were never seen again. But Reina however, took the treats and now the world's biggest festival was held. No one in the whole world starved anymore. The king's decision was a poor one only for him. It seems that most others benefited greatly. 

-1552 Words-