Book 6: Showdown (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria)

Chapter 7 - Empress Lilith Pushes On

Empress Lilith smacked Irina the Magician across the face. "Go back and finish the deed!"
Irina held a hand to her cheek. "But I can't. The Emperor will recognize me."
The Empress glared at her lackey. "You're a magician. You specialize in creating illusions. For Jebenoah's sake, you can change shapes and morph into others. Create a disguise and the job done!"
They were meeting in an abandoned monastery on the outskirts of Purgatorio.
Irina had just reported that she had failed in her first couple of assassination attempts.
The Empress Lilith stared at her subordinate. "Morph into a clown. All kids like clowns."
Raising her paper umbrella high into the air, Irina shouted, "Reformabit!"
And just like that, with a sprinkling of gold dust, the magician transformed into a clown with yellow, orange and blue hair and a big red nose.
"Perfect," said the Empress, nodding. "Do whatever you can to seek a private audience with the Emperor. Once you're in, go with our original plan. He must be eliminated in secret. Then, you shall take his form, resign as him and invite me to take over."
Irina nodded. "I won't fail you this time, my lady empress."
"You better not," whispered Empress Lilith.
Irina nodded again. She knew what had happened to the previous assassin who had failed the Empress, Lord Chancellor Sir Walter Grandebouche.

***

When the Irina the Clown presented herself in front of the Emperor, she thought she caught a flicker of recognition in the young monarch's eyes, but she wasn't sure.
The Archbishop announced, "This is Joyful the Clown. She would like to be our new court entertainer."
The Emperor surveyed the new entertainer suspiciously. "What can she do?"
"Oh, all kinds of tricks, Your Imperial Majesty," she said.
And to demonstrate, she squeezed her nose, which grew as big as a watermelon and then shrank back to its original size.
The Emperor nodded. "Sure, she can stay. We could use some colour here in the Imperial Court."
Yes, Irina thought. I'm back in.
This time, she decided she wouldn't waste any time. As soon as she could get the Emperor alone, she would do the deed.