I woke up with a start, startled by Maliece's voice. "Princess!" she cried. "The prince is here! It's well into the day!"
I sat up in bed, my heart pounding. I had been having a nightmare, but it was gone now, except for the feeling of dread that lingered in my stomach.
"I'm awake," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I'll be right down."
I got out of bed and quickly got dressed. Maliece helped me with my hair, and then I went downstairs to meet the prince.
He was waiting for me in the tea room, along with Nanny Emilia.
"Good morning, Princess," the prince said. "I'm glad to see you're up. I wanted to let you know that the High Magician will be arriving tonight."
"The High Magician?" I asked. "But I thought he was coming tomorrow."
"He was, but he had some business to attend to in the capital," the prince said. "He should be here by nightfall."
"I see," I said. "Well, I'm glad he's coming. I'm eager to learn if I'm truly who you all think I am or not. It's torture to not be sure."
"I'm sure you are," the prince said. "But for now, I just wanted to warn you to be careful. The High Magician can be a bit of a strange character."
"Strange?" I asked. "How so?"
"He's very eccentric," the prince said. "And he doesn't always follow the rules. So if you see him doing something that seems strange, don't be alarmed."
"I'll keep that in mind," I said.
"Good," the prince said. "Now, I should probably be going. I have some things to attend to before the High Magician arrives."
"Thank you for coming," I said. "I'll see you later."
The prince nodded and left the room.
Nanny Emilia turned to me and smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "The High Magician is my son, and he's a good man. He'll be a great help to you."
"I hope so," I said. "Wait, your son?!"
"Oh my." She grinned. "I thought I mentioned it before. Did you not notice?"
"I have so many questions!"
I spent the rest of the day preparing for the High Magician's arrival. I asked question after question from Nanny Emilia, and I tried to practice magic; just a basic purification spell. Nothing was happening. I was determined to make a good impression on the High Magician. If I do this right, then my plan is I'm hoping that even if I'm not their princess they'll let me stay. Maybe we can get rid of the dark magic in another way.
Finally, nightfall came, and the High Magician arrived. He was a tall, slim man with long ginger hair. He was dressed in a long black robe, and he carried a staff with a glowing orb at the top.
The High Magician bowed to me and introduced himself. "I am Marco, the High Magician," he said. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess. You certainly have something on you. I can feel it. My mother was right."
"The pleasure is mine," I said.
The High Magician smiled. "I am here to help evaluate you for manipulation magic," he said. "But before that, I want to get to know you better."
We talked for hours, and I told him everything about myself. He listened patiently and asked thoughtful questions. I felt like he could see right through me, and I was starting to relax around him. His expression changed many times throughout our conversation from happy, sad, to disgusted.
"I think I know the truth already," he said finally. "But I need to do a proper examination of your mind to be sure. I won't lie to you that it'll be easy. It's painful to retract a memory spell if you're inflicted with one. It can take hours to endure. Do you still want to do this?
I nodded, my heart pounding.
"Tomorrow then," he said. "We will do the examination tomorrow."
I smiled. "I can't wait," I said.
The High Magician smiled back. "I'm sure you can't," he said. "But for now, let's get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us."
I nodded and we went to our separate rooms. I couldn't sleep that night, I had a nightmare again. I was being chased by a featureless figure, screaming at me.
"Turn back now! Run away!"
"Aaaaaaaah!"
"Princess?" Ninya said checking on me, "Are you okay?"
"Yes." I said with a weary smile. "Just a bad dream."
"Ah!" She smiled placing a hand on my forehead. "I can make it so you can sleep without a nightmare. Any negativity or pain sensed in your body or mind will be sucked out. It's another part of my ability!"
How incredible.
"Now please sleep." She said as my eyelids became heavier. "Tomorrow is the day. You need to rest."
What does she mean by that?
The next day, I woke up early and went to the library to do some research on manipulation magic. I wanted to be prepared in the case of me failing the High Magician's examination.
I read for hours, and I learned a lot about the different types of manipulation magic. There are three types: Mental, Physical, verbal. Mental & verbal are the most used. Physical forms of manipulation magic simply takes too much skill. Mine is classified as mental with memories being manipulated. I also learned about the history of manipulation magic and the different ways it had been used throughout the ages.
It was discovered what the other types were but by a royal. He was able to convince anyone of anything and talk his way out of anything. This was his magic. His manipulation was a form of leveled magic he was able to use. From then on people began to study it and experiment with different types.
By the time I finished my research, I felt confident that I knew enough about manipulation magic to maybe discuss something with the High Magician if needed.
I went to the dining room for breakfast, and I saw the High Magician already there. He was reading a book and drinking a cup of tea.
"Good morning," I said.
"Good morning, Princess," he said. "Did you sleep well?"
"I did, thank you," I said.
"I'm glad," he said. "Now, let's get started."
What?
He snapped and we were in the library, and Marco was sitting in a chair in front of me. He asked me questions about manipulation magic, and he also made me perform some exercises.
I answered all of his questions correctly, and I did all of the exercises perfectly. He seemed impressed.
"You are a very talented young woman," he said. "Did you read about purification magic and manipulation magic?"
"Yes! I wanted to know more about things."he smiled, and an orb appeared in his had. It was black and a purple aura surrounded it. He threw it at me.
But as it hit me, it didn't hurt. It felt like a rubber ball hitting me. He smiled and raised his arms. An orb of light surrounded me. Then, suddenly, the worst pain shot through my body. I shrieked in pain as it shot through my body from my head to my toes. It was a burnt my sensation, like my flesh was being charred. Then, nothing.
I fell to my knees with tears in my eyes. Maliece burst into the dining room. She punched Marco.
"You are such a brute!" She said standing over him. "You treat our princess like this but whine about wanting to date me? Yet you hurt what is precious to me?!"
"My Maliece!" He cried. "Please! I was only doing what was needed. To get rid of the spell quickly I needed to suck it out."
Maliece folded her arms looking away from him.
"Maliece!! Please wait! She is the princess! I confirm it!" he said freaking out as she continued to ignore him to tend to me. She scooped me into her arms and carried me back to my room. He followed us, much to Maliece's annoyance.
"Why are you here?" She questioned.
"But there is one more thing I need to do," he said. "I need to check her brain's health. Unlocking all of those memories could cause damage without proper post-care."
"Okay," she groaned. "But make it quick. I don't trust you anymore."
"Maliece!" He whined.
Marco took out his staff and began to chant a spell. A bright light surrounded me, and I felt a strange tingling sensation all over my body.
The light faded, and he looked at me.
"It is confirmed," he said. "You are the princess and I've made sure that you won't have any cognitive damage from pushing your memories forward. You'll have things come back to you but by bit so don't force it."
I gasped. I couldn't believe it.
"Thank you," I said, tears welling up in my eyes. I can stay. "But how did you confirm it?"
"You are welcome," he said. "The light that surrounded you is a form of detection magic. I can detect whatever type of magic you posses simply by engulfing you in it. I could sense you have latent purification magic. Now, let us go tell everyone else the good news."
We went to the throne room, where the prince and everyone else were waiting for us.
"Your Highnesses," Marco announced. "I have good news. The princess is indeed the real princess."
The prince and king looked at each other, then they smiled at me.
"We are so happy to hear it confirmed," Maliece smiled. "I knew first thanks to my device.
"Welcome home, Princess," Evanil said.
I hugged them both, tears of joy streaming down my face. I won't be kicked out. But my nightmares, still lingered in my mind for some reason. I could feel the energy from my dreams, somewhere nearby.
But why does it suddenly feel like a physical threat?