'Lush' she answered. Yes, you certainly are, Amenhotep thought to himself as he absently sipped the wine that had been poured, ignoring the servant, really. She had thanked the servant, he recalled. She was courteous as well as gorgeous. How intriguing. Most noble women treated them as lower beings and as of no use to them. Obviously, this was not her point of view. How intriguing. He was about to compliment her when a small bit of music on the floor cut off any chance he had of pursuing the conversation further. He turned his attention that way, almost annoyed with the idea of having to pay attention to some more dancing of others or other such nonsense.
Down on the floor a man dressed in very colourful robes stood on the stage in front of the curtains. There were stripes of all bright colours on his robe that went down the arms and to the trim at the end of the long fabric. He threw his arms wide as the burst of music came to an end and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen!" while looking around the room. Then he bowed low to the front table. "And of course our dear royal family," he added very respectfully. He stood up straight again before continuing, his booming voice echoing as those gathered around sat in silence to see what would happen. "May I present to you Magnico and his Great Magic Act!" he called as the curtains opened from behind him, seeming from no where but the movements of his hands.
Polite applause came from around the room as the music started again and this magic man went back further into the stage. He began his show by making doves appear from the strangest of places. Necolita had suspicions that there was a reason his robes were so large when he didn't seem like a large man. Even still, he continued with the show for a few more tricks, illusions really about things floating and the like. There were many oohs and ahs from the crowd though rarely did they come from the head table. Finally, the man stood to the front of the stage again. "Your grace," the man said as he bowed low. It was obvious from his direction that he was addressing Necolita. "I feel doubt coming from you. Would you be so kind to help me with the next illusion so I might prove it to be true?" he asked.
Necolita's eyes went wide as he addressed her. So bold a decision would receive an interesting reaction for sure. Then he asked permission to use her as a prop. She let a doubting smile bloom on her face before she nodded and looked to her father for confirmation.
The Pharaoh looked to the performer. From the crowd's reaction it was clear that they would enjoy the action as much as the performer was hoping it would happen. He considered a moment before he looked slightly to Shadox. "Escourt your sister down the stairs," he said calmly. A little magic couldn't hurt.
Giving his father a worried look, he nearly protested. Something about this felt off... Why Lita? Why not some stage girl? No one had ever asked for this sort of thing before. Gritting his teeth he nodded to his father. The walk around felt like each step was monitored. Why was he letting this happen? No... He couldn't oppose his father in this setting. He leaned over a bit, the anxiety pinching at him as he watched Lita's seemingly excited face. Well... If she truly wanted this.
"If I may..." He motioned, happy to have his sister on his arm again. At least there was comfort in this.
Necolita stood and waited patiently for Shadox's hand as the crowd clapped and cheered in their approval. "Thank you so much, your majesty," could be faintly heard through the applause from the magician. The magician seemed delighted and went down to the bottom of the stairs where two guards stopped him going any further.
Lita could feel the tenseness in her brother. Her doubting had come to good use but something was obviously bothering Shadox. "It's just tricks, Shad," she said softly enough that no one would overhear. "What could happen?" she asked easily. Due to the arm underneath hers, Necolita managed to make it down the stairs without tripping in any way. There was never a moment she wasn't grateful for her brother. She squeezed his hand as she got to the bottom of the stairs and followed the magician back to the stage.
The man seemed honestly to care about her well being as he kindly said, "Now watch your step, your grace," as he led her back up the stairs to the stage. He brought her to the center of the stage as a few men brought out some panels of cloth. "Your grace," he announced loudly, "We are going to attempt a change in appearance only to have you miraculously reappear as your genuine self at the end. That would be spectacular, wouldn't it?" he asked.
Necolita nodded gently in reply as the crowd seemed to get more excited for this trick. Amenhotep couldn't believe from where he was that his father would allow this. Making his daughter a spectacle? He supposed it was another way to show her off to suitors but still. He was not comfortable with this trick. He didn't like magic in the first place but most of it he could attribute to slight of hand. This...this wouldn't be the same. Perhaps he would have her changed and then unchanged. He really didn't know about this.
"If you would be so kind as to step into the center of the panels," the magician directed, showing her where to stand. Necolita obliged and then stood looking up to her brothers. They both looked the picture of worry. A smile went onto her face easily and she winked at them from where she was. At that moment, the panels were lifted around her by a few extra hands. All she saw around her were the brown colour of the panels.
Out front the magician waved his hands as he had before with a few of the tricks. He mumbled what some thought of as magic words and the fabric on the panels seemed to dance. He lifted a foot as to make it look as if this was taking a great amount of effort. Finally, he stomped his foot and threw his hands forward together and the fabric panels stopped moving. A moment of anxious silence later and the panels fell revealing a woman who was clearly different from the princess.
At the head table, Amenhotep grabbed the edge of the table. She really had changed appearance. But...it was more than that. He leaned over towards Shadox and whispered, "That's not Lita."
The applause from the crowd would drown anything out and the magician stepped forward with the new woman. "Thank you, thank you. And don't worry, your majesties. We will return her to her normal self soon enough. There are just a few more tricks we wish to show you first," the magician stated. With that he continued the show. He did many other tricks with this new assistant of his: changing her outfit out of nothing, having a baby elephant walk across himself with the woman on top, the woman standing while he threw darts around her. It was a while before the show was finished. The crowd was thrilled. When the show finished, the magician came forward and raised hands with his assistant and bowed. "Thank you! That is all we have for tonight!" he called to great applause before turning to walk back through the closed curtain.
As soon as it became apparent that he didn't intend to show them the return of the princess, Amenhotep stood up sharply. What they didn't know was that as soon as the magician had stomped, a trapped door opened under the princess and she fell under the stage. A stage hand met her below and said, "Just this way, your grace, for your reappearance." She began to follow him before she felt a splitting pain against the back of her head and everything went dark around her. That had been long ago now.
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