The Pharmacist and The Prince

Magic

magic/ˈmadʒɪk/ : the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

The sound of arguing was the first thing to pierce through Ebony’s unconscious mind. One voice was deep and carried anger while the other one was quiet. As she broke through the surface of consciousness, she began to hear the words being spoken.

“I cannot believe this. I truly cannot believe this. You had me wait for a week. You were to summon a saviour. A saviour. Not a frail looking woman. The kingdom is in ruins. The people are dying. What is this woman to do for us? Did you make a mistake with the contract of summoning?” The deep voice said.

“My king, I did not pick the words of the contract. I simply wrote them. If the magic of the contract elected to summon this woman, then she is, without doubt, the one we seek.” The quiet voice replied.

What are they talking about? Where was she?

Ebony’s eyes slowly fluttered open and the sight of a candelabrum hanging directly over where she lay greeted her. The light stung her sore eyes, making her moan in pain and turn away. The sound attracted the other occupants of the room and the conversation stopped.

Using an arm to prop herself up and the other to hold her aching head, Ebony stared at the room around her and found herself wishing once again, that she was dreaming.

What is this?

The entire wall in front of her, with the exception of a window and a utensils shelf, was filled with books. Each one exactly the same as the next. She stood and walked, as if mesmerized, towards the shelf closest to her. She reached up to touch one of the books when the Bookkeeper spoke.

“They should look familiar to you,” came his quiet voice.

Ebony squealed and spun around so fast she became dizzy. The sight of the majestic book collection had made her overlook the conversation she heard earlier. There were others in the room with her. Two men. Fear and adrenaline drove the pain from her head. She entered full fight-or-flight mode.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” She demanded, heart racing. Even as she asked the questions, Ebony already had an answer to the first one. The man on the left, she had seen earlier in the plain. He had been among the five riding horses. Examining him now, it was obvious to her that he was of a high rank in this…cult or whatever this was.

He was clothed with a blue coat that went down to his knees and looked like it was made of velvet. The fringes of the coat were frilled with golden threads. He wore a jewel-studded belt with an ornate dagger hanging from it. 

His clothes were strange but obviously of premium quality. They looked like nothing she had seen before. The black, cotton trousers under the man's coat was the only thing that looked normal to her. What part of the country was this? 

His posture and the manner with which he regarded her told her that he was typically in a position of command. And he was probably the one who gave the command for her to be lassoed.

The man on the right she had never seen. The thick, brown robes he wore reminded her of a priest's frock. But something about his voice was familiar. Then she remembered his statement.

“They should look familiar to you.” Yes, the reason why she reached for the books was because they were familiar to her. They all reminded her of the gold-rimmed book she had been reading in the library. The book at the centre of her dilemma.

“What do you want with me? Did you kidnap me? Where is this place? What do you want? What do you want from me?”

The Bookkeeper raised his hands, palms facing towards her. “Calm down, young lady. I will answer all your questions. As for who I am, I think you already know. I am the Bookkeeper.”

I am the Bookkeeper. I am the Bookkeeper. I am the Bookkeeper.

The sentence floated around in Ebony’s head. One by one, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The book she had been reading. The Bookkeeper who had addressed her in the preface. Her sudden appearance in this strange place. Everything was coming together. It was not a dream.

She was not dreaming. This was a real place. She didn’t know where it was. But it definitely wasn’t Priesthood Municipal Library and definitely nowhere in the town. Surprisingly, the realization did not terrify Ebony. On the other hand, it calmed her.

Information, logic and reasoning. That was how she would find her way back. She need information. She swallowed her fear and spoke.

“The Bookkeeper? Earlier today, I read in the preface of a book, that particular term. Bookkeeper. You asked me if I was worthy, if I was deserving and if I was brave. I’m not. Mr. Bookkeeper, why am I here, then?”

“Alas, that question is one I cannot provide an answer to. Please have a seat, young lady.” He gestured to the table she just stood up from. “It seems you are in pain.”

The statement brought her attention back to her injuries.

“My head,” Ebony whimpered and grabbed her aching head once again. The pain drove her to her knees.

“What happened to her head?” She heard the Bookkeeper ask the other man.

“She must have hit it when she fell earlier.” The response that came back was neither apologetic or condescending. He just sounded like he was stating a fact and that annoyed her. She raised her head, about to comment when she saw that the Bookkeeper was by her side.

Frightened by the proximity, she was about to jump away when he raised his hands, palms towards her.

“I will not harm you. I can help remove the pain you feel. If you will allow me.”

Although she had never seen him before and didn’t know anything about him, she trusted the strange, melancholic man. But she still had to be cautious.

Subtly leaning away from him, she asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to heal you.”

“Heal me? How?” Her attempts at caution disappeared as curiosity took over. As a pharmacy student, she was very interested in the way he phrased his words. She soon wished she didn’t ask.

“With magic, of course.”

Of course, she thought, with magic. How else would he heal her? It was like she was the crazy one for thinking otherwise.

“You’re going to heal me? With magic?”

“Yes.” The Bookkeeper said. “Is there a problem?”

Of course, there was a problem. Magic did not exist. People were treated or “healed” with science. Drugs, medications, surgery and physical rehabilitation. Not magic. Because…

“Magic does not exist, Mr. Bookkeeper.”

“Yes, in the world from which you came. In this world, however, you’ll find that magic is quite…commonplace.”

That confirmed it. Confirmed all the hypotheses and guesses she had been making since she fell from the sky to this moment. It wasn’t just that she left the library or the town. It wasn’t even leaving the state or leaving the country.

She had been transported to a whole new world.

A magical world.