Disclaimer: Flightily not mine.

A/N: Written for Challenge #73 'flight' at the ygodrabble community over on LiveJournal.

Pharaoh's First Flight

© Scribbler, June 2012.

"Don't worry."

"Don't worry?"

"I'm sure it's only temporary."

"You're sure?"

"Well … as sure as I can be."

"Which is how sure?"

"Um …"

"Mana!"

"I'm sure, okay? I'm sure it's only temporary and I'm sure I can fix it before anyone sees."

"I wish I had your confidence."

"So do I."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Just, uh, muttering incantations."

"To undo this, I hope."

"Of course! Just, uh … bear with me a second …"

"Mana? Mana, come back! I order you to come back immediately! That's a royal decree, Mana! Mana!"

"Keep your wig on, I was only fetching the scroll. It rolled away when you kicked it out of my hands."

"Well excuse me for panicking at becoming the target for your uncontrollable magic – again."

"It's not uncontrollable; it's just … hard to control."

"That's so much better as a description. Remind me to send you to the Libraries after this is over. Maybe you can pick up a few things; and I'm sure the Royal Record-Keepers could use the extra set of hands. You could carry scrolls for them all day, since you seem to like them so much. Big, heavy, metal-bound scrolls. The ones even slaves hate carrying."

"You wouldn't!"

"You'd deserve it."

"If you do, I'll … I'll never speak to you again!"

"Good, you won't be able accidentally turn me into a toad."

"That was one time! One time! I turned you back, didn't I? And I apologised, even though it was completely your fault for startling me while I was practising my chants."

"How is it that whenever you cast a spell badly it's always someone else's fault?"

"Because … because it is, that's why! It just is. Humph. I should just leave you there until you're ready to be nicer to me."

"No, wait! Mana, I … I'm sor–"

"Don't. No. I'm sorry I said that. Don't you apologise. It's too weird. You're the prince; you're not meant to apologise to anyone. Besides, this time really was my fault. I'm sorry, Atem. I did the incantation with one of the cats and the whole thing went fine. I thought I could cast the spell on you and it would work the same way too. I thought it'd be … fun. I guess I'm really not good at magic after all."

"You're fine at magic. You just need to practise undoing the stuff you can do. This … was pretty impressive, actually. If it had worked properly it would even be fun."

"You … mean that?"

"Yes."

"You're not still mad at me?"

"Undo the spell and we'll talk about it."

"I will! I'm doing it right now. See? See me reading the scroll to find the corrective incantation? You'll be back to normal in no ti–"

"Mana, what's going on?"

"Ahhh! Mahaad! Uh, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hmm."

"What 'hmm'? There's no reason for you to 'hmm'. I was just doing my studies, see? That reading you set me? I'm doing it. Look right at me, right here, nowhere else, and see what a good student I'm being."

"While I commend your dedication, Mana, I have a question."

"Is it 'how did you get to be so fantastic and wonderful'?"

"No."

"Oh."

"My question is this: if you're so innocent, why is Prince Atem floating and trying to hide behind that beam on the ceiling?"

Fin.

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