A king’s warrior dragged a young man into the palace. ‘I have found a thief prowling by the gates!’
‘I am not a thief,’ the young man bellowed, ‘My father is Roscoe Virgil! He is a renowned mechanic in the kingdom of Notton!’
The king rose from his throne. His prominently golden crown shone in the young man’s face. The queen, the princess, the prince, the guards, and the servants leered at the stranger as an alarming threat.
‘He could very well be a spy,’ whispered the prince.
The young man, with his sharp ears, overheard the prince’s remark. ‘Neither am I a spy.’
‘I was whispering to myself,’ the prince quickly responded, incensed. ‘How could you hear it?’
‘I have very ingenious ears,’ the young man answered.
‘What brought you into my kingdom?’ the king interrogated him.
The young man lowered his head. ‘I ran away. My father despised me as it was against my will to become his successor. I went to see our king to seek for an employment. I had been shunned away for they had concluded I was worthless to the kingdom. My intent to come here was to plead for your noble heart to keep me in your palace, even as a slave.’
Disdainful laughs exploded into the air.
‘Imbecile!’ the prince guffawed at the young man.
‘Silence!’ the king strictly ordered, and an aphasic tension reigned in the air. ‘Show me what you can do,’ he commanded the young man, ‘Convince me.’
The young man revealed a tiny baroque flute from his coat. ‘I am a musician, sir.’
‘We already have virtuosos in the kingdom,’ the prince proclaimed.
The king rendered the prince with a galling look, then shifted his attention back to the young man. ‘What effect does your music have on your listeners?’
‘Music is my clandestine recreation, sir,’ the young man avowed, ‘No one has heard of it yet. Not even my own father.’
‘I admire your honesty, young man,’ the queen declared, ‘Furthermore, I respect your courage to have come a long way to settle in our kingdom. However, as a parent myself, I advise you to go back to your father’s aid for it is your utmost responsibility, as a son, to protect and continue his legacy.’
‘The queen has spoken,’ the king reminded the young man. ‘I warn you to go back to the kingdom of Notton before dark. Otherwise, I am forced to charge you of a criminal act under my kingdom’s laws.’
‘I am innocent, sir,’ the young man disputed, ‘I came to your kingdom with pure intentions.’
‘Invasion is a crime!’ the prince promulgated.
‘Before I leave, I must notify your kingdom of a serious danger,’ the young man professed, ‘for I can hear your people’s painful cries from here.’
The palace messenger scurried in, confounding the dwellers. ‘All kinds of creatures have emerged from the wild at once! It’s a gruesome battlefield all over the kingdom now! The war captain has just released the weapons! However, these monsters keep growing as if they can occupy the entire civilization! What must we do?’
Terror blasted in every corner of the royal house. The queen and the princess clasped each other, the prince trembled, the guards dwindled away, and the servants prayed.
Meanwhile, the king stood in awe by the young man’s brave posture. ‘Why are you not frightened?’ the king queried.
‘I can hear my father’s wheelchair engines,’ the young man asserted. ‘I forgot that he invented an uncanny refracting telescope. He must have followed me all the way. I suppose he loves me after all. Oh, I misunderstood him completely.’
Thuds! Growls! Screams!
‘The monsters have descended upon the palace!’ the messenger cried.
The queen, the princess, the prince, the guards, the servants, and the messenger scrammed away to hide.
The king seized the young man’s wrist. ‘I shall not leave you here alone!’
The doors cracked open, and…
The young man audaciously faced the monsters – the beasts, the gorillas, the lions, the tigers, the horses – as he poised himself to play his flute. At the strike of the first note, the monsters took a grinding halt. With the second note, their violent nature perished. When the third note erupted, they meekly laid down to listen.
The king was dumbfounded by such an unimaginable spectacle. As the arousing music filled the whole palace, it compelled everyone to resurface and witness the staggering miracle before their overwhelming eyes.
‘How did you make that happen?’ the king whispered to the young man.
‘They have been my ardent listeners all this time,’ the young man whispered back. ‘My father is in the vicinity now. I must go.’ He played his flute once more to entice the tame animals to leave the palace with him.
‘What is your name?’ the princess roared after the young man.
‘Imogene!’ was the buoyant reply. ‘My name is Imogene!’