The Real Book
And The Silver Chair
There once was a cruel King who ruled over his lands with fear and anger. All of his subjects hated him. One day, one of the King’s spies returned with surprising news.
“My King, there is a tale going around of a magic book. Apparently, the Wizard in the mountains has cast a spell on a book. And now, whatever is written in the book becomes real. It is called The Real Book.”
“Can this be true?” The King wondered aloud.
“Several claim to have seen it work its magic. One man claims he saw the Wizard write A bag of gold appeared on the table in front of me, and a bag of gold instantly appeared. Then the writing in the book disappeared.”
“Fetch me Sir Justice,” the King shouted.
The spy located the knight and sent him to see the King.
“My King, I am here to do your bidding,” Sir Justice said.
“There is an old wizard living in the mountains. He has a magic book called The Real Book. You must retrieve this book and bring it to me, at all costs. Do not fail me. Your life depends on it.”
“I shall not fail you, my King.”
The knight rode into the mountains and eventually found the old Wizard sitting in an Inn. He approached the table and sat down.
“Have you come for the book?” The Wizard asked.
“I have.”
“Why do you serve such an evil man? The lands flow with rivers of blood due to his lust for gold and power. I was once well-regarded at the castle. Then King Stoneheart began to rule. He exiled me to the mountains because I refused to make him killing spells.”
“I am a knight. I am sworn to the King, regardless of my feelings. You will give me the book.”
“Do you not fear my magic? I could turn you into a newt.”
“I only fear failure. The King will kill me if I fail to bring him the book.”
“Then you shall do exactly that. But first, I shall write something for the King to read.”
“No tricks, wizard.”
“I assure you, this is no trick.”
The Wizard took a quill and wrote a few words on the first page of the book. Then he handed the book to the knight.
The knight rode back to the castle and went straight to the King.
“My King, I have done as you commanded. Here is The Real Book.”
Sir Justice kneeled before the King and handed him the book.
“Well done, Sir Justice. You will be greatly rewarded.”
“Thank you, my King.”
The King opened the book and saw writing on the first page and read it aloud.
“The King in the Silver Chair will die today. What kind of trick is this?”
Instantly the King slumped and fell out of the Silver Throne onto the floor. He was dead.
The knight smiled. He had his reward.
This story was based on a story prompt called Two Titles. I was to take the title from two books on my bookcase and use the book titles to create a story. I was instructed to roll a dice and use the numbers to select the books from the shelf. The resulting books were The Real Book, a jazz music fake book, and The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.
Photo by Pezibear
