Everything was quiet in Enchancia Castle. However, a small Irish Red-and-White Setter woke up when he heard a soft moan come from the bed. The dog thought his master was having a nightmare, and tried to wake him up.
"Uhh…Jag…dizzy…" James murmured, laying an arm over his eyes as he felt his dog's nose on him.
The dog jumped off the bed and made his way out of James' room. He sniffed around, hoping to find someone to help him. He saw someone coming up to Sofia's room, and he went over.
"Jagger?" Clover asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Mister Clover!" Jagger yipped happily; he'd met Clover a few weeks after he came to live in the castle. He was one of the castle guard dog's puppies, but Sir Finnegan had given him to James, whose dog Rex had died.
"Jag, I keep telling you, it's just Clover. Mister Clover was my father!" Clover chuckled, but he was happy that Jagger seemed to be smarter than Rex. "But what are you doing up?"
"I think James is sick," Jagger looked toward James' room. "Do you know where I can find someone to help him?"
Clover led him to Roland and Miranda's room. Jagger crept in and licked Roland's hand.
"What-" Roland woke up with a start. He looked around, and saw James' dog at his side. "Oh. Go to sleep, Jagger; James can take you out in the morning."
Hearing the dog's insistent whining, Miranda woke up and petted Jagger as she said, "I think he wants us to follow him."
"What's wrong, boy? Did little Timmy fall down the old well again?" Roland quipped as Jagger led him and Miranda to James' room.
All it took was a soft moan from James for Miranda to sense that something was wrong. She laid a hand on his forehead. "He's a little warm, and I thought he said 'dizzy.'"
"He was working on papers again, but I'm surprised he wasn't up all night," Roland said as he saw a good sized stack of papers still on the desk.
"I think he's learning to come up with a cut-off time, but we'll see if he feels better in the morning," Miranda went to a chair by his bed. "I'll stay with him, Rollie, and I'll tell you if there's any change in him."
The next morning, Baileywick knocked on the door. "Prince James, you're ten minutes behind schedule."
"Sorry, Bailey—whoa…" James sat up quickly, but fell against the pillows with a groan as he felt the room spin and his head pound.
Miranda was there to steady him. "You're staying in bed today, James. You feel warm, and you said you were dizzy."
"And I've got a massive headache…It was bound to happen. I must have been working too hard," James murmured.
"Maybe, but I also think you must have a touch of what your father had recently," Miranda said as Roland came in.
James looked dizzily up at Roland. "You did this to me! You make me sick!"
"Well, it's nice to know your sense of humor is still healthy," Roland smirked, mussing James' hair with one hand and tickling him with the other.
Miranda smiled sympathetically as James' laugh turned into a groan. "Rollie, maybe you should wait until he feels better before you do that. You don't want him to have an accident all over you, do you?"
"You're right, Miranda," Roland smiled. "But in all seriousness, James, I'm giving you a command to rest and take it easy until you feel better. And again, I can't believe it's come to that!"
That afternoon, James was still in his room, but with Sofia, Amber, Lucinda, and two of the castle maids, Dorrie and Candice Cooper. When they weren't playing games or talking about something, the girls were looking at a stack of folders that Dorrie had found. Surprisingly, they weren't official royal documents, but folders full of stories he'd written.
"These stories are incredible!" Candice smiled as she leafed through one. "I love these Andrew Harmon mysteries!"
"You and everyone else in the castle," Amber smiled. "James started writing those when we were little. He used our middle names as the characters' first and last names."
"And this one about the dog is so cute!" Dorrie added, leafing through a red folder.
"You only like that one because you were in it," Amber joked.
"And you like all of the stories because you're in them!" Lucinda grinned. "I mean, I like the ones I'm in, but they're all equally incredible!"
"Well, I was the first person James wrote about," Amber remembered. "He wrote a story involving one of my dolls, which I thought was lost, and how Andrew Harmon and Julie Melody worked together to find it."
"And you still have that doll, don't you?" James asked.
Amber grinned. "Of course I do! That doll was one that Mother gave me, and I keep her in a place of honor in my room."
"And I still have that story," James agreed. "That was the one I handed in for my first time with the creative writing class."
Amber noticed that his smile had become sad, since this was the story Princess Deidre had ripped up. But before she could do more than squeeze his hand comfortingly, he gave her a more cheerful look.
At the same time, everyone looked up when they heard a knock on the door. "Come in," James invited.
Baileywick walked in. "I've been instructed to bring all of you to the throne room," he started. "King Roland tried to tell our visitor that you were sick, James, but he was insistent that everyone in the family, and Dorrie and Candice, be here."
"No rest for the weary," James joked as Sofia helped him up. He was glad to lean on her shoulder a little as they made their way to the throne room.
As they sat down, a tall figure in a hooded cloak was in the center of the room. "Greetings, your majesties. Ladies," he said as he bowed to everyone, "I've come from afar to entertain you with my magic."
Even though James was still feeling sick, he caught the person's obvious attempt to disguise his voice. "Where did you say you were from, and what's your name again?" he asked.
"Oh, much farther than you've traveled, I'm quite sure," the person shrugged the question off. "And people call me Franciskus L. Wilde."
Before James could ask any more questions, Franciskus started his magic show. "I'd like to start my little performance by asking for a volunteer," he said as he took something out from the folds of his cloak.
"I always wanted to be in a magic show!" Amber squealed.
"Well, with that enthusiasm, you're just the type of person I'm looking for," Franciskus smiled. "Your task is simple, my dear. Just stand still, let me put this tiara on your head, and when I recite my spell, anything you think of will appear."
"Brilliant!" James murmured, but he started writing something down.
Amber stood in the designated spot, and the tiara was placed on her head. Franciskus aimed his wand at her, and shouted, "Memoria disappearo!"
However, before Amber could be fully engulfed in a bright white light, Dorrie threw the first thing she could pick up between them, which happened to be a folder that James had one of his stories in. Amber staggered back and fell with the notebook beside her.
"Guards! Seize him!" Roland yelled as the family gathered around Amber.
The figure ran off with the guards in hot pursuit, and Sofia took Amber's hand as she sat up. "Amber, are you okay?"
Amber looked around for a minute. "Of course I am, Amanda; why would you ask such a thing? And why did you call me Amber? You know my name is Julie Melody."
Sofia was stunned. Amanda was her middle name, and James used people's middle names in his stories as the characters' first names.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Amber turned to James. "Andrew, why is everyone acting so strange?"
"That magician must have cast a spell on you," James reasoned. "Don't worry, Amber…I mean Julie…" he added, deciding to play along for the time being, "we'll find him and fix this." He then whispered to Roland, "And don't worry, Dad; I won't immortalize this little adventure!"
"You do what you have to do, James; I'll send the knights and the guards to find this person as well," Roland murmured back. "And I know you won't write about this."
James nodded, then turned to Candice, saying in a frantic whisper, "Candice, quick! What's your middle name?"
"Megan," Candice whispered back.
"Thanks!" James whispered as Amber turned to him. He then whispered to Roland, "You know I use middle names as first names, and Dorrie and I promised Candice she could be in a future Andrew Harmon mystery."
"Andrew, what's with all the whispering?" she asked. "You know I don't like secrets!"
"Uh…I was just recruiting Amanda, Megan, Evelyn, and Chloe to help find the guy who did this to you," James motioned toward Sofia, Candice, Dorrie, and Lucinda. "Don't worry, Julie; we'll get everything back to normal soon…I hope!"
As the group began its search for the magician who had done this to Amber, they all had the same thought: Get Amber's memory back quickly.
Author's Notes
Dorrie and Candice are characters of Niagara14301, and used with their permission.
Candice's middle name of Megan and Dorrie's middle name of Evelyn were created by Niagara14301.
Jagger, James' dog, was introduced in chapter 8 of my story The Enchancian Canine Caper.
Roland not believing that he had to order James to rest came from chapter 2 of my story Pet Stories.
James' "Where did you say you were from" question is from Aladdin, as is the figure's reply of "Much farther than you've traveled, I'm sure."
While James said he wouldn't "immortalize this adventure", he did write a story involving a dog, the basis for The Enchancian Canine Caper, which was also hinted at in chapter 8 of my story The Rise and Fall of Eze Gray (Dorrie was in it, but Candice wasn't, and James promised to writer her character into his next story).
And anyone want to take a guess as to who Franciskus L. Wilde is?