The Masked Magician

His name was Nadir. He was the head of the first section of the Persian police, sent to find me. I was quite famous all over the world at the time. Many people were left dumbfounded to my simple tricks and games, but many more were horrified to see what monster lay behind the mask. People would come from miles around just to see the masked magician… but I could not believe the news had reached so far as Persia.

Nadir arrived at the freak show while it was, at the time, in central Romania. I daresay he was quite startled when he first saw me sitting in my red tent all alone…my white mask contrasting dangerously with the red fabric all around. I remained as calm as I usually am as I listened to what this man wanted from me. I explained to him that the show was over and we were not open to customers after-hours, and that he should have left in that instant; but he remained as he was (though still nervously. I believe I could see him trembling slightly) and told me the Sha of Persia wanted to see me perform. It took me some time to decide whether to leave or stay, but in the end I was glad of my choice.

The trip was a long and tiring one by horseback. It took several weeks until we arrived to the Golden Palace. During this journey, I grew to like the Persian man. I learned that he had been working for the Sha for nearly ten years, but he unfortunately did not have enough money yet to move into a better home for him and his sick son. I also gained a sense of the rules one must obey while in the presence of the Sha – laws that I did not agree with at all and did not intend to follow.

When we arrived, to my surprise, the Sha was expecting a performance at once. Nadir explained that it was to test the preparation of the performer. I was not worried. He showed me into the main hall and found it completely filled with spectators from all corners of the country. I grinned inwardly as I glanced at all of them – it was quite a powerful sight to see nearly five hundred heads turn in the same direction all at once, all looking at the same mysterious figure that had just opened the doors to the room.

I silently made my way down the isle towards the Sha and looked at him in the eyes as if I were an equal to him. I refused to make myself seem inferior to a man who probably knew only half the things that I held in my mind. However, I did nod respectfully. Some people behind me whispered to each other… they had probably never seen such a person act so disrespectfully towards the Sha. I grinned to myself again with pleasure of insulting their senseless customs. I noticed that sitting next to the Sha, there was a girl – no, a woman. She was sitting on a pile of velvety pillows placed on the floor along with a few other women. Though, she was different from the others - she was not of dark skin and her hair was long, auburn, and in ringlets. I looked into her eyes… hazel. The delicate curves of her veiled face seemed so divinely perfect. She was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever had the grace to meet.

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When he first stepped into the Hall, I was amazed at the almost aura-like sense of mysterious power he had around him. I did not expect him to have been wearing a mask, though. I could not understand why he would need to. Possibly, it was part of his act. It definitely helped in making him seem superior to everyone else in the Hall. I was shocked when he did not bow down to Father. It was a sign of great disrespect, and he didn't seem to care. However, no one seemed to scold him for doing such a wrong… it was almost as if he were in control of all the people that were in his presence. Then he turned to look at me, but he did not bow, nor even nod to me as he did with Father. He looked at me for what seemed to be ages. His gaze was so captivating. His blue eyes were as blue deep as the sea, one eye darker than the other was. Those eyes nearly seemed to tell a heartbreaking story that was somehow blocked by a wall within him. His eyes seemed as though they were looking right into me and reading my very soul. I cannot remember whether I held my breath during that time… but I remember that after he hastily pulled his gaze away from mine I was very light-headed. I could not explain why.

I watched him move back towards the center of the hall. He turned towards one of the spectators and pointed to them then calling him towards him. I can clearly remember the way that the spectator's movements changed as soon as the magician had pointed to him. The man almost seemed almost in a trance. All his movements seemed to cause him no effort at all. In fact, it nearly seemed like he was just about to faint onto the floor, or like he was walking in his sleep. His back slightly curved, but his head was straight… as if there was an invisible string holding it up for him. He did the same for another woman in the crowd. I was beginning to doubt what kind of a magician this was, as he had not done anything yet.

The magician then motioned for another woman to do the same, and then motioned for both of them to stop walking towards him. I was surprised to see that the two of them suddenly had very glazed eyes, as if they had been smoking Opium. For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen. The magician's concentration still incredibly fixed on the two spectator's eyes. I noticed him raising his hand, palm down. He tilted it to the left, and the hypnotized man turned in that same direction, now facing the woman. It was as if the magician was using him as a marionette…only there were no strings present. He raised his other hand next to his other one, just as he did before, and when he moved them both this time, the two spectators bowed to each other. The Persian man took the woman's waist and her hand and began dancing with her. It was a dance unlike I had ever seen before. It was quick, violent, romantic, and beautiful – a dance that no one from this country could ever have known on their own.

Suddenly the silence was broken when the magician clapped his hands twice, and the dancers stopped dancing. When he clapped once more, they walked back to where they came. They looked as though they were just waking up from a nap, only they had been awake the whole time, neither did they wonder what exactly happened, for it looked as though they thought the performance had yet to begin.

The magician then walked out of the room. For a moment, I thought he was done, but he came back soon, this time carrying a human skeleton. I thought Father was going to send him out for doing this, but he continued sitting and watching the performer admirably. He brought the skeleton to the center of the room and stood it up on its feet. I could not understand what in the world he was trying to do with it… but I suddenly understood everything once I saw him let go of the skeleton. It was standing on its own. He remained close to the skeleton, his hands hovering about a foot away from it, and the skeleton started walking around the room. It walked to another spectator, grabbed a their hand, and shook it. It then started talking. I thought I must have been dreaming or losing my mind, but the skeleton was talking. I can swear my life on it.

"I am very pleased to meet you, sir," said the skeleton to the man he shook the hand of. It then raised its hands up towards the ceiling. "Such a nice home you have, I thank you for taking me in so kindly. I can promise you that I won't bother you much for food…."Even though the skeleton was talking, its mouth did not move. The sound just seemed to be coming from its head. The man who shook its hand stared at the dead but seemingly living object with terror, and for a moment, I thought he was going to faint; but the magician moved away from him just in time.

All of a sudden, the magician backed away from the skeleton completely, and as it started crumbling to the ground, a large blood red fire appeared below it and engulfed its bones entirely. It was both beautiful and frightening at the same time. The only thing was that… the magician was gone. I looked all around the room but he was nowhere to be found. All the spectators were wondering the same as well. Then, from the fire itself, seemed to come a voice. It was as clear and beautiful as a divine god's was. Or, something I was forbidden to believe in…it was like an Angel's voice. It was singing – but not in the language I had grown so used to… it was French. Goosebumps spread across my entire body as I listened to it. I had a feeling that I knew this song very well. I just could not remember why. It was the most beautiful song I had ever heard, and it was fantastic with the voice singing its notes. I realized the entire room had practically been put under a spell with his singing as they stared into the red fire, so was I. However, in the corner of my eye I noticed the cloaked man standing behind a large pillar at the side of the room. How he made the fire sing, I did not understand. This man was a complete genius… or a complete maniac. I continued staring into the fire when it turned black. The fire was black! Never in my life had I seen a fire change to a color like that. I stared, amazed at it, as it started dying out. When the flames had finally turned into a pile of ash, I failed to notice the magician come out from the pillar, but I did think I felt a rush of air behind me and going behind the Sha's chair, but I didn't bother to look. He was again in the center of the room, walking towards the ashes. I wondered why he was bending over and searching the ashes for something, surely there would be nothing in it. Or so I thought. From the ashes, he pulled out a couple gemstones (one a ruby and the other an emerald) and a golden pocket watch. He turned them over in his hand, looking at them as if for the first time, then looked up to the Sha.

"I do believe these are yours, sir," he said with a slight grin playing on his face. Father checked his pockets and obviously could not believe how this person had managed to take those things from him. The magician walked up slowly to Father and presented him with his things. "I don't understand how they could have managed getting in there…."

The Sha looked down into the magician's hand to make sure those were really his own things, and he nodded to himself, confirming they were his. He looked up at the man, a smile just about creeping onto his face. "Keep them," The magician stared at the Sha, not really understanding why he was given those things, but nodded to thank him. I understood that it was just an act of acceptance, to persuade the magician to stay here instead of departing right after this performance. The magician turned back towards the audience, placed his hand on top of his other to cover the items, and when he lifted his hand, the items were gone.

He stepped back down to the center of the room and bowed. I still can hear the spectator's loud cheer. In fact, I can hear the roaring as I am writing now. But out of all the people cheering in the room, I was probably the one who cheered the loudest. I was amazed by the brilliance of this man. I had never seen anyone like him in my entire life. Unfortunately, he left before I could get another look at him, and I had to return to the Harem. Oh how I dreamed of the next time I would be able to watch him perform!