| Those who weren't familiar with magic usually assumed that transport
spells were nothing - just one, two, three, snap your fingers and poof.
Couldn't be easier.
The truth of the matter, though, was that transport spells were
fairly tricky. Even going from one dwelling to another was a complex business,
with plenty of room for grave error if not done right. It was the main
reason most mages tended to walk wherever they went.
Belboz was, frankly, less than sanguine about sending himself
and a five-hundred pound marble statue half-way around the world. If he
messed up the spell or its preparation in the slightest, the consequences
could be grave.
On the other hand, though, the prince was quite eager to get his
hands on a real-live princess like Frederica, and the longer Belboz delayed,
the greater the chance that someone else would procure him a bride. And
the payoff was huge - almost literally a king's ransom!
No, Belboz decided, he'd definitely risk it for this.
It took a full day for him to research and calculate the components
needed for the spell, running back and forth in hsi chambers, muttering
imprecations to himself. In the midst of it all stood Her Highness Princess
Frederica, her wide eyes and flowing gown now cast in solid stone until
her eventual release into unwanted matrimony.
Finally, Belboz spread out his formulas, began to chant, and summoned
his power. There was a brief flash, and the cave was suddenly empty, with
both Belboz and the petrified princess gone.
In retrospect, it's imposible to say what went wrong. Perhaps a bit
too much boron used here, perhaps the wrong syllable accented there, perhaps
a missed step or a smudged pipette.
In any event, the transport which was supposed to deposit Frederica
and Belboz safe and sound in the antechamber of the Far Eastern potentate's
palace went somewhere awry. As a result:
-
 The Prince's
antechamber now held two perfectly identical statues of the Princess Frederica.
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