The queen wants to know what will destroy the power of the dark magician Ismenor.

Can she understand the words that are written on my pages?

She leans against the wall at the foot of Ismenor’s tower, drained of all her powers.

I must be explicit. “Get ahold of the Ring of Gyges,” I tell her.

“How?” she wants to know, flipping my pages.

I can’t tell her. All I can say is: “Ismenor guards the ring day and night. It is his greatest treasure.”

I fear for the queen, but there is no point wasting words on that. Once she has the ring, she will know what to do.

What happens next? I don’t know. It will be written on pages that have not been written on yet.

The Magic Book in The Blue Parrot, Olive Fairy Book. Painting by Pedro Lira Rencoret.