Oh, ho, ho, it's magic!

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In a flurry of creative output, I wrote my response to the Fiction Friday prompt yesterday, and in so doing, I decided to re-enter the world of Emascula the Great (albeit just his household - for now). He's a Victorian stage magician with a healthy disdain for his public that I first dreamt up back in 2007, for a 60-word flash fiction challenge on the EditRed website. This is the story I came up with for the prompt, The Oldest Trick.

"Emascula the Great waved the wand above his assistant. The audience gasped and cooed with delight as she pulled the swords from her body, tossing them to the floor with a clatter. She posed, apparently unscathed. Emascula smiled cheerfully, but sighed inwardly. These cretins were so easily fooled. Parting them from their money was the oldest trick in the book."

Weirdly enough, Emascula decided to make an appearance in a short story I wrote a couple of years later, The Mirror Phase. This was originally published on the Fictionville website, but once that closed down, I added it to my own site, including a wonderful illustration by the very talented Jimmy Misanthrope.

Now it would appear that Emascula wants a little more attention, so watch this space for more tales of the enigmatic magician!