Promises, Princes and Pomegranates

By: Tirzah Agassi

Just three days shy of her 13th birthday, Ophelia now lives with her Aunt Julia in Boston. Both her anthropologist parents were killed while doing research in the South Sea Islands. Aunt Julia has a suitor, Terry, a former brilliant physicist turned science fiction writer, whom Ophelia thinks is the perfect match for her 29-year old aunt. But Julia's heart is under a spell, cast by a shadowy figure names Sebatian, described by Julia as "a warlock, a sorcerer, the real thing." Ophelia vows to find Sebastian and persuade him to cancel the spell so Julia can move on with Terry.Three objects may help Ophelia: a painting by Sebastian, titled "Pregnant by the Moon," that hangs over the fireplace; a photograph of Sebastian; and the remarkable ring Julia wears ever since he slipped in on her finger.So, Sebastian left Julia for the world of magic, and, now, Terry gives Julia an ultimatum: marry him or see him off to Japan alone. Why can't she forget Sebastian, who abandoned her for a life in magic, asks Julia? Because Sebastian visits her in her dreams, she replies. Besides how could she wear a simple wedding band beside the heart-stopping ring Sebastian slipped on her finger before vanishing?After a week of telepathic experiments, staring at the painting while sending intense vibrations to Sebastian, Ophelia hears strange noises and sees the man in the photograph wink at her. Next thing she knows she is gliding along the Nile, approaching the city of Thebes in ancient Egypt. Sebastian is paddling their skiff. Adventures lead them to the court of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, where they are cast into a dungeon. When she is bitten by a deadly poisonous snake Sebastian hurls her back home in Boston.Ophelia has learned how to reach Sebastian, master of what he calls "chronological mobility", i.e. time travel, but persuading him to release Aunt Julia from his romantic spell would have to wait for subsequent voyages, which include Xanadu where they meet the great Kubla Khan. Julia's fate hangs in the balance.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1649216718
• ISBN13: 9781649216717
• Release Date: February 2021
• Publisher: Primedia eLaunch LLC