His "off limits" cabinet isn't locked this morning...

As Merl returned to his work, content that Lilly knew how to behave in his workplace and certain that there was nothing dangerous for her to unleash, the princess's eyes began to wander. There was a unique dilemma that came about from frequently visiting a wizard's lab: even the fascinating and mysterious started to feel boring and routine. That was the case this morning as Lilly observed her surroundings. One thing was different today, however; an imposing ebony cabinet that Merl had always stressed was off limits and kept locked was hanging open just a crack.

The sight of the forbidden cabinet's open door put a devious smile on Lilly's face. She'd always suspected that the old wizard's warnings about the cabinet and its contents was just a ruse to keep her away from it. Much like a parent hiding presents from their child, Lilly was convinced that the cabinet didn't house anything truly dangerous, but rather the truly wondrous artifacts Merl must have gathered over his many years as a practitioner of magic.

With a glance over her shoulder to make sure that Merl was still engrossed in his work, Lilly quietly crossed the length of the room to the cabinet. Carefully pulling the door open completely, the princess looked upon the cabinets contents with widening eyes.

Bizarre and fascinating objects of varying size and nature lined the shelves. Wands made of materials Lilly couldn't identify, books wrapped in chains of vibrantly colored metals, odd statuettes of creatures and people, and many more oddities sat in front of the princess, practically begging her to give them a closer look.

"Why didn't you ever tell me you had such amazing things in here?" Lilly asked out loud as she reached out to touch an object, rousing the wizard from his work-induced stupor.

As Merl looked up from his work and turned to face the princess, the sight that greeted him drained the color from his face. "Lilly, no! Don't touch-" he began, only to be cut off by the blinding flash of light that erupted as the princess touched one of the items in the cabinet.

Merl's cabinet was off-limits for a very good reason. Every object housed within it was cursed! Lilly, in her naive curiosity, had just touched a cursed object and subjected herself to its dangerous magics!

What Merl couldn't be sure of as his eyes recovered from the blinding flash, however, was what exactly Lilly had touched, and what curse she'd just given herself.