Princess Vladimíra, the only daughter to the reigning king, was forbidden to leave the castle. A seer had prognosticated that if she gave birth before she reached twenty-one years of age, that child would lead the country to ruin. For nineteen interminable years, she brooded within the dim halls and chambers, wishing to become as the flitting birds she glimpsed through the windows. Then, on the eve of her twentieth birthday, she found an enchanted bottle in the royal storeroom that was said to contain an evil genie. As anticipation and unease swirled within her, she opened the lid in hopes that the rumors were true...