A grumbling Gaston set to work putting his study back in order.\u00a0 When they arrived back at the keep to place Lucinda\u2019s belongings in a more agreeable place\u2014far from them, the sage had whispered to his pupil\u2014they had found the room in terrible disarray.\u00a0 The visiting sorceress\u2019s lackey had transformed back into a rodent and run amok in the room until Gaston opened the door, allowing the creature to scurry to freedom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is becoming an all-too-familiar occurrence,\u201d the sage said.\u00a0 \u201cThis study has never seen such foul treatment as these past months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, but I do love when he gets that little growl in his throat,\u201d Lucinda whispered.\u00a0 She placed her hand on Adelia\u2019s shoulder, and leaned in to offer another secret.\u00a0 \u201cHe may be old, but he still has such vigor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd excellent hearing at that,\u201d Gaston spoke.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t go speaking your foul poison into my apprentice\u2019s ear.\u00a0 She has such a nice disposition.\u00a0 It would be a shame to see it flagged simply by your presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well,\u201d she said.\u00a0 Her movements were choreographed in the most perfect manner.\u00a0 The fluttering of her lashes disguised her rolling eyes, and an innocent shrug hid the subtle shake of her head.\u00a0 \u201cWell then, you precious little thing, allow me to explain the basics of transformative magic.\u00a0 We might as well make a learning experience of this mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, the cardinal rule of transformations: whatever will be, forever will be.\u00a0 Oh yes, you can put a comb on a chicken and call her a rooster, but behind the disguise, she\u2019s still a mad hen.\u00a0 The same goes for our dirty little squirrel who made all this trouble for us.\u00a0 I turned him into a spry young man instead, but he was still a furry ball of fluff and claws behind the curtain.\u00a0 And the poor thing thought his tail was lost forever.\u00a0 And those flowers out in the garden, they\u2019ll be back to normal by this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelia\u2019s eyes flashed with curiosity, but she swallowed away her questions, along with her trepidation, and nodded instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell go on, my dear,\u201d Lucinda said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not common knowledge.\u00a0 You\u2019re allowed to wonder how it all works.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk away, Adelia,\u201d Gaston bade.\u00a0 Though he had a meticulous focus on the books that he was arranging, he still cared to observe the lesson.\u00a0 \u201cIf you don\u2019t, our friend here will invent all manner of questions for you, and answer them until we\u2019re ready for bed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucinda smirked at that remark, but rolled her hand through the air, granting permission once more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Adelia hesitated.\u00a0 \u201cWhen something is transformed\u2014a living creature I mean\u2014is it painful?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a sinister side, Gaston,\u201d the sorceress said, raising her eyes and offering a delighted smile.\u00a0 \u201cThat is an excellent first query.\u00a0 Now, if I took your arm and stretched it out to be twice as long, you\u2019d imagine the agony would be quite immense, wouldn\u2019t you?\u00a0 Indeed, a fledgling witch or wizard would likely overlook that whole part of the process.\u00a0 But you, you\u2019re already thinking ahead.\u00a0 This is quite good.\u00a0 A skilled practitioner has the ability to make the process of transformation quite painless.\u00a0 It is almost as though you pass the subject through a cloud, where all sensation is suddenly diminished.\u00a0 Our friend, the runaway squirrel, wasn\u2019t even aware that he had been transformed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelia arched an eyebrow, and brought up her finger.\u00a0 \u201cYou said they have the ability\u2026 does that mean you could have made the poor thing endure that pain if you wanted to?\u00a0 And what about when the enchantment has ended?\u00a0 If you\u2019re not around when the spell wears off, do they feel pain when they revert to their original state?\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the room, Gaston could not hide his impossibly large smile.\u00a0 For the first time in as long as he could remember, someone could outtalk Lucinda.<\/p>\n
The plump sorceress held up her hand, then.\u00a0 \u201cNow then, young lady, wouldn\u2019t you rather I show you the answers to all of the questions?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelia looked to the sage, who nodded and shooed her away.\u00a0 \u201cThe further she is from this room, the quicker I can put it in order once more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome now, Miss\u2026 Kreegan, was it?\u00a0 We\u2019ll go back out to the gardens where I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be more appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucinda ushered Gaston\u2019s apprentice down the steps into the courtyard once more, and they passed through the gates of the keep.\u00a0 They did not venture much further than that, though, stopping once they arrived beside the first long stretch of wildflowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, what better way for you to learn about transformative magic than to feel it yourself?\u201d the sorceress asked.\u00a0 \u201cWhat would you like to be?\u00a0 A fox?\u00a0 A sloth?\u00a0 A cat, like your furry friend in Gaston\u2019s care?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelia\u2019s eyes went wide as she considered the curse that Lucinda was about to impart on her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d rather not change at all!\u201d she cried.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonsense, you won\u2019t feel a thing.\u201d\u00a0 Lucinda didn\u2019t allow Gaston\u2019s apprentice to put up any more of a fight before she pointed at her with her cane.\u00a0 Contrary to her insisting, Adelia did feel something.\u00a0 It was like tiny sparks fired in her muscles, not so painful as it was unfamiliar.\u00a0 But the sorceress stopped then, and lowered her cane.\u00a0 \u201cHmm, you\u2019ve got tremendous will, girl.\u00a0 It would take incredible magical prowess to convince you to change your skin, and I\u2019m just not sure I have it in me to risk that much power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl smiled at that notion, and found herself more interested in that branch of arcane arts than ever.\u00a0 \u201cSo, you can\u2019t just change anything you see?\u00a0 Other people can\u2019t be transformed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I wouldn\u2019t say that, dear child.\u00a0 Believe me, I\u2019m the authority on husbands who turned out to be animals.\u00a0 But a caster\u2019s will must be considerably greater than that of their subject.\u00a0 And someone\u2019s will is affected by so many things.\u00a0 I perish to think of being able to work transformative magic on the great sage of Forsynthia.\u00a0 But if I caught him in bed, oh I\u2019d turn him into a mighty stallion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adelia averted her gaze again, and Lucinda blew out a weary sigh.\u00a0 \u201cOh you meek little thing.\u00a0 You are certainly old enough where a fire should be running through you, not extinguishing with every taboo thought that crosses your mind.\u00a0 Erm, don\u2019t let Gaston know about that.\u00a0 Our little secret and all that.\u00a0 Moving on\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came out here to let you get a taste of transformation.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see you test your mettle.\u00a0 We\u2019ll start with something simple.\u00a0 These flowers are red.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to see you turn them blue.\u00a0 Can you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A grumbling Gaston set to work putting his study back in order.\u00a0 When they arrived back at the keep to place Lucinda\u2019s belongings in a more agreeable place\u2014far from them, the sage had whispered to his pupil\u2014they had found the room in terrible disarray.\u00a0 The visiting sorceress\u2019s lackey had transformed back into a rodent and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-14I","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4137,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4136\/revisions\/4137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}