{"id":4141,"date":"1983-07-12T00:01:16","date_gmt":"1983-07-12T04:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=4141"},"modified":"2016-08-23T07:39:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T11:39:52","slug":"transformed-final-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/transformed-final-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Transformed, Final Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucinda let her gaze settle on that item, and squared her jaw.\u00a0 \u201cYou fool girl,\u201d she spat.\u00a0 \u201cHaven\u2019t you listened to anything I\u2019ve said?\u00a0 It would be the most delicious pie you ever ate.\u00a0 It would also be your last.\u00a0 The rock is still a rock, and it would revert back to its proper form in your stomach.\u00a0 Do you want to die like that you stupid<\/em> girl?\u201d<\/p>\n

With her mouth agape, Adelia just stared at her teacher, unprepared for that treatment.\u00a0 Her face went flush, and as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The sorceress stared, and saw that pained expression, and her features softened.\u00a0 She looked past the girl, her eyes unfocused.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she muttered.\u00a0 \u201cThese are my\u2026 You didn\u2019t know any better, and it was wrong of me to expect so much of you.\u00a0 Can you ever forgive me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adelia clamped her lips together and swallowed her embarrassment.\u00a0 She offered up a meager nod before averting her gaze as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should head back to the keep,\u201d Lucinda suggested.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure Gaston has cleared up my other mistake.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let him know you understood the lesson very well.\u201d\u00a0 She didn\u2019t wait for Adelia to agree with that idea, instead turning and heading for the gate.<\/p>\n

She waited just a little while when Lucinda began away, and when she was alone, Adelia tossed the rock to the ground.\u00a0 With that lesson ended as awkwardly as she could imagine, she followed her strange teacher, making sure to leave ample room between her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A book sat beside her on the cushioned seat, but Adelia seemed more concerned with scratching the whiskers beneath Merlin\u2019s chin.\u00a0 When Gaston approached, he wasn\u2019t regarded at first, and he had to clear his throat to make sure he had been seen.\u00a0 The girl offered him a quiet smile, but returned her attention to the cat.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me what happened,\u201d the sage said.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s certainly an odd one, that Lucinda.\u00a0 All that power at her fingertips, and she\u2019s never really been satisfied.\u00a0 She uses her talents for parlor tricks when she could rule a small country.\u00a0 There\u2019s no excuse for what she\u2019s done, but I hope you can forgive her.\u00a0 She\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all forgotten, Gaston,\u201d Adelia said.\u00a0 \u201cIt was surprising, yes.\u00a0 But it was far better than I had been treated in Viscosa.\u00a0 As I\u2019m learning, all wizards are a little strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sage passed her a sidelong glance and a smirk.\u00a0 \u201cSo you\u2019re not hiding out here instead of my study because you\u2019re uncomfortable?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI used to spend my days outdoors.\u00a0 But since my parents\u2026 It\u2019s nice to have the walls of the keep protecting us.\u00a0 I can still see the clouds and the birds, but I don\u2019t have to worry about being too far from where I feel most safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear to you, Miss Kreegan, you\u2019ll always be safe here.\u201d\u00a0 He gave a little bow, and proceeded around that corridor on the second floor of the keep until he reached his study\u2014and the plump sorceress just outside.\u00a0 \u201cYou two have an awful lot in common,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cYou both lost your homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not exactly a vast list of things to compare between us, Gaston,\u201d she replied.\u00a0 Lucinda spun about then, leaning on the banister to see the young lady.\u00a0 \u201cAnd besides, she\u2019s found a home to replace the old one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make up for what she\u2019s lost, but it\u2019s all I could offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you\u2019ve done well, Mister Camlann.\u00a0 Very well indeed.\u201d\u00a0 She stood there, watching in silence as the girl played with the cat.\u00a0 Adelia bore a wide grin, and snuggled Merlin close to her.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s taken quite a shine to your newest familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Merlin is no familiar.\u00a0 He\u2019s just a ragged stray that wandered in here when he was a kitten, and just didn\u2019t have the sense to leave in the last two years.\u00a0 But he\u2019s just as smitten with her.\u00a0 He used to be out all hours of the night, and he\u2019d wake me up from a dead sleep to scratch at my door when he wanted to come back in.\u00a0 With her though, it\u2019s different.\u00a0 He spends the whole night curled up in bed with her, ready to start the day when Miss Kreegan is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucinda kept her focus on the unsuspecting girl, watching as she scratched the feline\u2019s belly.\u00a0 Adelia laughed when Merlin wrapped his arms around her hand and playfully bit her fingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLucinda?\u201d Gaston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe let\u2019s that ball of fluff sleep with her?\u201d the sorceress asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery night,\u201d the wizard replied.<\/p>\n

A mischievous grin crept to the woman\u2019s face then.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucinda let her gaze settle on that item, and squared her jaw.\u00a0 \u201cYou fool girl,\u201d she spat.\u00a0 \u201cHaven\u2019t you listened to anything I\u2019ve said?\u00a0 It would be the most delicious pie you ever ate.\u00a0 It would also be your last.\u00a0 The rock is still a rock, and it would revert back to its proper form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4139,"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":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Transformed-8.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-14N","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141"}],"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=4141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4142,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141\/revisions\/4142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}