Transformed [W&W Book 1]

Chapter 13

The wizard, Lord Wildwood, did not look quite old enough to be a both an accomplished wizard and the lord of Wildwood, even washed out in grey.

She doubted he was a decade older than her at most.

His clothes were light and casual, although clearly finely made as would be expected of a noble. He had moderately short dark hair and dark eyes which she could only describe as mysterious.

She could see the wizard carried himself with an air of innate confidence but it was not of the annoyingly bubbly sort that Sir Thomas exuded.

Still, something about him made the fur on Theresa's back raise up. She was quite unsure of whether her unease was due to the fact that her curse resonated with his magic, or if it was because of his personality.

There was absolutely nothing intriguing in the slightest about this wizard.

"Welcome to my home. I am Lord Wildwood. You must be Lady Daphne," he said, looking at her sister.

Daphne nodded as if she had gone mute. She looked as skittish as a shy deer.

"How can I help you... ladies?" he asked, looking from Daphne to Theresa.

Theresa could not help but feel pleased that he was at treating her as if she was human, because that was exactly what she was. It would make things far easier.

The fact that he noticed nearly instantly that she was not an ordinary cat boded well. Perhaps he really would be able to quickly change her back.

"My sister was transformed into a cat," Daphne explained quickly. "We were hoping that you might be able to change her back." She eyed the wizard nervously. She was also fidgeting. Theresa could not really blame her. He was rather imposing. He probably looked like a monster to Daphne.

He looked carefully at Theresa.

As his inspection went on she felt like squirming uncomfortably, but held herself rigidly still. She might be residing in the body of a cat but she still could maintain her dignity. She knew who she was and she knew her worth.

He looked directly into her eyes and asked, "Can you still understand what is going on?"

Theresa nodded emphatically and tried to meow in a positive way.

"What is her name?" he asked Daphne with a quick glance before returning his dark gaze to Theresa.

"Theresa," supplied Daphne nervously from the sidelines. She seemed relieved that he was no longer regarding her.

Theresa meowed loudly and nodded.

"Do you remember what it was like to be human?" he questioned.

Again Theresa nodded, wondering if he thought that she would forget in time. The worry had crossed her mind before. Was that something reasonable to be worried about?

She hoped again that he would be able to fix her quickly whether the damage could become permanent or not.

The wizard nodded to himself and he looked at each of them. "You certainly have presented me with an interesting magical quandary. I need to do some research before I attempt to return you to your original form. I have some texts on transformations of living matter. I must request your patience."

"Oh, of course," Daphne agreed happily.

It was not like they had a better choice, Theresa thought as she nodded her head.

Theresa wondered how long they would be have to be patient for.

She also wondered what it was exactly that the wizard would want in return for his assistance, but she had no way of asking. Although she hated not knowing and it would have been better to ask before he gave his assistance, it seemed that she would have to deal with his payment after everything was completed. She could only hope that whatever he wanted was not too steep.