Theresa walked into the cottage through the door that Daphne held open for her, wondering if she was being foolish and still walking straight into a trap.
This man was a bit odd. Why would anyone live so isolated, deep in the forest?
Could he have been placed there by Francine? It was completely possible that this stranger had only been kind to Daphne to trick her into trusting him.
She followed him with her eyes while he moved about the cottage, looking completely and suspiciously harmless.
Well, perhaps not completely harmless when she remembered those sticky invisible threads, but he seemed to be relaxed and calm. Her feline side was not concerned, but Theresa wondered if her cat feelings were lulling her into a false sense of complacency.
Theresa's fur felt distressingly messy, so she started rearranging it with her tongue. It was a soothing feeling to have the fur was put back in order.
She continued to watch the man as he moved towards the fire, then brought a dish towards her. She wondered how old he was. He was probably not more than ten years older than she.
Theresa's eyes left the stranger long enough to look in the bowl.
Milk! Theresa immediately began to lap at the warm liquid.
Her cat side was completely content and had instantly been won over by the man, traitor that it was. It decided then and there that he could be her own beloved servant, good human that he obviously was. This man knew how to treat a cat.
Her human side still had a lot of questions as she took in his appearance between laps.
The stranger looked rather normal in the light of the cabin if she discounted the weird distorted colors of the world.
Like Daphne, his skin was a washed out grey, except a shade darker. He wore well tended hardy clothing and had slightly shaggy hair and a modest beard that was slightly darker than his hair; his entire form was awash in various shades of grey.
He appeared to be just an average common man. Really, he could have been any of the laborers on her own lands.
Except, the average laborer could not construct magic spider's webs. He was clearly a magic user of some sort. That might explain why she felt the unpleasant prickling when she came close to the cabin.
She hoped he was a wizard. Witches and warlocks were said to be more dangerously unpredictable from what Theresa had heard.
Dangerous or not, he probably was not as dangerous to their liberty as her aunt was and better still, perhaps he could help her with her transformation.
Theresa was flooded with sudden hope. If he could help her return to her original form, it would be worth enduring a hundred nasty, magical webs.
As if realizing the million questions running through her mind, the man started talking. "I would just like to apologize for your rude welcoming."
Theresa would have said that she forgave the indignity had she been capable of speech, but rather meowed amiably and inclined her head in what she hoped was a gracious movement.
She was really having trouble remaining suspicious of the man after he had freed and fed her.
His rather normal and benign appearance and his understated mannerism did not help, it rather made her feel at ease when she still needed to be on guard.
"I should, no doubt, start at the beginning. I am the Wizard Jim Hatcher and this is my home as you no doubt have reasoned out. Your sister set off a few of my wards as she was wandering the forest. I do have a few unexpected visitors out here from time to time, usually seeking my help on some minor enchantment or a magical favor. Often they end up lost so I keep an ear out."
Well, his words seemed reasonable.
"At first I thought that the Lady Daphne was perhaps a traveler who was lost or seeking my aid. She appeared quite distraught. I journeyed to where I had seen her and offered my assistance."
Theresa supposed she had been too intent on the familiar scent of her sister to notice his woodsy scent had joined her.
"The Wizard Jim is very accomplished at magical viewing," Daphne interjected.
"Well, I suppose," the wizard agreed rather sheepishly. His cheeks darkened slightly. Theresa assumed that she would have seen a flush cross his face if she had her normal vision.
She had observed Daphne's ability to disconcert men with little more than an offhanded remark more than once so she was not particularly surprised.
He cleared his throat and continued, "In any case, Lady Daphne explained your situation—"
Theresa's head shot up and she meowed in irritation. She shot what she hoped was an angry cat glare at her sister.
Daphne needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. They did not need to leave a trail of people who knew about them wherever they travelled.
It was bad enough that two sheltered heiresses, or rather one helpless heiress and one agitated feline heiress were travelling alone, because strangers would likely remember them even without telling them exactly what they needed to know to turn them over to Francine.
It would have been so much better if Daphne had been transformed rather than Theresa, she thought resentfully.
At least she could keep her mouth shut when the occasion called for it.
Daphne apparently had an idea what Theresa was thinking, because she scowled back at Theresa in a way that seemed very unlike the sister she knew.
"What would you have me do? Not explain anything? I didn't know where you were or have any idea how to find you. And he's a wizard. Wasn't it you who wanted to find a wizard to help you?" Daphne asked, clearly irritated.
Theresa was a bit surprised again at her sister's assertive display.
Daphne was acting out of character. She would likely not be so brave if Theresa was still human and could respond in kind.
And Theresa would have a lot to say when she had her human vocal cords back, Daphne could be certain of that.
Jim coughed again slightly; clearly uncomfortable at the sibling's conflict he had inadvertently stumbled upon.
Theresa turned her attention back to the wizard's words. She could not change what Daphne had already revealed anyway.
"As I was saying, Lady Daphne explained that she had lost a cat, who was actually her transformed sister."
He sounded a bit excited and his voice picked up speed. "Magical transformations are very difficult and I was eager to witness such a thing. I immediately offered to help."
He paused. "But of course, I would have helped any lady in distress even if there was no opportunity to observe an intriguing and intricate problem," he added quickly, seemingly worried that he might have offended her.
So, he was helping them because she was an interesting oddity, Theresa thought dryly. Well, it was better to be seen as a travelling fair side show than have him pretend to help them so that he could claim a future reward from her aunt.
She also wondered if someone who considered magical transformations very difficult would even be capable of helping her transform back to human.
She shrugged her cat shoulders in response and waited to see what else he would say.
Jim nodded. "I don't doubt that it must be frustrating not to be able to communicate properly with us. You probably have many questions."
Theresa nodded her agreement and meowed for emphasis. A little pity and empathy was nice for a change. She glared slightly at the unsuspecting Daphne.
Jim nodded again. "I, of course, have no way of knowing exactly what you would like to know. Lady Daphne explained to me that neither of you are overtly magically inclined."
He seemed to be waiting for a response from her, so she made her head nod, then lapped at the last bit of milk in the dish.
She wondered if she could have more milk. How did cats typically go about getting more food from their humans?
She realized her mind was drifting again to cat concerns rather than the matter at hand. She snapped back to attention.
Jim continued, "I'm an adequate wizard. I was a curious lad in my day, and my father ensured I was properly educated, at great cost to himself. When I came of age I spent a number of years at Rothforth's Magical Academy in the capital. It is arguably the finest school of wizardry in the world. My point being I'm capable of working most spells if I have sufficient study and preparation."
While his words seemed positive, the way his tone dropped at the end made Theresa began to anticipate where the wizard was going and she could feel the little hope she had mustered fade away.
Daphne was listening quietly off to the side, no doubt having already heard what the wizard would say next.
He continued, confirming her fears, "The spell on you is very complex and shockingly powerful. I don't think I have enough magic to dislodge it and while I likely I do have the expertise to reverse it, it would be a risky business indeed."
Theresa pushed aside the empty bowl and went back to straightening her fur, barely hearing what the Wizard Jim was saying.
She told herself that she had to focus on the positive. She and Daphne were together again. Her stomach was no longer empty. She had not been eaten by a vicious large dog. Francine had not caught them yet. They could and would find another, more powerful wizard.
She turned her attention back to the inadequate wizard that they did have. He was still talking about why he could not remove the spell.
"When your sister first explained that a wizard had changed you, Lady Theresa, I really thought that I might make an attempt to return you to your true form."
He paused before delivering the final blow. "However, now that I've seen the strength of the spell there are several reasons that I do not dare to try. The first, my lady, is the danger to your physical and mental wellbeing. Terrible things can happen when one meddles in magic beyond their capabilities, especially when one is working on a human or an animal wherein such mistakes can be deadly."
Theresa believed him. He had seemed excited about the spell on her and probably would have been eager to work with it otherwise.
"It's dangerous for the wizard, his subject, and sometimes even for the people in the vicinity. I would gladly take the risk to myself, but I fear that I might only partially transform you, which could render you trapped between two forms possibly permanently, or even worse could kill you. I would also risk harming Lady Daphne, if she remained present while I was making the attempt."
He sounded genuinely distressed at his inability to help.
Theresa wished that she could tell him that she understood and did not blame him, but that desire was as futile as the Wizard Jim's regrets.