Theresa decided to go back to the wizard's study again and see if he was there.
He was probably still in the dining room, but he would be done soon. Theresa did not know where the dining room was so she could hardly just wait for him there.
Besides, that might be too obvious.
As Theresa walked through the halls, she heard a trickle of laughter. Daphne! Abandoning her plan to see the wizard, she followed her sister's voice into an open door.
Daphne sat in the dining room across the table from Sir Thomas. She seemed to be finished eating.
Theresa's eyes narrowed. So that was where Daphne had been, socializing with Thomas while Theresa had been stuck in their rooms.
Her sister was giggling at something that he had said to her. Theresa stalked forward.
"Do tell me more about yourself, Sir Thomas," Daphne said when she finally stopped.
"Well, I grew up at Harding. It's my parent's estate. It lies northeast of here," Thomas said.
"What's Harding like?" wondered Daphne.
Thomas smiled softly. "It's beautiful. There are lush forests, and the hills roll. From the highest points one can see the mountains to the north. It's not the largest estate in the country by any means, but I feel that it is better than many of the large, rambling states that have infested the country. I'm sure you would like it there."
"I think that I would, too." Daphne trilled. She was obviously not at all concerned that she had abandoned her cat sister to fend for herself.
Theresa thought that they had ignored her presence long enough. She walked straight under the table and leapt up onto her sister's lap.
"Theresa!" Daphne exclaimed. Theresa meowed reproachfully.
"Hello, Lady Theresa."
Theresa glared at Thomas in response. Then she glared at Daphne. Her sister needed to start taking things seriously instead of gazing adoringly at Sir Thomas.
Even though Daphne had been lucky enough not to be transformed, their aunt was still a very real danger to both their liberty. Did her sister really not understand?
If Francine got them back in her power again, she would probably never again let down her guard. They would be trapped until the day that Francine died. Francine had seemed in unfortunately good health.
Daphne looked at Theresa uncertainly. "I was wondering where you went."
Theresa glared again. She was quite certain that Daphne had not been wondering any such thing, what with Sir Thomas around to distract her. How Theresa was faring had probably not even crossed her mind.
"How did you get out of our room?" Daphne asked.
Theresa's eyes shot wide open. Daphne had knowingly shut her in the room? What had Daphne expected? That Theresa should wait patiently indefinitely? With an indignant meow, she leapt off her sister.
A small, honest part of Theresa knew that she was probably being a bit oversensitive, but she had been through so much that it hurt when one of the few people who knew her woes forgot her so easily.
The cat part of her did not care one way or another. It was clean, full and apparently safe.
Theresa waved away her feline satisfaction. She did not care that her physical needs seemed to be met. Everything else was wrong. She was helpless. She was angry.
Thomas sneezed. It only made her angrier. Theresa leapt from her sister's lap and stalked out of the room.
Daphne was clearly distressed at her actions and at a loss what to say to calm Theresa down. She followed Theresa out into the hall.
She called after her, "Theresa! Sir Thomas and I are going riding. Do you want to come? You could ride on my saddle."
It was the final indignity. Daphne knew that Theresa could no longer enjoy riding. Insensitive twit! Theresa strode away with her tail in the air.
Daphne could do whatever she wanted from now one. She could flutter her eyelashes and giggle adoringly like a fool at the insipid Sir Thomas and Theresa would not make one move to stop her.
Theresa did not care. She could manage just fine on her own.
* * * * *
Hours later, Theresa cared quite a lot.
After leaving her sister, she wandered around a while. When she stopped being angry, she started to feel hopeless. When she forced herself not to worry, she had nothing left to think about and she started to feel bored.
Theresa had never been idle. Even under Francine's power, she had always had something to do. When Francine had not been parading them out in front of guests, Theresa had read, painted, embroidered, and consistently beat Daphne at chess. She and Daphne went for rides around their estate.
There was always something to fill each hour of the day. All she had needed to be busy was hands and human form. Even riding was lost to her. Merely considering getting on the back of a horse made the cat part of her feel uneasy all over again. She grieved for the loss of her favorite activities.
Theresa did not think she could bear to take another lap around the castle. She decided to go to Wildwood's study again and see if he was there.
If he would let her in perhaps she could discover what progress he had made. It was better than going mad from idleness.
By this time she already knew the way to his tower very well. The door at the bottom was sitting ajar. She climbed up the stairs and looked at the heavy door in front of her.
She wondered again if Wildwood was inside. She wished that she could knock. Knocking was such a human thing. Scratching at the door was depressingly pet-like.
Still, she might sit waiting all day in front of an empty room if she continued to let human pride stop her.
Finally, Theresa scratched on the door. She heard someone moving and the door swung open as if by magic.
"Lady Theresa? Was there something that you needed?" Wildwood asked, looking down at her.
Theresa shook her head, although there were a lot of things that she needed. Her voice, her hands, her human form. To be forever free from her aunt. But she would happily settle for something to help occupy her for a little while.
Wildwood smiled slightly. "Well, why don't you come inside?"
He held the door open farther. Theresa entered, letting her cat side swagger in as if it owned the place.
He was watching her and she met his dark gaze.
He nodded solicitously. "Are you settling in well?" he asked.
Theresa nodded. It was not as if she could explain her problems to him and even if she could she hardly trusted him.
"If there's nothing that you needed, then I should perhaps figure out what you want."
Theresa moved the cat shoulders into a feline approximation of a shrug.
"I imagine waiting is particularly difficult when there is nothing to fill your time."
Theresa nodded. It was hard when there was not much to do but worry. It was rather nice that he grasped the problem so quickly.
"I'm working through a text, but you're welcome to stay in my study for a change of scenery if you prefer."
Theresa considered. She nodded.
He nodded as well. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Theresa walked over and jumped up into a fluffy chair. The grey cushions were soft and comfortable. Wildwood let the door close and went and sat behind his desk. He started reading the text that he had left open on the desk.
Theresa began to feel incredibly awkward. She had thought that he would explain what he was doing at least. Of course she had said that there was nothing that she needed, so perhaps he thought she had just wanted to... What was he thing?
Theresa turned her attention to studying the room. Perhaps she could learn more about this quiet wizard by looking at his possessions.
The shelves lining the walls were all made of some dark grayish wood, as was Wildwood's great desk. It looked incredibly heavy. She wondered how many servants it had taken to carry it up the winding stairs, or perhaps Wildwood had simply brought it up using magic. Could he do that?
Most of the books on the shelves were gray but there were several with covers of green and bluish gray. One book titled, A Study on the Nature of Internal Magic had a brilliant blue spine. All the titles she could make out seemed to be related to wizardry.
It was hardly surprising since he clearly had a deep interest in the subject.
The floor of the study was plain grey stone, like the rest of the castle and there was a fireplace in the corner. It was unlit.
Theresa did not mind, she was warm enough in her fur without, although it would likely be pleasant to curl up in front of it in winter. Not that she wanted to still be here then. By winter she would hopefully be at Waldwick and free of Francine.
Theresa turned her attention to some of the odd instruments on the shelves. One was a long and round tube balanced on spindly legs and there were several heavy baskets placed in straight lines filled with various objects she did not recognize. There was also a large locked chest off to one side of the room.
There was only one unoccupied chair remaining in the room and it was positioned near the unlit fire, clearly for reading on cold winter days. A side table stood beside it that matched the one sitting beside the chair that she occupied.
There were several unlit candles positioned about the room. Wildwood seemed to be reading solely by the light coming in from two narrow windows on either side of the tower.
Theresa continued her perusal until she could take it no more. She shifted around in the chair uncomfortably. She did not really know why she had come. Boredom? Curiosity? Suspicion?
All she knew now was she wanted to leave this uncomfortable atmosphere immediately, but she also did not want to beg him to open the door for her right after she had just arrived.
Theresa sighed and stretched.
Wildwood continued reading.
There was not much left to look at in the room. She glanced out the windows at the beautiful blue sky outside and wished that she had continued to look for a way to reach it.
Wildwood flipped a page. Theresa looked at him.
Daphne had said that he was handsome, even though he clearly made her sister nervous. Theresa supposed that he made her uneasy as well.
She eyed him critically, trying to imagine what he might look like if she were still human. He would be warm and flesh colored; his hair and eyes were probably brown. She remembered well what the color looked like even if she could not perceive it now.
He would not look so horribly tall if she was as she should be. She could now see from her vantage point in a chair across the room that he truly was much better looking than when she was looking up his nose.
Still, there was nothing particularly handsome or frightening in his appearance. He looked normal to her. His short dark hair was slightly messy and his face was maybe a little bit pleasing even with her skewed feline sight.
His dark eyes were probably piercing if he was angry, although his calm temperament made it difficult to imagine that he would get worked up very often. His frame appeared sturdy under his clothes.
There was no reason to feel awkward, she told herself. Whatever unease she was feeling had to be something to do with the spell on her reacting with his magic or perhaps the cat part of her mind did not like him
She dismissed the latter thought. Her cat side seemed to have decided he was quite tolerable after all. She felt like cleaning her fur and taking a nap in a comfortable chair, but Theresa was not going to let herself succumb to that inclination.
Theresa scowled to herself. He was clearly a completely normal nobleman, aside from his wizardly interests. All this other nonsense she was thinking was merely Daphne getting in her head.
He seemed to be working diligently, a virtue that Theresa appreciated. Maybe she really could trust him to help her.