Theresa spent two more days wandering around the castle, trying not to feel depressed while also trying not to care what was happening. Daphne was with her far more than strictly normal and she was growing weary of her sister's presence.
It was almost a relief when she finally disappeared with Thomas again.
The idle passing of time was Theresa's worst enemy. Already, Francine had almost certainly petitioned the king and told him her lying sob story about how sad she was that her nieces ran away because they were deluded and crazy.
Theresa's mind spun even worse scenarios such as her aunt using her magic on the king and being his first advisor by the time they got there.
There had never been much hope of reaching the capital before Francine and that small hope had slipped long out of reach.
Her only hope was to somehow gain an audience with the king in spite of the fact her aunt was telling everyone that she and Daphne were mad runaways and convince him that she was sane.
Not the best circumstances to approach royalty, she was certain. Still, the only option was to try, or live in fear of Francine's pursuit forever.
Of course that was if all her cat troubles had been sorted out.
She still had not progressed beyond even that first hurdle. It was terribly frustrating.
It was easier just to not think and to wander around Wildwood acting like a cat.
So Theresa lay on the sill of the kitchen window, enjoying the light breeze and the afternoon rays when the kitchen had an unexpected visitor.
At the sight of Wildwood, Matt seemed to attempt to shrink into the wall and even Ildri's busy tongue fell utterly silent although she looked happy rather than nervous.
Only the chef seemed unfazed by his presence. "Good afternoon, Lord Wildwood," she said in her usual good humor.
"Good morning, Missus Allendale. How are you?"
"Very well, thank you. Are you looking for Theresa?" the chef asked in a pleasant voice.
"I certainly am."
Theresa thought it was odd for a cat to respond so she stayed where she was and pretended to not be listening. He could carry her if he needed her.
She was becoming quite used to it and she had decided to think about being carried as if she were a high lady relaxing while her servants carried her, rather than as an indignity.
That was certainly how her cat side viewed it. She could not quite remember why she had been so bothered by all the little things before.
As she had predicted, Wildwood was forced to carry her. He did until he was out of the kitchen and down the hall. He set her down rather abruptly. She meowed in protest.
"You'll have to forgive me but when you first arrived you would not have allowed me to carry you. I fear that your cat nature is overcoming your human mind. Now please come with me."
Theresa wondered if she was indeed becoming more catlike.
It was true that she was having difficulty remaining constantly upset about things that she knew were problems, but it was nice not to worry so much.
It was not as if she could do anything about it right now. Perhaps she had simply been too uptight when she was human. Of course, her feline side was quite serious when it came to eating or sleeping regularly, but what more did she need?
While she pondered, she followed Wildwood. He led her to his tower and up to his study.
She looked at him, waiting for him to explain. He seemed to be thinking of where to start, or what words to use.
"I'm prepared to make a first attempt at returning you to your human form. You are aware that there are some risks involved with transformations, and doubly so with counter transformations, but—"
Theresa meowed and nodded. She did not want to be reminded of the risks. That would make it infinitely worse.
She wanted to just relax while she waited for her old body.
"I can promise nothing as to the results, although as I said before, if there is any difficulty I can return you to this state. It should be safe."
Theresa shrugged. Her cat half did not care one way or another. If he did not do it soon perhaps Theresa would not care at all either.
"Are you ready?" Wildwood asked.
No, not really, now that the moment was upon her. Theresa nodded. She hoped that it would not hurt if it did go wrong.
"Very well, come inside and take a seat; perhaps sitting on the floor would be best."
Theresa lay down in the centre of the floor.
"You can go ahead and close your eyes. Perhaps that would be best."
Theresa closed her eyes on the vision of the mostly grey room before her and sat very still.
Perhaps it was best that he was restoring her so suddenly. If she had time to think about it, she probably would have spent all the time beforehand worrying about accounts like poor foolish Reginald.
Theresa listened as he walked towards her. "Just relax," he told her and she realized her body was surprisingly rigid. "I am now going to cast the spell. It will take a minute before anything happens."
Theresa sat there, trying to distract herself from what was happening and failing miserably.
She could feel her hairs rise on end and an unpleasantly odd tingle was making its way down her spine. She wished she could ask if it was normal to be feeling such things. The tingle spread and grew.
She heard him get up and move, muttering something while he worked. She wondered if what he was doing was successful. She felt oddly numb so she could not tell.
"You can open your eyes," he prompted. She did.
Her first thought was that someone had painted the room in warm tones. Everything was so very brown, the wood, most of the books. She glanced over at him in surprise. Wildwood's skin was a healthy human tone.
She had almost forgotten what it was like to experience such colors.
She lifted her paw experimentally and saw it was a hand. It looked like her hand. She looked at Wildwood.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
She nodded, before realizing she should be able to speak. That she could speak.
"G-good." She sounded a bit like poor Matt, she thought slightly erratically. Perhaps he had been transformed in the past, but that thought was ridiculous.
She lifted a shaking hand to touch her hair. It felt cold and damp, like she had just come in from the rain.
"I'm glad."
"M-mirror?" she wondered aloud. Words! Aloud! It was wonderful.
He moved to his desk. "I have a small one for magical observation. Here," he said as he walked over and handed it to her where she was still sitting in the floor.
She took the mirror. Her hand was shaking slightly. She lifted it in line with her eyes.
It was her face. Her human face, her purplish blue eyes, surrounded by erratic, windblown black hair.
She pushed herself up. There was a weight on her back. It was the pack that she had been carrying when she had been transformed.
She was wearing the same wet gown and cloak, too.
She got to her feet. She felt unsteady on two legs, as if she might fall over at any time.
"It seems your things transformed with you," he observed, looking at her clothing.
She nodded and all of a sudden her mind really took in what had happened.
She was human again! She could not contain her happiness.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" she gasped; and she impulsively hugged Wildwood without even considering she might get him wet or about the impropriety of her action.
He did not push her away, but he looked rather bemused by her impulsive behaviour.
"D-daphne!"
Her sister would feel so much better once she knew Theresa was back in her normal form. She pulled away from Wildwood and felt her cheeks flush.
"Please wait, Lady Theresa," Wildwood said, stopping her with a hand on her arm.
Her arm, what a great thing her arm was! She felt another little burst of joy.
"It's not entirely permanent, I still need to ex—"
Theresa barely heard him. "I'm g-going to see Daphne!" she announced happily.
She opened the door leading to the spiral stairs with her hand.
She opened the door! With her hand!
Theresa made her way carefully down the stairs on her two legs, hurrying carefully because they still felt unsteady.
Once on the ground floor, she wanted to run but was afraid that she would fall so instead she rushed carefully along.
All the colors around her seemed brighter, but the sounds and smells diminished.
It was odd to almost miss something about being a cat, but she would not trade her wonderfully useful hands and expressive voice for all the heightened senses in the world.
Theresa rounded a corner and she heard talking coming from a sitting room.
"And she left with my handkerchief," Thomas complained. Daphne giggled.
Theresa moved closer and then stopped just outside the door.
She did not really want to share this moment with Thomas. She thought about slipping away, but decided that neither did she want to wait. Daphne was with her at the beginning of the trouble and she would be there with Theresa at the end.
No longer did she have to sit silently and passively while Thomas monopolized her sister's time. Daphne was her sister, not Thomas'. He had no claim on her greater than Theresa's.
"It was one of my favorites, so I feel the loss most keenly. I knew that she was not a good lady what with all that mind controlling, lying and manipulating. But stealing? Terrible. I shouldn't have thought it of her."
"I suppose you'll just have to soldier on," Daphne said and giggled again.
Theresa clenched her teeth and walked into the room. Daphne and Thomas looked up from the edge of the settee they were sitting upon.
"Theresa? Theresa!" shrieked Daphne, jumping to her feet and flinging herself across the room and grabbing her sister. Theresa nearly lost her balance.
"You're human again! You're back!" Daphne cried in an excited voice.
"Y-yes," Theresa agreed.
"You can talk! How I've missed your voice, Theresa!"
Theresa nodded.
"Oh, I'm so happy! Now, what are we going to do?"
Theresa smiled. "We need to see the king at once, of course."
The thought did not make her happy, but the fact that she could at least talk to him now was a definite improvement.
"How did Lord Wildwood change you back?" Thomas wondered.
"I don't know," Theresa said, thinking back. She shrugged. She did not really care how he did it, most important part was that he succeeded.
Bubbles of joy welled up in her at the thought that he had actually done it.
Thomas spoke. "You're absolutely covered in magic now, my lady. Even more than before."
Theresa shrugged again before remembering that she could talk. "I'm not concerned. I'm just happy that I'm human."
Daphne looked her over. "You're still in the clothing you wore that first night. I wonder how that works. Oh, and there's the pack. I had wondered where that had gotten to."
"Me t-too," Theresa agreed. "I thought it was forever lost. I don't know what became of the lantern, though."
"No matter! Oh, it is so great that you can talk again!" Daphne crooned and Theresa agreed with her wholeheartedly. Her sister hugged her again with a wide smile. "Let's sit down. You look rather shaky."
Theresa nodded.
"So, what was it like being a cat?" Daphne asked.
"Um, really frustrating. I couldn't do or say anything. I couldn't open doors. Colors are different. I couldn't see red or brown," Theresa said slowly.
"Really? What did my hair look like?" Daphne asked, shifting her mass of brunette hair across her shoulder.
"Dark grey."
Daphne frowned. "How do I look with grey hair?" She touched her hair fretfully.
Theresa sighed. "Like everyone else, I suppose." It was not worth telling Daphne the truth of how haggard she looked in cat vision.
"Oh. Well, I'm really glad that you are back to human."
There was an awkward silence.
Theresa had gotten used to Daphne filling up the silence by herself yet now she seemed to be waiting for Theresa to respond. Theresa could not think of what to say, especially in front of Thomas.
Theresa felt suddenly very tired as if the last few days had finally caught up with her. Remembering how to be human again after she had just acclimated to her feline form was surprisingly exhausting.
"I think I'm going to go and lay down," she said, suddenly feeling the overwhelming urge to escape.
"It's probably taxing being changed back, isn't it?" Daphne wondered sympathetically. Theresa nodded.
Thomas spoke slowly as if unsure if he should speak at all. "We'll let you rest then, Lady Theresa." He glanced at her sister. "Lady Daphne, would you still like to ride?"
"Oh, yes, of course, Thomas," Daphne said. "I would like to, since Theresa is going to lay down. I'll just walk her to our rooms and meet you down there."
Theresa realized that perhaps she could ride again. It might be more satisfying than sleep. "I would like to come, too," she said carefully. Would she be able to enjoy it again?
"Oh," Daphne said and looked at over at Thomas.
Thomas cleared his throat. "I'm not sure that would be wise, Lady Theresa. You have just undergone a serious magical change."
Theresa was weary. "I feel fine."
"You just said that you are tired. You're clearly unsteady on your feet," he pointed out.
"I would not be on my feet," Theresa said dryly. Was her company that much of a burden? Was he trying to get rid of her?
"Lady Theresa, it is my professional opinion as a magic healer that you would be wise to become accustomed to your original form before attempting to ride," Thomas said stiffly.
"And I would feel terrible if you were hurt. I don't have to go. If you don't want to lie down, we could chat or play chess," Daphne suggested brightly.
"No, I don't want to keep you," Theresa said slowly, trying not to feel bitter.
She had thought she had been excluded because she had been in the inconvenient form of a cat.
But perhaps it was just Theresa they did not want interfering.
Daphne looked at her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Perhaps a break would be good for me." A break from talking and most especially from Thomas would be perfect.
She did not even know why she had wanted to go with them, not really.
Her mind must have been mixed up after the transformation. "Have a good time," she said in a falsely cheerful voice.
She could talk to her sister about him later when they were alone.
"At least let me help you to your room," Daphne insisted.
"No thanks, I'll be fine. You go and have fun. I insist."
"I'll see you later, Theresa," said Daphne. She looked troubled as she allowed Thomas to lead her away.
Thomas said something Theresa did not quite hear as they went down the hall.
She frowned. She would have been able to hear his whispered words with her cat ears and she wondered what he had said.
Theresa decided that she would indeed lie down for a while. She really was tired.