Chapter 4

I awoke feeling ravenous. Whatever dream I’d had became fleeting as I stared around my room with tired eyes. A brothy smell tickled my nose, and I looked over to find a large bowl of soup nearby. My stomach growled in stern protest at being empty, and I scooted off the bed toward it. Paying little attention to what the soup consisted of, I brought the bowl to my lips. It was cold, with not even a hint of the warmth it had contained when my father likely sat it there. Still, my hesitant sip quickly became large gulps, and the soup was gone in just a few quick moments. The bowl rolled in a circle along the table as I gave out a satisfied sigh.

It seemed a bit strange to me just how hungry I’d felt. In fact, I still felt just a tad parched, but I figured the soup would do for now. I wondered if it was the curse that was causing it? Looking over to the window, I found light streaming in through the cracks, indicating it was now morning. Had I really slept all evening and night? What was this curse doing to me that was needing so much energy?

A glance over to the mirror showed that I was still completely naked from when I had stripped the day before. The dark tattoo had begun to extend further, seemingly not done with its work. As the bowl stopped spinning, I was reminded that my father must have come into the room at some point. I hoped he hadn’t seen the cursed symbol on my skin. He had certainly realized something was wrong, I suspected. After all, he’d let me sleep and had even left some food for me. I bit my lip. A confrontation was coming, I was certain. What would I tell him when we met again? The truth? After all, what lie could I possibly tell him that he’d believe? I winced at the thought. Contemplating lying to my Da, what was this curse doing to me?

Hesitantly, I made my way to the mirror once again, fearing what I might find. The pain of the previous day had mostly faded. There was still a dull ache throughout my body, but it was nothing compared to the spikes of pain from before. I stared at the reflection in front of me with a frown. The most obvious change was my hair. It had grown several inches longer in my sleep and looked rather lighter in color. Looking over the rest of my body, I was relieved to find that nothing really stuck out to me as different. Part of me worried I’d wake up covered in fur one morning. Who knew what this curse was capable of? The rest of my changes felt much more subtle. If I were to guess, my cheeks seemed fuller, and the shape of my eyes and brows had changed. Each minor change appeared small on its own, but together it made me look nearly like a different person. More like a cuter twin of myself, I thought.

I let out a huff.

This curse had to be stopped. And I knew exactly where to go to find out how to do it. With determination, I strolled out the door, only to quickly come back in with cheeks as red as a tomato. Right, I probably wanted clothes if I wanted to have a successful spy mission. Going out naked would not only be terribly embarrassing, but it’d ruin my obscurity.

The clean pair of trousers and shirt I slipped into felt strangely rough against my skin. Rubbing my arms, I couldn’t help but think they felt more sensitive to the touch than before. Chances were that it was simply my overactive imagination, I was sure. My clothes had probably just dried poorly, explaining why they felt as though they fit somewhat differently as well. Who'd ever heard of something as silly as overly sensitive skin? This curse was going to make me paranoid, I thought. I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had an adventure to take on! As I pondered the thought, I realized I could probably use some sort of proper disguise. Searching through my things once more, I pulled out a long hooded cloak and tied it around my neck in a small bow. Perfect.

Now properly ready, I left the room once more, heading down the stairs and out the doors of the library. To my luck, my father was nowhere in sight. It was likely he was still sleeping, and I’d lucked out by leaving before he’d woken.

With confidence, I made my way back to the mansion. My second infiltration was off to a fantastic start, I decided. I just knew that today would be the day I would solve it all: stop the sorceress and rescue the Empire. Like the professional that I was, I kept my head low so that no one on the street could see my face, and I made it to the mansion without issue.

I stared at the front door for a long moment. Chances were high I wouldn’t be able to get back in through there a second time. Instead, I’d have to find another way. Glancing down to the right, I wondered if Lena perhaps had her window open, as she often did. I sneakily tiptoed over toward it, peering in from the bottom edge. The room appeared empty. As I pulled the window shutters outward, it gently slid open, making barely a sound. Quickly, before anyone could see, I hopped inside, only to have my cloak catch something, making me stumble through face forward into the floor as the sound of ripping fabric came from behind.

I rubbed my nose as I stood and turned back to the window. The cloak unhooked from the window's edge easily enough, but I frowned as I noticed the long tear through it. What poor luck, I thought. But I wouldn’t let a small bit of bad luck stop me. I stood straight in a confident pose, a smile spread across my face. I’d made it in.

Someone gave a light cough to my left. My head turned, looking to where Lena stood, her arms crossed and foot tapping expectantly. My smile froze in place. Busted.

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing, Felix?”

The stern look she gave squeezed at my heart. I was tempted to cower in shame, yet I knew how important this mission was. Instead, I crossed my arms and attempted to sound confident. “I’m here to stop the sorceress.”

“Feli.” She shook her head and sighed before rubbing her hand across her face. “I’ve told you three times now not to come in through my window. Especially now that I’m betrothed. You’re going to get the both of us in trouble.”

“I’m sorry. But Lena, you don’t understand. I have to stop her. I —“

“You really don’t, Feli. You really really don’t. There’s a lot going on in this house right now. Tensions are kind of high. If you go butting your head into things, you will get yourself into trouble.” As she continued to sternly lecture me, I reached up to pull down my hood, exposing my hair and face. “And I don’t think I’ll be able to help you out of it this t—” She paused, squinting curiously at my face. “Is it just me, or is your hair looking a bit long all of a sudden?”

The intensity of her blue eyes as she stared me up and down, focusing particularly on my face made me stutter. “I, umm, I—“

“Feli, what did you do?” Her voice started stern but softened toward the end.

My eyes met the floor, unable to look at her as I mumbled, “I think I’ve been cursed.”

She came closer, eyes wide in either fear or horror. Her fingers reached out to gently feel my face, as though doubtful of my statement. A flutter of anxious butterflies rolled through my chest at the soft feel of her hand. After a long moment, she asked, “How?”

The question came out as concerned rather than doubtful or angry. I looked up to her eyes once again, hoping there wasn’t a visible blush across my face. “I — I got into her room yesterday and something spilled onto me.”

“Feli,” she said in exasperation.

“I’m alright,” I assured her. “I think I can beat it! Though I was hoping that I could find something in her room that could help. She’s gotta have all sorts of information on curses.”

She looked into my eyes once more, and I was certain my face was flushed. “Feli, you need to get some real help with this. We could go to Callan. I don’t know that he’ll be able to help much, but I’m sure he’ll have some ideas on what to do.”

I shook my head, outright rejecting the idea of going to the priest. “I don’t want anyone to find out, and we both know that he’ll gossip about it. The whole town would know. Also —” I stared firmly into her eyes. “She’s up to something, Lena. I heard the sentinels talking about it at the library. I couldn’t stand by and let some evil plot be carried out here in our town.” I couldn’t stand down on this; it wasn’t just about the adventure. Lives could be at stake. The Empire could be at stake!

Lena gave me a long look before letting out another sigh. “Fine, we’ll try it. But if we don’t find anything, we will go to someone else. I’m assuming you haven’t told your dad yet?”

I shook my head, but my mind focused on something else she’d said. “'We?’”

She grinned. “You didn’t think I was going to let you do this alone, did you? Feli, you’re such a ditz that you would be caught the moment you left my room. You didn’t even make it through the window into the mansion before I’d found you.” She poked my belly, and I looked off to the side, slightly ashamed at my instant discovery.

I huffed. “I’d be fine,” I grumbled with a small pout.

Things hadn’t gone exactly as I’d expected, but perhaps this was for the best. Not only had my plans not been ruined, but now I had an ally. “This is destiny, Lena. You’ll see. It’ll all work out.” I gave her a big heartfelt smile.

“Yeah, yeah, so what’s the plan?”

“Plan?” I asked. Wasn’t the plan obvious?

“Yeah, the plan.” She squinted her eyes. “You weren’t planning to just waltz right into her room and start tossing around her stuff, were you?”

“Umm, yes?” I blinked.

She sighed again. “Feli, that’s a terrible idea. That’s exactly how you get caught. Plus she’s probably got something magical set up after the last time you broke into the room. She’s a sorceress. It’s not gonna be that easy.” She eyed me. “And we’ve really gotta talk about all this breaking into rooms business.”

I deflated, ignoring the last statement. “Well, what’s your plan then?”

She rubbed her chin for a moment, twisting her mouth in the cute way she often did when she was deep in thought. It reminded me of old times when the two of us would strike out on little adventures throughout the town, often causing mischief along the way. The nostalgic feeling was a welcome escape from the rather tense situation and made me miss the days when we were younger. These days she was always either busy with work or planning for her wedding.

The truth was, I suspected she hated that she had a fiancé now. She pretended she was fine with it, but I could tell how much she disliked being forced into an engagement. Growing up, Lena had always mentioned she was waiting for the right person to come along to fall in love with. Something that had simply never happened. The engagement also meant that we spent even less time with each other, given that her mother disapproved of me being around. Things had been so much simpler when we were younger. Why did they have to change? Why did it feel as though responsibilities ruined everything?

Lena looked me up and down as she continued to ponder. The movement distracted me from my ruminations.

“I might have an idea. Take off your cloak.”

I shrugged it off, handing it to her, curious as to what she was thinking. As her hand met mine, a strange sensation tickled off my skin, ending before I could really get a sense of it. She circled around me scrutinizing my body enough to make me begin to feel uncomfortable.

“You look a bit different now, and I think we can take advantage of that, make you look like someone else entirely.”

I bit my lip. Becoming a different person had always been a sort of fascinating dream of mine, but now that the opportunity had shown up in front of me, even if only temporarily, I couldn’t help but feel hesitant. It felt wrong in a way, like I’d be abandoning who I was, who everyone expected me to be. Who my father needed me to be. Wasn’t that wrong? Selfish? It certainly felt so. Though perhaps I was being silly.

“Okay,” I said with a shrug. It didn’t really matter, did it? It was only going to be temporary, a simple disguise. There was no reason to get so emotional about it. It didn’t matter, I repeated in my head.

“I’ve got the perfect disguise for you,” she continued with a smile. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

With quick steps she rushed out the door, likely worried that if she wasn’t fast enough I wouldn’t be here when she got back. Not that I was that rude, I thought as I crossed my arms with a huff. A couple of minutes later she burst back in, a bundle of cloth in her arms. Intrigued, I stared at it, attempting to make out exactly what her disguise entailed.

She had a suspiciously devilish smile on her face that left me a little worried.

“Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” she said.

I blinked. “What’s the hard way?”

“I’m glad you asked,” she replied with a smile.

A dark towering shadow loomed over me at her approach, and I gulped.

She moved quickly, like the strike of a snake, and my head spun. As my shirt flew up over and off me, I instinctively covered my naked chest with my arms. Heat rose to my face, as I stared into her wild blue eyes once more. They were as beautiful as always, a ferocious gleam shining in them: the same eyes that had always grabbed my unbroken attention and made my heart flutter.

In mere moments, she had me stripped to my underwear. My cheeks reddened further, and I couldn’t meet her eyes any longer. I wanted to protest, but I had agreed to a disguise, even if I hadn't agreed specifically to her forcefully putting it on me. Not that I was truly complaining. I knew there was no dissuading her, regardless. Just as fast as she had stripped me, a cloud of fabric covered my head, pulled down around me until I could see once more. Looking down I found a familiar outfit that went down below my knees, one covered in frills and lace that I’d seen many times here in the mansion.

I opened my mouth to complain but was spun around and pushed down into a chair. Instead of full words, all I could give was a quick “Oof” of surprise before Lena sat in front of my legs, pulling one of them up off the floor. My eyes widened down toward her, and she looked up to meet my own. I hadn’t a clue what she was thinking, and my mind wasn’t firing enough cylinders to focus on anything but her alluring face. Fiery red hair flowed down to her shoulders, framing her intense blue eyes and cute cheeks. My eyes trailed down to her mouth and deliciously kissable lips. Blinking, I looked away, somewhat ashamed. I shouldn’t be having these kinds of thoughts. She had a fiancé, even if he was a major jerk. And she’d made it clear in the past that she wasn’t interested in dating.

My skin felt hot and strangely sensitive where her fingers touched. Delicately, she began to roll a lacey pair of tights up my foot. My face blazed like a steaming overheated sauna, as her fingers gently traced up my feet to my lower legs, and all the way to my thighs. My head became suddenly light, and I felt close to fainting as the second one was pressed against my toes. They wiggled at the soft and sensitive touch of both her hands and the fabric. In response, she shot an annoyed glance my way and continued slowly up my foot and leg.

As she finished, her fingers moving away from far higher up my legs than I was comfortable with, I let out a relieved sigh. Though I worried how long my face would undoubtedly stay bright red.

It was several long moments of deep breaths before I began to regain my composure, during which time Lena had adorned me in several other accessories, including a cute bonnet that she was currently tying behind my head in a little bow.

“Le— Lena, I’m not sure about this,” I stuttered out.

She pulled me up to my feet once more, ignoring my protest entirely as she wrapped the last item around my chest: a white corset. As she began tying and tightening the strings behind me, I couldn’t help but gasp out, allowing her to tighten them even further.

“There, perfect,” she said as she finished. Taking a step back, she took a moment to look me up and down. “Well, almost perfect, I suppose.”

To my mortification, there was one last item in her hands, a simple pair of white knickers. Shyly she handed them over to me, and for some bizarre reason, I accepted them in hand, too dazed to realize what I was doing.

“I — Lena.” Words failed me as I held up the panties in front of me. My face became hotter than a furnace, hotter than the sun. “A-are you sure about this?”

“Oh, don’t be a baby. They’re just a pair of underwear.”

My mouth opened and closed several times. I was a fish out of water, completely out of my depths in this situation.

“But—“ I wasn’t a girl. It was a simple if somewhat unfortunate fact of life. It was wrong of me to dress like this.

“It’ll be weird if you somehow get caught in boy’s underwear. They stick out more.”

She was right, if this mission was to be successful, I had to fully commit. Otherwise, it might end up a disaster. With one last deep breath of air, I nodded. Lena turned around as I traded my own underwear for the small lady's pair. After finishing, I couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Whose even are these?” I whispered, as though worried someone would overhear.

“They’re mine, of course,” she said nonchalantly. I felt a bit faint. “Come on.” Grabbing my hand, she pulled me in the direction of her closet, where I knew a tall mirror stood. The curious warmth along my skin came back once more from her touch, but I managed to ignore it.

I bit my lip at the thought of seeing myself dressed up as someone else. Part of me worried I’d look much the same as I always did, just in a different outfit. Another part worried I wouldn’t recognize myself. Yet wasn’t that what I really wanted? It would certainly be the most beneficial for spying.

Once I got rid of this curse, things would go back to normal, back to the way they were supposed to be. My stomach rolled at the thought. I realized then that there was something much deeper to my fear than disappointing my father. The concern over letting down others was a mere excuse to avoid what I truly dreaded.

What if being someone else wasn’t all that I had dreamed it up to be? What would I do if becoming another person didn’t actually fix the dreaded hole within me?

I hid my uncertainty the best I could as I approached the mirror, and peered into the scared eyes of a young woman dressed in a cute maid outfit.