“It’s time for my payment.”
The Sorcerer pulled a strange pendant from his robes.
The charm was much like the legendary crystal stargaze of Ella Bandita, but the Sorcerer’s was larger.
Reflexively, I averted my eyes.
Even though I’d bidden farewell to my heart many times over the last couple of days, I was unwilling to give it up.
“Addie.”
It was a command.
I turned back to the Sorcerer and held his gaze, while a whirlwind of cold blue and white lights surrounded me.
I shivered, suddenly chilled to the bone.
Frightened, I squeezed my eyes shut and my heart pounded in my breast and reverberated throughout my being. My heartbeat was vigorous, pulsing to the rhythm of the hard life of a strong woman.
But this was also the source of love, faith, and devotion, this heart that had yearned for the Noble Son.
“It’ll be worth it,” the Sorcerer said. “I promise.”
That promise meant nothing to me, nor did it persuade me to surrender. The burn of tears forced through closed lids and streamed rivulets down my cheeks.
“It’s too late, Addie. If you change your mind now, you’re doomed.”
There was genuine sorrow in the Sorcerer’s voice. That surprised me and I never forgot it.
I knew he was right, of course. But that wasn’t the reason that compelled me towards my new destiny.
Somehow the Sorcerer’s sadness allowed me to let go and accept the choice I had already made.
I opened my eyes and faced the Sorcerer of the Caverns. I nodded and succumbed to the cyclone of lights.
“Breathe in as much as you can,” the Sorcerer intoned. “Then force all the air out of you.”
The Sorcerer sounded far away as the cold storm of blue and white swirled around me.
I didn’t have to force any breath out.
Air was sucked out of me, pulled by an unseen force, as the whirlwind spun faster and faster and made me weightless.
All the heavens could have lived inside me once my heart was gone.
I didn’t know the moment it was taken. I only felt the eternal space inside me once it was over.
Then ground was solid under me again and I put my fingers to my neck.
There was no pulse.
My heart was in the hand of the Sorcerer, thick and robust, and beating mightily as he dropped it discreetly in a black, velvet bag.
He already had my magic drink ready.
The crystal cauldron was gone and a plain silver goblet was in its place, filled to the brim with that sweet, smoky potion.
“If you can, drink this without stopping. Keep it down. Every drop of it.”
The potion may have been sweet to the nose, but it was foul on the tongue. The smell of smoky musk tasted like acrid bitterness.
As soon as the drink was in my mouth, I had to fight the gag reflex. Every swallow down my throat was torture.
I perceived my metamorphosis immediately.
The sensation was unreal, as if this were happening to me but not.
I shrunk in some areas of my body and burgeoned in others.
I could feel the hair growing from my head, the sprouting of breasts, the shifting of my features, the chiseling around my hips, and the lengthening of my limbs.
All this happened while the rancid potion I swallowed bit by bit urged me to retch. I needed all my strength of will to resist. I’ve never tasted anything so horrible before or since.
Then an inner quaking consumed me and my flesh tingled all over.
It was a climax of sorts, but not like those after a pleasure peak. This was neither pleasurable nor painful. The closest I can describe the experience was that I disappeared and came into being at the same moment.
Then my transformation was over.
The first thing I saw was the lust in the Sorcerer’s gaze.
That unnerved me for all kinds of reasons, one being that no man had ever looked at me like that. Another was that it made my flesh crawl that the first man who did was the Sorcerer of the Caverns.
The Sorcerer smiled and snapped his fingers.
A long, oval mirror appeared before me. I gasped when I saw my reflection.
“You’re even more beautiful than she was,” the Sorcerer declared.
“Why did you make me look like her?” I cried.
“Because this is what you wanted, Addie.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“You wanted to be beautiful.”
“But I didn’t want to look like her! I hate her!”
“Yes, you did. Didn’t you covet the beauty of the Patron’s Daughter all your life? What we envy in others is what we want for ourselves.”
I couldn’t speak for a moment.
I touched the new skin of my forearms, I had never known such soft flesh before, and now it was all mine.
I looked in the mirror again and focused on my eyes. Even the one original feature I had kept seemed so foreign to me.
The black brows and long lashes set off the variegated amber hues of my eyes, which sparkled like jewels even in the dim light of the cabin.
I had become the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. And it was so strange.
“I believe you have a change of clothes near the door,” the Sorcerer hinted. “You need to hurry.”
I had forgotten the satchel the Patron’s Daughter had brought.
Of course, clothes were perfect for my flight to the Capital City, and the Sorcerer probably influenced her choice. I would have appeared ridiculous in the drab peasant garb I had on.
I had just donned the gown, cloak, and boots when I heard her voice behind me. She sounded groggy, but the Patron’s Daughter had come awake.
“I can’t believe you let me sleep, Addie! Where are my clothes? Isn’t it time to go?”
I should have kept my back to her.
But the sound of the Patron’s Daughter caught me off guard, and I turned around before I could stop myself.
