Theresa arrived at the rooms that she had shared with her sister. She dropped her travel bag on the bottom of the wardrobe and lay down.

She felt tired and she felt out of sorts. She had thought that returning to her human state would feel different somehow, that it would feel comfortable.

It was easier than learning an entirely new form, certainly, but after scant weeks as a cat it already felt a bit unfamiliar.

She was certainly glad that she was in her true form, but now that the first excitement had worn off she just felt the sort of dissatisfaction that comes from failed expectations.

She thought that she would be happier, perhaps.

Theresa eventually fell asleep and her dreams were filled with restlessness and anxiety. Sometimes she was a cat, sometimes she was human but she was always being hunted by Francine or by Francine's henchmen. She kept finding a safe place, only to be discovered or betrayed to her pursuers.

She came to understand that there was nowhere in the world that was safe; there was nowhere that she could run to escape.

Daphne, Thomas and Wildwood flitted into her dreams. Wildwood and Thomas helped her and they also helped her aunt. Daphne tried so hard but to no avail.

Their parents were dead. It was Aunt Francine who came into her room and told her. It was a terrible feeling, like someone had taken the whole world away from her. She missed them so much and she was so scared without them. She did not know what she was going to do.

But Aunt Francine was there and she knew what needed to be done. She was not as nice as mummy but she made sure that they were cared for. Theresa was glad that her aunt was there and could not quite remember why she was upset with Aunt Francine.

Theresa knew there was something that she had to do but she could not remember what and or why she cared because Aunt Francine would take care of everything. Still, she could not quite escape that nagging feeling that there was something she was missing so she looked all around the castle, trying to find what it was from the deepest cellars to the highest towers.

She found Aunt Francine at the top. She spoke in brisk tones and Theresa agreed with everything she said. Then Aunt Francine's face changed and she was like a monster with grasping claws. Theresa ran but she could never get away, Francine would not let her niece go no matter how hard Theresa struggled. Theresa felt despair. She screamed and ran but she could not escape.

"Theresa!"

Theresa opened her eyes. Daphne was sitting on the bed, staring at her with bright blue eyes by the light of the candle she held. "Wha—?"

"You were screaming. I heard you from my room. Were you having a nightmare?" Daphne asked.

No, I was screaming for fun, Theresa thought sourly. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Daphne inhaled heavily, apparently not sure how to handle Theresa.

Theresa could not really blame her; she did not know how to handle herself either lately.

She knew that she was not exactly the way she had been, but what could anyone expect when she had spent days trapped in a foreign body? Or maybe she was Theresa, but she did not even know who that human was anymore.

Theresa shook her head as if to clear it. She still felt anxious. There were real things that needed to be done.

They had to get to the capital and talk to the king. She had to make him understand what her aunt had done before Francine completely soured him with her lies. She wished that she had more proof.

She could worry about that later, she told herself. First she had to get to the capital. Perhaps Wildwood would help her.

She felt bad imagining asking him for help when he had already done so much, but what better choice did they have?

"Don't worry, Daphne," she told her sister who was looking rather fretful. She did not want Daphne to worry.

Theresa leapt to her feet and strode towards the door. It was shut, but she had hands again and that fact was absolutely delightful. She moved the handle and the door slid open.

The act of letting herself out of a closed room made her feel capable of doing nearly anything and brightened her spirits considerably.

Humans just did not understand how lucky they were to have such effective tools at their disposal. Nimble and versatile, hands were one of the most amazing things in the world.

She had never thought to appreciate hers before. Truly wonderful, marvelously designed mechanics that only awaited her slightest command.

"Uh, where are you going?" Daphne asked.

"To see Wildwood," Theresa said as she opened the door.

"Lord Wildwood is probably sleeping."

"What?" Theresa glanced at her sister and realized Daphne was already in her nightdress.

Theresa felt too worked up to go to back to sleep. "Well, I can't sleep right now. I can't just sit here. I can open doors! I'll be back in a while."

Daphne looked at Theresa as if she had gone mad and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll just keep you awake if I stay," Theresa pointed out.

"I don't mind," Daphne said.

"I won't be long. He might still be awake. Wizards keep odd hours, don't they say? Don't worry so much, Daphne. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," agreed Daphne in resigned tones. She had clearly decided that attempting to reason with her sister was pointless.

And it was, because Theresa had things that needed to get done.

Theresa left the room. Daphne was acting as if Theresa was off. She supposed that she was different than before, but it was only natural. The way that Daphne remembered her was as she had been while being constantly controlled. A lot had happened since then.

Daphne had changed, too. Perhaps neither of them had been exactly as they had seemed.

Not that it mattered. Either way, their aunt had to go. Theresa would not let her control them again.

* * * * *

Always before, Theresa had spent the agonizingly long nights in the room with Daphne, but she was now free to open doors and move around as she pleased, a true delight.

She walked through the castle, marveling at how still the castle was at night. The quiet structure was even quieter.

It was nice not to worry any longer about being accidentally shut into a room that she could not get out of by a careless servant.

Theresa made her way to Wildwood's tower. She climbed the stairs and rapped on his door. She could not hear anything properly; ever since she had been restored it was as if she had cotton stuck in her ears. Wildwood did not come to the door.

She would have liked to talk to him, but she told herself that there would not have been much they could do at that moment even if she had. It was the middle of the night.

Theresa thought about the king.

As unlikely as it might be, perhaps the king had been away from the capital. Francine could have become ill.

They had to act first thing in the morning. Too much time had been wasted already.

The well reasoned thing to do would be to go to sleep, but Theresa's blood was still pumping from her nightmare and the adrenaline of still waking up human had not quite worn off.

She decided to get something to eat. Her odd hours had made her miss supper.

Theresa walked to the kitchen and opened the door, which was simply wonderful. She laughed at herself, wondering how long opening a door would give her this little jolt of joy.

The kitchen was not empty, Theresa was surprised to realize. The chef was inside, moving around as if it were daylight. Theresa did not know what she should say. Chef turned around and saw her.

"Hel—Oh. Lady Theresa?" the chef said, looking surprised. Then she smiled. "So, Lord Wildwood really did manage to transform you back, not that I had any doubt. I'm impressed. That could not have been easy, although I believed he would find a solution."

Theresa felt surprised that the chef had recognized her, but a part of her was glad.

"Come, sit down, if you will, my lady," the chef said.

"Thank you," said Theresa. "You don't seem very surprised."

The chef smiled again. "Well, I was surprised to see you up this late, but Lord Wildwood called the staff and explained that Lady Daphne's elder sister had arrived and was resting."

It sounded like a solid plan, Theresa thought. It would explain to the servants why there was suddenly another mysterious lady living in the castle.

She had not even considered the problem of her mysterious appearance as a human being remarked upon.

She doubted anyone would notice the disappearance of one cat except Missus White and she would be relieved the vermin was out of her domain.

Theresa supposed that she would have to pretend that she was new there to support the story. It seemed odd that no one would know her when she was already so familiar with the castle. It was good that Wildwood had thought of it.

"Are you hungry?" the chef asked.

Theresa nodded, purely out of habit.

The chef bustled off and filled a plate with leftovers for Theresa. She set it before her.

"Thank you."

"Always a pleasure, my lady," she said. "I'll have to beg forgiveness for all the times I addressed you informally ere now, Lady Theresa."

Theresa shrugged, before remembering how unladylike it probably appeared. Shrugging as a cat had been an act of dire necessity. "Not to worry. Ildri and Matt would have undoubtedly noticed that you were calling a cat Lady Theresa." She bit into a cold chicken leg. It was delicious.

"Indeed they would have. Ildri thought it was odd that Lady Daphne's cat and sister had the same name, but I simply explained that she was named in honor of you. She likely won't put it together, though. The girl has not an ounce of magical control. I tried to train her myself with little success."

"You're a wizardress, then?" Theresa asked, and then wondered if it was too personal of a question. Was it rude to ask?

She did not need to worry. The chef smiled and replied, "I certainly am. I learned a fair amount of wizardry when I was young, but I've always loved to cook far more than spinning spells. Never mind that the gentry are not overly fond of wizard commoners. Especially female wizard commoners. So I cook," she added cheerfully.

"Because they won't let you practice wizardry?" Theresa asked.

"Because I prefer cooking. And no doubt Lord Wildwood would actually be pleased if I spent more time on spell work. He would teach the world magic if he could, but he allows me to do as I please in that regard."

"Do you use magic while you're cooking?" Theresa wondered. Everything she made was marvelous, and magic might explain the great results.

"Only to monitor food while it cooks and small things like that," said the chef. "Still, it is certainly enough to notice that a cat or a lady has spells wrapped all around her."

"Is it so obvious?"

"It is. Anyone with a trace of magic training or talent would notice you right now. You stand out like a blazing fire and I believe our lord added another log to it."

"That's rather distressing," Theresa said, but it was hard to feel too distressed while eating the chef's wonderful leftover mashed potatoes.

"There are certainly a lot of wizards in this household. Wildwood, yourself, and Sir Thomas. I never knew that there were so many wizards in this world," Theresa commented.

The chef smiled again. "There's actually four here. We three and the stable master."

Theresa recalled that Thomas had suggested that Wildwood take her to see the stable master. She had not known that he knew magic, too.

"Did you live a very sheltered life?" wondered the chef.

"I suppose that I did." Trapped would be better word for it. Theresa looked at the chef. She suddenly realized that she did not know what to call her. "What should I call you? I don't believe I ever heard your name," she asked, feeling a bit foolish.

The chef chuckled. "I suppose we never were properly introduced, what with your transformation. I am Missus Allendale, but you can just call me chef like everyone else if you feel so inclined, Lady Theresa. I've never been too fussed about formality one way or the other."

"You can just call me Theresa then," she said, although she knew that it was ever so improper. It was probably Francine who had drilled the idea into her head.

"Perhaps if there is no one around," allowed chef with a half smile.

Theresa nodded. It would not do to have a chef calling her informally in front of other people, now that she was human again, she supposed. "If you don't mind me asking, where is Mister Allendale?"

"Likely in the stables, although he may have gone to bed already," the chef told her.

"Is he the stable master?"

"Indeed he is," agreed the chef jovially.

Theresa thought ruefully that she would have preferred to have her fleas treated by him, rather than the insufferable Thomas.

The look on his face still made her irritated when she thought about it. Imagine him gaining amusement from a lady having fleas. It was completely impertinent. Perhaps now that she was human again she could get even with him properly.

The chef continued, "It is good that we are here. Lord Wildwood is a fair master and he encourages us both to improve as wizards. Many people are uneasy around magic but Lord Wildwood does not have that difficulty, of course."

"So you trust Lord Wildwood?" Theresa asked casually, as if she was not concerned about the answer. She rather wanted to put her faith in him, but she still felt like trusting him or anyone was rather foolish.

"I do indeed," the chef said with certainty. Theresa hoped that the chef was right, because Theresa was beginning to believe she might not be able to help but to do the same.