Chapter 2 #3
I thought about that last statement. I’d never really felt a sense of home anywhere in my life.
I hadn’t realized how much I wanted just that until I was flung into this strange world.
I’d grown comfortable with these people, these beings, so easily.
I couldn’t explain it, even to myself, except that I felt like this was home already.
They were home. I belonged—and had even grown to love them in this small amount of time.
It was Manus, Hogan, and Bevin who made this feel like home, I told myself. Some other place wouldn’t change that.
Manus, Bevin, Hogan, and I sat in a large dining room and made small talk as we ate.
The mysterious Lord Tynan and Doran had not made it in time for dinner.
We enjoyed a fabulous meal of exotic fish with strong spices that made the candlelit room smell like an incense shop.
Imps flitted gracefully about, refilling wineglasses and serving the courses.
When I complained that I would gain a hundred pounds eating like this all the time, Hogan told me I wouldn’t easily gain weight anymore.
Evidently, my metabolism was different as a Witch.
I stretched back and rubbed my tummy. “Well, with our workouts, Manus, I probably wouldn’t gain weight anyway, Witch or no.”
Manus gave me the once-over. “You’ve not really looked at yourself lately, have you?”
I rolled my eyes. There were only a few mirrors in the castle and even those were small and dingy. With all the training and with Hogan doing all my dressing and attending, I hadn’t really concerned myself with my appearance. I knew my hair had grown and darkened, though.
“Hogan, a proper mirror, please,” Manus said.
Hogan motioned to a corner of the dining room, and a full-length, gold-framed mirror shimmered into existence.
My magic was so pathetic that I had to stare at the mirror for a moment and wonder if my craft would ever be up to par.
I opened myself up to get a feel for Hogan’s energy as it lingered around the looking glass.
I felt the glow in my belly as my magic responded to his.
Manus got up and offered his hand. “This way, Priestess,” he said and stopped me beside the mirror to brush a loose bang from my forehead.
“Feel your magic. Pull it from within yourself. Experience it.” I closed my eyes and let the feel of it rise, opening to my own sense of being.
“May I present to you, the Priestess of the Wild,” he said, turning me to face my reflection.
I took a breath so quickly it was actually a gasp. I heard Bevin give a little chuckle.
I’d seen myself—but not like this. My hair had grown at least six inches and it was a shiny auburn, falling in cascades around my face.
A healthy golden glow radiated from my skin, making me look as if I’d just come off the beach.
Since I had been in this dark castle for most of the last three weeks, it was startling.
I was also several inches taller. My face was thinner, and although I could still see the hint of resemblance to my human mother, the spell my real mother had cast to make me look like my adopted parents had mostly faded.
But my eyes. Still hazel, yet with tones of brown that were glowing as if there was a fire behind them, bringing them to life. It was still me in the looking glass, but from head to toe, I was brighter.
The gown Hogan had created for me this evening was midnight blue and stunning.
By now, I had gotten used to his method of dressing me.
As he mumbled his spells, a pile of fabric would appear at my feet, and after mumbling again, the garment for the occasion would wrap itself around my body and be right the first time, buttons or zippers done and all perfectly fit.
But this particular gown was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
It lifted my breasts so they appeared larger than they were, and it clung tightly around my waist, making me look every inch a woman.
I’d never felt so beautiful in my life.
“Your powers are glowing within you, priestess. You just need to open yourself up to them.” Manus was smiling like a proud father with his hands resting on my shoulders. He leaned in and kissed me tenderly on the head.
A strange feeling filled me as I stood there and looked into my own eyes.
I felt wholly myself, looking at the woman I had been born to be.
The Imps, Gnomes, and Witches, all of them were my family.
I was a Witch, and I had a fire in my soul that belonged there, and it was burning to be freed.
I felt tears welling as my abdomen burned with those powers that I suddenly knew were truly my own.
I opened fully to my power for the first time. I could sense it as it reached out and flowed through the room. Hogan and Manus closed their eyes and inhaled to take it in, to let it mingle with their own. Bevin’s voice echoed in my head, Yeeesss, Keena.
“I-I need to go for a walk,” I said as I turned from the mirror and headed for the archway leading away from the dining room.
Manus bowed. “Please stay inside the castle.” I looked away before the tears came. I heard Hogan asking why I was crying as I left the room. Manus sniggered and told him that his question was why he was still an unmarried Gnome.