To Bind a Witch Ch. 01

"You mean to say, you aren't a girl now?" Cassius asked, in utter confusion.

"I am not." I replied. Tears began to slowly roll down my cheeks. I couldn't handle this; it was just too embarrassing. My life felt in shambles. They could make me do anything, or say anything. Since I woke such a short time ago, I had managed to become their little puppet, to dress up and drag around with no will of my own and no way to stop them.

"This explains your short hair, then. Why are you dressed like this then? And why, do tell, hasno onecome to tell me this?" Anger enveloped his face and his fist clenched as he turned facing his brother behind him.

But before anyone else had a chance to answer, I did. "Prince Aston said I had to." Even my involuntary answers seemed to at this point show just how terrified and upset I had become. I had always been the one in control of my life, of what I said and what I did. And now suddenly, everything I once was, felt stripped away, leaving instead as a sobbing girl who couldn't seem to even get up and make a run at the door.

The prince looked back to me, the anger still in his eyes. "And you just agreed to this, did you?"

"H-he said he would kill me." I said, stuttering over my words.

Aston began to recover from his long bout of laughter, and interjected, "I had been hoping to play an enjoyable little prank. Though it seems to have been sadly cut a bit short. Such a shame. Though, how should I have known my suggestions were so compelling to affect the deepest desires within a man's heart?" I wasn't sure that I had ever seen such a large and joyous smile on a man. He began laughing again, apparently unable to control it any longer.

"No, that's not it." I said quietly over his cries of laughter. Everyone turned to stare back at me, as Aston's laughter quieted.

"Did she just respond to a question?" Prince Cassius inquired. Wait, he was still calling me 'she?'

The youngest boy, who had been standing quietly to a corner in the back, said, "I do not believe so, Your Highness." I hadn't spent the time to really look at him up till this point, though he seemed to be writing down notes of this interrogation.

They all starred at me as though I had just sprouted wings. And then I said something else.

"Even without his threats, I want to be a girl."

Who was this person talking? It came from my mouth, but it surely could not have been from me. Someone, I reasoned, must truly be controlling my words. Aston looked as stunned as the rest of them, but surely this had to be his workings somehow, wasn't it?

Prince Cassius turned to the old wizard. "Zarlef, how is this possible?" He demanded.

"It could be his foreign blood. We know nothing of it after all. Or maybe he has some magic within him that we have not spotted."

Was wanting to change genders really that foreign of a concept to them? I suppose it could be something they had never encountered before. Maybe no one here did anything of the sort.

Cassius seemed to think for a long moment, and then finally turned to me, to say, "Fine, we will grant you your wish. Zarlef, I imagine you can manage it?"

"I believe so, Your Highness. Though, I expect it will not be cheap to make, and may involve some risk."

"That should be fine." The prince replied, waving his hand. "And look into why she was able to speak without being given a question. If she can somehow resist magics such as this, I want to know." Cassius walked closer to me, staring down into my eyes. "As for you, boy, or girl, or whatever we are to call you now. You are to stay in this room to rest. If you are lucky, we are the only ones to know of this situation of yours. I will grant your wish, ridiculous as it is, but it will not be allowed to tarnish my image. As long as you are here, I will expect you to be silent about it, as well as the rest of you in this room." He turned specifically to Aston.

"Why would I give up such good blackmail on gossip?" Aston retorted back. "Besides, I'd prefer not to be the joke of this city either for being part of such a ridiculous affair."

They were serious. They were actually serious, I thought to myself. My arms and legs began to suddenly feel weak, as my eyes started to blur as the room seemed to twist sideways.

~ ~ ~

Snow and wind beat down at me, blocking my view of the endless white landscape ahead. It was so cold, so cold, I though, endlessly shivering. I marched through, pressing against it all as hard as I could, but my legs were getting slower and stiffer. I began to stumble, and each time it became more difficult to get back up. My feet were continually gaining less ground until eventually, though I pushed them forward with all my strength, they would not move at all. I could only stand and shiver, as the snow around me seemed to shred away any warmth I tried to grab hold to. So cold. The snow around my feet began to slowly suck me in, dragging me down into it's inevitable freezing deathly embrace. No, no! But all I could do was sink to my knees and continue downward.

After a moment, a hand found mine and began pulling me up. I emerged upward, and looking into their face, I recognized Prince Cassius. He was smiling. As I fully reached the surface and gained my footing, I went to release his hand, but he would not let go. He just kept smiling, until as I stared at him more and more, it slowly turned sinister. I pulled at my hand with renewed vigor, using any small might I had to try and at least just make him budge. Yet he stood still and continued the smile. Then suddenly his hand had hold of the end of my sleeve. With a quick jerk, he was pulling all of my clothes off. I fell to the snow naked, freezing, and suddenly to my astonishment, a girl. Prince Aston joined to stand with his brother, laughing his hysterical laughter, as they both looked down at my naked body in the freezing snow.

"So cold."

I awoke to the same ceiling that I had seen the previous morning, my body trembling and heart racing as fast as it could. It was just a dream, I told myself taking several deep breaths, just a dream. I hadn't been snowboarding in over a year. Not since the incident. I was okay.

I noticed the younger of the two servant girls was standing over me, a worried look on her face. "I'm sorry Milady, I gave you more blankets, but you wouldn't stop shivering. I was just about to run for help when you said something..." Her voice quietened to silence.

That's right, had they- No, I was still myself, still a guy, I confirmed, reaching for my chest.

"I'm fine." I told her. I began to shift my legs off the side of the bed to get up. "I need to go speak with that stupid prince."

"Milady, please, you should really rest. The potion seems to have sickened you."

"Don't be silly, I feel fine. And stop calling me that." I shot to her.

I stood, to walk towards the door, but she moved in front of me to block my path.

"His Highness Prince Cassius insists that I must call you so. He also insists that you should rest, and to drink this when you wake to keep your strength."

She insistently moves the cup of warm tea cupped in her hands towards me. Fine, if it will make her happy, I will drink it. But I will see him, regardless of what she wants. I had to straighten this whole mess out. I don't know what Aston did, but somehow he must have managed to manipulate me into saying exactly what he wanted for his little twisted gender games. Well, I would not be playing along to them, if I had any say in the matter.

I sipped some tea, taking a few swallows, and then handed it back to her.

"Damn that Aston. I'm going to kill him." I mumble to myself, walking past her.

"Milady, you shouldn't say such things. And you must address His Highnesses' properly." As I neared the door she'd placed the cup down on the table and was sprinting towards me. "Please Milady, you can't go out dressed like that." She pleaded anxiously.

My hand hesitated over the door knob. She was right, there really was no way I could go out like this, dressed as some ridiculous girl. I could already envision the hallways and rooms full of people, their eyes all staring and stripping me down, the strange foreign girl in the night gown walking through the palace. Maybe I was sicker than I realized if I had seriously overlooked such a crucial detail.

As if in response, my head began to feel woozy. Giving up, I turned in resignation, and made my way back for the bed.

"Fine, I will wait for 'His Highness' here." I asserted, plopping down on the bed. After all, he had to show up at some point, didn't he? And if it came to it, I would force the girl to go find my old clothes... My eyes began to feel heavy, and a yawn forced its way from my mouth. Damn them, did they drug that tea? I moved to get back up and force the prince to speak to me before I could fall unconscious, night gown be damned, but then suddenly it seemed the girl was helping me into the bed and under the blankets. At least I would be warm... I thought to myself, as my mind began to drift.