Forbidden Magic Fruit: Part 2, The Hunt

Arcturus and Cordelia’s relationship had grown and evolved since that first time he transformed her. He wore her pretty often, she enjoyed being near him in a way that didn’t cause either of them to be tense. It wasn’t ‘appropriate’ for them to be together. He was the court wizard and she was the princess. She was destined for a more ‘prestigious’ marriage and he was a glorified servant of the crown. He would be killed and she would be sternly talked to and her freedoms would be severely limited if anyone would find out about them.

So whenever they are in public together, they had to be careful to keep their feelings hidden. If the wrong person, Duke Percival in specific, were to find out about them, they would most likely use that knowledge as leverage to ply Arcturus to his will. Even a wrong glance from one of them could tip off a perceptive member of the court.

Arcturus was studying in his tower, reading through the ancient tomes of his office, and occasionally practicing his spells in the empty room. Then the door burst open with an urgency that startled him and sent his current spell sailing into the air, the magic dissipating in the air as Arcturus’ concentration dissipated. A misshapen butterfly fluttered into the air above his head for a moment before dissolving into dust that itself disappeared slowly. Arcturus turned to the door as this was happening, ready to face a tragedy or worse, an angry duke.

Instead, he saw Cordelia standing against the now-closed door smiling at the court wizard. Arcturus rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, turning back to his tome and closing the heavy book.

“So what’s on your agenda today?” Arcturus said without turning to look at her.

“Well, you might want to get me transformed into something,” Cordelia said with mischief in her voice.

Arcturus turned back to her quickly, knowing that tone and knowing that it meant no good.

“Why…?” he asked suspiciously.

“I saw a particular Duke on his way toward your tower from the window,” Cordelia smiled. “By my count, he should be reaching the landing right around…”

Before she could finish her sentence, there was a knock on the door behind Cordelia. The princess smiled a tight smile with wide eyes, looking at the wizard like a puppy looks at her owner when he’s holding a steak. Arcturus looked at her with an exasperated, slightly worried look.

“Give me a moment, Percival,” he called to the closed door. “It’s not safe in here at the moment.”

He raised his hands and weaved that familiar spell that he used so often these days.

“How did you know…?” Percival’s voice came through the door.

Arcturus focused on the spell, sending the magic across the room to engulf Cordelia. As it washed over her, she raised her hands out to her sides in a gesture of acceptance, looking up at the ceiling and closing her eyes. This time she transformed into something small and metal, her body flattening out and wrapping into a large metal bracelet.

She started to float across the room toward Arcturus.

“Is it…? Oh sod it, I’m coming in,” Percival said through the door. Before Arcturus could react, the door started opening from the other side. He leapt forward, quickly snatching the transformed princess and sliding her onto his wrist in one quick moment. As the wizard was settling her onto his wrist, Duke Percival stepped through the door, his two armored guards visible behind him through the door as it closed.

“It doesn’t look unsafe in here at all,” the Duke said with audible annoyance.

“Well, it’s safe now,” Arcturus responded with more subtle annoyance in his voice. “I was in the middle of a very… dangerous spell, but it is complete now.”

As he spoke, Arcturus kept his hand on the bracelet that was his princess, hoping and wishing that this visit from the Duke was a short one.

Cordelia, on the other hand, was in heaven. Like always, she could see and hear everything that was happening around her, as well as feel Arcturus’ warm skin underneath him. In this form, there was no way anyone would know it’s her, so there was no chance of anyone finding out about her. So she was allowed to be with her lover in public without any risk of discovery.

“So what can I do for you, Duke Percival?” Arcturus said, his hands crossed in front of him, his hand still holding Cordelia. “I do hope the defensive wards are holding up.”

“Oh yes, they are. We actually hoped you would join us on the hunt,” the Duke said. “I know you work often with the young princess, but with her recent habit of locking herself into her quarters to study, that leaves you with a bit more free time than usual.”

Arcturus paused for a moment. He knew the hunt would take all day and into the evening. He didn’t want to subject Cordelia to a whole day transformed into his bracelet, and he struggled to quickly find a reason why he couldn’t attend.

“I apologize, but in the absence of my work with Cordelia… the princess, I’ve found some more time to perfect a few of my…”

“All of that will wait,” the impertinent Duke cut him off. “There will be time for all that, now come on, they are already waiting for us.”

With that, the Duke turned and walked away, considering the choices already made up. Arcturus heaved a heavy sigh, and looked down at the transformed princess. He didn’t like that she was trapped like this for so long, but he also knew that the Duke wasn’t the kind of person to be messed with. Nothing would be worse than the trouble of rejecting his ‘invitation’ to the hunt.

Inside of the wizard’s bracelet, Cordelia heaved a sigh, enjoying the feeling of her lover’s warm skin on her diminutive form. As he started to walk, the air of his moving arm washed over her, sending chills through her body. She listened to them talking, but only halfway, her mind focused on the feeling of being with him. Watching the world move around her was only a mild distraction, the spinning, whirling colors passed by around her like water around a river stone.

Arcturus followed the Duke down the winding stairs from his tower, followed him through the main hall and out to the courtyard, where the king himself, the father of Arcturus’ bracelet, was already mounted on his horse, surrounded by a massive entourage of armored guards, falcon handlers, weapon masters, and squires.

“And there he is!” the King called out, beaming at Arcturus and the Duke.

Pervical turned to Arcturus and gave him a look as if to say ‘I told you so,’ and then jogged down the stairs to the dirty ground of the courtyard, heading toward a horse draped in finery, held by a young man, the Duke’s squire. That same squire held a different horse as well, one that didn’t seem to belong to anyone. It was meant for Arcturus.

“Mount up, Wizard, we are already late,” the King said as the rest of the party started to move into position to leave.

Still a few steps from the ground, the wizard looked down at his bracelet again, knowing that this was sentencing Cordelia to a full day around his wrist.

“Come on then!” the Duke shook him from his reverie.

“Well if I am to ride with you, I insist on riding my OWN horse,” the wizard said as he reached his hand into a pouch at his waist. He withdrew a small statue, no more than two inches tall, it was a horse made of a deep green jade.

With all eyes on him, Arcturus waved his other hand over it, activating the magic dormant in the stone. Just as it activated, he tossed the object in front of him. As it flew, it grew to the size of an actual horse. Before it hit the ground, the thing came alive, twisting in the air to gracefully land on its feet. It took a few steps to settle into place and then waited, moving subtly like a normal horse at rest, waiting for its master’s command.

While he cast his magic, the waves of energy pulsed through Cordelia like the first warmth from a fresh fire in the winter cold. If she had eyes, they would've rolled back into her head, the magic’s energy physically affecting her.

“One of these days, I need you to make me one of those!” the King laughed as he turned his horse toward the main gate and started riding. Arcturus waved his hand toward the ground in front of him and stepped forward, his foot landing on an invisible step. He walked a few more steps across the invisible energy barrier he created to his jade horse. When he arrived there, he was standing several feet above the ground, making it easy to throw his leg over his horse.

So near the magic of the beast, Cordelia felt herself in the warmth of the magic, a comfortable vibration settling over her. She could only sit in its warmth and enjoy it, the bumpy ride of the magic horse below her shaking her up and trapping her in her mind. The world around her was too chaotic to keep track of, so she stilled her mind, the equivalent of closing her eyes, to better enjoy the wind and warmth.

The day passed slowly for her, but not in a negative way. It was like a long day cuddled up under a blanket without the pressure of carrying on a conversation with people she never wanted to spend time with. She would occasionally tune her eyes and ears to the world around her, taking in something that was happening around her.

Whenever the King struck his quarry with his bow he would cheer his own success loudly enough that Cordelia couldn’t tune it out. Though when he missed, he would be equally loud in his disappointment or his attempt to blame the quality of the bow or arrow his weapon masters provided him.

When Arcturus spoke, rarely as that was, Cordelia would smile to herself, basking in the calm voice of her lover. He talked to her occasionally, but carefully, phrasing everything he said as if it could be directed at someone around him, rather than to his transformed bracelet.

“Be patient, my love,” Arcturus said, patting the flank of his horse with his bracelet hand. “We shall return soon and you may return to your prior form.”

He knew that bringing her closer to the jade horse would intensify the feelings coursing through her. He winked down at her, understanding the wave of warm, comfortable pleasure washing over her by the proximity to the magic of his horse.

“You have a soft spot for your fake horse?” Duke Percival asked, having pulled up closer to the wizard than he had realized.

Arcturus gave a start at the unexpected voice, turning to the Duke with more shock on his face than he would’ve liked. He composed himself and responded.

“Yes, well, he was a real horse at one point,” Arcturus told the truth. “It was a champion of its kind, the greatest beast of its lineage. But as all things do, its life began to fade. So I rescued its soul and transformed it into its current form, to allow it to continue to serve.”

“Hmm,” the Duke responded, already having lost interest.

Luckily, Percival bought the explanation and didn’t question it any further. The wizard and the princess were safe for the moment. Cordelia didn’t even realize what had happened. She was so lost in herself and in her form that she wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying.

It was bliss of the highest order. There was always so much demanded of her at every stage of her life, always someone vying for her attention and affection. Beyond that, she always needed to be protected, both by other members of the court and by the city guard. But these were all men of ambition.

But not here, not now. Here, she could simply exist in the hands of someone she loved and trusted, someone who had no plans to use her or her power for their own ambitions. She could relax in a way she couldn't in any other place or with any other people. It was beautiful beyond anything else she could ever experience.

And, when she was paying attention, it gave her a look behind the curtain, a glance into the lives of the men of the court, something she was not allowed to see. Like now. She started to pay more attention to the men around her.

She watched as they competed with each other over the hunt. Competing over how many deer, rabbits and pheasants they could kill, how quickly they could kill them and how accurate they were with their bows. Cordelia laughed internally at them, at the pettiness of their competition.

The day stretched on, but finally they arrived back at the kingdom and finally Arcturus was about to return to his tower. He rushed in and pushed the door closed behind him, trying not to be so quick as to alert anyone to his desire for speed.

With the door secured, he removed his bracelet and cast his magic again. And in a moment, Cordelia stood before him just as she had that morning. As she fully reformed, her footing seemed to give out for a moment and it appeared that she was going to fall into a heap on the floor. But at the last moment, she caught herself, planting her feet in a secure stance.

“Are you alright?” Arcturus asked with concern, his pose frozen halfway to lurching to catch her. “You’ve been transformed for longer than ever.”

“Yes,” the princess responded, her voice uneasy as if she was using it for the first time. “It was long, but I loved it.”

She stepped forward, reaching out and putting her hand on his cheek. “Thank you,” she said in a whisper. “I loved being with you all day, I loved seeing what the men of the court do when there aren’t women’s eyes watching them.”

Arcturus smiled, took her hand in his and leaned in for a kiss. After they broke apart, Arcturus looked into her eyes with a subtle sadness.

“But you should leave now. You’ve been gone all day, someone might start to wonder. Come find me tomorrow.”

Cordelia smiled her own sadness and nodded, slipping to the door and making her exit quietly.