Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

M ary felt like she was in a dream, a very beautiful dream. Waking up in the strong arms of such a gorgeous man who she had a crush on wasn't what she was expecting. Looking up into those brown eyes caught her off guard especially because they didn't look at her with pity, but with kindness and interest.

Hamish had kindly wrapped his longer cloak about her, she supposed to preserve her modesty, now that she was taller. Now, as they walked side-by-side through the woods she felt giddy. She thought that the spell hadn't worked, but it had and she now had her human form back. It was worth the torment of hours of spell-casting just to be back to her old self. Not only did it give her hope, but it also made her feel good that Hamish could see her for who she really was. It made all the difference.

They emerged from the woods together and the guard, Sean, who had been standing watch while the others slept stood up. He stared directly at Mary confused by what he was seeing.

“I found her, Sean. Not to worry. This is Mary, transformed from her goblin curse.”

“Ah, lass, good to see you are back in your true form,” Sean said.

“Thank you, it feels good to be back to myself,” Mary said with a smile. She rather enjoyed that Sean was shocked to see her.

In the cottage, Maggie and the other women examined Mary as they had prior to casting the spell. Maggie had given her a proper dress to wear and Ivy brushed her hair and wound it into a braid.

Mary felt mostly like her old self again, but she there was still something not completely right, even though she did not want to admit it to herself.

Maggie gave her a cup of tea to drink.

“Hand that to me when you've finished,” Isla said.

Mary drank the tea and felt optimistic for the first time since she arrived in this strange world. She looked over to Hamish who had his eyes glued on her. She knew it was different, she could feel it. The way he looked at her hadn't changed exactly. He had looked at her with kindness since discovering she wasn't a goblin, but there had also been a bit of pity in his eyes before. Now though, the pity was gone, replaced with something that she could possibly describe as attraction or even lust if she dared. It made her heart sing.

“I'm done,” Mary said handing the cup of tea back to Isla.

Isla looked at the tea leaves and read them.

"What do you see?" Maggie asked, leaning over Isla's shoulders.

“It is just as I expected.” Isla stared down into the cup. She brought it over to the other women in the coven to get their opinion.

"What is it?" Maggie asked impatiently.

Mary knew the feeling. She too wanted to know what Isla had seen in the tea leaves.

Isla turned back and moved to stand before her. "You should sit."

A chair appeared behind Mary and Hamish held her hand as she sat. She squeezed his fingers nervously. "What is it? Please, just tell me."

"It is as I feared. The spell we cast was not as strong as the magic of the spell Nellie Sharpfingers cast over you."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems we managed weaken her spell and to break it in half. The remainder of the spell is still in place and will not leave you unless you can find Nellie Sharpfingers and get her to remove it, or until she dies."

“What? What do you mean broken in half? Look at me I am back to normal,” Mary said.

“I mean that the spell was only able to penetrate so much of what Nellie has already done. There is some good news it will not get worse over time or change your personality. However the bad news is that from dusk until dawn you will transform back into the goblin witch, with the powers and all. During the day you shall be as you are now. Your fate is destined and tied to the sun.”

“No. That can't be right. I don't want to turn back into a goblin. What else can I do?” Mary said getting upset.

“There is nothing that can be done for now. If I find further ways to break the enchantment I will inform Maggie,” Isla said. "We will keep looking for a way to break the enchantment, I promise you."

Mary sat down feeling very upset. She didn't want to change back into the goblin form every night. She was so close to getting what she wanted. To just be herself again. Mary wanted nothing more than to have her true identity and to have Hamish hold her in his arms again like he had done in the forest. Now she was being told that it wasn't over yet and that she would feel the change come upon her when the sun set. It was overwhelming and tears started to form in her eyes. She looked to Ivy, becoming nervous that she might have another power outburst. Ivy must have understood her fear and immediately asked them.

"What about the power bursts, will they affect her in this form? Does she need to keep a tight rein on her emotions still?" “She is free to live normally when she is in her human form. The powers of the goblin are not with her unless she is in that form,” Isla answered.

“Thank God,” Mary said and then allowed herself to sob hard and release all the pent-up emotions she had been restraining.

Ivy moved to her side and hugged her. It felt cathartic for Mary to have such a release after holding so much back.

Hamish watched Mary crumble before his eyes and he wanted to hold her and console her but he did not want everyone to see. He would not be able to hold back his own emotions. So he went to work. He asked Maggie, “So that is all that can be done for her for now? If so I would like to return her to the Keep where she will be safe. Then I can see to the Laird about all of this and these new findings,” he asked.

“Aye, She can travel in sunlight and be taken back to the castle. It is all that we here can do for her right now,” Maggie said.

“Thank you, Maggie. I will see to my men outside and get ready to make our way back to the castle."

Mary continued to cry in Ivy's arms. It was good to have the release. After she gained her composure once more, she started to see a bit of a silver lining in the situation. At least she would be able to be out in the sunshine and have the entire day to be herself again. She mostly spent the nighttime asleep anyway and that was when she would be in goblin form. It would have to do for now. She stood up and walked over to Maggie and the coven of women.

“I wish I had some way to repay you. Some form of payment. But I'm a stranger in this time and place and I have nothing but my friendship to offer. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you for helping me. I know it was a great strain on you and your bodies. I don't take that for granted. Though this isn't the result we wanted it is a good enough result for now. Thank you so much.” Mary gave each of them a hug. She truly was thankful.

She said goodbye to Darter who she thought was very kind and amusing. There was a forlorn look in his eyes as he gazed at her. She knew that he had felt some camaraderie with her with her goblin form and now she was back to human form. She gave him a quick hug and some parting words. “Darter, I think you are quite admirable. Keep up your good work. I am still the same on the inside no matter what I look like on the outside. And I am going to hold you to the offer of swimming with Nessie and midnight picnics.”

He smiled and gave her a nod.

Mary walked out of the cottage with Ivy toward the horses and wagon that were waiting to start their journey back to the castle. Each of Hamish's men looked at her with surprise and admiration and a little bit of shame.

She didn't fault them for it. She had been hideous in her goblin form and they hadn't know what she really was beneath that. She smiled as Shaw handed her up into the wagon. "Thank you," she said, glad that her voice was back to its normal tone. "My pleasure, lass. Are you comfortable?" he asked. "Leith, go gentle now, don't want the lady bruising now that she's back in her true form."

"I'll be a gentle as can be, lass. This road can be a bit hazardous," Leith replied with a grin.

"Thank you, gentlemen, I appreciate your kindness." Mary smiled at them.

Hamish was glad that his men were looking at her with respect and speaking to her with kindness, but something happened that he did not expect. He felt a tinge of jealousy that they were looking at her as though she were the last meat pie on the table. She was a beauty, of course, and he couldn't blame them. Her tanned skin made her green eyes stand out and her tall stature was what gave her long legs. Legs he'd seen in full just an hour earlier. Lovely long slender legs that he longed to have wrapped around him. Her raven black hair was glossy and down around her face where it had come free from the braid Ivy had put it in for her. Indeed she was something to behold whether she knew it or not.

Now that she had been transformed, he wondered something else. Would other men take interest in her once they returned to the castle? It was true that the curse was not completely broken, but it was broken enough for men to look at her during the day and lust after her. Who's match would she be?