Her throat worked in a swallow as she sought the courage to confront the truth.
She’d morphed into a feline.
That was what every clue told her.
Gweneth took a deep breath and opened her eyes.She jumped off the bed.Jumped.
Four legs.Paws.Black fur.A tail.
Cat.
The remnants of her tunic and bra draped around her chest and ribs.Ah, yes.The clothes on the top half of a feline body didn’t survive a shift, while any clothing or footwear below the waist somehow melted into the skin.She managed to wriggle free of the shredded clothing, irked because that had been her favorite bra.At least the matching panties would reappear once she morphed back to humanoid.
The feline part of her ordered her to explore, to check her suite for safety.Since she couldn’t fathom an argument, she padded a slow lap of her sleeping chamber, filling her nostrils with familiar scents and the underlying ones her humanoid nose didn’t catch.She caught faint laughter coming from the public square outside the castle walls.Gweneth padded to her reception room window and jumped to place her paws on the window to take a look.
The restaurant at the far end glinted under the whitelight.Wow, she must have slept through the blacklight.Several feline males sat around a table, relaxing with tankards of reeb.At another table a Redd couple, their cinnabar skins gleaming beneath the whitelight, sat with a snack.She stood too far away to see what they ate, but suspected their meal consisted of sticks of roasted meats, a specialty of the house.
Satisfied she wasn’t dreaming, and she’d truly turned feline, she pondered what to do next.No one would come to investigate while the focus shined on Camryn and her babies.Gweneth would need to shift back to humanoid on her own if she wanted to leave her suite.
Now, what had Shiloh and Lynx told Jannike?Picture her humanoid form in her mind.Hold it there and concentrate.
With a raspy feline breath, she closed her eyes and pictured herself, plucking the memory of her reflection in the mirror from her mind.For an instant, nothing happened, and a flash of panic caused hesitation.The image faded, and she plonked her butt on the floor.
No.
No, she could do this.Camryn and Jannike managed.So would she.
Gweneth tried again and a prickling sensation tickled across her skin.She focused harder on her humanoid self and a dart of pain speared her ribs.She cried out, the picture popping like an Earth balloon.The pain—no, she thought.Not pain.More discomfort and bearable if she kept her breathing even and didn’t fight or tense her muscles.
With a whoosh, the black fur melted back into her skin, and secs later, she stood on wobbly legs, garbed in her trews, her chest bare.
“Yes!”She fist-pumped into the air.
Her com buzzed and she strode to answer the summons.The rest and the shift had done her good since the weird fatigue she’d labored with had faded.
“Yes.”
“Camryn and Ry have two babies, a boy and a girl,” Mogens said.
“That’s great.Are they all right?”
“Camryn is weak,” Mogens said.“I pray she will survive.The babes are healthy and vigorous.”
“I’ll come now,” Gweneth said.
Two cycles later
Gweneth waited for Mogens in the reception room of the medical suite.The rest of theIndycrew, plus Shiloh and Lynx, waited with her.A heavy silence filled the room, no one verbalizing their thoughts.
Things weren’t looking good for Camryn.
After three cycle portions passed, Mogens entered the reception room.His color hovered between charcoal gray and black.Everyone stood, silent, waiting for his announcement.
“Camryn is no worse.She is very weak and has woken just now.”
“Will she be all right?”Kaya demanded, her vibrant face pale.
“I will know more this eve,” Mogens said.“If she struggles through this cycle, I think she will recover, although she is exhausted.I go to rest.Ry will com me if he requires my aid.”
