That night I let Annabel fuck me to her heart’s content, a one sided pleasure as over the days I had slowly grown to hate her more than I possibly ever had.

she seemed overjoyed that the potion hadn’t worked, I was happy that it hadn’t as well but for different reasons, I was also confused as to why it hadn’t worked. It had been made by a professional alchemist from the mages guild not some wish washed apprentice who knew not what they were doing, by all means the potion should have worked. 

My mind had been racing with questions since the encounter with Fauci happened. 

Before Annabel and I left the chiefs hall, Dary had been brought in and questioned, he reluctantly admitted to what he had done but said it was originally supposed to be a prank and that the transformation would reverse after only a few hours, something obviously went wrong because I was still a small petite woman with rather large breasts for my frame. Not that I or anyone else believed the whole ‘just a prank’ excuse especially not the chief and so he saw fit to throw Dary into the small dungeons beneath the great hall until my situation was remedied and possibly he would remain there even after.

I was deep in thought well after midnight, Annabel passed out beside me when suddenly a small knock on the window startled me. 

To my surprise I saw Cynthia smiling at me and gesturing for me to come outside. 

Quietly slipping into a small black dress, making sure not to wake Annabel, I tiptoed my way to the front door and gently slipped it open trying my very best not to make a sound.

I was successful and carefully closed the door behind me as I exited the house.

Cynthia beamed at me and I stared up into her beautiful blue eyes with a bright smile of my own.

“Come, let’s find a place to talk.” She whispered, gently taking hold of my hand And leading me down a slightly worn path into the forest. 

This was so different from how Annabel treated me, she was so rough, demanding, treating me like her own personal play thing.. I hated it. 

Cynthia was gentle, kind and everything about her was a polar opposite to my wife. 

I made a silent wish as we walked through the moonlit forest, that I could be with Cynthia instead. 

We made our way to a clearing in the woods, a small bubbling Brook was beside us and we sat down on the smooth stone that covered the edges of the little stream of water.

As soon as we locked eyes Cynthia pulled me in for a deep and passionate kiss which I eagerly enjoyed much to her amusement.

“Missed me?” She whispered with a sly smile.

“You have no idea..” I sighed.

“Well I have a plan.. It's risky but I think we both know what we really want. I can see how miserable you are with her, much as I am with Dary.”

I nodded as I gazed up into her sparkling eyes, as bright as the blue water bubbling in front of us.

“What did you have in mind..?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well.. I was thinking.. we steal a horse and just leave.. tonight.” She said with a blush, looking away from me.

I smiled and held her hand.

“Okay. Let’s do it.” I said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

She looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Really? I didn’t think you’d actually agree to my stupid plan..”

“It’s not stupid Cin, I’ve wanted to be with you my entire life, and I’ll do anything to achieve that, if we have to run away to love each other.. then so be it.” I replied.

“Oh Danielle..” Cynthia suddenly began to cry.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

She leaned down and cupped my chin, gently kissing me.

“So when do we leave?” I asked as she broke the kiss.

“Never.” Spoke a dreaded voice I hated from behind us.

Cynthia and I spun around to see Annabel fuming and glaring at both of us, her face was red from anger.

She stormed over to me and narrowed her eyes, ignoring Cynthia completely.

“I told you next time you smiled at her I’d beat you beyond belief.. but this.. This is so much worse you.. You fucking whore! I’ll have you hung for this!” Annabel screamed as she shook with rage, she raised her fist and was about to hit me but Cynthia easily caught the spoiled woman’s fist in her hand.

She tightened her grip and twisted Annabel’s wrist backwards until the shorter girl who’d never done a day of hard work in her life was screaming from pain. 

Unlike Annabel, Cynthia had grown up working around the village and her strength definitely showed.

“We’re leaving Annabel, I’m taking Danielle far away from you and I’ll make sure you never hurt her again.” Cynthia said coldly as she let go of Annabel’s more than likely broken wrist, she shoved Annabel roughly causing her to fall backwards into the bubbling brook.

“This isn’t over, I’ll have you both killed!” Annabel screamed as she struggled to get up, constantly tripping on the slippery rocks that made up the waterbed.

Cynthia quickly took hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet, we ran and didn’t look back as Annabel screamed with rage.

~~~~~~~~~

After packing lightly and somehow managing to steal a horse from the stables in the middle of the night without waking anyone, Cynthia and I rode out of town, I gripped onto her waist tightly as she dug her heels into the horse’s flank causing it to run as fast as it possibly could.

We rode and rode until we were miles away from the village, the sun was beginning to rise and we finally stopped by a stream of water to let the horse rest and drink.

As we sat by the stream, the dreaded galloping of horses could be heard not too far behind us.

“Fuck.. Cmon quick!” Cynthia whispered in a panic as she easily tossed me onto the horse's saddle and climbed on herself.

We quickened our pace and rode for several more minutes until a line of men, armed with spears, jumped in front of us out from the woods.

From behind several guards from the village surrounded us on horseback.

“Surrender now, you are hereby charged with assaulting the chief's daughter, theft and adultery.” A masked guard sitting atop a horse declared with a booming voice.

Cynthia looked devastated, my face paled and showed my obvious expression of dread.

Defeated, Cynthia got off the horse and helped me down.

The guards rushed us and easily tied rope around our wrists.

“You are both to be executed, chiefs orders.” One of the men said with a pained expression, it was obvious he didn’t want to do this.

I couldn’t help myself, I started sobbing right there in front of everyone and much to my surprise Cynthia did as well.

All the men looked incredibly guilty at the sight of the two of us breaking down in sobbing fits, it was good to know they at least had a conscience and didn’t want to act like simple drone’s but they had their orders and couldn’t ignore them.

“Come.. we’ll be gentle with you, when we get to town we’ll make this as painless as possible.” The supposed leader of the guards atop a horse said as he gently lifted me atop a horse then did the same for Cynthia.

We rode in silence, both Cynthia and I shaking in fear.

‘At least we’ll die together.. at least we won’t be stuck with the ones we hate’ I thought to myself as we came closer and closer to the village, only a mile away now.

Time seemed to pass dreadfully slowly, I knew I’d be dead within the hour but to my surprise a miracle happened. 

From the woods a glass bottle was thrown at the guard in front, it smashed and a blueish smoke began to leak out. As quickly as it had broken the guard collapsed atop his horse. Another bottle flew from the woods, then another, and another until all the Guards had inhaled the blue smoke and were promptly passed out asleep, it didn’t seem to affect the horses although they slowed to a stagnant stop. 

I felt my eyes begin to droop and I looked over at Cynthia with worry clear on my face to see that she was In a similar condition. Before I could even ponder what to do I passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When I awoke I was slumped atop a trotting horse, Cynthia seemed to be stirring as well in front of me. 

To my surprise Dary was on a separate horse, leading the one Cynthia and I were riding.

“You’re finally awake?” Dary asked as he glanced at me.

I nodded and frowned, we weren’t even close to the village, in fact I didn’t recognize the area we were in, it seemed to be farther than I’d ever traveled. 

Great rolling planes of grassland surrounded us.

“Dary.. what’s.. what happened?” I asked, still a bit sleepy from whatever it was I’d inhaled.

“I saved you. I did a lot of thinking in that cell and when I heard the guards talking about having to execute you and Cynthia.. well I couldn’t let that happen so I broke out when I was given the chance.”

“But.. I thought you hated me? Why didn’t you just save Cynthia?”

Dary let out a big sigh as rubbed his temples.

“I don’t hate you, Danielle. Sure I’ve always been jealous of you but not anymore, not after understanding what you’ve had to hide.. and Cynthia clearly doesn’t love me, she never has, if her eyes are only for you then as much as I hate it, I have to care about you.. I still love her deeply but I won’t ever force her to be with someone she doesn’t want to be with.”

“Hiding? What do you mean?” I asked bewildered.

Dary let out a deep chuckle.

“You mean you haven’t figured it out? Danielle you’ve always been a girl, that’s why my potion didn’t work like it should have, and that’s why that reversal potion didn’t work at all. Magic and potions are a bit finicky, you see you can’t force something onto someone permanently ever, it just doesn’t work, the soul is powerful and fights against what it wants and doesn’t want. You have a woman’s soul and because of what was supposed to be a prank I gave you the body to match it.” Dary explained. 

“Oh.. I.. that explains a lot actually, I suppose I should thank you.” I said as Cynthia finally rose up and gave Dary and I a confused look.

“No, don't worry about it, I’m glad to have helped.” Dary said with a smile.

“Dary? What’s going on?” Cynthia said with a yawn.

“Oh I really hate explaining things twice..” Dary mumbled before again telling Cynthia what had transpired.

“So what’s the plan? You’re really okay with me being with Danielle? Like this really doesn’t bother you?” Cynthia asked Dary with a raised eyebrow.

“Well we’re going to find a new village, start a new life.. that is if you’ll have me along, I can care for you both with my skills and No Not really, it’s a bit hot if I’m being honest and besides it’s not the end of the world, as long as you’re safe and happy Cynthia that’s all I care about.” Dary said with a wide grin.

“Dary.. yes this makes me beyond happy and you’re more than welcome to come along considering you saved us!” Cynthia exclaimed a few joyful tears streaming down her cheeks.

When we stopped to rest near a rather large lake, Cynthia immediately hugged Dary as tight as she could, then she proceeded to pick me up and spin me around, giving me a passionate kiss as she sat me back down.

Dary and Cynthia made camp while I got a small fire started, we fished then ate and let the horses graze on grass.

That night Cynthia and I slept together holding each other and to my surprise I was actually looking forward to the future, all the bleak and dreary darkness that consumed my mind when I thought about my life was drained and replaced with a warm happiness, I’d gained a relationship with the woman I’d loved and a best friend at the same time. I couldn’t be happier.

End.