..pig!" The narrator finished her sentence after a dramatic pause that felt like it had lasted far longer than it actually did.
Before he had slany time to react the witch waved her hand at James and he was enveloped in a thick cloud of pink smoke. After a few moments it dispersed to reveal a rather ordinary looking pig right where he had been standing. There was nothing to suggest this unfortunate porcine creature had ever been human.
The gorgeous young witch cackled triumphantly at her wicked deed while the Princess looked down pitifully at her transformed companion.
"Oh, James! Are you ok?" She spoke sympathetically. James's attempted answer inevitably came out as a series of distressed, untranslatable snorts and squeals which drew further laughter from the witch.
"Ok, you've had your fun. Now I order you to turn my friend back!" Penelope narrowed her eyes at the sorceress.
"No, I don't think so" the witch responded cutely while making an exagerated display of examining her fingernails "Don'y worry, I'll be back to have more fun with you both later though. Goodbye for now!"
As their tormentor vanished, Penelope squatted down next to James and looked him squarely in the eyes with a steely resolve "Don't worry, we'll fix this. My castle is home to one of the finest wizards in the land. We just need to get there first"
James oinked in assent to this plan. But he knew that there was no wizard powerful enough to save him from the readers of this book.
"And so..." a voice from above chimed in right on cue.