Rabbit!" The narrator finished her sentence after a dramatic pause that felt like it had lasted far longer than it actually did.
James only had time to gulp in horror before the witch waved her hand in his direction and he dissapeared into a cloud of white smoke. After a few moments it dispersed to reveal a rather ordinary, rabbit sitting in the grass where James had been standing. There was nothing to suggest this lowly 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. His attempted answer inevitably came out as a series of clicks and purrs 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't 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 purred his 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