Liira took a deep breath as she looked around the glen. She had been practicing this spell for a while, but she had never quite been able to get it just right. Magic didn’t come as easily for her as it seemed to for the rest of her family; that was why she spent so much time out here, in a secluded place away from the potential mocking of her brothers. Arias, she knew, in particular would be relentless in his teasing if he saw one of her spells fail. He may not have magic himself, but that certainly didn’t stop him from offering his opinion on the skill, or lack thereof, of her brother.
Taking another deep breath, she stared down into the water again. The sight of her beautiful, feminine features seemed to calm and relax her mind in a way she had never experienced before. She closed her eyes, willing her power to activate. There was a crackling, static electricity feeling in the air, and when she opened them again….it had worked.
In the center of the pond there was a shimmering, transparent portal, covering much of its surface. Liira let out a cheer. She had done it! It usually took her a few tries to successfully create a viewing portal, but she’d managed to do it on the first try this time. She wondered if it was because of the transformation she had just gone through. Could it be that it had increased the amount of magic she could use?
Liira shook her head slightly. That was a question for later. For now, she had to take advantage of the spell. The portal would allow her to view what she wished for a limited time only, after all. “Show me Arias.” She said, deciding to test out the spell simply at first. The water rippled as the image changed from reflecting the lake to displaying a view of the inside of the castle. Liira gasped.
Myla and Roza still lounged about on the couch, but they’d been joined by a third girl, a busty redhead in a green dress. The girl let out a long sigh. “I’m soooo bored.” She said. “There is a dire shortage of hunky men in this castle, don’t you girls agree?” Both of her attendants nodded in agreement. The redhead continued “What I wouldn’t give for some handsome guy to come in right now so we could sneak off to a side chamber. Daddy’s always saying “no Aria, you have to be a good girl, and he doesn’t let me have any fun. He’s king and he’s got all those concubines, it’s not fair!” She whined.
Liira took a step back from the portal, mind swirling. It seemed whatever had transformed her had likewise changed Arias. Given all of her talk about wanting to sleep with men, it seemed the spell had also altered her mind. She certainly didn’t seem like she remembered having been male only a short while ago when Liira had ridden out as Liiran.
“Show me my other brothers.” Liira asked. The water of the pond rippled as a series of images flashed by. It quickly became clear to Liira that Antyny’s younger children appeared to have been unchanged; it was only she and the other seven eldest who had suddenly become women. Liira couldn’t help but derive a sense of amusement as she watched her brothers Gian and Lysandre— now beautiful girls in silver and pink dresses respectively—eagerly discussing clothing. Lysandre had been so arrogant, so confident in his position as the most skilled at magic out of the four of them who possessed it— and now Lysabel was happily asking her redheaded sister Gia to model a series of gowns she’d used her magic to have transported back to the castle.
The portal rapidly started to fade as the spell began to run its course. Liira watched as, with another series of crackling noises, it flared a brilliant white and then faded out of existence entirely, replaced once more by the water of the pond. “That was certainly interesting.” Liira murmured to herself. She now knew that she wasn’t the only one to be transformed, and she seemed to be the one least affected by whatever mental aspects the magic had. The question was: what to do now?