I started back and blinked at her. “How do you know that?”

  Grandmother’s reply was to raise one upturned hand and beckon toward me with her long, slender fingers. I yelped and started back when my silver threads flowed out of my body and floated over to her. They wrapped themselves around her hand and she cocked her head to one side. Her eyes had a soft, faraway look in them and her voice was so low I hardly caught the words.

  “Sylvine magic. I never thought I would live to see it again.”

  Arian’s eyes widened. “Are you sure, Grandmother?”

  My heart skipped a beat at the tension in my friend’s words. “Is that bad?”

  Grandmother Frou waved her hand and my threads dispelled like mist against a wind. “Nothing a little focus wouldn’t fix but it does make changing her trickier. There’s no telling what might happen if I use my magic on her.”

  A little color drained from my face. “What could happen?”

  “You could die.”

  I stiffened before I spun on my heels and faced the exit. “I think I’ve heard enough.”

  Grandmother grabbed my sleeve and yanked me closer to her. “Don’t be such a meek thing, girl, it suits no one, least of all someone of the sylvine line.”

  I righted myself before I toppled into the frail grandmother and turned to face her. “It can’t be important enough that I’m a part of it.”

  “But you have the gift of creation magic,” Arian pointed out.

  “I make candy and kid’s toys.”

  “And you have silver hair.”

  “A good dye job on the part of the pear I ate.”

  Grandmother cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. “Pear? What pear?”

  Now even Arian looked worried. “It is nothing, Grandmother, merely a jest.”

  She wagged a finger at the young bear royalty. “This is no jest, cub. This young sylvine should have learned her magic ages ago and now you speak of fruit. Are you speaking of the Diyedi Tree which has born fruit only once in the lifetime of this world?”

  Arian opened her mouth to reply but I held up my hand. “It’s okay, Arian. It would have to get out sometime.” I turned my full attention on Grandmother. “I’m not from this world. The Diyedi Tree that gave me its fruit was growing in my old world and I was sent here after I bit into it.”

  Grandmother’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell ajar. She whipped her head to and fro between us. “Truly?”

  “Why would we lie?” I countered.

  Grandmother snapped her mouth shut and stiffened her jaw. “In that case, you need to learn to train that magic before it becomes a nuisance.”

  “Too late. . .” I mumbled as I recalled all the times it had led me into the awkward confrontations with Dadan.

  “But we only wished for her to have a disguise for the festival,” Arian protested.

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  “Then we shall do both!” Grandmother insisted as she pushed through us and limped over to one of the taller walls covered in niches. She snatched a half dozen vials from their alcoves and turned to us. “Catch these.”

  She didn’t wait for our protests but tossed the glass containers. Arian and I lunged forward and juggled them before we managed to hug them against our chests. I was surprised mine didn’t break being pressed so close to my thumping heart.

  Arian held up her armful of trinkets. “What are these for, Grandmother?”

  “For a bath.”

  My friend and I stared blankly at her until Arian cleared her throat. “A bath for you, Grandmother?”

  Frou turned and wrinkled her nose at the question. “Of course not! The bath is for your friend there.”

  I dropped my gaze to myself. “Am I that dirty?”

  Grandmother rolled her eyes. “So many foolish questions! These bath salts will draw out your power and show us what you can do!”

  I winced as I recalled the many times it was insolent. “Is that such a good idea?”

  Grandmother stabbed the end of her cane at the pool of warm water and frowned at me. “In.”

  I glanced at my friend who sighed. “The hot springs of the caves are some of the finest in the whole of the land realm.”

  My shoulders drooped and I sighed. “Alright, but if I’m coming out when I start looking like a shrunken fruit.”

  I reluctantly moved to the pool. The warm waters soothed my weary bones and Grandmother’s concoction comforted my stomach. I drew off my shoes and socks and dipped my toes into the water. It was as warm as bath water with a hint of bubbles.

  “Go on!” Grandmother insisted as she limped up behind us. “None of us are getting any younger!”

  Arian stepped up to my side and her eyes reflected the concern on her face. “You need not do this if you do not wish to. We might find some other way for you to attend the festival, or perhaps we may both stay inside.”

  I could hear the disappointment in her voice so I rallied my courage and offered her a smile. “Actually, I was just wondering where Grandmother kept the towels. I’ll need one to dry myself off with.”

  Grandmother nodded at a standing wooden cupboard on the left side of the pond. “In there. It’s the only place in this cave where they won’t get damp sitting around.”

  “Then I’ll just slip off my clothes and get started,” I proposed as I set down my mess of vials and slipped out of the rest of my clothes.

  I dipped into the pool and was thrilled with the soothing warmth that surrounded me. The water reached halfway up my chest so I had little problem ducking down to cover my shoulders. Arian neatly folded up my clothes and set them aside even as Grandmother sauntered up to the edge of the pool. I didn’t like the crafty smile that lay on her lips.

  She picked up one of the vials I had abandoned and studied the contents for a moment before giving an appreciative nod. “Tongue of the hare. This will do nicely for a start.”

  My sensitive stomach rolled at the contents, and things only got worse when Grandmother popped the cork and tossed the whole thing into the pool. I tiptoed away from the ‘bath salts’ as she added more, always announcing what new horror lay in her hand.

  “Wing of sparrow. Blood of cat. Eye of a lizard. A very good selection if I do say so myself.” She tossed them all in and I scooted back until I hit the far side of the pool. Grandmother scowled at me and beckoned with a wizened hand. “Come back here and soak up these salts, or don’t you want to learn to control your magic?”

  “I want to live to see another day. . .” I mumbled, but I obliged her by creeping back.

  I didn’t notice any particular vile smell from the bath-salt-infused waters but my skin tingled the further in I went. Grandmother clutched the top of her cane in both hands and dipped the other end into the pool. She swirled the waters around and mixed in the bath salts.

  The tingling on my skin deepened into goosebumps and my body began to itch. I scratched a part of my arm and jerked back when my fingers came into contact with fur. Soft silky white fur. I yelped and rubbed my arm but more fur sprouted up like weeds in a garden. My fingers shrank and my hands turned into soft pink pads.

  Before I knew it I had changed back into my furry cat form. I was also treading water.

  “Meow!” I yowled as I tried to swim in my new body.

  I didn’t even know how to swim in my human form, much less this water-logged shape.