Evelyn had strange dreams that night, of distant lands, sorcerers and castles. In one of those dreams, Brianna was a witch who had messed up a spell, and the two of them wound up in a strange world, where they met a pretty girl who turned into a cat when she sneezed. Really, really weird dream.

Eve woke up with the feeling of sunlight hitting her face, glowing red through her eyelids. She winced and covered her eyes with one arm, to block out the light. Did she forget the blinds open? She also couldn’t recall what day it was. Would she have classes that day? Should she wake up and start getting herself ready?

About then, the girl noticed that there was something small and warm pressing against her tights. What was this? In her sleepy state, Eve tried to convince herself it was nothing of importance. It’s just a cat, she thought to herself. She was just about to go back to sleep. It took her a moment to remember she didn’t own any cats.

Her eyes shot open, and Eve was shocked to realize that she wasn’t in her bed, or even in her bedroom. She was lying on a thick blanket that had been spread over a grassy hillside outdoors, with the blue morning sky shining above her head. So it hadn’t been a dream, after all. She really had been transported to a different world by Bree’s spell.

The other thing Eve realized was that she had been right about the warm soft thing by her side. It really was a cat. A black cat. Snuggling her.

“Cat?!” she asked, startled. “Catherine?”

The black cat opened her eyes, drowsily.

“Mrow?” asked the cat, staring at her.

—

Bree couldn’t stop laughing. Evelyn’s face was beet-red with embarrassment.

“Look, I’m sorry, Eve,” Cat told her, blushing as well. “It’s just that... when I’m a cat, I sort of think like a cat, too. And I end up doing stuff like that because it just seems like a good idea at the time. But it isn’t. And I’m sorry. I’ll... try not to do it again.”

Eve walked around the camp, packing their belongings to keep herself distracted. It also gave her a good excuse not to look Cat in the eyes, which she was grateful for, because she was feeling mortified.

“It’s okay,” she said, even though she definitely wasn’t feeling okay. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” Cat asked her, hesitantly.

Eve nodded, still not looking the other girl in the eyes. “Of course,” she said. It was a lie, obviously.

Cat shrugged, and went to check on the horses. A little while after this, Bree walked over to her sister, sporting her trademark devilish smile.

“So...” she whispered, “how was it like to spend the night with Catherine?”

Bree’s words shocked her, a little. “Can you please not make this sound weird?”

“What’s weird?” Bree asked. “The fact that Cat slept with you naked and you spooned her?”

Eve glared at her sister. Bree may not be as bad a person as she had first assumed, but the blonde still knew how to be a pain in the ass, sometimes.

“She was a cat!” Eve stressed. “It’s not weird, okay?”

Bree grinned. “I know, sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help teasing you a little.”

“Bree, I swear to god I’m gonna get back at you for that.”

“Oh, just you try,” said Bree. She giggled, and hid her smile with one hand. It made Evelyn so damn mad.

“I mean it!”

“No you don’t,” Bree retorted. “You’re too much of a good girl for doing stuff like getting revenge on people.”

Eve opened her mouth to try and counter that argument, but the words got lost somewhere along the way. She knew Bree was wrong, She just couldn’t think of an argument to disprove her. I’m not a good girl, Eve thought to herself. And I damn well can get revenge if I want to. Sure, I’ve never done it before, but I could do it.

Bree watched her sister perform some facial gymnastics with a very amused look on her face.

“Just tell me one thing,” said Bree. “When you saw that Cat was sleeping with you...” Bree leaned closer, before whispering the next part: “...you wished she would sneeze, didn’t you?”

Eve gaped. And blushed even more fiercely than before.

“I did not!” was all that she could manage to say.

Bree only laughed.

“Sure, Eve. Sure.”

—

The group’s second day of journey didn’t go as smoothly as the previous one. The area they were traveling through had thicker vegetation, and once or twice they even passed by flower fields. Progress was slow, because Cat kept stopping them when she needed to sneeze.

“Sorry,” she said, after turning back to human for the tenth time in the morning. She rubbed her nose. “I think it’s the pollen, maybe. I have... allergies... a... a... atchoo!” and she was a black cat once again. Bree and Eve exchanged worried glances.

Eve uncorked the small vial of pepper Cat had given her for that very purpose. She was just about to offer it to Cat, when the black cat sneezed again, all by herself. And then once again. In fact, she sneezed a total of seven times before she could finally manage to stop.

“Atchoo!” Human.

“Atchoo!” Black cat.

“Atchoo!” Human again. And so forth.

Bree sighed. “I don’t suppose you have allergy medication on you, do you, Eve?”

Evelyn resisted the temptation to reply with a snarky remark. The words were itching to come out. Oh, sure, she’d say, I totally remembered to bring some with me when you warned me you were going to get us stranded in an unknown world.

Eve stopped herself from saying it. Bree was right about her sister using sarcasm against her all the time.

“No more than you do,” said Eve, instead. “Isn’t there a spell for this?”

Bree shrugged. “None that I know of. And it would be silly to expect us to find a pharmacy in this world.”

“Cloudweed,” Cat interrupted them. They both stared at her, questioningly. “It’s what I use for allergies,” she explained. “There’s a... atchoo! meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow atchoo! a city south of here. Maybe we can find some cloudweed in a botanist’s shop.”

Bree considered that for a moment. “Well, it’s going to sidetrack us, but I suppose it’s worth it if it can get you to stop sneezing,” she told Cat. “What do you say, Eve?”

Eve nodded. “Sure, let’s do it.”

—

The city Cat had spoken of was actually closer by than Eve had expected. The three girls stood on a hillside, staring at the houses and streets that spread out before them.

Catherine sneezed, turning to black cat once more. Bree sighed.

“I think one of us should stay here with Cat,” she said. “It’s gonna be weird if she keeps transforming while we’re into town. And someone does need to look after Sirius as well. Eve, do you mind? You can’t ride Antares, so it will be faster if I go.”

“Atchoo!” and Cat was back to human. “Actually,” she said, “I think Evelyn should go. We can’t take Antares into town. She’s a nobleman’s steed, anyone could see this just from looking at her. And you two girls are dressed as handmaids, it would be really odd for a handmaid to ride a noble’s horse. It would draw a lot of unwanted attention.”

“Right...” said Bree, frowning. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“So all I need to do is find the botanist’s shop?” Eve asked Cat, while accepting the coin purse she was handing her. “What does it look like?”

“Just a normal house,” Cat explained. “But they usually hang herbs to dry on the window. Ask around. The people will tell you where it is. Now, listen... Cloudweed is usually two copper a piece. But they’ll probably overcharge you because of your accent. You should try to bargain.”

“Eh? Really?” Bree asked, wide-eyed. “Do people also overcharge tourists in this world?”

“Capitalism is universally evil,” Eve pointed out.

“Also, since you’re going shopping,” said Cat, “you should probably try to get yourself and Brianna some new clothes. It’s strange enough to see castle handmaids so far away from the Capital, people are going to get suspicious. I can handle the shopping once we’ve crossed the border, but for now, try and get you two a couple of pants and shirts. The cheap ones sell for a silver each in most places. You will get overcharged, though.”

Eve frowned. She really hated being a tourist. And she was a bit anxious about going into a town she didn’t know to buy herbs she’d never seen and bargain with money completely foreign to her.

Bree placed a hand on her right shoulder. “You’re gonna be fine,” she said, smiling for reassurance. Cat sneezed again.

“Meow!”

Bree winced. “Just... try to make it fast, okay?”