The room stood quiet and empty at the door after the sounds of footsteps faded into the distance. A gurgle broke the silence, the restless rumble of a hungry stomach. There were half-finished meals for six but Eva's sat untouched.
Her chair lifted and pulled far out with a squeak, animated on its own. It creaked while the cushion sank with the deep imprint of a broad, bare rump. The chair lifted again, a quick scoot forward before Eva's half-empty wine glass abruptly fell forward, clanging on the table cloth and spilling its contents.
Anastasia Pridemoon, betrayer of Zarron and second daughter of his line of royal-blooded fox proliferation appeared in the chair, wearing nothing but her thick fur, both arms outstretched in a failed attempt to catch the glass.
The force behind its fall was her own rolling wall of gigantomastic flesh, tremendously cumbersome breasts that rolled a half foot over the table while simultaneously filling her lap and pouring over the armrests of her seat. Even crushed in, she couldn't reach far past them and her panicked reach had failed to stop the glass from falling, thus breaking the spell that concealed her.
The only version of an Invisibility spell she knew was a primitive, runic magic that allowed no possessions to come along, including clothes. She'd used it occasionally as a teenager for sating various curiosities but it was a magic she learned without Zarron's permission. Since escaping a year ago, she might've spent more time invisible and naked than not. She'd grown quite comfortable with it now.
Wine spilled onto the table, the extent of which her view of was blocked by her own body. She scooted back quickly, half-standing before she waved her outstretched finger and muttered a nonsense word. A bolt of frost shot from her finger and instantly froze the puddle.
Frozen in posture herself, she looked to the door. After a long moment confirmed no one was alerted, she pushed aside Eva's plate and place setting. Carefully, she rolled her chest onto the cleared space then brought her weight down to crush them enough to reach the tipped over glass and frozen wine. Delicately, she righted the glass before trying to pry the wine ice off the tabletop but it stuck in the fabric of the tablecloth.
Eyes darted to Eva's dinner impatiently as she reached for her fork and used it to pry at the edge of the puddle until part of the ice broke. It came up in several shards, which she placed in the upright wine glass. After a quick survey of the scene, she pushed it further away.
Anastasia glanced to the door once more before taking her seat and pulling herself in with more care, now being able to see the extent of her own body. With the volume between her face and the table filled again with ballooning breasts, she moved close enough to feel pressure but not pain. Beyond that, the plate sat out of reach.
With a deep inhale and a wince, she leaned in further to grab it before leaning back to a more comfortable position. The compression on her chest that pushed it out in all directions also stabilized it and she set the plate down on the elevated shelf of her bosom. She eased in closer then back out, adjusting the position that made the curve of mastic mass flat enough to balance the plate. Her nose was close enough to smell it now, the food thankfully still warm. She salivated at the thought of snatching it right off the plate with her jaws.
That would be uncouth though and neither Zarron nor her mother, Portia were permissive of barbaric dining. She took the fork and a knife and attacked Eva's neglected dinner with as much expedience as civility would allow. It was the first time in days she had the opportunity to sit and dine.
The interloping vixen lived on whatever water, bread and other scraps stolen from the kitchen but hadn't had a full meal since her covert return to the Manor, close to a week ago. She was here to learn how close Zarron was to tracking them down.
Ana was surprised to find the raccoon missing upon her arrival. Sneaking around for that first day, she looked for him all over the house but it became obvious enough when she found Eva and the Duos that they were all unsupervised.
Late that first night, she teleported back to the inn where her mother waited. She explained that if she was to wait for his return, it may be some time. Portia reluctantly agreed for her to stay as long as needed to get the job done but made her promise only to wait: not to pursue him. She would keep renting the room and keep a teleport seal clear for Ana's eventual, safe return. There was another rescue in the area she would carry out alone. Ana agreed to return weekly and check in, if Zarron did not return.
The primary goal of the risky mission was to find out how much Zarron knew and steal every magical means he might have of finding them. Ana had thought of all the ways Zarron might track them down for a year now and as they discussed it, her mother began to share her paranoia in the four months since their reunion.
If they couldn't defeat Zarron, they could at least stop him from ever finding them and perhaps, steal back her eggs and put an end to the sales and enslavement of any more of her sisters and brothers.
The secondary objective was to steal any spell books that might help undo the soul-stealing magic that Ana witnessed the feline wizard, Madam Marmalade use on the three Duodecaplets she took with her.
Besides them, the sorceress had five other brothers of hers with what she assumed would be the same fate so their recovery plan moved up in priority. It would only be a complete success, if she found a way to restore the Duos to their former selves.
