The first time he took the potion he was eight years old.
It was a simple spell, originally created by the wild elves—a culture known to embrace people like him. And although the spell only lasted about twenty-four hours, the effects were life-changing. Drinking this potion allowed the user to change into the opposite sex, which for some would be no more than a parlour’s trick, a funny joke after losing a drunken bet.
For Verim, however, it had allowed him to be who he’d always hoped to be. And at age twenty-one, when he’d escaped his father’s clutches long enough to find himself, he tracked down the witch that could make the change permanent. In many ways, his life started at that very moment. And although he didn’t know it at the time, it would lead him right to where he was now.
At the royal feast as General of the Ethral Army. Not just any feast, but King Tyon’s birthday, whom he’d come to call his friend over the years. Now in his early thirties, Verim had little reason to look back on his past, but he’d certainly not forgotten.
For that reason, he found himself distracted after taking several sips of his wine. He’d been so caught up in his conversation with Lady Enu and her knight, that he hadn’t noticed it until now. Although distinct, the familiar flavour was so subtle that it was difficult to pick up. It probably didn’t help that even after all these years, he still couldn’t figure out what it actually tasted like. But he knew one thing, which was that he only had a couple of seconds to make his escape.
“Please excuse me, my lady,” he said to Lady Enu, offering her a nod before spinning around to make a quick line through the banquet hall.
But not quick enough to escape the elven lady’s comment. “That must be number two,” she joked. Of course she did. Lady Enu certainly wasn’t known for her elegance.
Verim didn’t have time to come up with a witty response, nor to figure out who had spiked his drink. Right now he needed to get away from everyone, from all the prying eyes. As he burst through the door, he soon found himself in the palace’s decorated hallways, before making it to the next door. This one led to the bathrooms and in a stroke of pure luck, it was completely vacant. He wasted no time locking himself in.
Fuck. Now what? He found his heart racing in his chest and his eyes darting around the room as if somehow he’d find something to put a stop to this. But he knew very well that wasn’t possible. That bitter taste that had made its way into his wine could only be one thing. It was the very potion that had saved him when he was eight years old, somehow mixed into his drink at possibly the most important event of the year. And although he’d never know who did it, he already knew who was behind it.
“Uh, Verim?” A familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door, startling the man inside. It was Reviro, the guard he’d befriended on the very first day he came to the palace. In fact, for the longest time, he was his only friend, but there was one thing that Reviro didn’t know about him. That he was born in a woman’s body. He was about to find out. “Are you alright? You ran in here looking rather upset.”
“Uh, I’m constipated,” he squeaked, his heart sinking once he heard his own voice. It was already too late. He looked down to see how his body had changed. Even in his male form, he’d always been slim, but now he was even slimmer than before, with curves in places where he’d never wanted to see any. It was as shocking as it was surreal, not having seen himself this way since he was a child. This body felt even less like his own than back then, a heavy weight pulling on his chest while his uniform grew too tight around his hips.
“Wait, who’s in there with you?” Reviro demanded to know after a few seconds of thought. “What’s going on?”
Right. His voice sounded nothing like his own. Scraping his throat, he tried to lower his pitch as far as he could. “It’s me, Verim,” he muttered, cheeks turning red at how ridiculously the words came out. Fuck. This was really bad.
Although he couldn’t see him, he knew his friend was shooting a puzzled frown at the door. “I know what Verim sounds like and it’s not you,” he grumbled. “What did you do to him? Tell me now or I’ll break down this door.” Knowing Reviro, he wasn’t making an empty threat.
“Uh, well—” How was he even going to explain this? Perhaps his friend wasn’t as perceptive as he was, but there was no way he was going to lie his way out of this one. He took a deep breath. “You know that rumour that’s been going around lately?” He asked. “Of me secretly being a woman?” He’d gotten several questions about it over the past few weeks, until finally discovering that the whole palace had been talking about this. Another courtesy of his father, he supposed. “Well, it’s true.”
The silence that followed was deafening, not a single noise sounding from the other side of the door. Until eventually his friend opened his mouth again, his tone surprisingly gentle. “May I come in?” Was all he asked.
The last thing he wanted was for anyone to see him in this awful form, let alone his friend. And considering how he’d made quite the ordeal to deny this rumour, it was more than just embarrassing. Just the idea of someone laying eyes on him felt like a violation. Yet there was no use in saying no now. And so with a heavy sigh escaping his lips, he carefully creaked open the door.
Blinking as he studied the other male, Reviro visibly had to recollect his words. “Uh, that’s— I—”
Fuck. He didn’t have time for this. No one else could see him like this. Letting out a frustrated growl, he swung open the door to forcefully pull his friend into the bathrooms, after which he locked them back in.
Bouncing back, Reviro ran his eyes over him again, his expression remaining baffled. “Alright, so this is how you actually look?” He asked him, tilting his head to the side as he raised a brow. “I mean, I’ve seen you naked more than enough to know you don’t normally look like this.” The thought brought a chuckle to him.
At least his friend believed it was him now. Verim wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing or incredibly bad. The effects of the potion would last a lot longer than he could remain hidden in this bathroom and he wasn’t so sure if he wanted to be recognised the moment he stepped outside. After all the rumours about him, this was the last thing he needed. “No, this is just a damn potion,” he spat, shaking his head before he began pacing around the small room. “Some elven witch at the black market made the change permanent a little over ten years ago. Before that, I drank a potion for it every day. Apparently, the potion works the other way around now. It’s only temporary, but—”
Staring at him, the other male burst into laughter and Verim’s face burned red.
“What?!” He snapped, freezing in his tracks and balling his hands into fists. “Is this funny to you? Everyone in this damn palace will know the truth if they see me this way!”
Shaking his head, Reviro could barely recompose himself long enough to speak. “I’m sorry, but you look ridiculous,” he said.
His eyebrows drew together as he glared at the other male. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” He sneered. Just because he felt absolutely ridiculous, didn’t mean his friend got to treat him that way!
The man was laughing so hard that his whole face turned red. “Because this is nothing like you,” he said. “You don’t even look like a woman. You just look angrier than usual. And tinier.”
Wait. What? His frown deepened. “Take this seriously, man,” he growled.
“Why?” His friend said, leaving no time for the other male to respond. “This doesn’t prove anything, because you’re not a woman. It’s just some stupid potion.” He finally stopped his chuckling to study Verim. “How’d you even accidentally drink that?”
“I didn’t,” he said, letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed his face with his palms. “Well, I did, but—someone must have slipped it into my drink. Probably paid off by my father.”
Frowning, Reviro tilted his head to the side. “Why would he do that?”
“Because we’re at war with him, remember?” He said. “I bet he thinks that if he can prove this, it will get me fired. He must be really desperate to resort to this. He was the one that insisted on keeping this a secret all my life.” His head was spinning, hundreds of thoughts echoing in his mind. “Ancients, this is fucking disgusting. No one in Ethral is going to care enough to fire me, but they’ll all know.”
Stepping further into the room, Reviro let his gaze wander around before landing on the cup of wine the general had placed on the sink. “Is this the one with the potion?” He said, picking it up to sniff the contents.
Shooting him a puzzled look, he nodded. “Yes, but are you not hearing me?”
Seemingly without a second thought, Reviro downed the rest of the cup, letting out a content sigh once he finished it.
Verim’s eyes went so wide they nearly popped out of his sockets. “What are you doing?!” He asked, stepping over to him.
His friend’s lips curled into a bright smile, a nonchalant shrug coming over him. “Now everyone will think I’m secretly a woman too,” he murmured.
He frowned. “Of course not,” he barked. “All you did was drink this stupid potion.” He could already picture his friend marching around with a grin from ear to ear, making lewd jokes to everyone he knew in the guard. For him this was just a joke, but—
“So did you,” Reviro said. “Now either you walk around with a sour face and leave everyone wondering what the fuck happened, or we just go have some fun together. I mean, who cares what they believe?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. It wasn’t nearly as simple as his friend made it seem, but—perhaps that didn’t matter.
Then, the change happened. Reviro’s broad shoulders slowly morphed into a delicate figure that barely fit his clothes—a thin waist, broad hips and a chest that stuck out. He looked entirely different, yet also perfectly the same. Had Reviro known how to carry himself, perhaps he could have actually looked like a woman. But he didn’t. He still looked as nonchalant as ever. Perhaps physical appearance wasn’t everything.
Entirely unexpected, Verim found himself bursting into laughter, much like his friend had mere moments ago. “If you think I look ridiculous, you should see yourself in the mirror,” he told him.
Spinning in his position, he quickly studied himself in the mirror above the sink, growing an overly entertained grin across his face. “We should totally try and seduce some of the male guards,” he said, eyes wide as he stared at himself.
He laughed again. “You mean the ones that don’t want to sleep with you normally?”
Reviro joined in on his laughter. “Says you,” he shot back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, though his tone was far from genuine. “I am General of the Ethral Army—it would be highly unethical of me to sleep with any soldier.”
Turning back to face him, the man rolled his eyes. “You weren’t always a general, were you?” He briefly ran his gaze over him. “Why not sneak out and relive the good old days for one night?” The gleam in his eye was a familiar one, that ominous look when he was about to do something that would most certainly get them in trouble.
“No,” he said firmly before a smile crept its way back onto his face. “We left those behind for a good reason. I just got this job, so I’d like to keep it.”
Though the ominous expression remained on his face, Reviro didn’t push any further. “Let’s at least make it a fun night,” he said, taking a step forward to place a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “For all I care we tell everyone we lost a bet. Whatever makes you feel comfortable tonight.”
Smiling back at him, Verim took a few moments to think. The man was right. What was he so concerned about? It didn’t matter what body he had—he’d accomplished many great things and none of that had anything to do with his gender. He knew exactly who he was and that person was someone that people respected. Whoever would treat him differently if they knew the truth, was not worth his time. “You know what? It doesn’t matter what they think,” he told him. “My father would want nothing less than for me to live in fear. Even if it’s solely to spite him, we’re going to have a memorable night.”
Reviro’s smile widened. “That’s the guy I know,” he said, before stepping over to the door, not a single trace of hesitation in his step—this was exactly how he knew him too, scaling the thin line between confidence and stupidity.
It was exactly why he’d grown to like him. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t so bad to do the same every now and then. Picking up his empty cup, he followed after the other man and back into the banquet hall. “I need a refill on this,” he told his friend, holding up the cup. “But maybe this time I’ll pour it myself.”
His friend barely spared him a smile, quickly darting off to wave at the first male guard he could spot.
Right. This was going to be a disastrous night. But it would be great.
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