The Lovely Lucinda Margrave
He had been waiting for his chance to be with her for weeks.
Marcus O'Toole was an average looking human man with red hair and brown eyes. He had rather plain looking clothes and had an unsurprisingly dull and ordinary job of cleaning up the stables located at the town gate. Due to his job, he had a very difficult time finding companionship, even from the local animals. Then again, no one wants to spend time with someone that smells like horse apples and wet, moldy hay all of the time unless they had no sense of smell in the first place.
Because of the side effects of his job, Marcus had come to the conclusion that things such as friendship and love were well out of his reach and just not worth it. Why should it? He had thought to himself, I'm just a stable boy, it's not like some beautiful woman would come up to talk to me. I doubt even someone from out of town would ask me where the inn is. These thoughts were a fact for Marcus for quite a long time. The cynical stable boy was convinced, day in and day out that they would never change.
Then, he met Lucinda Margrave.
He had just finished work when he met her, and remembered that moment fondly as well as how she looked that day. The woman had shining black hair that went down to her shoulders, a gorgeous face that had no signs of scarring or dirt, lovely hazel eyes that seemed almost cat like, tan skin, and a wonderful, curvy figure. She wore a white wrap around her chest, and a matching skirt draped loosely around her hips. Her feet were bare, and she wore gold bracelets and anklets that shone in the setting sun.
Marcus just stared at the beautiful woman, his heart racing and his face getting warmer. He wondered if he was even dreaming until she spoke.
"Excuse me, but can you tell me where I can find the inn?" she asked, and to Marcus her voice was so angelic and beautiful, that he was once again dumbstruck by what was happening. He felt something inside his body, an electric shock running down his spine as he answered her.
"I-I could do more than that," he said, trying to act cool while his voice squeaked a bit, "I'll show you where it is!"
"Oh thank you!" she then said, before adding "Can you wait right here please? I need to get my traveling companion."
Marcus felt like he had been kicked in the stomach at that comment. But then again, he should have guessed a beautiful woman like her wouldn't be traveling alone. He watched her walk back to the town gate, and spoke to a young man with white hair and silver eyes. He wore nice looking clothes that were of better quality than the stained, smelly tunic Marcus wore, and seeing the harp poking out of his bag, the stable boy deduced that the woman's companion was a bard.
Of course it's a bard. Marcus thought as he watched the two travelers talk to each other, Those multi-talented people have all the luck! When the two came his way though, Marcus quickly smiled and led them to the local inn, where he was sure to stick around long enough to catch the woman's name as she gave it to the innkeeper: Lucinda Margrave.
After that day, the stable boy did whatever he could to make sure to learn as much about the woman of his dreams as he could. He followed her while she was exploring the town, wrote her love letters and dropped them off at the inn daily, and when he learned she and her companion leave town, Marcus would make sure something happened to delay their departure. While most likely in the area of being obsessive over a person, Marcus did not wish for Lucinda to leave him and he had a plan in mind to make sure she never would.
He had come to the conclusion that as long as that bard she was with was alive, her leaving would be unavoidable. But, if an accident were to befall the man, then Marcus could run in to provide comfort to her if she were to become distraught over the death. It was while Marcus plotted his unknowing rival's demise during his now habitual process of dropping off a letter at the inn for Lucinda, that he received a message in return. Soon having completely forgotten he was plotting a murder, Marcus quickly ran home with the message he received and read it to himself.
"Dear Marcus," it began, causing the stalking stable boy's heart to flutter, "Thank you so much for the letters you sent me, I found them to be highly interesting. Since you seem to care so deeply for me, I want to give you a special surprise. Meet me tonight at the inn's second floor, third room from the stairs. I'll leave the door unlocked just for you. Don't be late now, alright? Love, Lucinda Margrave."
Marcus was so overjoyed by the message, that he spent the whole day getting ready and making himself look nice for his night with his beloved Lucinda. He also felt that if he was very lucky, he and the love of his live might even spend the night together and that she might also be convinced to stay in town with him for the rest of their lives.
About an hour before nightfall, Marcus O'Toole decided to surprise his Lucinda by arriving early at her door. Opening the door to her room at the inn, he heard her singing while water was splashing and realized that she was in the middle of a bath. He also saw no sign of the bard she was with, and grinned at the fact that he would be all alone with the woman he loved. He so strongly believed that nothing could possibly go wrong, that Marcus confidently announced himself.
"Lucinda my dear," he said, walking to the washroom where she was bathing and closed his eyes as he opened the door, "I, Marcus O'Toole have arrived to sweep you off your feet!"
When the perverted stalker opened his eyes however, he paled quite noticeably as he felt his jaw drop.
"Marcus! Don't you know how to knock?!" Lucinda yelled, though the stalker immediately knew she looked different from before, especially when she got out of the tub.
Even though her basic figure, her hair, and the shape of her face were very much the same as when he saw her in the past, Marcus was paying more attention to the differences at the moment. Her tan skin was now a yellowish green, with patches of golden scales growing on her breasts, hips, sides and forehead. Spotted, fluffy, pale blond fur grew from her collar bone and forearms, while short, brown hair grew on her thighs before seamlessly blending into golden brown feathers which led up to the scales on her hips. Her hands were very similar to the talons of a harpy, and her legs, while both were bent backwards at the knee like the hind legs of an animal, were also different completely different. Her right leg was that of a goat, ending in a cloven hoof while her left leg was avian, with that foot looking very much like that of a bird of prey's. Her ears were long like an elf's, but rounded like a human's instead of being pointed. Her eyes were snake like and in two different colors- the left being amber yellow and the right a bright blue. Finally, the feature Marcus' attention went to her nose. It was small, and looking right at her it seemed pretty normal, but when she turned her head, it was revealed that the tip of her nose stretched two or three inches from her face, and thin like a stick.
Lucinda however, took the man's shock in stride as she put her talons on her hips and began to berate the frightened stalker.
"It's very rude to walk in on someone when they're bathing." She said her voice still as beautiful as when Marcus first spoke to her, though hearing his angel's voice come from that thing that stood in front of him made the stalking stable boy sick to his stomach. "In fact, I didn't even get a chance to cast an illusion on myself when you just swung the door open like a buffoon!"
"I-Illusion?!" Marcus said, feeling things getting much worse, "You mean that is your true form?! Good gods! Just what are you?!"
Lucinda simply gave Marcus a rather annoyed look. "I'm a bard and a mongrel woman." she said flatly, "Why ,must almost every person I meet just automatically assume that just because I look like a monster, I must also have to think and act like one, as well as be treated as such to boot?"
"Th-That's because things like you should either be killed or displayed and tormented in a circus!"
The last thing Marcus O'Toole ever heard before finding himself flying out the window were the words "I was raised in a circus you idiot!" Lucinda had then picked her former stalker up and threw him, and Marcus soon saw that he was quickly heading towards a cart filled with something he knew rather well, tons and tons of manure.
Later that night, Lucinda, in her true form, lounged on the bed reading a book as her traveling companion walked into the room. Without a word, he shed his own disguise as the white haired, silver eyed elven man's skin turned black as coal, and horns and a tail grew from his body. To finish his own change, a blue bird-shaped mark appeared around his left eye, and the drow fey'ri smiled at the mongrel woman as he walked over to hug her.
"Hello Luci." He said, grinning as he nuzzled her shoulder. "Did your little plan work? I did hear something about a little defenestration while in the market getting supplies. Would that be your doing, or was that just a coincidence?"
"Hello Killik," Lucinda said to her lover, kissing him on the cheek, "and yes, it worked. It seems my illusion caused another man to try and woo me… again."
"You really need to alter that disguise of yours." Killik said, chuckling as he shook his head, "So, what did the poor bastard do to deserve getting chucked out of the window?"
"He insulted my circus family." Lucinda said, "Not all troupes are cruel to their attractions… Anyway, could you close the door? It's been… a stressful day if you know what I mean."
Killik only smiled as he stood up, closed and locked the door to their room, not wanting to be interrupted as they enjoyed their private time.
The next day, the two travelers left town in their disguises, Lucinda's now sporting a long nose, and not a word was said about it. Marcus O'Toole however, was thrown in jail for disturbing the peace with his mad ranting, as well as for charges of "destruction of property," "attempted murder," and being offensive to everyone's noses.
The End