Golden Whispers, a short retelling of the Frog Prince, Episode one of the Golden Erotic Tales Series

This short tale is meant for mature audiences
only. It contains sexually explicit content. For adults 18+
only.

Golden Shadows, episode two, Golden Secrets,
episode three, and Golden Desires, episode four, are also
available.

If you would like to provide feedback on each
episode send an email to M.A. Thomas @
[email protected].

And if you want to tell everyone you know
about this new series, by all means, please do so! Don’t forget to
leave a review.

Copyright © 2012 by M.A. Thomas

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are either products of the
author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from M.A.
Thomas.

At twenty years old, Lela couldn’t resist
falling back on childish antics. After all, she was the King’s only
child and oh how he doted on her. She could go anywhere in the
castle and its grounds, exploring whatever got her attention. She
was boundless, often traversing the forest alone going far beyond
the safety of the castle.

Yes, Lela’s father did not saddle her with
rules. Even so, there was one rule he insisted she obey without
fail: never stay outside the castle after dark. This rule Lela did
not mind. She was completely afraid of the dark. When she was ten
years old her mother vanished one night after dinner when she
decided to go for a walk. Lela didn’t know the details of her
mother’s disappearance or why she had ventured out after sunset,
something no one, not even her father or his men ever did.

She found solace in the forest where she felt
she could dance and sing and clear her mind of any thought that
reminded her of her mother. She could pretend her heart had healed
and that she no longer carried the weight of loss and grief.

Today, a golden ball shining among a pile of
leaves had summoned her and she had gleefully ran to it as if the
very sun would cease to exist if she did not answer the ball’s
call. But when she came to the ball, it began to roll away from
her.

She followed it, taking light steps so as not
to disturb the strange event she was witnessing. It kept going
until it came to a well some thirty feet from her. She looked over
her shoulder to see if anyone else was around. She didn’t want to
share this experience with anyone, let alone her father’s men who
would sometimes spy on her under pretense that they were hunting or
scouting the land for bandits.

Holding her breath, she approached the ball.
She tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy. The ball was made of
gold! Lela had never seen anything like it in all the Kingdom of
Barmoth. Gold had not existed in Barmoth for thousands of years.
She had only read about it in books. And even she did not know the
reason for its extinction.

“Bloody hell,” she whispered. “Gold.” Yes,
she was convinced the ball was made of gold.

Weighing her options, she paced back and
forth. She could blanket the ball with leaves and sticks and then
go back to the castle to formulize a plan. No, she couldn’t risk
someone else finding it.

Inhaling a long breath, she tried once again
to pick it up. This time, she succeeded. But before she had a
moment to enjoy her victory, the ball pulled her forward and into
the well.

Lela screamed as she fell, her thoughts on
what would greet her at the bottom. Death was certain. The old
wells of the forest were deep and no one had ever survived a fall.
The people who had inhabited the forest hundreds of years ago left
behind wells which now only served as death traps for animals and
careless wanderers.

Images of her mother invaded her mind and she
screamed louder. If she was going to die, let it happen fast. She
closed her eyes and begged the Gods to take her before she reached
the bottom. Down, down she fell, the ball still in her hands.

In the next moment, she did not feel herself
falling anymore. Perhaps the Gods had taken her. She opened her
eyes. It was not possible! She had fallen down a well and yet here
she was, unscarred at its very bottom.

She quickly looked around her. The bones of
her unlucky predecessors greeted her and she resisted the urge to
hurl. She looked up at the well’s opening. Although light was still
shining, she knew the sun was only hours from setting.

She had never in her life been outside the
castle after sunset. Leaning against a wall, she dropped to the
ground. The ball, a few feet in front of her, rolled toward
her.

“It’s your fault! Get away from me,” Lela
said. “Help me! Please someone help me!” she yelled.

The hours passed. Lela craved her father’s
comforting arms.

Suppressing tears, she raised her eyes to the
well’s opening and yelled, “Help me! Is someone out there? I fell
in the well!”

She sat still and listened, desperately
hoping for a sign that someone had heard her plea. Dirt fell into
the well. Someone was out there. Yes, someone must have heard her.
Bless the Gods.

“Who’s there,” she asked, standing. “Make
yourself known, I demand it.” More dirt fell. Whoever was out there
was certainly enjoying throwing soil at her. “I know someone’s
there!”

“And what will you give me if I help you?” a
man asked.

“Let me see you. I demand it,” she said.

“You demand it? How comical that someone
stuck at the bottom of a well declares a position to command
anything from anyone,” the man said, laughing.

“You dare mock a princess?” Lela asked. She
would have this imbecile of a man punished for his treachery.

“You’re not
my
princess,” he said. “I
don’t owe you allegiance. Now then, let’s return to my question.
What will you give me if I help you?”

Lela chewed her lip, an attempt to keep from
cursing the man. Despite her fury, she was a princess and would
therefore behave as one. Instead, she silently cursed herself for
allowing herself to be in such a dilemma.

The sun set and darkness overtook the well.
Lela was sure she would never see her father again.

***

“Help me, I beg you. I’ll give you whatever
you want,” Lela said, crying.

“It must be very dark down there. It is up
here and I have a torch. Are you scared?” the man asked.

She was more than scared. She couldn’t see
anything. Something came to her mind that sent sharp pain up and
down her body. Why had her father’s men not found her yet? Her
father must have sent his men to look for her when she didn’t
appear at the dinner table. She never missed a meal with her
father.

Ever since her mother had vanished she and
her father ate every meal together. Her mother had enjoyed their
meals together, just the three of them laughing, joking and telling
each other stories of all the adventures they would someday have as
a family. Her mother was the happiest when they were together
because she knew that no matter what happened in their lives, even
if their entire Kingdom was suddenly swept into the sea, they loved
each other deeply and their moments together would live forever. Oh
how Lela missed her.

“You still there?” the man asked.

“I’m here,” Lela said, wiping her tears.

“Move to a wall. I’m throwing down a rope.
Tie it around yourself and holler when you’re ready for me to pull
you up.”

“Bless you,” she said.

“Save your blessings. I haven’t gotten you
out yet.”

She did as the man said. In the next moment,
the end of a rope hit the ground.

Wasting no time, she took steps away from the
wall and felt for the rope. In shadows, she tied the rope around
her waist.

“Are you ready?” the man asked.

She had a choice. Remain in the well in the
company of the dead or take a chance with a stranger. She scooped
down and searched for the ball. Once she had it in her arms, she
exhaled and said, “I’m ready.”

The man started pulling her up. She prayed
her father’s men would find her soon.

“You’re a heavy girl,” the man said. “Not
surprising. You’re a princess accustomed to eating whatever you
want whenever you want.”

“Pull harder,” Lela said, ignoring his
comment. Her feet were only inches off the ground.

“Are you holding something? I’m sure your
father will replace whatever it is you feel you can’t leave
behind.” Slowly, the man pulled her higher above the ground.
“Remember your words. You’ll give me whatever I want.”

“And what is it that you desire?” she asked,
her stomach twisting.

“Ah…you shall know what I covet when I have
succeeded in rescuing you.”

Higher she rose until she reached the well’s
opening. There she was hanging in the air, feeling completely
stupid. Her savior could decide to let go of her at any moment and
what then? She’d fall to the ground yet again, except maybe this
time she’d not survive.

“Grab hold of the well’s wall and pull
yourself out,” he said.

“I can’t.”

“Come now. Are you really so spoiled?”

“I’m carrying a ball,” she said, instantly
feeling ridiculous for the words she had just uttered.

“Oh, my, the princess cannot bear to leave
her toy behind. Toss it! I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold you up
much longer.”

“Promise you won’t take it from me.”

“Toss it now or fall back into the well.”

“First promise you won’t take it.”

Grumbling, the man said, “Stop being
childish. I promise I won’t take your toy.”

Lela raised her arms and threw the ball.
Thump, thump
on the ground it went. She then reached for the
well’s wall and dragged herself out. Once she was standing on firm
ground again, she untied the rope from around her waist.

A torch sunken into the ground near the well
shone light on her. Blinking rapidly, she tried to clear her vision
so she could identify the man who had just rescued her. She saw no
one.
Coward.
At least he left her his torch. She took it out
of the earth and looked for the golden ball. Against a tree it
rested as if it had been there all along. She paced toward it.

“I think I deserve gratitude.”

Lela turned around ready to shout at the man
for hiding from her. But again, she saw no one. “Stop playing
games,” she said. “Make yourself known or be on your way.”

“I’m down here,” the man said.

“Where?”

“Look down,” he said.

Lela lowered her stare. Gasping, she stepped
back. Was she really seeing what she was seeing? Yes, down on the
ground staring at her was…a frog.

***

“You assumed me to be a man,” the frog said,
hopping to her.

“Get away from me!” Lela could not decide
what she was more afraid of, the dark or a talking frog!

“Oh come now, I saved you. Where is your
gratitude?”

“You’re a…frog.”

“And you’re a…princess. Now that we have
established our existence, let’s get on with what I desire.”

Her heart was beating faster than it had when
she was falling down the well. “How were you able to pull me out?
How can you speak?” she asked, breathing heavily.

“No time to answer your questions. We need to
find shelter. Quickly, follow me,” he said, jumping away from
her.

She held back laughter. The very idea that
this talking frog wanted her to follow him was absolutely, without
reserve, completely laughable. Even so, she was alone in the dark
in the forest far from the castle. Such a predicament convinced her
to follow him.

“Don’t forget your golden ball,” he said,
chuckling.

Ah…yes, the reason why all of this was now
happening to her could not be left behind. Scooping it up, she
said, “Where did you get this torch?”

“Magic, dear princess. The same way I was
able to pull you out,” he said. “Are you scared?”

“I’m hoping this is a dream.”

“You should be scared,” he said. “If we don’t
reach shelter soon, they will come after us.”

“Who will?” she asked, walking behind him,
her head spinning.

“Don’t pretend not to know. They have roamed
the forest since the beginning of time.”

Swallowing saliva, she said, “I’ve never been
outside the castle after sunset.”

“Clearly your father has protected you from
the truth. Why do you think people no longer call the forest their
home?”