The Frog Princess (9 page)

"Giants and dragons!" Eadric said, grinning from eardrum to eardrum. "I really will have to come back here with my sword!"

"Right," I said. "Whatever you say."

I began to notice other prints after that, like the enormous marks of a griffin's talon and paw. We saw additional signs of the dragon as well, for some of the trees were singed, and the bark had been rubbed off others. Sensitive to the forest now, I saw shadows where there was sound but no substance, flickering lights where there should have been none, but nothing else came to bother us. If we had passed through this forest in the witch's bag, it was just as well that we had done it in ignorance.

We had both been complaining of thirst for some time when we finally came across a pool of water. Although sheltered by the canopy of ancient interlocking branches, the water sparkled invitingly as if lying in the direct rays of the brightly shining sun.

"What are you waiting for?" Eadric asked when I hesitated. "It looks clean enough."

"Maybe so, but what do we really know about it? It could be enchanted or even poisoned. I'm not sure—"

I gasped, for the face and dripping locks of a beautiful, ageless nymph had broken the surface of the water. She looked around eagerly, but when she failed to see whatever it was that she was looking for, her perfect mouth twisted in a sulky pout and her aqua-colored eyes clouded over. Sighing loudly, the nymph rose gracefully from the water and stepped onto the bank. Although her long green hair reached past her knees, it did little to cover her naked form. Ignoring us, she dropped down on one of the larger flat rocks and began to comb her hair, her gaze as unfocused as a daydream.

Eadric sighed and I glanced in his direction. To my disgust, he was gazing longingly at the nymph like some lovesick squire who'd just discovered his true love.

"Eadric!" I said, jabbing him with my elbow. "What's wrong with you? She's a nymph! You know she has only one thing on her mind."

"I know," he said, his eyes glazing over. "And I'm a handsome prince "

"Eadric, you're—" But my warning was too late, for Eadric had hopped onto the rock.

"You are the essence of beauty," he began, his eyes raised adoringly to the nymph's face. "You are my sun, my moon, my stars."

"You're a frog," she said, noticing him at last. "I don't talk to frogs."

"I'm not just a frog."

"You look like a frog to me," she said, the tiniest frown wrinkling her flawless brow.

"Yes, yes, of course I do, my sweet, but I'm really an enchanted prince!"

The nymph's eyes flickered with interest. "Prove it! Show me your crown or your jeweled sword!"

"I'm sorry, I don't have them with me."

"Oh," she said, her pout returning. "Then you'll have to leave. Someone important might come by at any moment."

"But I'm important! I'm—"

"You're a frog. Now go away. This is my pool and I don't allow frogs here. You lay those disgusting, gooey eggs and foul my nice clean water."

"But I'm a prince! I don't lay eggs! I won't—"

Tossing her hair over her shoulder with a dainty flip of her wrist, the nymph turned her back and pointedly ignored Eadric. He looked so crestfallen, I almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.

"But I
am
a prince!" he said when he joined me back on the bank.

"Not right now you're not, and it's a good thing, too! Nymphs drown princes, so be happy that she's not interested in you. It's the only reason you're still alive. The potion Vannabe put on that worm must have softened your brain. We'd better go before you make an even bigger fool of yourself."

I couldn't tell whether Eadric was upset by the nymph's rejection or because I'd called him a fool, but either way, he was in a sulky mood. It was probably just as well that he didn't feel like talking to me, since I was so irritated that I couldn't have said a pleasant word to him even if he'd paid me with all the mosquitoes in the forest.

Fuming silently at Eadric's foolishness, I was relieved to see a friendly face when Li'l found us on the forest floor. She'd come to tell us that we didn't have far to travel, but it was already getting too dark to see, though she seemed not to mind.

"I think we'd better stop now," I said, raising my hand and wiggling my fingers. "I can barely see my hand in front of my face."

"If you really want to," Li'l replied. "Although I think it's just getting nice out! But if you want to go to sleep, you should find a good place to hide. Who knows what comes out at night in these woods."

"I can think of one thing," Eadric said, spotting a sudden flash of light. "Fireflies! Ladies and gentlemen, I think dinner has arrived."

A firefly darted erratically through the gloom beneath the trees, its tiny light pinpointing its path. Despite the empty ache in my stomach, I was reluctant to try to catch one. I'd heard that fairies often flew about at night dressed in little more than twinkling lights. Because they were nasty when insulted, I shuddered to think what they might do if you tried to eat them. Eadric, however, had no such qualms and quickly set about catching his dinner. I laughed when I saw his throat lit up from inside. My guffaw was loud in the darkened night and sounded strange even in my own eardrums. I stopped abruptly. Frightened by the thought of the predators that might hear me, I no longer felt like laughing.

Eventually satisfied that they really were fireflies and not deceitful fairies, I flicked out my tongue, coiling it back with a tingle of anticipation. It wasn't bad.

While Eadric and I waited for another firefly to pass by, Li'l flew over to sit beside me. "How do they taste?" she asked.

"Delicious! And just think, a week ago you couldn't have paid me to eat a firefly!"

"A week ago I didn't know what they were," said Li'l. "I've never had one."

"Never?" I said. "Then you need to try them!"

Something rustled the leaves in the tree above us, prompting Li'l to look about nervously. Wrapping her wings around her body to make herself as small as she could, she shuffled toward me until we stood shoulder to wing.

Although the night sounds made me nervous as well, I was reluctant to let Li'l see it, as I was sure it would only add to her fear. "While you're here," I said, hoping to distract her, "there's something I've wanted to ask you. Back in the cottage, why did the 'open box' spell work even though I didn't gesture or use a dramatic voice like you told me to?"

Li'l shrugged her wings. "You don't have to do those things to make the spell work. I just like it better when it's done that way."

"You mean all that arm waving I did was just for show?"

"Yup."

"I thought it might be something special that Mudine did to make the spells more powerful."

"Nope."

"And what about the first spell? The one for rashes? It worked only on me, but when I did the spell to open boxes, it opened everything in the cottage."

"Actually, they both would have worked on everyone near you, but you were the only one with a rash. If you want a spell to be specific to one subject, you need to use something to focus it. You can point just about anything at your subject to aim the power."

"Like a magic wand?"

"Yup, although it doesn't have to be a wand. In fact, if a witch has had enough practice, pointing her finger works just fine."

I'd been watching Eadric while Li'l and I talked, amazed at how many insects he'd eaten. Neither our conversation nor the strangeness of the forest could distract him from the pursuit of food. "Will you look at that!" I said to Li'l. "If we don't stop talking and go catch some fireflies, Eadric'll eat them all himself!"

Li'l smiled halfheartedly and took to the air to chase her first firefly. Darting between the trees, she snatched insects from the air as if magnetically drawn to them. A day of flying had improved her rusty skills and she no longer seemed so hesitant.

We ate until we were full. Then Eadric and I made ourselves cozy beds in the decomposing leaves while Li'l flew into the branches of the ancient maple above us. It didn't take Eadric long to fall asleep, but I lay awake far into the night. My thoughts bounced from one subject to another, and I found myself worrying about everything. What would happen to Eadric and me? Would Li'l like living with Grassina? How would I explain everything to my mother? Would the trees still be in the same place when we woke up in the morning? I wanted to go to sleep, but it seemed as if I'd forgotten how. Forcing myself to relax, I listened to the night sounds of the forest: Eadric snoring gently under his blanket of leaves; Li'l moving from one branch to another; a distant owl hooting softly; mice rustling the leaves in search of food; the creak of branches and the whispering of leaves. Eventually, the sounds grew fainter.

The next thing I knew I was in the Great Hall of my parents' castle. It was dark and deserted. Even the guards were nowhere in sight. Torches burned in the wall sconces, casting a feeble light that flickered and created shadows. A snorting, breathy sound came from a darkened corner of the room. The shadows swayed, dancing in a nonexistent breeze. Crossing the hall, I entered the corridor beyond. It was the corridor that led to my aunt's room, the corridor that had always led to safety.

Inside the doorway, I found myself in the cozy familiarity of my aunt's room. The fire burned brightly in the fireplace just as it always did. The drifting balls of witches' light cast their comforting glow just as they always did. But still, something didn't feel right.

I walked to the fireplace, my hands held toward the fire to warm the chill from my fingers. Then suddenly, everything was different. The room had changed. No longer in my aunt's safe, inviting room, I now stood by the fireplace in Vannabe's cottage. Bright, shiny objects lay on the table, drawing me to them. The air around me wavered as I moved across the floor. Reaching the table, I found knives made of brightly polished metal. The whisper of fabric came from behind me. I turned quickly.

Vannabe stood in the doorway, her heavy skirts swaying, a wide-bladed knife in her hand. "I won't keep you long," she said. "I only want your tongue and your toes. You know you'd do anything to help a friend. Think of me as your friend and let me have them. It's just a small favor. Tongue and toes, that's all I want." The whispering came again as Vannabe drew closer. "If you hold still, this won't hurt too much."

I woke with a start. My heart raced and my hands felt clammy. I felt disoriented and lost. My nest beneath the leaves was dark and confining. Panic-stricken, I pushed the leaves aside and scrambled into the open. I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. The back of my neck prickled the way it had when the eyeballs watched me. Vannabe was here! But when I looked up, it wasn't the witch who was swooping down on me, but an owl, its beak open in anticipation! Too scared to call out, too frightened to move, I pressed myself against the ground, convinced that I was about to die. Suddenly, a large, sinuous body whipped between us. Hissing, the snake lunged, barely missing the startled owl as it pulled up only inches from me. Its wings beating frantically, the owl fluttered away in distress, still alive.

"Are you all right?" hissed Fang, keeping his eyes on the departing owl.

"Yes," I breathed with a throat too dry from fear to say more.

"Go back to sleep," whispered Fang. "I will keep guard. You have nothing more to fear this night."

I surprised myself by believing him. If Fang had wanted to eat me, he wouldn't have waited this long. For the first time in days I began to feel secure. Burrowing under the leaves again, I thought of waking Eadric, of telling him how close I had come to being an owl's midnight snack. But the more I thought about it, the fewer reasons I could find for waking him, so I let him sleep undisturbed. I'll
tell him in the morning,
I thought.
There's no
need to tell him now.

Eadric was still asleep when I woke the next morning. I remembered my intention to tell him about the owl, but in the light of day I began to doubt that it had really happened. After eating a dozen salty mosquitoes, I went looking for a nice juicy beetle. When I returned, I found Eadric and Li'l in the midst of a heated discussion.

"Why didn't you wake me?" demanded Eadric. "I told you I would take the second watch."

"You told me you weren't going to sleep at all! I could hear you snoring all night long," Li'l said.

"Don't exaggerate! Frogs don't snore! Maybe your hearing isn't as good as I thought it was."

"Maybe not all frogs snore, but you do. I found myself a hidey-hole in the trunk of that tree and I could hear you even from there! It's a good thing nothing happened last night. If I could hear your snoring, other creatures could have as well. We're lucky no predators came to see what was making that awful racket."

"Good morning, Li'l, Eadric," I said, nodding to my friends. "Is everything all right?"

"Just fine and dandy," said Li'l, yawning broadly. "If you're ready, we should be off."

"I'll tell Fang," I said. "He's around here somewhere."

"Don't bother," said Li'l. "I already told him. Just follow this deer trail up the hill and over the other side. You'll be able to see the castle once you reach the road. I'm going to find myself a new hidey-hole at the edge of the forest so I can take a nap. I'll see you when you get there. Your voices will wake me up. I have excellent hearing, remember?" Spreading her wings wide, she glared at Eadric. "And Eadric, next time I will wake you up, whether you want me to or not."

Li'l took off, leaving me to adjust the vial on Eadric's back. I untied the knot and straightened the twisted twine. "What happened back there between you and Li'l? She seemed pretty upset."

"What can I say? She's a bat with an attitude problem. I am feeling out of sorts, though. I had a terrible nightmare last night."

"What happened in your nightmare?"

"An owl almost got you. Thank goodness it was just a dream, Emma. I'd never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you."

Eadric looked so sincere that I almost felt sorry for him, except his mistake had put a life on the line, and the life had been mine. I pulled the twine tighter, then tried to tie a better knot. "It wasn't a dream, Eadric. There really was an owl and it really did almost get me. And Li'l was right. You do snore! If it hadn't been for Fang, I'd be filling some owl's stomach right now!"