The Frog Prince

by Tracy Lauren

  “Whatever you decide, Madison, just know I’ll always be proud of you.”

  I nod and take my mom’s hands. “I’ve missed this,” I tell her. “I’ve missed having you in my life.”

  She doesn’t tell me she was always here. She doesn’t place the blame for the distance between us with me, or herself. All she says is, “Me too.” And that’s really all that matters.

  We rise then, hand in hand, and make our way towards Vazrium. He’s so big, and alien, and imposing, standing in that doorway. But the expression on his face when he looks at us—his family united—I struggle to see the warrior that makes entire planets cower at the sound of his name. All I see…is a father.

  My heart feels heavy in my chest. Heavy with love, heavy with hurt. Heavy under the strain of all this growth.

  “Did you ask her about the prince?” Vazrium asks boldly, looking between me and my mom.

  “Vaz!” Mom complains, swatting at the big guy. And, interestingly enough, he flinches.

  “What? Are we not talking about this? I just wanted to know if we should set another place at the table, in case you still wish to bring him as a date… It isn’t too late, you know,” he adds sheepishly.

  “Oh my god, Dad,” I groan. But still, I’m smiling, because I finally feel like I’m somebody’s daughter.

  Chapter 36

  Kethian

  Those four days pass quickly and on the final one I can hear the sound of music reverberating even here, in the depths of the dungeon. All day it plays, reminding me of the clock ticking over my head. Funny, but I have not once thought of my trial. All I can think of is the fact that after her Rasarit, Madison will be leaving Tevera. Once she’s gone, I might never get the chance to explain myself to her.

  I can’t let her leave me like this. I love Madison, to the very depths of my soul. She is the woman for me and I am the man for her. If there was ever anything worth having in life, it is each other. I don’t plan on losing her, not without a fight at least.

  I’m plotting my means of escape when the guard moves at the far end of the cells. Usually there are at least four down here, patrolling the various catacombs of the dungeons. But tonight, this one is alone on his duty, probably due to the increased need for security upstairs at Madison’s Rasarit.

  The time for the lone guard’s patrols grow near, but I’ll need him if I plan to make it upstairs in time to have that first dance with Madison. Perhaps if I can hold her to that deal she made with me, if I can just share that dance with her, it will give me a chance to explain myself. All I have to do is try to figure a way to get the guard close enough so that I might grab him and force him to open my cell.

  Luck is in my favor when he begins heading in my direction. “You’ve got a comm from the kings of Atana,” the guard tells me, holding up a small, hand-held message player.

  Instantly, my plan changes.

  “Thank you,” I say, reaching through the bars to take the device.

  “Evening meal is in an hour,” the guard calls over his shoulder, heading out to patrol.

  I mutter a reply, already looking down at the key to my escape. I don’t even bother to play the message. I doubt my brothers even meant for me to hear it. Instead I pry off the back of the device, exposing the wires and circuitry. I nearly laugh aloud at how easy this is going to be.

  I perform a quick reprogramming and then I’m reaching through the bars to rip open the access panel on my cell door. My message player fits into the exposed hardware and my algorithm begins to run. With each correct match I hear the locks clicking into place and finally, the access panel beeps and the locks disengage. My cell door swings open.

  I toss the gift from my brothers aside and sprint down the dungeon halls, determined not to miss that first dance.

  Chapter 37

  Kethian

  The castle is so busy with the party, it’s easy to go unnoticed. The only thing that makes me stand out is my attire. While I was given fresh clothes since becoming a prisoner of Tevera, I am still not dressed for an event so formal. But it doesn’t matter. No one is looking at me, they are all too engrossed in the evening’s events.

  Woman bustle by in extravagant gowns, costumed dancers perform on each open balcony, and servants weave through the crowd putting a drink in everyone’s hand. While music flows through the castle, it is not the song that signals the ceremony’s end. I still have time to make it to Madison. There’s still time to convince her that we belong together, and if I can get her to share that first dance with me…then maybe, maybe, I have a chance at forgiveness.

  A group of aristocrats block the entry to the ballroom, their talking and laughing mixing in with the lively sounds of the party below. I try to side step them, looking for a way into the room, but when the music fades to silence I know that I’m running out of time. I barrel through the group, ignoring the huffs of indignation and the few calls of recognition when they realize it is the prince of Atana who is being so rude.

  The entry to the Teveran ballroom opens with a grand foyer looking out over the space, on either side are palatial staircases flowing down towards the dance floor. The entire room is decorated in gold, signifying the rising of the sun—the beginning of a new era in Madison’s life. I rush to the rail and scan the crowd. Guests are beginning to gather around the thrones and I see Vazrium and his human bride, hand in hand. Already they are rising to introduce their daughter. Madison has not made her entrance yet. I drop my eyes to the musicians. Already they wait for the signal from the king to begin the first dance of the night.

  I shoot my gaze to the nearest staircase, the one leading toward the musicians. It is crowded with guests, hurrying to find their place before the thrones. I push into the swarm of dignitaries, forcing my way past them. People grumble and exclaim, but with my head down and my clothes plain, no one else seems to recognize that I am the prince of Atana. And despite my transgression, everyone is much more eager to find a place before the Teveran king and queen.

  But as fast as I rush, my path is overcrowded and it takes far longer than I would like to reach my goal. Already, the king is speaking—announcing my woman to the crowd. But I’m not listening to his words. Instead, I picture Madison in my mind’s eye, stepping into the room, all eyes on her. Though I cannot imagine a smile on her face. She hates events like this, she always has, and she won’t be happy now, not after losing so much.

  Madison lost her dream of Earth along with any dream she might have had for us being together. She thought she had finally escaped this life of royalty that never fit her. And now, with nothing to show for our journey, she finds herself right back in the place she had sought to escape. No, as the king announces his daughter on the night of her Rasarit…I cannot imagine a smile on her face. I picture her solemn and resigned. But I hope to change that.

  Before the king has the chance to finish his speech, I jump into the alcove that houses the musicians. There’s a gasp and a few men pull their instruments away as I vault atop the partition. The room fills with applause behind me. He’s announced Madison! The orchestra gets out a few truncated notes, but the song sputters to a halt before it ever has the chance to get started as all eyes suddenly fall to me—the man who does not belong here.

  I turn to face the crowd, scanning for where Madison must have come into the room. But my vantage point is not so great. I suppose I’ll just have to pray the acoustics are.

  “WAIT! I have something to say!”

  Now, I really have the room’s attention. But it’s a sea of faces. I had hoped to lock eyes with my Madison, but I suppose the most important thing is that she hears what is in my heart.

  “Kethian Indera!” Vazrium shouts across the room to me. Though not everyone will recognize my face, they all recognize the name of the reclusive Indera brother.

  “You cannot stop this, Vazrium!” I warn. “Madison needs to hear what I have to say!”

  The room falls silent and I look out at that sea of faces. I don’t know i
f Madison cares to hear my words, but it appears all these nobles are quite interested in what I have to say.

  I take a deep breath, but I don’t hesitate. I imagine guards will be here any moment to pull me away, and if I ever hope to win Madison’s heart, this might be the only chance I get. I can’t waste it.

  “I made a mistake, Princess!” I shout, still looking for her amongst the crowd. “I sought to take care of you. And maybe that’s not so different from the crimes of your parents. Maybe you needed something more. Maybe you needed to be treated like a woman—a strong woman who can brave any reality. I should have told you from the beginning who I was. Instead, I was selfish. I tried to tell myself what you needed. I should have been listening instead.

  “It was the biggest mistake of my life. But that doesn’t mean this is the end for us. Let me make it up to you, Madison. Everything that happened between you and me was real. My love for you is real. I came here to beg you, don’t let this thing between us fade away. You belong with me…we belong together.”

  I fall silent, waiting for a response. The crowd begins to murmur all at once. I’m still scanning the room, still looking for the golden hair of my woman, when someone finally shouts, “SHE’S NOT HERE, YOU IDIOT!”

  “What?” I mutter. Beside me one of the musicians inches forward.

  “The king, his announcement…just now? The princess is not here.”

  My heart bottoms out. She’s gone. Madison left her Rasarit early, just like she’s done every other ball in her life.

  She missed my plea for our love to endure. She won’t be coming back, not after everything that’s happened. This is the end.

  The murmur of the crowd builds into a roar as everyone seems to have something to say about my declaration of love—and the missing princess to boot.

  I fall to my knees, ready for the castle guards to take me back into custody.

  “Hey!” A hand reaches up to jostle me back into awareness. “Hey!” The creamy color of human flesh catches my eye. I grab onto a woman’s wrist as she shakes me, but when I look up…it isn’t Madison. No. It’s the queen.

  She shouts something at me, but I can’t hear her over the din of the ballroom. “Madison—”

  “What’s that?” I ask, leaning in to hear her. The queen stands on tiptoes to shout in my ear and when I pull away, I have to search her face for deception. Can what she’s telling me be true?

  The queen nods eagerly and I scramble to my feet. “Thank you! I’m sorry, I must go!”

  This time, the crowd parts for me as I race back up the staircase.

  Chapter 38

  Kethian

  There’s joy in my heart, but there’s also fear. Walking into that ballroom and realizing Madison wasn’t there shook me to my core. I can’t let that happen again. I can’t miss her by mere moments. So I run as fast as I can. I run until my heart is pounding and my brow drips with sweat. My lungs burn, but my adrenaline never sags—no, not when I am this close to salvation.

  And even though my boots pound the stonework as I run… Madison still doesn’t look up from her place in the dungeon. I slow to a halt and take in the scene before me. Madison sits in my cell, the door still gaping open. She has her face buried against my pillow and her shoulders shake with her sobs.

  She wears a dress much like the one she wore on the night I met her. Gold and resplendent.

  I know I should run to her side, that I should quell her tears. But I can hardly take a step forward. I have to clutch my chest to keep my heart from pounding free of my body. I stagger and grip the cell door. The metal creaks loudly and Madison jolts at the noise.

  “Kethian!”

  “We have a tendency to keep meeting like this,” I joke.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I should be asking you that question. You’re in my prison cell after all.”

  Madison’s wide eyes soften at that and she drops my gaze. I can’t help but notice the flush creep up her cheeks. She doesn’t move from her spot on my bed.

  “I came looking for you.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  Madison lifts her chin, finding my eyes. “I was going to save you,” she admits. But there is no joy to her features, only a grim type of honesty. “What are you doing here?”

  “Relax, Princess. I came here to rescue you.” I speak the same words I did when I found her in Prett’s dungeon.

  “Very funny,” she tells me with a frown. Rising to her feet, she approaches the cell door, but keeps the bars between us. “What are you really doing here, Kethian? I know you escaped. Why come back?”

  “I didn’t escape,” I admit.

  Madison looks pointedly at my position outside the cell.

  “I…took a leave of absence,” I say teasingly. “So that I could hold you to your promise.”

  “What promise?” she asks.

  “There’s a party going on upstairs, Princess. I seem to remember you owing me the first dance.”

  “You’re joking?”

  I rub my hand over the back of my neck. “Not really actually. I figured if I could talk to you…that if maybe we shared that first dance…maybe I could try to fix things between us.”

  “You went upstairs! The guards didn’t catch you?”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly aiming for stealth. As a matter of fact…I made a little speech for the benefit of your guests.”

  “You made a speech?” she echoes in shock.

  “It was meant for you, but alas…”

  Madison covers her mouth to keep her smile hidden from me. But I can see it in her eyes.

  “You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?”

  “You went in front of all the guests up there and you made a speech, meant for me to hear?” she asks, just to make sure she heard me correctly.

  “I did. I think I got heckled too. Someone definitely called me an idiot.”

  Madison moves closer to the cell door, reaching up and placing her hands over mine. “What…what did you say in this speech of yours?”

  “Lots of things. But mostly I begged for your forgiveness.”

  Madison bites her lip and her expression falters. “Why did you lie to me, Kethian? Was it just to get close to me?”

  “It was actually,” I admit. But by the way Madison gasps I can tell I’ve said the wrong thing. “I was afraid you wouldn’t trust me if you knew I was royalty—if you knew I was your father’s ally.”

  “You can’t just lie to me out of convenience, Kethian. How am I supposed to give you my trust after this?”

  “If you’d let me, I’d like to earn it.” I pull Madison’s hands from the bars and link our fingers together. “Now, tell me again what you’re doing here.”

  “I came to rescue you.”

  “So you’re giving me your forgiveness?”

  Madison shrugs. “No. But I thought I might offer you a chance to earn it.”

  My heart soars at the words. “Every day, from now until forever,” I promise. Reaching between the bars, I pull Madison close to me. Her lips meet mine for a kiss. It’s been days since we’ve touched like this. Days since we’ve spoken. Being together now, it makes my need for my woman feel that much more potent. I nearly lost her… It’s a frightening thought.

  “Come with me,” Madison breathes against my lips.

  “I’ll follow you anywhere,” I say, touching her face. “Where are we going?”

  “I’m going to travel—embrace my life a little more than I have been. Who knows, maybe I’ll find someplace I love, some place where I actually feel like I belong.”

  “How many times must I tell you? You belong with me and I with you. We can go anywhere in the galaxy and if we are together we will always be exactly where we belong.”

  Madison beams a smile at me and everything inside me clicks into place. This is our happily ever after.

  “If you’d let me, Princess, I’d like to hold you to your promise.”

  “And what promise is that?”
r />   “I’m to be your date to this Rasarit,” I remind her. “And if I’m not mistaken, you owe me a dance.” I swing the cell door wide, removing the barrier between us. Madison smiles and straightens her dress.

  “How do I look?” she asks. I wipe an errant tear from her cheek as I beam my own smile down at my beautiful princess.

  “Not bad for an alien.”

  She scoffs at my words.

  “What about me?”

  At that, Madison grins, looking as hungry for me as I am for her. “Not too bad either, frog boy.”

  I pull Madison against me for one last kiss and I put all my love into it—a promise not only for tonight, but for all the years ahead of us. Our lips linger against one another and I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude.

  When we finally pull away, I hold my arm out for Madison and she takes ahold as I lead her upstairs, both of us ready to live up to life’s promises.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you all so much for reading The Frog Prince. It was a pleasure to write and an honor to be a member of this collaboration. My deepest gratitude goes to Aquila Editing and to my cover artist, Maria Spada. I’m eternally thankful for all that these ladies do.

  Don’t forget to take a moment to write an unbiased review and if you’re looking for your next read, check out all the other great books in this collaboration: The Hunchback by Regine Abel, The Lion and the Mouse by Emmy Chandler, The Ugly Dukeling by Bex McLynn, Contaminated by Amanda Milo, Jackie and the Giant by Honey Phillips, Escaping Wonderland by Tiffany Roberts, and Rampion by Susan Trombley.

  Epilogue

  Madison

  The baby coos and I sway him gently in my arms. The whole time his little eyes are locked onto mine, so curious and alert.

  “You’re good with him,” my mom tells me. And though I don’t tear my gaze away from my baby brother, I can hear the smile on her lips.