Frogs and Princes

by Holly Hook

  But the nix faced me and seized his arm. She snarled at me, eyes turning from sea green to onyx.

  In a blur, she pulled Franco away from me.

  I grabbed the back of his shirt and he grunted. It slid from my grasp, and Franco went crashing into the water. The nix pulled him and Lawrence under. They both vanished. The water rippled as if a tiny skipping stone had traveled across it, leaving the surface smooth and untouched.

  Chapter Five

  I stood there at the shore, unbelieving.

  Franco had been here one second, and now he was gone, leaving only the black, smooth depths in his place. I hadn't seen this right.

  And then panic set in.

  "Franco!"

  I dove into the pond, not caring about how gross it was. It closed in around me and surged up my nose as I got my bearings, stood, and waded around. My shoes filled with water and sank into mud. The pond was cold. Unforgiving. Lilies stuck to my clothes.

  I straightened up. The surface rippled with my movement, but nothing came back above the water. Not Franco. Not the nix. Not even Lawrence the frog prince.

  "Franco!"

  I waded deeper, kneeling down and feeling weeds. Something swam past my legs. A fish. Lilies clung and I threw them off. He had to be just under the surface. I waded around the perimeter. Through the middle. Over and over again. A sob rose in my throat. I should have found him by now. The pond wasn't more than waist deep. But he was gone. Vanished, right along with the nix.

  "Where are you?"

  I took a breath and dove.

  The world turned to a watery emerald dotted with lilies and lined with shadows. The floor of the pond came into view and I dreaded what I'd see. But I turned in a circle as my lungs burned more and more. Mud. Lily stalks. Even a couple of fish and bugs darting on the surface of the water. There was no sign of the nix or Franco.

  I surfaced.

  Caught a breath.

  "You're not going to find him."

  It was Shorty. I whirled around to face him.

  "You've got to help me!" I yelled. "Franco--this thing pulled him under, and--"

  "I know," Shorty said, out of breath. "I saw it from back there and started running. He's not dead. Nixes don't kill. They just take you away and make you serve them. Or in the case of men, well, this one must have been lonely."

  "Where did she take him?" I asked, taking a breath. There was no smile on Shorty's face. He seemed almost...sorry.

  "To her home, wherever that is. I'm not sure how to get in and out of a water nix's lair. I just know they come out of ponds and take people away. They're good at that."

  "Then we need to call her back," I said. I thought of Franco. And her...

  Shorty shifted. "I don't know if that'll work. They come out on their own from what I've heard. And they do what they want. But we should try."

  "Nix!" I screamed so loud that my throat burned. "Get back out here. We can make you a deal or something if you give Franco back!"

  Nothing. I watched the water around me, not even scared of the thought of her popping up at any second. My heart pounded with rage. She'd taken Franco for herself. My best friend. Almost my twin or the brother I never had.

  "Get back out here!" I yelled again.

  Shorty joined in. "Hey, Nix. We want Franco. We'll give you all the treasure in that castle if you give him back to us!"

  He was helping. Or trying to. I waded towards the shore and he gave me a hand, helping me out. The water settled back into the dark mirror, reflecting the trees above. Lilies bobbed went still.

  Nothing. It remained as smooth as glass.

  "There's a lot of treasure in that castle," Shorty said, loud enough for the forest to hear. "Lots. The King there left it all in a hurry. We'll throw you whatever you want."

  I searched around, but Franco hadn't brought any of the stuff with him from the dining hall. "There are lots of jewels," I said. "Lots. And crowns and chalices and anything you could ever want. We'll let you have that whole castle if you want it. I don't care. Just give Franco back to me!" Tears rolled down my cheeks. I hiccupped. I looked so stupid in front of Shorty but I didn't care.

  Shorty sighed. "I don't think nixes care for treasure. There's got to be a way to get him out."

  I waited for him to remind me that he'd told me not to go back here, but he didn't say a word and I was glad.

  Shorty faced me. His brown hair was wild from running. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to come back here. I didn't know there would be a nix."

  He sounded sincere. "We need a Plan B."

  "I'm sure there's a way to free someone from a nix in some story somewhere. I've never read all the fairy tales, but there's someone here who has. She's the wise lady who told your father what was going to happen with you. I think her name's Mary and she lives over in the Fox Kingdom. I think that's the neighboring kingdom."

  I wondered just how much spying Shorty had done on his parents. He knew an awful lot. I'd ask later. Franco was down there with that creepy nix and I didn't want to think about what could be happening to him. We had to get him out as fast as we could. "The nix is from a fairy tale," I said. "That's what you're telling me. And there's a way to get Franco out. Some way to defeat her."

  "Everything in Fable is from a fairy tale," Shorty said. "Let's get away from this pond before she decides to drag us down and make us her slaves or something."

  Shorty started walking about as quick as he could when I heard the voice.

  The frog.

  No. Lawrence.

  You must not leave without me.

  I turned and he was sitting there on the edge of the pond. While the nix was dragging Franco into her lair, he had escaped. Or she had let him go.

  I know this nix, he said.

  "You do?" I asked. I wondered why he was brave enough to surface with Shorty right here.

  I might be able to convince her to release your friend.

  Relief swelled through me, until I remembered what Lawrence wanted. Me. I knew what the price would be. But I had already promised him that and hadn't given it to him yet. What could be ask for now?

  But you must release me from my curse. That, you have not promised me yet. Your promise of companionship still stands.

  I hesitated. Lawrence stared at me, waiting for an answer.

  "Don't promise him anything," Shorty begged. "Promises are bad ideas in Fable. If you break them, bad things will happen to you."

  Franco is down here. You will need me to get him out.

  Lawrence had me cornered.

  My story was closing in and he and Shorty were the crushing walls.

  Which one was worse? More painful?

  I couldn't leave Franco.

  And I couldn't become the wife of some entitled jerk.

  But Franco…

  “Franco!” I shouted to the water.

  Nothing.

  You will not see him again without my help, the frog said.

  “I saved your life,” I told it, standing over it. “I saved your life from the dissection table and now you’re holding Franco hostage. You said you know this nix. You asked her to snatch him, didn’t you?”

  Lawrence said nothing. He made like he was going to jump back in the pond, but stopped. I am the only one who can help you. But you must promise to release me from my curse. You know nothing of Fable.

  I held my emotions back. My guilt. My shame. Lawrence had planned this all along. Franco was somewhere under that shimmering mirror, trapped by some monster woman.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll free you from your curse if you help me get Franco back. But we have to get him back.”

  Is that a promise?

  I gulped down tears. “It’s a promise.”

  Next to me, Shorty stared at the ground.

  * * * * *

  We must find the wise woman who spoke to your father. She will know how my curse is supposed to be removed.

  Shorty held onto Lawrence as we walked back through the trees
and I could tell the guy was restraining himself, trying not to hurl Lawrence into a tree. I wanted to do the same. But Shorty grimaced and lifted Lawrence up to his shoulder. The frog perched there.

  I was glad I didn’t have to carry him, at least. Shorty was only letting him live because of Franco.

  "It's not with a kiss?" I asked.

  No. The witch who cursed me told me that is not the case.

  "That's a relief," I said.

  We walked back across the overgrown castle grounds and towards the road that I could barely make out from the rest of the forest. “Who’s she? The wise woman?”

  Lawrence turned on Shorty’s shoulder to face me and I cringed. She knows all of the tales. She came from the other world, like you. She has a book. A special book. She might still be alive. She was old when I was here last.

  "She's alive," Shorty said. "I heard Alric talking about her not too long ago."

  “You can tell us where to find her,” I said. “Your skin might dry out from being out of the pond for our walk ahead. You need water. We may need to find you another pond."

  I do not. I am enchanted. And in fact, Lawrence’s green skin was just as shiny as ever in the sun. We were coming back out into the clearing with the castle and he showed no signs of drying.

  I turned away and rolled my eyes at the sky. I was sure Shorty was doing the same.

  Promises are binding here. My freedom, and your companionship.

  I couldn’t believe I was pretty much being held hostage by a science project. “Shorty, have I really reincarnated here over and over again and ended up with this loser?”

  He nodded. “Sorry. From what I’ve heard, you have.”

  “That’s great.” Maybe I was carrying around some memory of those lives, somewhere deep in my memory that I couldn’t quite unlock. It could be why I hadn't wanted anything to do with money or luxury.

  And now I had promised this guy my life.

  We entered the road and the weeds slapped against my jeans. The whole path was covered in them along with saplings, flowers and other plants. I even passed a berry bush with clusters of white berries that might or might not be toxic. No one had bothered to come this way in a while. Twenty years, in fact.

  This road will take us past some villages, Lawrence said. They are part of your father's kingdom and have gone without a king for two decades. If our story fails to end the way it should, the people we'll see will live in darkness and slavery.

  "That sounds nice," I said. The only residents I had found in this place so far were Lawrence and the horrible people-snatching nix. That was it. What were the people like?

  If Lawrence was right, I would have to marry him in order to prevent them from living in some kind of nightmare.

  We kept walking, leaving the open courtyard and the castle behind. "How long is this walk?" I asked Shorty, hoping he had an answer.

  He shrugged, almost like he was trying to buck the frog off his shoulder. "I don't know. Only frog prince here can tell us."

  We will reach the Fox Kingdom in one day. Then, I will tell you how to find Mary. She will be able to tell us how to defeat the nix.

  "I thought you knew this nix," I told Lawrence. "That you had some power to convince her to give him back."

  I do know her but cannot convince her to give your servant back. But you will need me to locate Mary.

  "I still think you told her to take Franco."

  Lawrence thought nothing. I could feel the pressure of his thoughts, however. And his lack of remorse.

  And at last, he said, I might have. I must do what I need to do to protect my kingdom and yours. You belong to me, Candice.

  "You're disgusting." I walked ahead, leaving both Lawrence and Shorty behind. The only reason I didn't throttle Lawrence was that we needed him to lead us to this village. He had me hostage and Franco was the price.

  I had no idea what I would do when Mary told us how to remove his curse. If it was as simple as giving him a kiss, he would have demanded that already. The real story must be different, then.

  But I couldn't imagine how.

  "Wait," Shorty said. "I don't know what's in these woods. My parents and Alric never talked about them much. But there might be wolves and bears and stuff."

  There are, Lawrence said. Only those in the dark region will bother us.

  I still kept walking ahead. I had to get away from Lawrence and his entitled attitude. Shorty struggled to keep up with me.

  The walk or the road didn't get any better for about two hours. Then the tracks smoothed and we passed our first village, a tiny one consisting of about ten small houses and a single well. A field stretched into the forest and a few cows grazed. A man hacked at some grass on the other side of it. Another in black overalls hammered something in another building and sparks flew. A blacksmith. No one else was in sight. Either the rest of the residents were inside having lunch or had traveled somewhere else in search of trade.

  Sweat beaded on the back of my neck. My hair stuck to my skin. The sun was hot here and we were walking without shelter. I wasn't worried about getting sunburned since I wore jeans and a T-shirt, but we had to take a break sometime.

  "Should we stop here?" I asked.

  "Not yet," Shorty said. "There's nothing in this village. I can't even tell where the well is. I think they'll get bigger the closer we get to the Fox Kingdom. And I don't think we should draw attention to ourselves with the way we're dressed."

  We kept walking. "But we need to eat and drink," I said. I was getting a bit thirsty.

  There are rivers for that. They are clean here, Lawrence thought. At least, they are in the light parts of Fable.

  "You'd know about rivers," I told him. "I'm sure you've spent lots of time lurking in them. I'm not sure if I want to drink out of one you've been in."

  Lawrence managed to open his eyes larger. I am your future husband and you will treat me as you would a lord.

  "You're an amphibian," I told him. "I don't date those." I wanted to throw Lawrence to the ground. Shorty tensed as if waiting for me to deliver a blow. "And you're disgusting, leaving my friend to the nix like that."

  It was necessary to get you to do what you need to do.

  The road grew rugged again. We were in a poorer part of Fable. Some weeds returned but didn't grow as bad as they were near the castle. Forest closed around us again and houses grew farther and farther apart. And smaller. We passed one final house with a dog tied up out front, and then there was nothing.

  My stomach rumbled. I was getting hungry, too.

  We might have to steal. I had no idea how to hunt. And if Shorty had any know how, it didn't do any good here. We had no weapons. Maybe Lawrence had set us on a death march and he was just waiting for us to drop.

  And then I spotted something strange up ahead.

  "What's that?" I asked Shorty.

  This time, Lawrence was silent. Shorty squinted.

  Right ahead lay another area where darkness had fallen. The forest and the weeds were almost black and the light, a sad gray. Some of the trees were losing their leaves and turning into wooden skeletons and others had grown even thicker, casting horrible shadows on the ground. A hornet nest hung from one of the bare branches and the flowers around one of the trees were deathly black and bloody red. The whole feel of it reminded me of a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland. This was a place where monsters and bad things would hang out.

  And this evil spot lay right across the road.

  "I'm not sure what that is," Shorty said after a bit. "It doesn't look good. If frog here is right, Alric's trying to make darkness take over the lighter parts of Fable. His influence might be spreading. Or he's been here before, or something."

  "Your theory is as good as mine," I told him. "I think we have to walk through it. That's going to be great." I looked closer, but didn't see any animals or a way around, for that matter. But this was another world. There could be vines that would strangle us or something, or toxic gas, or even somethi
ng waiting in the trees.

  I do not like this, Lawrence thought as if his opinion was more important than everyone else's. You will not carry me through that. Do you not have any intelligence or knowledge on how to treat a prince?

  "Maybe we should leave him here," I said to Shorty. "Throw him in that spot, and run."

  Lawrence turned on Shorty's shoulder to face me. You will not speak about me that way. I am Prince Lawrence of the Fox Kingdom.

  "You're a frog." I had to rub it in.

  You will respect me and obey me. It is your story. You must marry the prince who was once a frog.

  I sighed. This guy sure wouldn't make it with the ladies back in the other world. The ones who didn't act like they were from the Victorian era, anyway.

  Lawrence turned to face forward. You will carry me around this disaster. I do not know what is happening here in Fable, but these spots were not here before. The dark wizard must be growing more powerful.

  Shorty faced me. He moved his lips like he wanted to say something. I could see the indecision in his eyes.

  "I say we should walk right through that," I said. "Get to the other side as fast as we can. I think I see it."

  Shorty shifted leg to leg. "I don't think we should."

  "We totally should. And you could drop Lawrence on the way through."

  No, he thought. You will not treat a prince in this way.

  "We sure will," I said, and walked forward.

  "We need to move fast," Shorty said. "And I mean fast."

  Lawrence continued to protest on Shorty's shoulder and almost made to hop off. I didn't look back and kept going. Shorty quickened his pace and caught up with me. "Hold on," he said. "This might not be a good idea, as much as I like the thought of making Frog Prince here mad."

  The weird area of darkness got closer. I could see more sunlight and greenery on the other side of it, so there was an end, at least. The ground looked okay. Solid. No scary animals waited for us except for a pair of ravens cawing in a dead tree.

  And then I set foot into the weird spot.

  Dread socked me in the gut. I wanted to turn and run and get out of there. It was worse than the time I had descended into Franco's scary basement that his family said was haunted. It was worse than the time he'd snuck down and turned off the light and I couldn't find my way out.