The Frog Prince

by A. G. Marshall

  Letting someone through a secure gate without permission was treason. That was punishable by death.

  Carina tossed her ball in the air, capturing an impression of the other guard, and continued towards the treasury. The path had been downhill the entire way, and it kept sloping downward as she walked through the tunnel.

  She wasn’t sure exactly where she was, but it must be far beneath the castle.

  8

  “Do you braid your beard yourself?”

  Stefan was supposed to be chopping potatoes, but the chef’s elaborately braided beard was distracting. The chef blinked at Stefan as if he had forgotten he had company.

  “We don’t have a barber on board.”

  He continued chopping herbs and adding them to an enormous iron cauldron. Stefan went back to cutting potatoes. The tiny knife the chef had given him was slippery from potato juice and sweat. The fire under the cauldron turned the kitchen into a massive oven and cast eerie shadows on the walls.

  Not to mention the ship’s swaying made the task more difficult. Stefan finished a potato and turned to the chef.

  “Why do you braid your beard?”

  “It keeps hair out of the food.”

  Stefan studied the chef’s long white beard with renewed interest.

  “That makes sense. It doesn’t do much for you as a fashion statement.”

  “Less talking, more chopping.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Stefan picked up the next potato. As vegetables went, potatoes had to be the least interesting of all. Brown and lumpy. Bland. He cut it in half and turned back to the chef.

  “So, have you worked for Gruff long?”

  The chef grunted. Stefan waited, but the sailor didn’t elaborate.

  “Was that a yes or no?”

  “Bring the potatoes over. I’m ready to add them to the stew.”

  Stefan gathered the few handfuls of potatoes he had cut and dropped them into the cauldron. He ducked his head over it to see the other ingredients bubbling together.

  “That smells good.”

  “No need to sound surprised. Bring the rest of the potatoes.”

  “That’s all of them.”

  The chef turned and looked at the enormous pile of uncut potatoes. Then he glanced into the cauldron. It was hard to tell in the dark room, but Stefan thought his face turned red.

  “Get out.”

  Stefan blinked at the chef.

  “But I’m not finished yet.”

  “I know you’re not finished. You barely started.”

  The chef reached into the cauldron with a ladle and pulled out a handful of potato chunks.

  “You call this chopping? These pieces are uneven.”

  Stefan squinted at the potatoes.

  “They look fine to me.”

  “You might as well cut them with an axe! Get out!”

  “I could go faster with an axe. Do you have one?”

  “Out!”

  The chef took the knife from Stefan and pushed him out the door. His hands were surprisingly strong. Probably from gripping tiny knives all day.

  Stefan stumbled onto the deck, blinking in the sudden sunlight. The entire crew stared at him.

  “Is there a problem?” Gruff asked.

  “This lubber is worthless in the kitchen.”

  “Chef, you’ve been asking for an assistant.”

  “I’d rather work with a monkey than this idiot. Dinner will be late.”

  The chef stepped back into the kitchen and slammed the door.

  “We had a difference of culinary opinion,” Stefan said.

  He grinned at Gruff, but the captain didn’t smile back.

  “This is a merchant ship, lad. Our only culinary opinion is that we like our meals on time.”

  Stefan’s grin faltered. The sailors around him didn’t look amused.

  “I did what he asked.”

  Gruff sighed.

  “Serves me right for taking an inexperienced sailor on board without asking a few questions. Timon, get him a brush and bucket. The deck needs cleaned.”

  Timon fetched a wooden bucket and bristle brush from below deck. He tied a rope to the handle of the bucket and lowered it over the side of the boat. Stefan watched as the sailor hauled it back up. Water sloshed over the sides.

  Timon handed the bucket and brush to Stefan. The prince held them at arm’s length.

  “What do I do with these?”

  “Get on your hands and knees and scrub the deck. What else would you do?”

  “Oh, of course. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a special technique. You know, since we’re sailors. Scrubbing on a ship might be different than scrubbing on land.”

  Timon scratched his beard.

  “I see why chef kicked you out.”

  He left Stefan to his work. The prince put the bucket on the deck and knelt beside it. The rough wood scraped against his knees as he crawled. He hoped Henry wasn’t attached to this particular set of trousers. There was a good chance they wouldn’t last the trip.

  Stefan dipped the brush into the bucket and pushed it back and forth across the deck.

  “The idea is to make the wood cleaner, Highness.”

  Heinrich leaned against ship’s railing watching the sunset. He looked down at the prince and smiled. Stefan grimaced.

  “So you’re an expert on cleaning technique now?”

  “I cleaned my own room from time to time before I moved to the castle.”

  Stefan stared at the bristle brush. He had a new respect for the castle maids.

  “So what’s the trick?”

  “Push harder and scrub faster.”

  Stefan did as the tailor suggested. The wooden planks did seem a little cleaner when he finished scrubbing a section. The prince smiled. He could do this. He could be a sailor.

  “I expect you’ll have time to clean the whole deck since dinner is late.”

  Heinrich winked at him and walked away. Stefan looked up and groaned. From this angle, the ship’s deck looked enormous.

  He gritted his teeth. This was for Alaric and Lina. He could do it. Stefan gripped the brush tighter, winced as a splinter stabbed his hand, and scrubbed.

  9

  Carina had always pictured Santelle’s treasury as a small room with a few boxes of gems. No one in Santelle wore jewelry on a regular basis. They preferred to showcase their military accomplishments and wear uniforms to formal events.

  But as Carina entered the massive chamber, she realized they could have outshone every other country in Myora if they chose to do so.

  The tunnel opened into a massive cavern with an underground lake. An island in the center held countless glass shelves filled with jewels. The shelves stretched to the top of the cave, creating a prism that filled the room with dancing rainbows.

  Or maybe that was just the gem’s reflections glittering against the stone.

  Duke Enrico stood in the center of the island. Scribes brought gems to him one by one. He inspected them and made check marks on a very long scroll.

  It would take months to catalog everything here. No wonder Enrico was cranky.

  The shelves circled a glass case on a golden pedestal. As she crossed the room, Carina realized whatever was in that center display glowed enough to light the entire cavern. There were no torches. No candles. Just that mysterious blue glow.

  She showed her father’s letter to another guard and crossed the narrow bridge to the island. It was only wide enough for one person to cross at a time. The tight space would make it easy to stop a fleeing intruder.

  She walked straight to the center of the island, drawn to the pale blue light emanating from the pedestal.

  At first, she thought it was fire. A magical flame. But as she got closer, Carina realized it was solid. A crystal the size of her fist.

  Of course. This was Santelle’s enchanted sapphire! Her father had mentioned it before. After meeting Lina and seeing her enchanted diamond ring, Carina had assumed Santelle’
s gem would be equally small.

  The sapphire was large enough to be worth a kingdom even if it wasn’t enchanted.

  “What does it do?” she whispered.

  “Lights the room, of course,” Duke Enrico said.

  “Of course.”

  Carina hadn’t meant the question for anyone, and she hadn’t expected a response. Surely this gem did more than provide underground light. Lina’s ring healed her, checked for danger, and focused her shadow warrior abilities. It helped her travel to the realm of shadows and served as a weapon there.

  A jewel this large should be capable of much more.

  She pulled her golden ball from her pocket and tossed it into the air. Everyone glared at her, but Carina ignored them. Her father wanted to see everything.

  “Where is the water gate?” Carina asked the nearest scribe.

  He gestured with his quill and muttered something about Carina being a security hazard.

  She ignored him and crossed the island. Five guards stood in front of a massive iron gate at the end of a dock. A tunnel filled with water stretched beyond it.

  “This is an entrance for ships?” she asked.

  A guard shrugged.

  “Ships do tend to sail on water, Princess.”

  “So you would have to arrive by ship?”

  “Yes, princess. Or swim.”

  “Is that how they got in? They swam?”

  He glared at her.

  “Of course not. We would have seen a ship or a swimmer.”

  “And you saw no one?”

  “This is ridiculous,” another guard muttered. “They’ve sent the reject to interview us.”

  Carina tossed the ball into the air and pretended not to hear his comment.

  “My father wants me to learn more responsibility. Who better to teach me than our most observant guards?”

  The men stood taller. Honestly, they were easier to manipulate than Prince Alaric.

  “No one came through the gate,” a guard said. “We didn’t open it that day. We didn’t know anything was amiss until the alarm sounded.”

  “What is the alarm?” Carina asked.

  He gestured to a series of strings draped around the cavern. Many of them dipped into the water.

  “There are bells attached to the strings. If anyone moves outside the path and touches them, the bells ring.”

  Carina studied the strings and said nothing.

  “It must have been the guards at the land gate,” another guard said. “They’re not as disciplined as we are, and their wrought iron isn’t as strong as ours.”

  He tapped the gate behind him as if he had proved his point. The metallic clank echoed through the cave.

  “Did they escape from your gate?” Carina asked.

  “Certainly not! We never raised the gate, and the guards stationed along the waterway didn’t see anyone leaving.”

  “Maybe the intruder swam underwater?” Carina said.

  The guard laughed.

  “That shows what you know! The waterway is far too long for that. The entrance is a secret and heavily guarded.”

  “How long is it?”

  “Long enough.”

  His eyebrows lowered as if he was daring her to ask more questions. She wouldn’t get any more information from him.

  “Well then, I must agree you have the more secure gate.”

  He beamed.

  “I’m glad you see things our way, Princess. The guards at the land gate were obviously slack that day. I suspect one of them tripped on a string and didn’t even realize he did it. The treasury is secure. This whole thing is a mistake.”

  Carina curtsied and walked across the island. She circled it, checking the shoreline for signs of invasion. There weren’t any. It was solid stone. There would be no footprints. No sign anyone had been there.

  She was inclined to believe both sets of guards. Their gates were secure. Even if someone managed to get in, they would never escape undetected.

  Not without magic.

  Carina turned back to the blue gem. Could it have helped the intruder? She understood little of magic. Lina’s powers had been specific, and she had trained with her gems.

  Had someone discovered how to harness the enchanted sapphire’s magic?

  To what end? If whoever got in had the power to get out, why not steal something?

  Carina circled the jewel. She knew what she would steal from the treasury if given the chance. She may not understand magic, but the sapphire was obviously the most valuable thing in the room. It made the glittering necklaces and crowns around it look like trinkets.

  If she went to the trouble of breaking into the treasury, it would be to steal this gem.

  But how would she break in?

  Carina took a deep breath and studied the room. Solid rock walls. Two iron gates.

  The lake.

  The water glowed blue from the light of the gem. She couldn’t see under the surface. Couldn’t tell how deep it was. She knew only that it was filled with strings that triggered the alarm.

  But Carina knew how she would raid the treasury if she needed to. She would go underwater. It was the only way to make it to the island undetected. The only way to escape once you triggered the alarm.

  The guard said it was impossible to swim underwater to escape. But what if the thief had magic? Would that make it possible?

  Carina didn’t know. Couldn’t guess.

  Her conversations with the crew of the Vanquisher echoed in her mind. Sea monsters. In spite of her father’s doubts, Carina sided with the sailors. The Vanquisher had survived some sort of attack. But why would a sea monster want a magical gem?

  Carina tried to shake the thought. Her father didn’t believe in the goblin that had attacked Aeonia. He certainly wouldn’t believe a magical water creature had invaded the treasury without the creature itself as proof. In all of recorded history, no one had ever proved the existence of the monsters said to haunt the deep.

  But a goblin had attacked Aeonia. They weren’t supposed to be real either.

  Could some of the legends be true?

  Carina sighed and stared at the glittering water. Her reflection stared back.

  10

  “I said pull, lad!”

  Stefan grunted and pulled harder on the rope. The sail lifted a few inches. It was the most he’d been able to move it since they left the harbor, but the captain didn’t appreciate his efforts. Gruff made an exasperated noise.

  “Ken, help him! The lad is useless!”

  A brawny sailor with dark hair slicked back into a braid took the rope from Stefan’s hands and pulled. The sail rose and filled with wind.

  “He’s taller than I am,” Stefan said. “I didn’t know this was a ship of giants when I signed on!”

  He smiled at Ken. Ken did not smile back. He tied the rope in a smooth motion and walked away to secure the others.

  Stefan sighed and wiped his hands on his tunic. The skin was rubbed raw from pulling ropes, scrubbing decks, and a hundred other tasks.

  It was only his second day at sea.

  Gruff patted Stefan on the shoulder. At least, he probably meant to. The gesture was more of a punch, and Stefan stumbled backwards to catch his balance.

  “You’ll toughen up, lad. We’ll make a sailor of you yet. But maybe another shift in the galley would be best.”

  The prince cleared his throat.

  “Chef banned me from the galley yesterday, captain. You remember.”

  “Ah, yes. Well. Why don’t you join Timon and keep watch in the crow’s nest?”

  The captain pointed to the ship’s tallest mast. The crow’s nest was little more than a basket balanced at the top. Stefan swallowed.

  “Up there?”

  Gruff nodded.

  “Blasted girl.”

  Blast Carina! Why couldn’t she have accepted the wedding invitation like any normal person? The perfect wedding gift was turning into the perfect nuisance.

  Heinrich came out of
the galley. The tailor wore a loose tunic and held a coconut.

  “Captain Gruff, the chef gave this to me. I’m not sure what to do with it.”

  Gruff patted Stefan on the shoulder again and moved to see to his paying customer.

  “Let me take care of that for you, sir. Would you like me to bring a chair out for you? The weather’s fair today.”

  He pulled a chair onto the deck and hacked off the top of the coconut with an enormous knife.

  “You drink it, see?” he said. “And you can eat the white part. It’s a fruit!”

  “Ah, thank you. Most enjoyable.”

  Heinrich settled into the chair and raised the coconut to Stefan in a toast.

  The prince glared at his tailor and climbed the rope ladder.

  Blast it all, the ship wouldn’t stop swaying! Stefan clung to the ropes and resisted the urge to look down. His hands burned, but he couldn’t fail at climbing. He had failed every other task they had given him so far. At the least, he could climb a ladder!

  Stefan’s limbs quivered with exhaustion by the time he pulled himself over the railing of the crow’s nest. Timon smiled at him.

  “Are you here to take my watch?”

  Stefan shook his head.

  “Just to help. We all agreed potato peeling is a waste of my unique skills, so I’m training to be a lookout.”

  Timon’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t laugh.

  “It isn’t easy, is it? People on land think sailors have adventures on the open seas, but mostly we just use our muscles to move things.”

  He flexed his arm to demonstrate. Timon was on the scrawny side for a sailor, but he was still more muscular than Stefan.

  The prince nodded.

  “I believe you. What are we watching for?”

  “Oh, anything. Passing ships. Storms. Whirlpools. Mermaids.”

  Stefan laughed.

  “Yes, we wouldn’t want to hit a mermaid. She might sink the ship!”

  Timon narrowed his eyes.

  “Oh, you were serious!” Stefan said. “Right. Mermaids. Far too delicate to sink us, but we don’t want to hurt them.”

  They leaned against the railing, scanning the bright blue sea.

  “What’s that?”