The Frog Princess Returns

  Oculura shook her head. “I already told you that we don’t ever want to help a politician again. The last time was a disaster.”

  “You wouldn’t be helping the politicians,” I told her. “But you would be helping fairy-kind. After this meeting, things should go back to normal.”

  “That would be wonderful! Now you have to tell me what you have in mind. Are you going to turn into a dragon and frighten them all into behaving themselves? That worked so well at your birthday tournament.”

  “Not at all. It will be something much better,” I told her. Although I will if I have to, I added silently.

  We had reached the cottage door and were just going inside when Dyspepsia looked up and saw us. She smiled when she noticed Eadric and me, but when her eyes traveled to the fairies who had finally caught up with us, she stumbled, almost dropping the platter of fried apple cakes she was carrying. Eadric noticed and ran to rescue them, helping himself to the cake on top as he set them on the table.

  “Your Majesty!” Dyspepsia cried, curtsying.

  “What are you doing, Dyspepsia?” asked her sister. “I know Emma is a princess, but we’ve never been formal with her before.”

  “Change your eyes, Oculura! Can’t you see that Queen Willow just walked into our crumby little cottage?” Dyspepsia hurried to take the jar of eyeballs off a shelf.

  Oculura looked puzzled. “And you say I’m the crazy one! You’re imagining things again. Queen Willow has faded away. Everyone knows that! Oh, all right,” she said, taking the jar when her sister shoved it at her. “These eyes are too nearsighted to be much good anyway. I put them in only so I could read the recipe for the apple cakes. These new recipe spells are tricky. You have to get them just right or you can have a terrible mess on your hands.”

  Oculura kept talking even as she fished around in the jar for two new eyes. “Not these. They don’t fit quite right. And these see things only in a negative way. I want happy eyes today. Here, these will do. They’re such a pretty blue, aren’t they?” After taking out the old eyes and popping in the new, she turned and looked at Eadric and me. “My, those mosquito bites are terrible! And who is it you have with you …”

  Oculura’s jaw dropped when she finally saw her other guests. “You look like Queen Willow, only young. Is that what happens when you fade? Dyspepsia, maybe we should give fading a try.”

  “Be serious!” Dyspepsia told her. “That really is the queen. Welcome to our humble cottage, Your Majesty.”

  “Oh, right,” Oculura said as she dropped into a curtsey. “Welcome, Your Majesty. May I ask what you’re doing here? Or how you’re young again? Or why you’re carrying a mouse?”

  “Sorry,” I said, reaching for Adara. “I forgot you still had her.”

  “Is now the time?” asked Adara.

  “Not yet,” I told her. “Oculura, I can explain. Queen Willow is back with us because Acorn has been her true love for many years and—”

  “It was true love’s kiss, wasn’t it?” cried Oculura. “I’ve heard that it’s terribly powerful magic, but I’ve never experienced it for myself. Although I think I came close when Fred, the miller’s son, took me behind the mill and—”

  “Oculura!” said Dyspepsia. “The queen of the fairies doesn’t want to hear about that. Although you can tell me the rest of the story later. I’ve never heard it before.”

  “I came back because Acorn is my true love and he needs me, as does everyone else, apparently,” the queen said with a smile. “I’m sorry that there was so much chaos in my absence, but I believe Emma has a plan if you’d care to listen.”

  “Of course we’ll listen!” exclaimed Dyspepsia. “At least I will. My sister never knows when to stop talking.”

  “Does anyone mind if I help myself to those fried apple cakes?” asked Eadric. “They’re really very good.”

  “I want one, too!” Adara said, peeking out of my pocket. “Although I’d prefer a good piece of cheese.”

  “Let’s all sit down and eat,” said Oculura. “Your Majesty, you can sit at the head of the table and Acorn can sit next to you, if that’s all right with you.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” said the queen, leading the way to the table.

  We were all hungry and the cakes were very good, so it took me a while to get around to telling the witches my plan. “It’s simple, really,” I said as I helped myself to another cake. “We want the candidates and as many other fairies as we can get to come to a meeting here in your garden. When they’re all together, Queen Willow will appear to show them that she’s back. They’ll spread the word that she’s here and that the fairies don’t have to find a new ruler. One thing I learned from all this is how many fairies love you. They’ll be thrilled that you’re back and in charge, Your Majesty.”

  “And then our lives can return to normal!” declared Oculura. “I’ll call everyone to the meeting right away! I can’t wait to see their faces when they see you, Your Majesty!”

  “Then you’d better make sure you still have the right eyes in,” said Dyspepsia. “It would be a real shame to miss this!”

  The two witch sisters sent word of the meeting by singing bird, chirping cricket, croaking frog, and every other creature they thought could get the message out. While we waited for the fairies to arrive, Oculura slathered her lotion on Eadric, Acorn, and me. The itching from the mosquito bites stopped instantly and the swellings faded almost as quickly.

  Fairies began to arrive a short time later, congregating in the garden under the watchful eyes of Oculura and Dyspepsia. Eadric and I were there as well, doing our best to keep any fights from starting.

  Soon the garden was as crowded as it had been for the rally. Most of the fairies I met knew who I was and were well-mannered when they saw me. Only a feisty fairy named Firethorn and an ill-tempered fairy named Thistle didn’t seem to care that I was there. Firethorn had been declaring that he thought Chervil was the right candidate when Thistle told him, “Be quiet! No one wants to hear your opinion. Everyone knows that only dunderheads would vote for Chervil.”

  “Don’t tell me to be quiet, you nincompoop!” shouted Firethorn. “My opinion is as good as anyone’s, and certainly better than yours! Who are you going to vote for, that fool Poppy?”

  “Poppy happens to be the best of all three!” Thistle shouted in Firethorn’s face. “Close your mouth or I’ll make you close it!”

  “Oh, yeah! You and what army of ants?” Firethorn screamed back.

  I started toward them when Thistle raised his wand and pointed it at Firethorn. “Maybe a spell to glue your mouth shut would give us all a little peace and quiet!”

  “And maybe you should put that wand down before you do something you’ll regret,” I said, walking up to him. “This is supposed to be a peaceful meeting. No spell battles are allowed here.”

  Thistle turned and glared at me. “Oh, yeah? And how are you going to stop us? You’re just a witch. Your magic won’t work on fairies.”

  “I’m not just a witch,” I said. “The rumors are true; I can be something else when I want to be. You really don’t want to make me angry.”

  I decided that a show of strength might be a good idea, not only to stop the two fairies, but to deter any others who might be watching. Sometimes, frightening people can be the best option. I started to turn myself into a dragon. As I reached full size, the fairies started to back up, bumping into one another as they tried to get away from me.

  “I won’t hurt anyone who isn’t here for a fight,” I announced, and breathed a tongue of flame. “If you want to fight, leave now, and don’t come back.”

  I swung my head around, meeting the eyes of one fairy after another. None of them spoke up, but none of them left, either.

  The three candidates were the last to arrive. By then, the crowd was getting impatient and fidgety.

  “Why are we here?” Chervil asked as soon as he landed and turned full-sized. “Is anyone in charge?”

  “I am,” I said, st
epping forward. “In case anyone here doesn’t know me, I’m the Green Witch and one of my duties is to watch out for the welfare of fairy-kind. I saw how you handled the queen’s absence and I was very disappointed. None of the candidates running for your new ruler is good enough for you, so I decided to find one who is.”

  “What do you mean, not good enough?” demanded Chervil. “You won’t find anyone better than me!”

  “Or me!” shouted Poppy.

  “Or me!” cried Sumac.

  “Ah, but I did,” I said, and turned to nod at Eadric. He hurried off and a moment later was back, ushering fairies out of the way as the queen swept through the garden with Acorn at her side.

  A wave of sound broke over us as one fairy after another saw her. Although she was much younger than she’d been the last time she held court, it was obvious that she was the same fairy.

  “Queen Willow is back!” they cried.

  “Never fade, Queen Willow!”

  None of the candidates spoke, but when a cheer went up, all three turned tiny and fled the garden. Queen Willow was indeed back, and everyone knew that she was in charge once again.

  Eadric had come to join me. I changed back to my human form while cheers reverberated through the garden, the clearing, and even into the forest as the news spread.

  “Now we can go home,” I told Eadric over the noise.

  “I can’t hear you,” he shouted back. “If you want to leave now, just nod.”

  I grinned and nodded. We ran to my magic carpet, the cheering of the fairies still ringing in our ears. Glancing back as we took off, I saw Queen Willow and Acorn, standing hand in hand in front of her adoring crowd. Instead of facing the crowd, however, they were turned toward each other, sharing a look of true and undying love.

  Seventeen

  The moment we returned to my parents’ castle, Grandmother came running down the steps to the courtyard. I was still getting off my magic carpet when she said, “Emma, I have to talk to you. Where is that girl Adara? I thought she was with you.”

  “She’s right here,” I said, patting my pocket. Adara peeked out and blinked.

  “A mouse, huh?” said Grandmother. “Good choice, although I would have turned her into a rat. Hand her over to Eadric. I want to talk to you without her listening in.”

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, passing Adara to Eadric.

  Grandmother and I walked only as far as the dovecote before we stopped to talk. “I found that information I told you about,” she said. “Adara got one thing right: Ermingarde was married to King Snodgrass. She was his first wife, marrying him when they were both very young. She died childless a year later. I believe it was Mud Fever, which wasn’t uncommon those days in damp places like Lower Mucksworthy. Snodgrass had five wives, but none of them gave him children until the last two. He was old by then and practically in his dotage. That girl doesn’t have a drop of our blood in her and she knows it! Saying that she looks like Ermingarde! I knew she was lying the moment she said it!”

  “I’m not surprised that we’re unrelated,” I told Grandmother. “Adara said something that made me wonder about her and Frazzela, so I scryed their meeting. This whole visit was a scheme they cooked up to get Eadric away from me.”

  “I had a feeling it was something like that!” Grandmother cried. “I don’t know if you really want Frazzela as your mother-in-law, Emma!”

  I sighed and shook my head. “I’m marrying Eadric, not his mother. I really want to like her, but she’s making it very hard. Thank you for letting me know what you found out,” I said, and kissed her cheek. “At least my relatives are wonderful!”

  When I joined Eadric in my tower room, Adara was sitting on my worktable, complaining. “Emma never let me ask Queen Willow! Now I’ll be stuck as a mouse for the rest of my life!” She saw me then and became even more agitated. “Until we left the garden, I thought it didn’t matter that you hadn’t let me ask her. I was sure you would ask her for me. But no, it was never the right time, and you were too busy to think about helping me!”

  “I didn’t need to ask her,” I replied.

  “Why, because you want me to stay a mouse forever so Eadric won’t choose me?” asked Adara.

  Eadric snorted. “Emma doesn’t have to worry about that. I was never going to choose you for anything. Since the day Emma and I kissed and she turned into a frog like me, I’ve known that Emma is my true love. I would go anywhere and do anything for her. My life would be worthless if she wasn’t in it.”

  “Oh, Eadric,” I said, and stepped into his waiting arms.

  We kissed then, but were interrupted when Adara whined, “Do you have to do this now?”

  I pulled away reluctantly. Eadric touched my cheek, then glanced down when the mouse squeaked. Turning back to me, he said, “Do you have a piece of parchment that I could use? I need to write someone a note.”

  When I handed it to him, I was thinking so hard about what I was going to say to Adara that it didn’t occur to me to ask about the note. As he walked toward my window seat, I looked at the mouse and said, “You must know that you never stood a chance with Eadric. He is the love of my life, too. It’s time that you forgot him and found your own true love. I know you came here because Queen Frazzela sent you. I also know that you’ve been lying to us. We are not related in any way. If you continue to pursue Eadric, I will make sure that you remain a mouse for the rest of your life. However, if you promise to leave now, and never come near Eadric or me again, I’d be happy to turn you back myself.”

  “But I thought we either had to find the fairy who cast the spell or ask the Fairy Queen, who can fix anything,” said Adara.

  “We could have done that, but have you already forgotten that I can be a dragon? Dragon magic is even stronger than fairy magic. I could have turned you back at any time. I was just waiting until the moment was right.”

  “So is this the right time?” Adara asked me.

  “It is if you make that promise. Remember, if you go back on your word, I can always turn you into a mouse again. Or maybe it will be something else, like a rat with mange or a squishy slug.”

  “I was going to make that promise anyway,” said Adara. “I can’t look at Eadric anymore without remembering what he looked like as a frog. I don’t like frogs, and the thought of kissing one turns my stomach.”

  “And you’ll leave right away?” I asked.

  Adara sighed. “I promise to leave right away and never come back. Why would I stay? The people in this castle are crazy!”

  “In that case …” Setting the little mouse on the floor, I said:

  A human girl became a mouse

  When a fairy spell was cast.

  Return her to her normal shape;

  The mouse form cannot last.

  When nothing happened, it occurred to me that I needed to be a dragon, at least partway, for my magic to undo a fairy’s. I started the change just enough to feel scales forming on my skin before I repeated the mouse-to-human spell. In an instant, Adara looked just as she had before Nightshade cast his spell. She was still as beautiful on the outside as she’d been before, but now that I knew what she was really like, I didn’t see how anyone could think she was attractive.

  “How should we send her home?” I asked Eadric. “I believe your mother’s carriage is still here.”

  “Excellent!” said Eadric. “Then Adara can take this note to my mother. Get your things, Adara. Your ride will be leaving within the hour.”

  Beautiful Princess Adara twitched her nose and scurried from the room. I couldn’t help but think that her movements were a little more furtive now—almost like a mouse’s.

  We had just reached the bottom of the stairs when I turned to Eadric and said, “May I ask, what did you tell your mother?”

  “Here, I’ll read it to you,” he replied.

  Dear Mother,

  I know you mean me all the best, but you need to stop interfering in my life. I am going to marry Emma, my one true love,
regardless of what you do or say. I knew what you were up to as soon as Adara arrived in your carriage. Really, Mother! Could you be more obvious? Trying to tempt me away from Emma by sending your hand-picked princess? It was never going to work!

  Adara is a beautiful girl, but she is not for me. Neither Adara nor any other princess could ever compare to my Emma. I will never give Emma up for anyone, including you and Father. We will be getting married in a few weeks. If you and Father want to be part of my life, and that of my future children, you have to accept Emma and stop trying to break us up.

  Your son (if you’ll accept Emma),

  Eadric

  I couldn’t stop grinning. “Wow! That says it all. You really didn’t give her much choice. A few weeks, huh? Were you planning to talk to me about that?”

  “Right now!” Eadric said, taking my hand. “Emma, will you marry me as soon as we can get it all arranged? A few weeks would do. Even sooner would be better.”

  Reaching up, I tugged his head close to mine and kissed him. “I would love to marry you as soon as possible,” I told him after a long and lovely kiss. “Thank you for being you!”

  “You’re welcome?” he said as if unsure how to respond.

  “I am so lucky!”

  Eadric wore a goofy grin when he said, “Why is that?”

  “Because I already know who my true love is, and I don’t have to look for him or wait for him to come looking for me!”

  Eadric and I were watching the carriage roll away with Adara inside when Grassina joined us on the castle steps. “There’s a rumor going around that you helped the Fairy Queen and have made all the fairies very happy. Would you please tell me what happened?” she asked.

  “Nothing much,” I said. “I reunited Willow with her true love, Acorn, and stopped a troublesome fairy from taking over. The queen is happy because she’s about to enjoy the future she always wanted. Acorn is happy because he has Willow in his life. And the fairies are happy because the queen they love and respect is back. I learned a very important lesson from all of this, too. You should always believe in your one true love, even if it means you have to fight for him.”