Just A Kiss: (The Frog Prince) (Tangled Tales Series Book 2) (9 page)

“You know.”

“I saw you kiss a frog and disappear at the swamp that night, Freya. That’s not a normal thing for a lady to be able to do. Plus you threw me into the swamp without ever even touching me. And if you’re a witch and your father was a common knight, then that tells me your mother has to be a witch as well.”

“Well, now you know my story, so tell me yours. And tell me why your father told me he was the earl of Tavistock and why everyone else thinks he is.”

“All right. You deserve it, I suppose.” He got up and walked over to the bedside table, pouring two goblets of wine from a decanter that she hadn’t even known was there. He walked back and handed a goblet to her and sat down once again. “My father is a warlock and able to shapeshift. Since everyone thinks he’s dead, he’s taken on the identity of the late earl to bring peace between Tavistock and Babeny.”

“So he can shapeshift just like your brother.”

“Nay, it’s different.” He took a sip of wine and his eyes narrowed as he swallowed it down. “My father chooses to stay in the form of the earl while in public, but he doesn’t have to. My brother on the other hand is cursed and has no choice but to shift into a wolf each night. I was in the body of a wolf for the past year too, and I’ll tell you it makes me wild with rage just to think about it.”

“How awful,” she said, cradling her cup in both hands. “Who cursed you two?”

“It was an old witch my father managed to anger named Hecuba.”

“Hecuba?” She almost dropped the goblet.

“Aye. I think this whole frog thing going on with me has something to do with her as well. Do you know her?”

“I know
of
her. She’s the one who put the spell on the castle making it impossible for magic to be done inside these walls. If it was still possible, I would have been able to cure my mother by now, I’m sure. Now without taking her out of the castle, there is no way to heal her and she will eventually die.”

“What’s wrong with her?” He drank some more wine.

“Nobody knows. But we think it was something inflicted upon her when she had a spat with Hecuba one day. I suppose I could ask Marni about it, once I find out where she’s disappeared to.”

“Who is Marni?”

“She’s the only witch of our coven that survived the burning in the woods. The other three witches went to their deaths that night. I wish I could find the one who did it and burn them as well for what they’ve done.”

He was raising the cup to his mouth and stopped in mid-motion. “Freya, are you saying you don’t know who killed the other witches?”

“Nay, I don’t. My father tried to find out who hired those mercenaries, but wasn’t able to gather any information.”

“Nay, that is a lie. I heard from the peasants who had to clean up the mess exactly what happened. The man who gave the order to burn those witches alive at the stake was none other than the baron – your father.”

Chapter 11

Freya hadn’t been able to sleep at all after finding out that the baron was the one who killed the witches. She knew the man wasn’t to be trusted, but she never thought he’d stoop this low.

She stormed down the stairs toward the great hall, wondering how Arnon had been able to sleep after all they’d talked about last night. She meant to confront her father in the great hall this morning and tell him what she really thought about him.

“Good morning, Lady Freya, and how are you today?” Wolf stood at the bottom of the stairs as if he were waiting for her.

“Wolf,” she said. “I’m surprised you’re up so early after all the carousing you were doing at the swamp last night.” She almost laughed when she saw his grin turn into a scowl.

“I think you’re mistaken. I was inside the castle walls all night, my lady.”

She leaned over and spoke in a low voice so no one would hear. “You can stop pretending. I know everything.”

“Everything?”

She squinted her eyes and just nodded. “Your brother told me all about you, your siblings, and your father – or should I say the earl?” She started to walk away but Wolf grabbed her arm and guided her over to a dark corner at the bottom of the stairs.

“What are you doing? Let me go.” She tried to shake loose from his hold.

“You’re staying with me until my brother gets down here. I can’t have you spouting off your mouth about all this.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t say a word.” Arnon came down the stairs, strapping on his weapon belt as he walked. “She’s got secrets even bigger than ours, brother. Unless she wants her
father
to find out, she will keep her mouth shut, I assure you. There’s too much at stake.”

“What do you mean?” asked Wolf.

“I’ll tell you later.” Arnon grabbed Freya by the arm and guided her toward the dais. “Come, my lady, we shall sit and eat and pretend like naught is bothering us. And if I so much as think you’re going to confront the baron, I’ll drag you out of the room bound and gagged if I have to.”

“Arnon, should I be concerned with the girl?” Wolf followed right behind them.

Freya turned and talked over her shoulder as they made their way into the great hall. “I’d be more concerned with your brother if I were you.”

“My brother?” Wolf ran up next to Arnon. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Arnon dragged her toward the dais.

“We’ll see about that – Frog Prince,” she said, wondering just how he planned on keeping his secret from everyone much longer.

Arnon sat between the baron and his new wife to keep Freya from speaking to the baron at all. Wolf sat on the other side of her as her father’s guest, and he knew to keep her in conversation with him before she did something stupid. They didn’t need a confrontation with the baron over burning witches right now. It would do no good to anger the man when Arnon had just been accepted into the family yesterday.

“So, Lady Freya. My wife, Red, is coming to the castle today to meet you,” said Wolf. “The missive I received from Stefan this morning said she’s bringing along our sister with her. So you’ll have plenty of females to talk to.”

“Ella?” asked Arnon, first hearing of the news. “Has father found her? She really never should have run off like she did.”

“Nay.” Wolf took a bite of rabbit in wine-currant sauce and shook his head. “Cinderella is still missing, but Rapunzel has left her seclusion in the convent I hear.”

Arnon leaned over and talked to his brother as if Freya wasn’t even between them.

“Is it safe?” he asked. “We sent her there to protect her from –” he looked over his shoulder and then back again. “From you know who. I think she should stay there a while longer.”

“I agree with you.” Wolf leaned over and spoke in a whisper, and the two of them smashed her in between them. “But you know Rap doesn’t like to be locked up in one place. She’s restless, just like the rest of us.”

They were so close now that Freya could barely breathe. “Do you two mind? I cannot even reach my trencher.”

“Sorry, Freya.” Arnon reached over and kissed her atop the head.

Everything was going fine until the next course came out and the servant plopped down the platter of frog legs on the table right in front of Arnon.

“What is this?” he bellowed, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

“It’s frog legs in a thick almond milk sauce,” said the baron with a chuckle. “I thought you, being of noble blood, would have eaten frog legs before, Sir Arnon.”

“This is preposterous!” He grabbed the platter and shoved it across the table in front of Freya. A fly kept buzzing around his head and he swished it away in aggravation.

“Don’t put this in front of me,” she said, pushing it back in front of him. “I’m only glad Gar isn’t here to see this.”

The fly buzzed around Arnon’s head again, and he picked up his cloth napkin and in one fast flick of his wrist, he swatted at it, and hit it in midair. It’s dead body fell onto the table just in front of him.

“Good shot,” said Freya, not realizing anything was out of the ordinary until she saw the way Arnon was eyeing up the dead fly. His tongue shot out and he licked his lips as his eyes devoured the bug. Then he reached out and picked it up in two fingers, bringing to his open mouth. Her eyes opened wide. She knew she had to intervene.

“I’d like to go for a walk in the courtyard,” she announced, standing up abruptly and grabbing Arnon’s hand. He dropped the fly and shot her a look of disappointment.

“Now?” asked Wolf, picking up a frog leg and bringing it to his mouth. “The meal has just started.”

“You’ll come with us,” she said, noticing Arnon eyeing up another fly. This time he reached out and snatched it from the air with just his hand and popped it into his mouth before she could stop him.

Wolf saw what he did and quickly threw down the frog leg onto his trencher. “Aye, let’s go.” With urgency, he threw down his napkin and jumped to his feet. He pushed back his chair and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” called out the baron.

“For a walk,” Freya called back over her shoulder. She passed behind the chair Wolf had vacated, but Arnon just . . . hopped right over it as if it was the normal thing to do.

“Did he just hop over that chair?” asked her father.

“I saw him eat a fly, too,” called out someone else.

Freya dragged her husband along with her and didn’t stop until they got out into the courtyard. Wolf led the way and once they were away from everyone, he stopped just in front of the well.

“What the hell’s the matter with you, Arnon?” growled Wolf.

“I told you that you needed to be concerned with your brother,” Freya pointed out.

“I don’t know what you’re all talking about.” Arnon hopped up onto the top of the well and walked a full circle around it. Croaking was heard, and when Freya looked across the courtyard, she saw about a dozen frogs hopping over the cobblestones toward them.

“Are those what I think they are?” Wolf just stared across the courtyard.

Several children from the castle ran after the frogs and chaos started as their parents tried to catch their children and stop them from touching the things.

“Uh huh,” she answered. “The Frog Prince’s court is coming to pay him homage.”

“Frog Prince?” Wolf laughed and looked up at his brother who was standing atop the well balancing on one foot now with his arms out to the sides to maintain his balance. “Arnon, I’m going to go to Tavistock and talk to father about this. Mayhap he’ll know how to stop this nonsense.”

“He needs help now,” said Freya. “It’ll be days before you can get your father and return.”

“No it won’t,” said Arnon from atop the well. “Wolf can run on all fours and be there and back before the sun sets. Our father is a warlock so mayhap he can just materialize here at will or something.”

“All fours?” She looked back to Wolf and just shook her head. “Nay, it can wait. Just go get him on horseback.”

There was a huge splash from behind them and Freya jumped and turned around. “Arnon? Where are you?”

“I’m down here,” came his voice echoing off the stones of the well.

She ran to the edge of the well and looked down to see Arnon splashing around in the water. “Oh my goodness, you fell into the well!”

“I didn’t fall in,” he called back. “I jumped in on purpose.”

He reached down into the water and held up a lady’s shoe. “Anyone lose this? There’s lots of things down here that you’d never suspect.” Then he dipped his head beneath the water, and Freya looked over to Wolf who was peering into the well too.

“Still think I ought to go on horseback?” he asked.

“Start shifting,” she told him. “I don’t think this is going to get better anytime soon and he needs all the help he can get right away.”

Chapter 12

Freya did her best to keep Arnon away from people, but he kept . . . hopping over things in the courtyard, causing a scene. She was thankful when she heard the herald’s straight horn, and looked up to see two women riding through the gates of Castle Fane.

One was a petite woman with flaming red hair, a flowing bright red cape, and a crossbow slung over her shoulder. She looked like someone Freya wouldn’t want to anger. This had to be Wolf’s wife. The other was a much taller girl dressed conservatively with golden blond hair so long it was braided and twisted around her waist and then pushed up to the top of her head, and fell back down, draped over one of her shoulders.

“Red! Rap!” Arnon spotted them and hurried over to greet them. She followed on his heels.

“Arnon, brother!” The girl took his proffered hands to dismount her horse, but Red just jumped down by herself.

“It’s so good to see you.” Arnon placed a kiss on his sister’s cheek.

“Lord Arnon, is this your new wife?” Red walked over to greet her.

“Yes, this is my beautiful wife, Freya. She’s a witch.”

“Arnon!” Freya’s face reddened and she felt like slapping him right now. He had no right to tell anyone her secret and especially not aloud. Someone passing by might have heard him.

“Well, Arnon’s turning into a frog,” she blurted out before she could stop herself from saying it.

“Witch? Frog?” Rapunzel looked confused.

“I think we’d better take this conversation to your solar,” suggested Red. “Where is Wolf?” She looked around for her husband.

“Oh, he turned into a wolf and ran off to find father,” Arnon relayed the information.

Freya exchanged looks with the women. They now knew this situation was more dire than any of them had thought.

“Shall we go to the solar where we can talk in private?” asked Freya, grabbing one of Arnon’s arms.

“Let’s go,” said Rap, grabbing her brother’s other arm. “I think there is a lot I need to catch up on.”

* * *

Wolf made it back to Tavistock in record breaking time. He shifted back to his man form just outside the castle walls, now naked and with no weapons since they were back by the swamp in Slapton where he’d done his shift. He needed to contact his father, and to do so he would need to get inside the castle walls.

He heard the sound of a wagon coming down the road and hid behind a tree, hoping to steal some clothes from the travelers passing by. To his relief it was his father’s carriage, being pulled by one horse and having one driver only. He could only hope his father was inside.

He stepped out into the road and the driver stopped the carriage and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Lord Wolf?” the man asked with confusion on his face.

“Aye, it is me,” he answered.

“Were you attacked by bandits who stole your clothes?”

“Exactly. Is the earl in the carriage?”

“Why yes but –”

He walked over and pulled open the carriage door before the man could finish.

“Father I –” Wolf stopped short as he saw not only his father in the form of Earl Tavistock inside, but also a woman he’d never seen before. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Wolf? What are you doing here?” came his father’s surprised voice.

The woman looked to be about the same age of his father. She was short and a bit stocky, but well endowed. Her long red hair was pulled up atop her head and she wore a green gown and a small hat with a short veil. A smile lit up her face and her eyes boldly settled on Wolf’s nether regions. He dropped his hands and covered his groin.

“God’s teeth, put this on.” His father quickly removed his cloak and threw it to Wolf who donned it without question. “Lord Wolf, this is Marni. She is from Slapton.” He leaned over and whispered to him next. “She is a witch. The baron has burned all the rest of the witches of her coven and she’s come to me for comfort.”

By the looks on their faces, Wolf knew exactly what kind of comfort they’d shared. His father always did have a roaming eye, even when their mother was still alive. And that roaming eye is what got them all into this mess in the first place. Because of his affair with the witch, Hecuba, Wolf and his family were all being cursed to pay for his mistake.

“A pleasure to meet you,” he said with a nod, remembering her name. “You are a friend of my brother’s wife, Freya, aren’t you?”

“We are in the same coven,” she said, shifting her travel bag to the other side of the seat.

“Why are you here? And like that?” asked his father.

“It’s Arnon,” Wolf answered.

“Arnon? Egads, is he having trouble with his new wife already? I swear that boy has never had the touch with the ladies that you or I have, Wolf.” He looked over to Marni and smiled, rubbing his hand atop hers.

“We need to get back to Slapton anon,” Wolf told him. “I’m afraid Arnon is experiencing some side effects from the removal of his curse.”

“What do you mean?” This took his father’s interest and he pulled his attention away from Marni.

“He’s been croaking like a frog and hopping around like a fool.”

His father laughed. “That boy always liked to make people laugh. He’s probably just trying to make his new wife smile.” Wolf’s father’s attention returned to Marni and he didn’t seem at all concerned.

“He ate a fly just this morning and jumped into the well on purpose,” Wolf added.

“What?” His father shifted in his seat.

“I think it has something to do with the frog that jumped into the beam of light when that wretched old hag, Hecuba, used her powers to transform him.”

Marni stirred atop the seat uncomfortably. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s probably just a side effect.” She looked at his father. “Why don’t we go back and share a goblet of wine in your solar, Lucio?”

“Nay!” shouted Wolf. “Arnon needs our help. Isn’t there anything either of you can do?”

“If it’s a side effect from Hecuba’s spell, I don’t see what we could possibly do,” said Marni. “Just leave him be. It’ll wear off eventually.”

“And what if it doesn’t?” asked Wolf. “Arnon already lost a year of his life by being trapped in the body of a wolf because of that bitch, he doesn’t deserve to be trapped in the body of a frog now too.”

Marni scowled at him and squinted her eyes and pursed her lips, but didn’t say a word.

“You’re right, let’s go,” Lucio agreed. “Hop into the carriage and my driver will take us there.”

“It’ll take too long,” Wolf told him. “We need to find . . . other means to get there faster.”

“Well, why don’t you just shift back into a wolf and go on ahead of us, and we’ll meet you there?” suggested Marni.

“How did you know about my curse?” Her words took Wolf by surprise. He looked over at his father thinking he had told her, but the man was shaking his head.

“The girl told me,” she said, and Wolf thought it could possibly be true. Still, he didn’t like everyone knowing about his little problem.

“Can you transport?” his father asked Marni.

“Nay,” she said with a nod of her head. “Can you?”

“I can, but I must admit that I’ve been having trouble doing it lately. I still don’t have all my powers back yet. It’s going to take a while.” He looked over to Wolf. “You go ahead and we’ll take the carriage and be there shortly. Tell Arnon not to do anything until we get there.”

“Fine. I’ll shift back and go ahead and give him the message. But this is serious, and I’m not sure what will happen to Arnon if you don’t get there quickly, so hurry.”