Kissing Frogs
The Queen came into her son's room to find him dressed, but idly gazing out of the window.
"James darling? You're ignoring both our guests and your bride-to-be. After all of the time you spent searching for your Cinderella, you don't seem terribly enthusiastic."
The young Prince forced a smile on his face. In truth, he was feeling far less than enthusiastic, but he didn't want to seem foolish by calling off the wedding on the day before the ceremony. The more he thought of it, the more his pursuit of Cinderella seemed to have been a foolish whim. Yes, she was a lovely woman, but there were lots of lovely women. He didn't even know if they could have a conversation together with their upbringings being as different as they were.
"Don't worry, mother. I will go out there and charm them all. You know that I can."
Chuckling fondly, she moved over and gave her son a kiss on the cheek.
"That reminds me. An old friend of yours that you haven't seen since you were about ten is coming to represent his father at the wedding. Do you recall Prince Leonard?"
James frowned slightly as he moved back to the window.
"It seems like I should know that name, but I cannot place a face to it."
"Probably because you teased him terribly. He had just gone through a growth spurt and was thin as a rail. You said all his bones were showing and then you proceeded to call him Bones for the entirety of their visit."
Turning, James' eyes lit up.
"Of course! Now I remember him. Hard to imagine him full grown now."
"Not only full grown, but said to be the handsomest man in their kingdom. He's engaged himself and I believe that she will be accompanying him here."
It was odd how the mention of someone that he hadn't seen in more than a dozen years had restored the enthusiasm that he thought he should be feeling on the eve of his wedding day.
"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing him again after all these years. Shall I escort you back to the garden party, my Lady?"
Laughing as she looked at the blue eyes and dark blond hair that matched her own, the Queen offered him her hand and the two went down to mingle with their guests. As he promised, James turned on his charm. In no time, he had a group gathered around him as he spun stories of some of his many adventures. As he feared, Cinderella was looking at him with rapt attention, but not the way he had always imagined his true love would have looked at him. It seemed far more a case of idol worship. He didn't know how long he could stand that sort of single minded devotion.
He was just finishing up another tale when a carriage that doubtless belonged to royalty approached and stopped. As he looked over to see who had just arrived, James froze. The crest on the carriage was that of the House of Atlantus, so he knew who should be the one getting out of the carriage. Otherwise he would never have recognized the Prince coming around to assistant a woman from the carriage.
"Bones. . . "
Then James remembered where he was and quickly flashed a smile to those around him.
"I do humbly beg the pardon of all of you, but an old friend has just arrived and I must make him welcome."
Without further delay, James made his way over to the carriage. The woman emerging had the longest hair that James had ever seen in his life. Even with the majority of it put up into an elaborate arrangement, some of it still came near to dragging the ground. Hearing the sound of someone approaching, Prince Leonard turned and froze for a moment himself. Over the years, he had convinced himself that he had to have imagined just how very blue the eyes of Prince James were.
Now that they were facing one another, James felt uncommonly shy.
"You don't look much like the nickname I saddled you with when we were both boys."
Leonard laughed and the shyness fled at that sound. James wanted that sound to go on forever.
"Yes. You called me Bones, as I recall. It was an apt enough name in those days, I must confess. You have rather grown past my calling you an infant as well. Not that it was even appropriate then, so I must beg your pardon in retrospect."
Waving that off, James smiled warmly.
"No need. As I recall, I was behaving as a bit of a brat."
Then both men suddenly seemed to remember the young woman beside them.
"Ah. Excuse my manners. Prince James, allow me to introduce to you the Lady Rapunzel, my betrothed."
Taking her offered hand, James bowed over it.
"Dear lady, you are most welcome into our company. Please, if you will both accompany me, I will introduce you to my own betrothed, Cinderella."
James kept Rapunzel's hand as the three of them moved to join the rest of the gathering, stopping first to pay respects to the Queen before continuing on to where Cinderella was standing - looking very overwhelmed, if truth be told.
Prince Leonard greeted Cinderella kindly, treating her almost as he would one of the skittish deer that his own mother keep in a lovely park behind their castle. For his part, Prince James noted that Lady Rapunzel seemed unused to holding polite conversation and fell silent unless being addressed directly. It was a distinct relief when the garden party finally wound down.
By the end of the afternoon, Cinderella and Rapunzel had found things in common. They headed off to Cinderella's rooms together to view the wedding dress, leaving the two Princes behind. Feeling a bit of the earlier shyness returned, James looked to Leonard.
"I know you have already traveled far, but would you care to go riding with me?"
"What I did was spend an uncomfortably long time cooped inside of a carriage. A ride would be very pleasant and, with you? Most enjoyable."
Extremely pleased, James led the way to the stables, having his own horse saddled and ordering another to be made ready for the visiting Prince. In hardly more time than it took to tell, the two men mounted their steeds and rode off, James taking the lead and Leonard following.
"Tell me, James, does that delightful pond still exist? The one where we once caught frogs?"
It was the turn for James to laugh out loud at that memory.
"Aye - it still exists. Do you know it was a full year before my mother told me that you had told me that story wrong? That the story was about a Frog Prince and not a Princess. The wonder is that my lips never turned green from the number of frogs I kissed."
Both men laughed then, their laughter filling the afternoon air and making James feel lighthearted in a way that he hadn't felt for years. James altered their direction slightly to bring them back to the pond where they had spent many hours that summer long ago.
Dismounting, both men removed the bits from their mounts to allow them to graze as they moved to the edge of the water. Leonard took a deep breath and tension seemed to flow out of him as he let that breath out.
"It is as I remembered it."
Then he turned and looked deep into the blue eyes at his side.
"Beautiful. I had begun to think I had imagined it. That a color like that could surely not exist in nature."
Then Leonard seemed to give himself a mental shake as a soft sigh escaped and he looked back over the water.
"Cinderella. A most unusual name. I do not believe I have heard the like before."
James broke himself from staring at Leonard, wondering if he had just imagined the way the man had looked into his eyes. No, surely it was the view that he had called beautiful.
"No more unusual a name than Rapunzel. How did you meet her?"
That got a chuckle and Prince Leonard gestured to the bank.
"That, my friend, is a story you well may not believe. Shall we make ourselves comfortable before I tell the tale? And afterwards, you can tell me of your Cinderella."
Settling down onto the grassy bank. Prince James chuckled as well.
"My tale is apt to be more unbelievable than yours, but please do begin."
James sat and gave Leonard his full attention as he wove a tale filled with a tall tower, a song heard as he passed by on a hunt, a jealous witch and a beautiful maiden with likely the longest hair in the world. Then Leonard's attentiveness was focused on James as he told of the mysterious girl arriving at the ball, her unexpected flight, the finding of a dainty slipper fashioned seemingly of pure gold and his hunt for the maiden whose foot would fit that slipper. As his story came to a close, James leaned back with his hands bracing him and studied the branches above them.
"And so I found her and she accepted my proposal. I should be the happiest man in my kingdom."
The silence hung for a moment before Leonard questioned him in a soft voice.
"Should be? You are not then?"
His eyes still on the branches above, James gave a small shake of his head.
"No. We are too different, she and I. It is almost like we speak two different languages."
After another pause, Leonard spoke again.
"I know what you speak of. It is the same with myself and Rapunzel. She grew up so isolated that . . . I am being unfair. She is a beautiful, intelligent girl, but -"
James lowered his eyes and met the hazel ones. Yes, even if he hadn't been able to recognize anything else about Leonard, he would have remembered him once he saw those eyes.
"But?"
"It isn't her fault. She was raised all by herself in that tower, so it is only natural that she thinks of no-one but herself. She sings, she plays the mandolin, she spends ungodly amounts of time just brushing that hair . . . she bores me to tears, James. In looks, she is everything a man could ever want in a Princess, but I cannot fathom how I will ever be able to stand a lifetime with her."
Once more the silence fell, but this time James was the one to break it.
"Forget appearances. If you envisioned who you could spend a lifetime with, who would it be?"
Leonard now was the one whose gaze went toward the heavens.
"You would either laugh at me or be insulted. I wouldn't care for either reaction, James."
A moment later, Leonard felt the touch of a hand being laid over his.
"Can I tell you a secret, Bones? After my mother corrected me on the story, I kissed even more frogs than before hoping one might become a prince that had your eyes."
Leonard shifted his gaze down to met those vivid blue eyes again, searching them for any trace of mockery and, finding none, starting to smile. Not moving the hand that James had his over, Leonard brought up his other hand and laid it against the blond hair even as the sun began to slip behind the mountains and set the clouds on fire.
Bringing up his own free hand, James ran it over the shirt Leonard was wearing as the two of them leaned closer to one another. The first kiss was light - tentative as if each expected the other to recoil at any second. When that didn't happen, the second kiss was firmer and longer as Leonard's hand slid down to caress the side of James' neck and James nudged Leonard's shirt down his shoulder so that he could feel the warmth of that skin directly under his fingertips.
The full moon rose to replace the dying sun and gave a silvery cast to the water. The sound of frogs beginning their mating calls struck James as terribly funny and the two held one another until the laughter faded. Then their lips met again and all thoughts beyond thoughts of each other fled for the duration of that kiss. Which was no short affair.
The nickering of the horses reminded them of the time and they pulled apart slowly and with obvious reluctance on the part of both men. Then with a sigh, James pulled Leonard closer and laid his head on the dark haired man's broad shoulder.
"It isn't fair. Why couldn't I have realized sooner that what I truly desired didn't come in a golden slipper?"
Leonard's hand moved to the back of James' neck, rubbing gently.
"Perhaps we both went in pursuit of unobtainable women in the hopes that they would remain unobtainable."
Leonard pulled away just enough to slip a hand underneath James' chin, tilting his head until their eyes met again.
"But - had you not pursued your Cinderella and become engaged to her, I would not be here now. So I cannot regret that you found the girl in the golden slipper."
After a moment, James started to smile as well.
"I suppose when you put it that way, I don't have any regrets either. But I will have them if I go through with the wedding tomorrow. I don't know what to do. Shaming Cinderella by leaving her at the altar would be cruel and it isn't her fault that I love another."
Drawing James close again, Leonard tenderly kissed his forehead.
"Then we must talk with her. With both of them. Since they are both faultless, let us agree to go with what they decide. Even if it means marriage."
James hesitated for only a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, you're right. Of course, you're right. It was I that pursued her, after all."
"Even if all we may become tomorrow is friends, you will not lose me again, James. I swear it."
The two shared another kiss, but it was bittersweet as they pulled apart and went to remount their horses. Now that they knew what had to be done, they both wanted to speak with their ladies as soon as possible.
As they approached the door to the suite Cinderella had been given for her use before the wedding, Prince Leonard held up his hand. Once both men were quiet, the soft sounds of weeping could be heard. Concerned, James moved up to the door and rapped as he called out to her.
"Cinderella? Please, may we come in?"
The door opened, but it was Rapunzel standing there and who gestured the two Princes inside. Cinderella was dabbing at her face with a handkerchief and started to apologize, but James walked straight to her and gathered up her hand.
"Please. No apologies. Just tell me why you are weeping."
Leonard took Rapunzel's hand and the two of them moved closer as well. As Cinderella seemed too embarrassed to speak, Leonard spoke to her in a gentle tone.
"Dear lady, I would like to think we are all friends here and will continue to be such no matter what it is that you have to say. Please unburden yourself. I have heard it said a sorrow shared is a sorrow lessened."
Looking up with grey eyes that were watery as the mists, Cinderella sniffled and made use of her handkerchief again.
"I am so, so sorry, James, but I don't think I can do this. Being a Princess was something I had always dreamed of. Those dreams kept me going even when my life was a misery, but . . . this isn't a dream. It isn't even my dream. I have lived a nightmare and I have lived for dreams. I think - I know - what I want now is something real."
Prince James sat beside her and reached up to brush another tear away from her cheek.
"If that is what you truly want, Cinderella, then I will see that is what you shall have. If you want a little home of your own to do with as you please, I will give it to you. You need never return to your father's home again. Tell me what it is that would make you happy."
"I think what has made me happy in the past. Animals. Perhaps a small farm where I can tend to animals. But I don't expect you to -"
"Shhh. I know that you don't expect me to give it to you. You've never really learned to expect any kindness, have you? But you have given me a gift richer than anything I can hope to repay. Please accept this gift from me, inadequate as it is."
Rapunzel cleared her throat.
"Prince Leonard, I too have a confession to make. The more I see of the world away from my tower, the more that I want to see. You are a dear, dear man and I may be a fool to say this, but I want to travel. I want to see, learn and do everything that I was shut away from my whole life. I know it sounds incredibly selfish -"
Prince Leonard stopped her words by taking her hands into his own.
"You have had your entire life dictated to by another, sweet lady. Going out into the world to find out for yourself who you truly are makes perfect sense. Decide where it is you wish to start and I will make sure you are on your way with adequate funds and a companion, for travel is safer in numbers."
Rapunzel smiled then gave Leonard a kiss on the cheek before turning to Cinderella.
"You poured out your heart and your story to me and I feel like you are the sister I always longed for during the long, lonely days in my tower. You have been, in many ways, as isolated as I was. Would you care to see the world with me? I can think of no-one I would rather share new sights with."
Cinderella's mouth dropped open slightly and James saw the light of real excitement take fire in her eyes.
"A trip for now and perhaps that farm on a later date should your path lead you back here?"
Cinderella threw her arms around James and hugged him tightly.
"Yes. Oh yes. Thank you for everything. But - the guests! Your mother, the Queen! All the wedding preparations . . ."
Hugging her back to calm her nerves, Prince James smiled over to Prince Leonard, who was smiling broadly back at him.
"My lady mother has often said that I can charm my way out of any situation. Do not fret and let me handle everything. Trust me, dear lady. Everything has all worked out for the best."
~And they all lived happily ever after~