Once Upon A Time
Chapter 1: The Prince and The Frog
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Paring: Destiel
This is my sad attempt to write in the voice of the Grimm brothers. Also, this is based off of the story in the Complete Works of the Brothers Grimm and not the Disney version.
Once upon a time, long ago, in a kingdom far away, there lived a King and his seven sons. All of the King's sons were beautiful to behold but it was the youngest Prince that all adored.
His name was Castiel.
On the King's land, in the center one of the many gardens, was a large lily pond where Castiel liked to spend his day. He loved the peace he found among the flowers and the bees, especially on days when his brothers were fighting.
It was by this pond that Castiel met a large and ugly frog.
"What's wrong, young Prince?" The frog asked. "What is it that makes you cry?"
"It is nothing. My brothers are fighting, that is all." Castiel told the frog, wiping his tears away.
"Then why do you weep? Is it because of you that your brothers fight?" The frog hopped out of the water to sit beside the Prince.
"No, but I do not like to hear them argue. I hide from it here, among the bees and the flowers." Castiel gestured around the spacious garden full of flowers.
The frog croaked in understanding, and just like that the frog and the Prince became friends.
As the days went by, Castiel told his companion about his family. Prince Michael who wanted to become a Knight, Prince Gabriel who played more pranks then the court Fool, Prince Lucifer who was in love with Princess Sam from a neighboring kingdom, Prince Uriel who was openly cruel to peasants, Prince Raphael who wanted to be King, and Prince Balthazar who was Castiel's closest friend.
"And what of the King?" The frog asked, glad to have found Castiel beside his pond.
"Father is often gone. I rarely see him."
The frog thought of his own family. How long had it been since he had been able to see them? He couldn't put into words how much he missed them.
One day, when the frog poked his head out of the water, he found Castiel on his knees beside the pond, tears running down his face.
"What's the matter, Castiel?" The frog asked. What could make the Prince so upset? Had Gabriel played a mean prank on him?
"My father gave me a little golden ball this morning, and while playing with it, the thing rolled into the pond." Castiel mumbled, unable to believe he had already lost the gift.
The frog looked to the pond. It would be nothing for him to swim to the bottom of the pond and retrieve the Prince's plaything, but this was the opportunity the frog had been waiting for. It was his chance to see his family again.
"I will retrieve your ball if you take me to your castle and help me find the family that has been lost to me." The frog croaked, watching Castiel's expression closely.
"Yes, whatever you want, little frog." Castiel agreed, not paying too much attention to his promise.
After hearing the agreement, the frog hopped into the water to fetch the object of Castiel's affection. It took several minutes to swim back to the surface, as the ball was very heavy, but when he finally breached the surface and spat the orb onto the grass, he was rewarded with a smile from Castiel.
"Thank you, frog!" Castiel clutched the ball in his fist.
"Hey, Cassie!" A voice called, capturing the Prince's attention. "Father wants to see you!" Balthazar continued. Forgetting about the frog, Castiel got to his feet and followed his brother out of the garden, leaving the frog to hop after them as fast as he could.
After many hours of work, the frog managed to make it up the stone steps and squeezing through a crack in the door, he was finally in the castle! Fallowing the voices of the King's sons, having yet another argument, the frog made his way into the dining hall.
"Give it up, Lucifer." Uriel growled at his brother, who was writing a letter. "She will never agree to be your bride."
"Yes she will!" Lucifer argued, throwing a piece of bread at Uriel. "Once Price Dean is found, Princess Sam will agree to be my bride!"
Gabriel only laughed, watching the two fight over something so ridiculous.
The frog made a loud croak to gain the attention of the royal family before him.
"Prince Castiel, by the ponds waters you made a promise to me in exchange for fetching your ball from the depths. You are honor bound to keep your promise to help me find my family."
"Is that true, Father? Must Castiel keep such a promise to a frog?" Michael asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the creature.
"You made a promise, Castiel. It is your place to help the frog. Until then, he is your guest and it is your place to care for the frog. Food, drink, and a place to sleep." King Chuck informed his son.
"Yes, Father." Castiel bowed his head before getting out of his chair to pick the frog up from it's place beside the door to place it on the table beside his plate instead.
The frog picked at pieces of lettuce, drinking occasionally from Castiel's cup when it was offered. The pair were quiet as they ate, all the while listened to the brothers argue about Lucifer and Princess Sam.
Soon, Castiel picked the small creature up to carry him up to bed.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Balthazar called after them, raising his glass in a toast.
The frog could tell the situation was upsetting Castiel, and he wished he could make things easier for the other man, but thanks to the curse he was under, the frog was unable to tell the Prince anything.
Castiel was quiet as he changed into his bed clothes, lost in thought about what to do about the frog. It was true that he considered the creature a friend, but he was unaccustomed to serving others, as his father had instructed. The sooner Castiel helped the frog, the sooner he would be able to go back to the life he was accustomed to.
For many days, the frog and the Prince ate together, slept in the same bed, and explored the gardens as Castiel asked endless questions about the frog, his family, and where he was from. For every question, the frog would reply, "I can not answer that."
One night, while Castiel was getting ready for bed, Castiel asked one last question.
"What can you tell me?"
"Nothing."
Anger controlled the Prince's actions as he plucked the frog up from his bed and flung him away from him.
As the frog slid down the road, he transformed into a man.
"God, I hate witches!" The man groaned, rubbing his head as he got to his feet.
"Who are you?" Castiel asked, fear taking the place of anger.
"I am Prince Dean. I had been cursed by a witch and only an act of passion would have broken the spell." He bowed to his friend. "Thank you for caring for me, Cas. I will leave you now and I hope that you forgive me for being difficult."
Dean turned away, ready to leave, but Castiel grabbed the man by the arm.
"It was my duty to you, not only by my honor bound word, but as a friend."
...
The wedding between Dean and Castiel was a joyous occasion, celebrated throughout both kingdoms.
Lucifer is still courting Sam.
And they all lived happily ever after.
The end.
Up next: King Thrushbeard!