I resisted screaming until I was near the river. And when I had reached the river and the very tree they had dragged me from that morning, that was exactly what I did. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed until everyone had to know that a monkey was in the area. Oh, no. Not a monkey. A mess of something not quite human and not quite monkey. I climbed up the tree, huddled near the trunk, and squeezed my arms around my furry body.

And when I was done screaming, I cried. I had never felt crying solved much of anything, but I didn't know what else to do and I had no idea how my situation could be solved. Crying wasn't an effort, it was a reaction. I cried and I cried and I would be lying if I said it did not feel amazing in its way. You see, I had cried before, but part of me had always wondered if it were natural for monkeys to cry. Was it to be expected? Now that I knew the truth, crying seemed to be a relief, a privilege, even.

So I cried. I cried because I was scared. I cried because I missed Bastien and Queen Flore. I cried because of some stupid spell I was a monkey. I cried because apparently because of some stupid spell I was not a human. I cried because I had no idea what I was supposed to be. I cried because I had no idea what I was supposed to be thinking.

Hours could have passed before my eyes seemed to have released their last tears. I sniffled, leaned my head back against the tree, and tried to appreciate the beauty of the land. So this was my kingdom. What was supposed to be my kingdom, anyway. I really had no opinion on it. If things had been different, would I feel differently?

Was I mistaken on everything? Was this my land? Did I interpret correctly and were King Achille and Queen Cerise really my parents?

I wasn't sure I wanted Queen Cerise as my mother. She had wanted to lock me in a tower, for heaven's sake. I would not be happy in a tower.

And she had tried to kill me. The realization hit me like a boulder. When… whatever had happened, she had sent me to be drowned. If it had not been for Queen Flore, I would be dead.

I couldn't go back there.

Then where was I to go? Back to Queen Flore? The idea horrified me. She… she thought of me as a monkey. Everyone did. I thought of myself as a monkey, unable to wrap my mind around the concept of human. I didn't know what I was.

"You lived."

I looked down the tree and nearly screamed.

A monkey sat at the bottom, playing with a bag I immediately recognized as the one sent by King Maggot and looking up at me with annoyance.

Gigona.

"You!" I screeched. Then I realized something else. I had understood her.

"Don't get me wrong," Gigona continued, tossing out a small orange. "I'm not entirely upset you're not dead. I really don't know what I would think if you had drowned. Though I think that was the intention. I'm not sure. Pushing you in was a rather spur-of-the-moment emotional thing."

I had never heard a monkey speak to me. And after all I had done in my lifetime as the amazing talking monkey. Of course. The leaf Biroquoi had given to me. Now apparently I had the power to talk with the animal I currently hated the most, the one who was going through my things. I sprang from the tree. "Give that back."

She rolled her eyes, but gave me the bag. "There. Happy? I don't know why you like it so much. The only thing in there valuable is that box. Boxes. Magic. My father must really want to marry you." Disgust dripped from every word.

"The box is magic?" I pulled it out. "King Biroquoi had said it was special…"

"Special, nothing. It's rare magic. Too rare for you. Unless my suspicions are correct…" She studied me strangely.

I did not like the monkey girl who had tried to kill me looking at me, nor did I like her mention of suspicions. Well, Bastien had courted dozens of princesses and this monkey was no princess. Except her monkey people apparently thought she was. My fur bristled. "And what are your suspicions?" Why was I asking that? "I demand to know why you pushed me into the river!"

She shrugged and began to pull at grass. "Because I don't want you marrying my father. My father had my mother. He doesn't need another wife."

"Yet you came with the convoy."

"To investigate you," she replied casually. "I just don't like you. Probably never will. You don't seem the type my father should be marrying. You don't act like a monkey."

Not that again. "What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Please. You live in a place of humans. You dress like a human. All your mannerisms are like a human. You would never fit in with monkeys."

I sighed. How human did I act? "So you pushed me into a river."

"You were there. I suppose I should say I'm sorry."

I actually found myself waiting for her apology before I realized what I waste of time it would be. "Are you going to say you're sorry?"

She shrugged. "You're not dead, so I don't think I have anything to apologize about. Really, I would have felt really bad if you had died. I think I just wanted you out of the way. I'm not a murderer."

"Then why are you out here by yourself?" I suddenly considered rushing back into the tree.

She sighed, then locked eyes with me. "They're trying to find you. Let's be honest. We both know you don't want to marry my father. Neither of us want you marrying my father. So, in claims of searching for you and with the bonus of winning said search, I advise you to hide. They all think you would be a great queen."

I don't know what came over me. Maybe it was all the shock I had been through. Maybe it was to convince Gigona I didn't want to be her stepmother. Maybe I was just mad. "What if I told you I wasn't a monkey?"

Gigona stared at me. Then she laughed. "Maybe I could like you." She tossed me the orange she had stolen from the bag. "Go. Get out of here. Let's end this and get back off this land before the stupid human guards return." And with that, she scampered off.

I was a little dazed from my latest run-in with the monkey princess. I sat clutching my bag. Did I trust her? Well, clearly she would not tell Mirlifiche where I was. She didn't want me in her kingdom. I placed the orange in the bag, then stopped. Could I trust her at all? I reached deep inside the bag and found the jade box.

Magic, she had called it. And King Biroquoi had called it special. When everything was hopeless was it to be used.

I had never felt more hopeless than that moment.

Without thinking, I took a rock and bashed open the lock. I don't know what I expected next. Sparks? Fire? Glowing things?

Instead, oil spilled out. The box was full of oil. Not even extraordinary oil. It could have been found in any kitchen anywhere. I dropped the box into my lap and tried to wipe the oil from my hands.

Fur brushed off with the oil.

Horrified, I brought my hands to my face. My fur falling off? But the slowly widening patches revealed something else. Something… skin-like. Of course I had skin beneath my fur but not like this. And with further horror, I watched as my paws slowly extended.

I choked back a scream.

The oil was everywhere, in my lap, all over the grass. The fur had melted from my legs, and with every second that passed I was growing. The oil dripped from my hands and lap, spreading down my arms and legs. Clearly not thinking again, or perhaps morbid to finish this out, I dipped my paws into the mess of oil. They were no longer paws, though. I spread the oil over my face and head. The growing continued. I could hear my bones spreading and creaking and stretching. Fur lay in patches all around me.

Finally, it was all over, just a few patches of oil here and there. And among them I saw on my knees, too frightened to get up. I felt like a giant. If I got up, I would fall over. Something heavy fell from my scalp, but I couldn't investigate. All I could do was stare at my paws.

No, not paws.

Hands.