Whoo! This is perhaps the longest chapter since the first at a whole whopping six pages! I have only one more chapter ready after this and I don't know when I'll get my inspiration for Chapter VI, so you guys will have to be very patient with me. Besides that, my Senior Prom is next Saturday, so I HIGHLY doubt I'll be able to produce a new chapter within the next week. Anyway, enjoy this one! Who knows when I'll put up Chapter V?!
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Chapter IV
"Are all princesses shallow and stupid?" huffed Tobe after an excruciatingly long day visiting various young, noble women vying for his attentions and plopped unceremoniously onto his bed.
I hopped up onto the bed, reveling in the feel of the smooth, silky sheets. I'd been living here for nearly a month now, but still couldn't get enough of all the amenities of human living.
"Probably not, but today's display was pitiful."
"Not to mention the last month's!" Tobe rolled over onto his stomach and looked at me, "At this rate, I don't think I'll ever fall in love!"
"I think we need a better plan of action."
"What do you mean?"
I cocked my head in thought, "We've been looking at girls singularly and as they come. We ought to compose a list of qualities you like and look at several young women at a time… Oh! We should have a ball!"
He groaned, "We just HAD a ball for my birthday last month—"
"Which you left in the middle of."
"—AND I don't like they idea of meeting woman after woman. It's like I'm being showcased, or they are, or something."
"Can you come up with anything better, boy?" I joked lightly. After all these years, he still found it insulting when I called him a boy.
He glared at me indignantly and "Hmphed," burying his head into a pillow. "Ooitahooweeks."
"What was that?"
He resurfaced and sighed resignedly, "We'll have it in two weeks, okay? What will we say the occasion is?"
"Since when does royalty need a reason to have a celebration?"
*
I hid discreetly in Cristobel's sash around his waist, surveying my surroundings. The palace was highly decorated with rich colors and fragrant flowers and nobles were streaming through the doors with their daughters. I swooned slightly at the sight of all the beautiful young ladies and their dresses; as a human I had envied the beautiful clothing of the rich and now even more so that I wear no clothing at all.
"The ladies are about to be announced," Tobe said to no one in particular and patted his stomach inconspicuously, getting my attentions; "I suppose we had best get ready."
"Elisabeth Von Buren, daughter of Lord and Lady Von Buren."
"Goodness! She's massive! Even for a German!" I whispered as Tobe bowed in greeting and I felt the rumble of his withheld chuckles.
"Antoinette Blair, daughter of Viscount Blair of Fortua."
"Are those real?!" I hissed, my eyes bulging at the girl's, ahem, bountiful and exceedingly exposed endowments. His laughter was barely contained this time and he took particularly long in rising from his bow.
"Caroline Abbersmith Mancell IV, daughter of King Frederick Mancell and Queen Caroline III of the Northwestern territories of Sevoigna."
My heart ceased to function in that very moment and a frown marred Tobe's face at my silence. Lady Abbersmith's daughter had been Caroline I and there before me stood her great-great-granddaughter. She bowed gracefully and as she rose I saw in her features the very ones that often haunted my nights.
I hid in his sash through the rest of the introductions, but kept a firm eye on Caroline. Would this Abbersmith take away my life once again?
*
"Whew!" sighed Cristobel as he flung out the doors to the balcony, "Wow, the stars sure are bright tonight."
I hopped out from the sash and sat silently on the railing.
"It wasn't too bad tonight, hm? There were some very nice young ladies."
I didn't answer. Caroline's presence had made me contemplative. As she had danced briefly with Tobe, I saw a kindness in her that her ancestor, the Lady Abbersmith, had never held.
"Were there any that caught your fancy?" I asked, but I seemed to already know the answer.
"Miss Caroline Mancell was the Sevoignan princess Mother and Father had wanted me to marry. This was the first time I've ever met her."
"Yes, she seems lovely…"
"And she's rather intelligent and witty… But…" I looked up in surprise. There was a "but"? "I'm not very sure she's the one I'm meant for."
"What do you mean? She's beautiful, smart and kind. Is that not what you want, boy?" She is exactly what you should want, even if it was her family who cursed me.
He sighed exaggeratedly and walked back into his chambers, undressing himself. I watched him, admiring the strong, defined, sinewy muscles of his handsome body and sighed wistfully. He turned around at the sound and I felt heat rising in my face, but he merely flopped onto the soft mattress. I consequently hopped up onto the chaise and finally up to where he had buried his head.
Suddenly, he rolled onto his back and stared at the high ceiling. "Yes, those are some of the qualities I'm looking for, but something's not right. I want… I want someone more than that."
"I don't understand."
He sighed again and rolled back over onto his elbows to look at me. I was starting to become dizzy with his erratic movements.
"I want a connection. A sudden spark. Like with you."
"With me?"
"Yes, when I first met you, I was so startled, but intrigued all the same. You took care of me, not asking for anything, and led me home. I told you that I came back out of boredom, you probably even thought it was more of curiosity, but there was something that captivated me and pulled me to you."
In an instant I was in his palms, once again dizzy from the movement, but also from his words.
He stared into my eyes and continued, "You're my best friend, Tori. You've been there for me for everything. If I was to ever fall in love, she'd have to be a heck of a lot like you."
I saw something in his eyes then and nearly keened from the wave of hope that washed over me. I had to take this chance, right now. I couldn't let my fear of losing him keep me from this absolutely perfect opportunity.
"Instead of someone like me, could you just love… me?"
He blinked, confusion marring his face momentarily, and suddenly he was thrown into a fit of giggles.
My heart constricted in pain, but in an instant I was angry. "What's so funny!?"
Alarmed at my tone, he sat up sharply and regarded me carefully. "Tori, you're very important to me, but I could never love you that way."
"Why not? What's so different about me that you can't love?" Oh, how it hurt!
"Why, you're frog! How could I love a frog?"
"I'm female."
"But you're still a frog and I'm human. Why are you saying this? You're acting so strange." He looked at me, slightly worried.
That was it. I knew the truth now. My precious Cristobel could never love me, just as I am, a frog. I shut my eyes tightly, thinking and coming to my final conclusion: If I cannot have his love, then I want no other's. I will live the rest of my days in this cursed form.
"You're right, boy. I am a frog and you are a human."
"Tori—"
"I think that I've done all I can here. Caroline will make a fine wife."
"Tori!--"
"Goodbye, Cristobel." With this, I hopped towards the open doors leading to the night.
"Tori, what's this nonsense? Where are you going?" He followed me, nearly catching me, but I maneuvered out of his grasp and leapt over the rail.
"TORI!!!"
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