Author's Note: The POV for this chapter is Cristobel's. Hope you like it; it's the only one you'll be getting for the next… I'd say, 3 months? Hey, I'm not trying to be evil; I just don't think I'll be able to spit much out anytime soon. My creative resources have been depleted! (Y'know, if ever there was a formula for creativity, I'd put some serious stock into it!) Sorry it's been so long, but after Prom, I had graduation to contend with and that's just an ordeal. Now, I'm studying for a Pharmacy Technician test AND I have to get a summer job. Ugh.

Chapter V

"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!!!"

I woke with a start, shaking the nightmare from my head, but as I surveyed my surroundings I found that the nightmare was more than just that: it happened.

Tori left me nearly six weeks ago and I haven't seen her since that night. I searched for her frantically, but I knew not where to find her. She didn't go back to the cave, not for the three weeks I went daily to find her.

I was lost without her, my despondency apparent to all, but what was I to do? She had asked me an impossible question. How could I love her? She was warm and kind, thoughtful and smart. She was good, but she was a frog. Had she been human, maybe it would have been different.

I began my day, pushing sad thoughts away. I had arrived at the palace of Frederick Mancell last night. I will be here for the next ten days, learning more about his daughter, Caroline.

I wandered aimlessly in the gardens with the young princess on my arm, who was describing things here and there, and glad to have gotten away from the pushy Queen. Caroline was nice-mannered enough to not annoy, but her mother was another story! Although very similar in features, Caroline and her mother were very different.

The Queen desired a union between her daughter and myself, but Caroline merely wanted a companion. In the few days I have been here, a camaraderie has grown between us. She was marriageable, but it would not be right. It could not be right.

We walked amiably as she chattered in my ear, but I remained silent, not entirely focused, until I felt a sudden tug on my sleeve.

"Your Highness," said Caroline, "If you'd like, I want to show you something that perhaps will capture your attention."

I blushed at this and let myself be dragged by the waif to a small clearing where a statue of striking beauty lay hidden in a grove of greenery.

"Where… What is this, Caroline?"

She giggled coquettishly; if she had been pursuing me, I would have found that very disturbing, "This is a secret garden. My great ancestor, King Michael Mancell, fell in love with a beautiful maiden, but it was not meant to be. One day, before he could formally propose, she disappeared and he resigned to marry Caroline Abbersmith, the daughter of Lord and Lady Abbersmith, who I am named for."

"Is this the maiden, then?"

"If you'd let me finish, impatient boy!" she giggled again, but I was becoming anxious. There was something about the statue that had me piqued; I needed to know more.

"Well, King Michael, who at the time was only a prince, still in love with the missing maiden, erected a small shrine in her memory, always keeping it secret from the queen and his mother-in-law."

"What happened to her? The maiden, I mean. Where did she go?"

Caroline sighed wistfully, seating herself on a small, stone bench, "She was never found, but there are theories… conjectures, if you will"

"Theories?" Streaks of sunlight flittered across the visage of the statue as the wind brushed through the ivy and I felt dizzy, as though floating, drawing nearer to touch it.

"Caroline's mother, Lady Abbersmith, was said to have practiced witchcraft. When she found out that Prince Michael intended to have the maiden as his bride instead of her own daughter, she cursed the innocent woman, changing her beautiful features to that of a disgusting animal because it was with her beauty that the prince first fell in love. It is said that she can only become human again if a man loved her despite her appalling form. It's such a heart-wrenching tale, no? I feel so sorry for the maiden; I believe she did not even return the King's affections!"

I lightly traced the features of the statue's face, trying to understand what it was about this story that had me so captivated. "What was her name?"

"Whose? Lady Abbersmith's?"

"No, the maiden, the innocent."

"Oh, hm, it was Victoria. Victoria Elise Rouchant."

"Victoria…"