Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this chapter
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Lin was if nothing, a very capable man in his chosen career, but faced with a crying lady and he found himself feeling helpless. It had been that way with Mai back at the Guild and it was the same now. He bit back the sharp retort that he was about to make about crying over spilt milk and instead held out his arms silently to his childhood friend. Contrary to what the palace gossips believed, Madoka was not the two centuries old crone that she claimed all enchantresses were. They'd grown up in the same village and he had often visited her at the Academy of Magecraft when she was a student there and watched and ultimately supported her through the many chaotic episodes she concocted. "Now, you must promise me not to be too shocked," she mumbled into his coat lapel. Lin, who knew his friend only too well, sucked in a breath to compose himself.
"I turned Naru into a frog by accident."
"A frog," he echoed.
"By accident," she sniffled and then hiccupped. "And he fell out of the window." Lin paled visibly and then moved to examine the garden below. Outside, the late afternoon sun blazed over the garden illuminating every nook and cranny. There was no splattered body to be seen anywhere and he felt his shoulders sag in relief. "I think he managed to get away," he said. "Have you informed His Majesty?"
Then, there was a loud yell and crash. The shout sounded a lot like Takigawa's and they both ran out. Lin hastily stopped a servant boy who was rushing back up the stairs. "What happened?"
"Sir Takigawa fell down the garden steps. The head gardener thinks he's broken his leg. And, pardon me Your Excellency, but I've to go fetch the physician!" the young boy squeaked and ducked past Lin into the palace.
Sure enough, when they arrived in the garden a few minutes later, Takigawa was sitting on the ground beside a few broken flower pots.
"I swear that boy will get me killed one of these days," he snarled on catching sight of Madoka.
The wizened old gardener snorted. "'Think he's broken not just his leg but his head too," he remarked loudly to Lin.
Takigawa, who seemed not to have heard the last comment, pointed at the garden wall. "I saw him near there." Lin nodded once quickly.
"Madoka, would you and Mr er,"
"Walls, Your Excellency," the head gardener supplied.
"Mr Walls please watch the Royal Tutor?"
At that moment, someone began pushing through the gathering crowd of onlookers. "Out of the way. Healer coming through!" The crowd dutifully parted to let a tall lady dressed in an elegant pale yellow and lavender gown through. Her long red hair had been swept up under a magnificent straw hat with a dyed ostrich feather and ribbons trailing down. Takigawa gaped at her. "You aren't the Royal Physician!" he said accusingly as Madoka beamed at her in relief. "Aya-chan!"
"Save the hellos for later," she replied brusquely and began rolling her sleeves up. "I've to examine the patient first."
"Where is the Royal Physician? I am not concussed. Tell her I'm not concussed," he beseeched Walls, who was still holding him up. The old man shrugged. "Best listen to the doctor," he replied firmly. Aya-chan or Lady Ayako, as she preferred to be known as, whacked his head smartly.
"The Royal Physician is busy delivering Lady Felicia's baby. And shut up. I know you're not concussed. Now, stop waving about so I can splint your leg."
"I do not want to be treated by a shrew!" Takigawa hissed under his breath as Ayako began issuing orders to have him carried back to his room. Unfortunately, Madoka seemed to have heard, and she wagged a finger at him irritatingly.
"Now, now, behave yourself Takigawa-san. You are injured. Ayako is a certified healer and more than capable of taking care of you."
The motley group had arrived at Takigawa's bedroom door. It was still ajar as no one had, in the commotion earlier, thought to lock it and the Countess swept in immediately. She scrunched up her nose at the sight of his bedchamber.
"You're very untidy for a Royal Tutor," she said.
"Hey, I keep my sitting room and study neat enough! It's an organized mess." He protested.
"Regardless what kind of mess it is, I'll need space to work," she replied crisply and promptly swept aside the contents of his table in order to place a basin and a towel on it. Takigawa grimaced as several items clattered to the floor.
"Don't be such a baby," Ayako said, misinterpreting his expression as annoyance for her when she dabbed at his face with a wet cloth.
"You've got a pretty bad bruise on the side of your head."
"Yeah, it hurts like mad."
She shook her head. "Madoka told me what happened. Where do you think the prince went?"
"I just hope he hasn't gotten himself eaten or anything. Lin is looking into it right now. And I hope Madoka manages to convince everyone that Naru has been removed from the palace because he's caught a highly contagious disease." Takigawa shuddered. "Her spells tend to not have the correct effect."
But, the Royal Tutor's fears were unfounded, and in spite of the Enchantress's earlier haywire spell casting, the spell of delusion that she cast over the inhabitants seemed to have worked quite well in spite of the Queen's surprisingly strong maternal instinct.
"What do you mean the castle has to be evacuated now?" she had demanded. "I want to see my poor son first."
The Enchantress bowed her head regretfully. "I'm afraid that is not possible, Your Majesty. Prince Oliver is not fit to be seen by anyone. The disease causes him to break out in infectious green pustules, and you know how concerned he is of his appearance. It would not do to aggravate his fever." And, in the end, Albion's royalty had walked away from Madoka believing that their son had come down with a rare and highly contagious case of froggaitis that prevented him from attending his own birthday ball. It was a most regrettable business and just as well that their other son, Gene had wrote in to say that he would not be attending at all.
That night, the palace was ablaze with torches as disgruntled guests were ushered back into their various modes of transportation. The Chancellor had just heaved a sigh of relief when the last carriage had finally rolled away when one of the guards came running up. His eyes widened at what the other man had to say. "Oh, surely not," he groaned at the sight of the veiled palanquin parked beneath the sweeping willows. "They aren't expected until next week." He sagged against the temporary booth they'd set up in the front gates. "Get the Minister of Trade here lad."
In the first few moments when Naru's body had connected with the ground, he had lain there unable to move, or even to think clearly. Everything looked strange, as if out of focus and overly bright and big. Where am I? Who am I? He thought dazedly. A tiny voice reminded him that he was the prince, but when he looked down, he saw webbed feet. No, I'm a frog. But, that didn't seem to be right either… He picked himself up and breathed a sigh of relief when he found nothing to be broken. A few experimental hops landed him near a high wall. The sharp uneven sides swam queasily before him. Then, he noticed a crack of soothing dark at the bottom of the wall and he quickly crawled through it into mercifully soft moss.
As the prince, (now a frog) sat there mulling his next move, he heard a loud yell and peeked out from the crack. It looked as though someone had just fallen down the three shallow steps that led from the open courtyard into the garden. Naru sniffed in disdain. How could anyone be so clumsy? Then, he remembered that he'd just fallen out of a window. Whose window, he wasn't sure, but at least he was now free from the evil clutches of… He tetchily shoved that unpleasant memory aside. If Gene knew, he'd never hear the end of it. Gene! That's right. Gene could fix this. Whoever this Gene was he wondered for a brief minute. Not that it mattered, so long as he remembered that someone could help him. He hopped out into the sun. The long shadows were pointing ahead of him. It was almost sundown. Good. He was at least facing the right direction in which the Academy was. It was a week's journey there on horseback and through the woods. Well, he told himself. Better get started then.
Author's notes: Argh! Naru still hasn't met Mai yet. But it was fun to write about the other characters too and now the story seems to progressing depressingly slow. Let me know what you, my dear reader think?
Reviews are once again, greatly appreciated!