Gaius was called away to visit a patient, leaving Merlin to think and come up with a plan.
Merlin's idea on how to get Gwen to kiss Arthur stemmed from the fact that people sometimes kiss a person or animal when they're feeling especially grateful. So the question was what could a frog do that a person couldn't? A person couldn't dive into a well to retrieve a lost object. So then he thought about what would Gwen be devastated to lose? She'd be distraught about losing her wedding ring. The trouble then became how was he going to get Arthur to cooperate with the plan?
Looking through his spell book, he found one that allowed the sorcerer to control the mind of a small animal. He didn't know if it would work for frog people, but he had to give a try. He said the words that went along with the spell and then found all he had to do was think about what he wanted him to do. Arthur used his webbed feet to push open the lock, hopped across the floor, jumped on top of the table, and stopped when he was directly in front of Merlin, all at the command of Merlin's thoughts. "Perfect," Merlin said, as he picked Arthur up.
There was one last problem. Even controlling a frog wouldn't allow him to make the frog talk. He would have to throw his voice onto Arthur's frog form to make it sound like he could talk. That, however, was a much simpler spell. Even regular people could do that with practice.
Gwen took early morning strolls almost on a daily basis just before daybreak when there weren't a lot of people around. It was the perfect time to execute his plan.
Merlin dropped Arthur in the well with a mind command to stay put and then he hid in the bushes and waited.
Gwen came down the street, looking lost in thought. Merlin used his magic to cause her ring to come off and roll into the well. Gwen didn't notice it at first, but she heard the tiny splash. She went running to the side of the well, but she couldn't see it.
Using his deepest, croakiest sounding voice, Merlin said, "I can retrieve your ring, my queen."
She turned her head in both directions, looking for a person who went with the voice. "Who said that?"
"I did. I'm down in the well."
Gwen was a shade paler, unable to deny that it was where the voice was coming from. She slowly peered into the well afraid of what could be in there. "I don't see you. Are you some sort of water spirit?"
"Can't you see me? I'm the green frog. I can see you." All the while Merlin said that he was moving Arthur's frog lips to make it look as if the frog were speaking.
"This isn't happening." Gwen was clearly still spooked and why shouldn't she be? She thought there was a frog talking to her. "Wh-what did you say before?"
"I will retrieve your ring in exchange for a kiss. It's that simple."
"Unbelievable. I meet a talking frog and he's no different than the average male human. You get my ring and you're invited to the palace. I'll even let you eat at the table with us."
Merlin supposed that would have to be good enough for now, but he wasn't ready to give up his bargaining. "Will I be allowed to go wherever you go for at least a full day?"
Gwen didn't look thrilled with this arrangement. She looked at the deep, dark well where her lost ring was probably resting on the bottom, "Okay, Sir Frog. Get my ring and it's a deal."
Merlin had Arthur dive for the ring. This is where it got difficult. Frog feet were not made to grasp. He had him put the ring in his mouth instead. Arthur came to the surface with the metal object in less than a minute.
Gwen looked nervous when she didn't see the ring, but Merlin had Arthur open his mouth, displaying the wet, gleaming ring.
Gwen pulled it off his sticky tongue with a look of disgust on her face. "Thanks, I think." She held out her hand. "A deal's a deal. I will return you to the well tomorrow morning. You can ride in my pocket."
Merlin was happy that it had gone well, but he could see it was going to take a lot to make Gwen willing to kiss Arthur as a frog. He forgot to keep controlling Arthur and Arthur hopped out of Gwen's pocket.
"I thought you were coming?" Gwen asked in an irritated tone with hands on her hips.
"Yes. yes, of course. It's a bad habit I've picked up recently. You'll have to forgive me. I've a brain the size of a pea even in the best of circumstances."
Gwen put him in her pocket again, and they headed off to the castle.