“You’re a determined little frog, aren’t you?” Erysande said.
There was a hint of irritation in her voice as she hurled another fireball. This one missed Roland again, but caught one of the cages on fire beneath him. He choked a little on the smoke that began to rise. Just above him, he could see Clara’s cage.
With a leap, he reached her. A fireball hit beside him, and he winced with pain from the searing heat.
Roland struggled into the small space between Clara’s cage and the one beside it and moved towards the wall. He felt the heat behind him as another fireball crashed against the cages. When he reached the wall, he put his head against the wall and his hind legs against Clara’s cage. He pushed, but the cage wouldn’t budge. He waited for another impact from one of the witch’s projectiles, and when it came he pushed again against the cage as hard as he could. Together with Roland’s pressure, the force of the fireball knocked loose Clara’s cage.
Clara’s cage, along with Roland, crashed to the floor breaking apart on impact. Roland’s only thought was for Clara. Though his body ached from the fall, he tried to get up to help her, but found that his leg was trapped beneath the cage. Roland saw snake Clara slither free of her confines. She was at his side in a flash, trying to free his leg by lifting the beam that was pinning it down. Her movements were unsure and awkward, a result of her recent transformation. She wasn’t having much luck lifting the cage.
Erysande readied another fireball.
“When you become human again, you need to run,” Roland told Clara. Then he grabbed her head and pressed her lips against his own. Sure enough she began to change. Roland could feel nothing but joy at seeing her return to her human form.
“Leave me,” Roland told her, “you’ve got to-” Roland was prevented from finishing when a pain shot through his entire body. At first he thought it was some sort of magic from the witch, but then he realized that he was changing, too. It was the same pain he had felt when he’d first changed into a frog, but this time it was restoring him to his rightful form.
The witch turned her attention from hurling fireballs to attempting to keep him in his frog form, but it was an effort that fell well short. Not only was the broken curse backed by true love, but power that had lain dormant for years surged through Roland’s body. As soon as the pain stopped and the curse was gone, Roland turned that power on the witch.
The witch let out a horrified scream as she shrunk in size. Her bones cracked and her skin turned a mossy shade of green as the enchantment ran its course. It wasn’t long before the human cry turned into an animal croak. Where the witch had stood only a moment ago, there now sat a frog.
Roland’s attention returned immediately to Clara. He felt a brief moment of panic when he didn’t see her, but she soon returned carrying a bucket of water which she used to douse the flames creeping up through the cages.
“I was just about to do something about that,” said Roland, “but it seems that you beat me to it.”
Together they freed the cursed creatures that made up Erysande’s menagerie and Roland returned them to their human form. For many of them it was quite a shock, having forgotten their former lives long ago. Roland sent Clara for help while he stayed with the newly freed humans. There were some familiar faces here. Roland recognized the former Dean of Battle Magic immediately, as well an instructor named Finley. Finley had taught several of the same courses as Erysande and was almost universally the preferred instructor. It was little wonder that he’d been one of the witch’s victims.
Clara soon returned with the remaining deans. They were quite shocked at what they saw when they arrived on the scene. Fortunately some of the witch’s other victims were coherent enough to back up Roland and Clara’s story.
***
The rest of the night and the next day was a whirlwind of activity. Just when Roland had finished telling his story to the deans, the Provost of the school appeared and he had to start all over again. It was the first of several such occurrences that kept Roland occupied until late in the afternoon. He had no idea where Clara had been whisked off to, but it was a question that was never far from his mind. He hoped that she’d been allowed a bit more rest than he’d been afforded.
At last the stream of interviews was over, and he was taken to an empty dorm in order to get some rest. His escort turned out to be both knowledgeable about the day’s events and willing to talk. He knew exactly where Clara was staying and didn’t mind telling Roland where that was. A few minutes later, Roland was knocking on Clara’s door.
Clara answered. Her hair was a disheveled mess and she had dark circles beneath her eyes. Roland knew how much she hated being woken from her sleep, which is why he found the smile that she gave him to be so wonderful.
“I told you we would win,” he told her. He gave her a smile of his own, and was delighted when she blushed a little. He’d been well aware of his beauty when he’d been human. Now, however, he was simply glad to have more to offer Clara than webbed feet and slimy skin.
“I didn’t think I would see you until tomorrow,” Clara said. “You must be exhausted.”
“Yes, quite,” Roland admitted. But not too exhausted to come see you? I couldn’t rest until I saw you one more time? No both of those are terrible lines no matter how true, thought Roland. He wished he’d paid more attention to the things that the minstrel had said to the princess. Maybe he would know what to say in a moment like this. Instead he took Clara’s hand and together they went to one of the private study rooms that overlooked the commons.
The warmth of Clara’s hand on his arm, his human arm, was wonderful. It had taken him no time at all to grow accustomed again to his true form. Every inch of him felt as though it had been put back together, good as new. Maybe even better, depending on Clara.
They stood near the railing and watched the students milling around below. He was still thinking of the perfect words to say to Clara when she broke the silence.
“Where will you go from here?” she asked.
He realized he hadn’t thought much about the answer to that question, except for one thing. Whatever it was that he did, he was going to make sure that Clara was right there by his side. “I haven’t figured it out yet, to be honest,” he answered.
There was another lull in the conversation before Clara said, “I don’t understand something. Your curse was supposed to be broken by true love, and I was certainly very fond of you but I would never have imagined myself to be madly in love with you. You were a frog after all.”
Now this, on the other hand, was something that Roland had considered. In between interviews and explanations, his thoughts had often turned to Clara, and how it was that her kiss had broken his curse. He thought he’d found the answer. “You found me when I had been forgotten by everyone else, you helped me see that I could be more than I was, and all of this because you were able to forgive an unforgivable cruelty. I do believe it is the truest love I have ever felt.” He added hesitantly, “You may have noticed that I broke the spell on you as well.”
Roland looked at Clara and saw that she was ever so slightly blushing again. He took it as an encouraging sign and continued, “It turned out that I was terribly wrong about something.”
“How so?”
“I thought that all of the plans you made were terrible, but it they ended up being quite excellent. Getting captured by the witch was particularly a nice touch. I doubt anything else could have motived me to leave the lake quite so well.”
Clara glared at him, but Roland gave her his most charming smile, and slowly she began to shake her head as the glare melted into a half grin. “You haven’t changed at all.”
Before Clara had a chance to describe all of the deficiencies that his human transformation had not cured, he placed his hand on her face and brushed her hair from her eyes with his fingers. Clara looked surprised but she didn’t back away.
He pulled her close and kissed her.
CHAPTER 11
; The moon was full and bright overhead as Roland walked the garden path. It was hard for him to believe it had already been five years since Clara had broken his curse. The walk through the night air helped him to clear his head, but he had a destination in mind.
After a few more minutes of walking he reached a small forest pond not unlike the one where he’d lived in as a frog. The air around him was filled with the calls of frogs of the uncursed variety, blending with the sound of crickets chirping in a nightly symphony. He came here almost every night. He knew exactly why.
He didn’t usually stay long, and he intended for this night to be no exception. As he turned to go he saw a figure in the distance walking to meet him. If it had been anyone else, he might have been bothered, but the silhouette up ahead belonged to Clara. He waved at her, and waited for her to join him at the pond.
When she arrived he kissed her in greeting, and then gently brushed the hair away from her face. He’d wondered how long it would take her before she followed him here. Minding her own business was one of her many fine qualities, but he’d known that eventually her curiosity would win out.
“So this is where you go,” she said. “Let me guess, you miss being a frog and you come here to reminisce about the past.”
“No,” Roland said, “I don’t come here to try to remember. I come here so I don’t forget.”
Clara looked at him inquiringly so Roland offered further explanation. “The curse was a horrifying experience, but it wasn’t without its benefits. Were it not for the witch’s curse, I might have followed in her footsteps, abusing my power as it pleased me the way she did. And worst of all, I never would have fallen in love with you.”
He must have said the right thing because in the next instant Clara’s lips met his.
“Do you ever wonder,” Clara asked, “if all along my plan had not been to defeat a witch, but to gain a prince for a husband instead?”
Roland let out a hearty laugh. “If that was your plan, it is one I greatly approve of, and I’m so glad it worked.”
Clara put her head on her Roland’s shoulder and together they stood looking out over the water. It wouldn’t be long before he went back, and when he did he would once again be the son of a king as well as a master of battle magic and other magic far more unfamiliar. Here with Clara he was simply Roland. He wanted to cherish this moment for as long as he could. Clara seemed to be of the same mind because it was a good long while before she lifted her head. Roland took her hand into his, and together they walked back up the garden trail.
A Kiss to Break the Spell Page 7