A Prince among Frogs (7 page)

The roar rang out again, louder this time, as if the beast were coming closer. Millie glanced down the corridor and saw a shadow pass beneath the flickering light of the torches on the walls. “It’s here!” she whispered, reaching for Audun’s hand.

Audun took a single step forward. “Where?” he murmured. And then reddened eyes appeared in the shadow as the beast loped down the corridor.

“Watch out!” shouted Millie, but the beast was already on them.

It knocked Audun to the side with one powerful blow. He staggered and fell against the wall. It wasn’t until the beast’s eyes turned to Millie, however, that Audun’s expression hardened and he began to change into a dragon. The change wasn’t complete when the beast launched itself at Millie, but Audun didn’t wait—he threw himself between them even as his skin hardened into scales and his nails into talons.

Aside from its eyes, the beast looked like little more than a deepening of the shadows. It was hard to fight something he couldn’t really see, but Audun managed somehow. Whipping his tail, he hit something with a good, hard
thwack
. A powerful swipe of his talons elicited another high-pitched roar. The beast leaped onto Audun’s back, forcing him to the ground, but Audun shook off the weight and turned to face the shadow again. Another swing of his tail and the beast hit the wall hard enough to crack stone. The red eyes blinked, then moved from side to side as if a great beast were shaking its head.

“There it is!” shouted Sir Jarvis, appearing in the darkened corridor as a pale blue glow.

The beast backed away, its eyes watching the advancing ghosts as one blue glow after another joined Sir Jarvis. The ghosts began to take shape, becoming a little less transparent, although Millie could still see the walls of the dungeon through them. More appeared, coming through closed doors and solid stone walls. One materialized right in front of Millie. “Pardon me, Your Highness,” he said, tipping his dented metal helmet.

Soon more than a dozen ghosts were crowding the shadow beast, and it began to pace as if looking for a way out. When the ghosts moved closer, the beast leaped, soaring over Audun and Millie and disappearing in the shadows behind them.

A shout went up from the ghosts and they gave chase, turning back by twos and threes into pale blue wisps that poured down the corridor after the shadow beast.

“You were amazing,” Millie said, standing on tiptoe to kiss the dragon on the cheek.

“I wish I could exhale ice like Frostybreath can. That might have slowed the beast down,” Audun said, turning back into his human form.

“Or done nothing at all,” said Millie. “The shadow beast is a ghost, after all.”

They found the king on the other side of the secret passage door talking to Millie’s cousin, Francis. The king looked up as the door creaked open. “Any news?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“No news of Felix, but we did learn something about the person who took him,” said Millie. “He—or she—is a magic user.” She continued by telling him what had happened to Li’l and Zoë.

King Limelyn didn’t look happy. “I was afraid of that. If someone used magic to whisk Felix away, he or she could be anywhere by now. Francis and I have been inspecting the secret passage to make sure the kidnapper didn’t go this way.”

“We haven’t found anything here, but then we wouldn’t have if the kidnapper used magic or went out the window,” said Francis. “I’m sorry I’m not more help. I’ve been focusing my study of magic on ways to make myself a better knight. I should have listened to my parents and broadened my studies to include a wider range of magic. I can’t do much unless I can see my enemy.”

“If we need magic to help us find magic,” Millie said, “we’ll have to go ask someone who can do the right kind of spells. I’m going to the enchanted forest to see if any of the three witches are home.”

Five

T
he cottage lay in the heart of the enchanted forest, far from any other human or witch dwelling. It had once belonged to a would-be witch who had captured Millie’s mother after Emma had been turned into a frog, but now it was the home of three real witches, two of whom were sisters. Although all three witches were friends of her family, Millie was especially fond of Azuria, the Blue Witch, and it was Azuria whom Millie and Audun first saw when they landed in the field beside the cottage.

“Hello, Millie! Hello, Audun!” the witch shouted as she ran past, waving a butterfly net. A sapphire blue butterfly zigzagged just out of reach as the elderly woman lunged after it, her net snapping in the air.

The air around them shimmered as the two dragons turned into their human form and stood waiting for Azuria to come back. When the old witch continued to dart around the field, Millie looked at Audun and shrugged. “Maybe we should talk to someone else.”

They could hear voices arguing inside the cottage as they drew closer, so they knew that the two sisters were home. Millie’s mouth watered at the scent of fresh-baked cherry pie, and she smiled when Audun raised his nose to sniff. She knocked on the door, and a moment later it opened with a bang. A woman with gray hair and bright blue eyes greeted them, reaching out a flour-covered hand to gesture them inside. Her name was Oculura and she carried a large wooden batter-filled bowl. She was stirring her wooden spoon with so much energy that the batter sloshed over the sides, splattering her clothes, the walls, and the floor. “Come in, come in and make yourselves comfortable,” said Oculura. “Dyspepsia, clear off that bench so our guests can sit down.”

“Don’t you tell me what to do!” said an even older white-haired woman as she swept a pile of clean clothes off the bench and into her arms. Scowling at her sister, she stomped across the room and kicked the wall. The fireplace slid back, making a grinding sound and revealing another room beyond it.

“But that’s an outside wall,” Audun murmured into Millie’s ear. “That’s not possible.”

The room they were standing in seemed bigger than she remembered it, and she thought the way the fireplace moved was definitely new. “They’re witches,” whispered Millie. “Anything is possible for them, which is why we came.” In a louder voice, she said to Dyspepsia, “We need to talk to you.”

“I’m busy,” said the old woman. “Talk to Miss Bossy over there.” Grumbling to herself, Dyspepsia flung the clothes through the doorway and kicked the wall again. “I’ll deal with them later,” she said as the fireplace swung back. Millie had to jump out of the way when the witch grabbed a broom and began to beat the floor with it, sending up thick clouds of dust.

“We need your help,” Millie said, crossing the room to where Oculura was dumping batter into a pan.

“Dyspepsia, mind that dust!” shouted Oculura. “If you keep that up, there will be more dust than flour in this cake!”

“That would be an improvement,” Dyspepsia replied.

“I can’t talk to you now,” Oculura told Millie. She scuttled across the room, moving a pan of cooling tarts from a table to the windowsill. “We couldn’t sleep last night, what with that storm booming and banging, so I tried something new and made us all cups of sleep-tight tea. It worked very well because we slept like logs—”

“We slept like the dead,” said Dyspepsia. “The house could have collapsed around our ears and we wouldn’t have noticed. I told her this morning that that wasn’t a good thing, but does she ever listen to me?”

“There’s only one problem with sleep-tight tea,” Oculura continued. “When you finally do wake up—”

“We slept hours past our usual get-up time,” declared Dyspepsia, emphasizing each word with a
thwack
of the broom at whatever object was closest. Audun hopped out of the way when she turned in his direction.

“When you finally do wake up,” Oculura repeated, “you have so much energy that you can’t sit still. Azuria went outside to catch blue butterflies for a potion she invented, and I decided to cook. Dyspepsia said she’s going to clean, but all she’s done is make a bigger mess than before.”

“That’s not true!” snapped her sister. “This place hasn’t looked this good in years!”

“The extra energy isn’t supposed to last long,” said Oculura. “No more than an hour or two.”

“Don’t listen to her. It’s been two hours and forty-seven minutes since I woke up.” Dyspepsia jabbed the broom at an hourglass filled with sand, knocking it onto the floor so that it shattered, spilling sand across Millie’s shoes.

Oculura began to crack eggs into a bowl. “Normally, I’d use magic for this, but I have to use all this energy somehow. You’ll have to stay for supper. I’ve already made too much food for just the three of us.”

“Actually,” said Millie as she tried to get out of Dyspepsia’s way when the old woman began to attack the spilled sand with a broom. “We’re in a hurry, so—”

The door behind her creaked open and Azuria shuffled in carrying a woven basket with a wooden lid. She dragged her feet as she crossed the room and collapsed onto the bench, dropping the basket on the floor beside her. “Every muscle in my body hurts,” she said, slumping against the wall. “My bones, too. I’m too old for this.”

“See,” said Oculura, “she’s used up her extra energy.”

Azuria shook her head. “That wasn’t
extra
energy. I’ve used up every bit of energy I would have had this week and next. I don’t think I’ll be able to move again until spring.”

“I’m still going strong,” Dyspepsia announced. “When I finish sweeping, I’m going to …” She took a step and staggered. Reaching out her hand, she grabbed hold of the edge of the table for support. “I guess that’s it for me. The end sure does come fast.”

“I don’t understand,” said Oculura. “You both drank more tea than I did, but I still have loads of energy. Who would like a nice plate of … Oh, I see what you mean. It sort of hits you all of a sudden.” Putting her hand to her head, she swayed on her feet until Millie helped her to a seat beside Azuria.

“Don’t ever make that tea again,” said Dyspepsia. “I haven’t been this tired since those villagers chased me out of town back when I was young and spry.”

Oculura nodded. “Sounds good to me. But at least we got a lot accomplished.”

“And I got a good night’s sleep,” Dyspepsia admitted. “That’s pretty rare these days.”

So,” Oculura said, glancing at Millie, “what was it you wanted to see us about?”

“Felix is gone,” Millie said. “Someone kidnapped him during the storm.”

The three witches looked shocked. “Oh no!” Azuria gasped. “That sweet little baby!”

“Who would do such a thing?” demanded Oculura.

“A no-good scoundrel who should be tied in a sack and tossed in a river,” Dyspepsia said. “That’s what I wanted to do to the last man who jilted me. I might still have the sack, if you want me to look for it.”

“First things first, Dyspepsia,” said Azuria. “We have to find dear little Felix and catch the horrid scoundrel before we can use your sack. Now, what can you tell us about the kidnapping?” she asked, turning to Millie.

“Audun and I were gone when it happened. We were taking care of a problem with manticores, and when we got home we learned that someone had distracted Felix’s nursemaid and taken him from his crib. Zoë and Li’l said they saw a strange light in the baby’s room and that a blast of air knocked them unconscious when they stopped to look. Mother and Great-Aunt Grassina are away, and so is my great-grandmother. Francis doesn’t have the right kind of magic, so we are hoping you can help us find Felix.”

“Of course we’ll help!” said Oculura. “You’re practically family! Would you mind getting my jar of eyeballs off that shelf? I’m too tired to move right now.”

Millie ran to get the jar and set it on the table in front of Oculura. After taking a pair of milky white eyes from the jar, the old woman bent over the table and popped out her bright blue ones. With the new eyes in her sockets, she stared off into space, seemingly looking at nothing.

“Those are her seer’s eyes,” Dyspepsia whispered to Audun. “She can use them to see into the future or the past. They aren’t pretty, but they get the job done.”

Oculura sighed and reached for the jar. “Except for now. They aren’t working. All I can see are clouds and rain. That storm seems to have blocked everything.”

“Fetch me my scrying bowl, Millie,” said Dyspepsia. “It’s the shiny silver bowl on the top shelf. That’s it. Now bring it here. Oh, and get me a dipper of water; I don’t need much. Now step back and let me look.” The elderly witch passed her wrinkled hand over the bowl, then leaned forward until it looked as though she was about to dip her face in it. Millie couldn’t see what she was looking at, but it wasn’t long before Dyspepsia sat back with a grunt. “It’s as Oculura said—all I can see are rain and clouds.”