Page 106 of The Frog Prince

Otto gulped and looked at Alwin, who seemed to be trying his very best to disappear.

“Are you… Is this all right with you?” Otto asked.

She smiled, bright and beautiful and loving.

“He makes you happier than I’ve ever seen you,” Gisela said, making sure to look directly at Alwin as she said it. “How can I be anything but supportive?”

“Gisela,” Alwin said softly, “I am…”

“You are who my brother has chosen,” she said matter-of-factly. “Now get going, because there are people who need your help still.”

She gave them each a hug, and Otto lingered in his for a moment, kissing her temple and whispering a soft thank-you into her ear.

He picked up his bag, running a hand over the contents to make sure all of the Blue Moons he had were safely tucked inside before he slung it over his shoulder.

“I wish I had brought my equipment here,” he said. “I do not want to leave you alone again.”

“You will be back in just a few days,” she said. “My brother, the hero.”

“Be safe,” he said, pulling her into another quick hug.

She nodded and flicked his forehead. Farwin did the same thing with his spindly little fingers, and with that Alwin pulled him out of the house and toward the forest.

When a sudden, silent cloud of white enveloped them, seeping into their unsuspecting lungs and coating their skin, there was nothing they could do but fall to their knees.

Otto had always thought that moments like these were loud and calamitous, but as he wheezed and his vision spun, he realized that silence was much more deadly.

Hands descended on them in a moment.

Eighteen

Alwin

Checkmate.

Hands clamped around them, their struggling no use against six able-bodied men and whatever drug Henne had concocted. Alwin tried to think clearly enough to call on his magic, but every thought went off track, and he couldn’t finish a sentence. He felt weak and sick to his stomach, something like acid running through his veins. The residue stuck to him, his breathable skin soaking it in and doubling whatever effect the inhalation was having.

Their limp bodies were dragged away from the cloud and back to the outskirts of the village where the air was clear. The men holding them were unaffected, wearing fabric masks overtheir lower faces. Alwin couldn’t recognize any of them, but he wondered if Otto could.

They were dumped in the dirt at someone’s feet, forced onto their knees five feet apart, with two men on either side of each of them.

Henne pulled his own mask down to reveal a smug grin as two others flanked him.

“I knew you’d come back eventually.” Henne sneered at Otto. “Such a bleeding heart. So predictable.”

“Why are you doing this?” Otto said weakly, trying to shake off the effects of the cloud.

“Doing what? Catching a monster and his accomplice?”

“Stop pretending.” Otto glared, even though he couldn’t lift his head properly. “You made the village sick!”

If it was intended as an appeal to the men holding them, they didn’t bat an eye at the information.

Henne only laughed. “The frog has driven him mad.”

“You’re a coward,” Otto spat. “Weak and unaccomplished, so you resort to villainy to make up for all the areas where you lack.”

Henne smacked him across the mouth, and Alwin croaked in protest but was too weakened to do anything but struggle limply.