Page 124 of The Frog Prince

The tone of his voice was wholly surprising, as was the fierce tilt to his chin. Alwin found he was staring at a completely new person, not the little boy who would chase after him and hide behind him from scoldings.

He’d entirely grown up.

“Sit inside with us,” Otto said.

Lorenz turned to look at him before nodding and squeezing into their carriage.

Gisela’s laughter carried from outside, and Alwin caught sight of her talking to one of the Hallin guards. Alwin thought he looked familiar. He couldn’t recall the guard’s name, but he knew Gisela was safe.

“Are you certain you don’t want time alone, my prince?” Otto asked again.

Alwin slid his gloved hand into his, squeezing in answer. Otto nodded, settling on the bench so his entire side was pressed to Alwin’s, providing comfort and strength.

This was it. There was no turning back now. All he had dreamed of and all he had dreaded had come to find him, knocking on his door. All he had to do was answer.

“Alwin?” his brother said.

“Do you remember my last diplomatic trip?” Alwin said.

“Vaguely. I wasn’t very interested in all of that…back then.”

“Or now.” Alwin smiled. News had traveled often through his frogs.

Lorenz seemed startled but nodded. “Or now. But we investigated extensively after your supposed death. I had all thesecondhand accounts, but nothing that explained further than what the queen claimed. According to her, you left her palace early and that was the last anyone saw of your party. She sent her condolences.”

Alwin’s hands tightened into fists. “I’m sure she did. Was it eloquent? I always found her to be dreadfully lacking in prose.”

Lorenz was smart enough to read between the lines, leaning forward. “Tell me what she did.”

Alwin paused and Lorenz let him. He waited, patient and kind and trusting. Years away from him had made Alwin weak to his presence. Otto’s hand on his back was steady but ultimately not enough to hold him together. The dam broke. The walls crumbled to nothing. All of Alwin’s pain and suffering and solitude came pouring out.

He talked.

He told his brother everything.

How she had propositioned him. How he had turned her down. The fake letter from Lorenz that had sent him flying home. How swift and agonizing her revenge was. He cried out his guilt at their people falling because of him. His regret for not giving her what she wanted and causing them so much pain. His fear that he’d never see their family again and his hope that he still somehow would.

“She made me rot in the forest alone for years, waiting for someone to finally see me. Made it so I could listen to people’s woes and barter for solutions without ever getting anything in return. She made sure people were repulsed by me. She made sure they feared me. She made it so they were reluctant to look at me. And yet my only salvation was for someone to love me.”

Lorenz’s grief carved the lines on his face deeper as matching tears ran down his cheeks. His lips moved silently as he tried to piece the story together. Finally, a realization hit and he looked up.

“Wait…” Lorenz said. “The…the Frog Prince. It’s you? He’s you?”

Alwin breathed in and reached for his glove, tugging it off to reveal four spindly green fingers with rounded tips.

“The monster is me,” he whispered, looking down at his hand. The hand that trembled and twitched until human fingers wrapped around it.

Otto’s, he thought at first, but then he realized the hand was smaller. Softer.

“That monster gave my love the life he had always wanted,” Lorenz said. “That monster gave me a chance to have someone who makes my life whole and worth living. The monster doesn’t exist. There’s just Alwin. My best friend. My brother.”

Alwin looked up, tears obscuring his vision until Lorenz was nothing but a vague shape in front of him. His lips trembled and a desperate sob ripped from them.

“Mother and Father…” he managed to get out.

“Cannot wait to see you.” Lorenz took his other hand as well, showing no fear or disgust. “Nothing, Alwin. Nothing could change the way we feel about you. Face it, frog boy, you’re stuck with us.”

The laugh that tumbled from between his lips was shaky and watery and slightly manic, but real nonetheless, and Alwin surged forward, enveloping Lorenz in his arms.