Page 127 of The Frog Prince

“Lorenz,” Alwin said. “Otto. My frogs. I gave up pieces of myself willingly so their safety and happiness were guaranteed.”

“For Lorenz?”

“That story is not mine to tell. I wanted to do something for him, even though I was far away and he would never know it was me. I would make every sacrifice again.” His parents stared at him in silence. Alwin’s heart slowed to a crawl before he finally broke it. “If you cannot accept me, I understand. If you do not want me…”

“You speak like a king,” his mother said, stunning him once again. “More so than when you left.”

Alwin hitched a breath, unable to hold her gaze. “I…”

“Not only do I have my son back, Hallin has its future king back.”

“Lorenz…”

“No, thank you.” A voice came from behind the closed door. He was eavesdropping. Insolent little brat.

“He has already declined,” his father said, shaking his head fondly. “He promised he would find the future ruler. He has kept his promise and found you.”

“You can have the crown,” Lorenz called, making them all laugh.

“She will come for Hallin if she hears I have returned,” Alwin warned and his mother squared her shoulders, the shadow passing over her face transforming her from the mother Alwin knew to the queen she was to everyone else.

“Let her. She hurt my son. She dared to try taking you away from me, and that is something I will not forgive. She caught us unprepared and off guard before. This time, I will be waiting. This time, I will do what I failed to do the first time. I will keep you safe.”

Alwin’s eyes filled with tears once again, and his voice shook as he said, “Mother.”

“Enough with the tears, Alwin.” Her own glistening lashes contradicted her words. “We have so much to do.”

“First,” Alwin’s father said, “I’d like to get to know this young man, here.”

Otto’s previous resolve and strength crumbled under the sudden attention as the king turned to him, and he fumbled for words. “M-me?”

His father smiled. “Let’s all sit down and enjoy the afternoon before we jump into the fray, hm?”

His mother frowned. “Warner, we have to…”

“Easy, dear. We can afford one day to bask in our son’s return, no? We have only just got him back. Nobody will fault you for this.”

Slowly, she allowed herself to relax, leading them all to sit down and making sure Alwin was by her side. Alwin could barelyswallow past the lump in his throat as he listened to her order food and drinks, sending for Lorenz as if he weren’t still pressed against the door.

His brother walked in with Cinder, and they both settled with them around the small table, completing the picture Alwin had imagined so many times during lonely nights.

Home wasn’t a place, he thought to himself once more.

Home was the people he loved, and he had all of them within arm’s reach.

He was home.

Epilogue

Alwin

“Did you ever think the Frog Prince would return here to reign over such a nice pond?” Otto asked as they slipped behind the heavy green and gold curtain of the wooden pavilion that had been erected on the northern edge of the castle’s pond.

Half in and half out of the water, the curtain blocked all eyes, and the bowers and trees did the rest, making a shady, wholly secluded spot. It was one of the first things his parents had ordered—a safe space just for him that no one else was allowed to enter, where he could shed the mask and be himself.

He’d overseen the construction, his opinions firm and detailed. He wanted what was to be his sanctuary to feel right.He wanted the familiar flowers, the scents he had grown used to, the sound of water, and the buzz of life.

Mere weeks had gone by, and he knew it could never replace the glen he had left, but he was coming to appreciate its own unique charms in a way he had never appreciated the palace in all his years growing up here.