Page 53 of The Frog Prince

Otto took a deliberate step over the line where the sun kissed the shadow and allowed the trees to envelop him, standing too close for Alwin to be able to breathe properly. “I’m not scared,” he said.

Alwin didn’t know whether he was referring to the forest or him.

Before he got lost in a sea of blue, he backed off again to drier land, skittish as he began to lead the way. “Tell me your plan and I’ll do my best to guide us.”

It took a moment before Otto began to follow.

“I hate to admit that I don’t really have one as such,” Otto said. “I don’t have the faintest idea of what was in the vial the magic provided. I’m only assuming it was herbal in nature.”

“Well, that certainly narrows it down.” Alwin found it in him to cautiously tease, glancing over his shoulder.

Otto made a face like Lorenz had often done at his dry wit. “I know the tales of what can be found in these woods. Both myths and those things that are rarely found and fiercely hoarded. I know the more common plants and where I can find them, but none of them will help me. I need something new. I’ve never seen anything like what was in that vial.”

“You want things you don’t know exist?” Alwin murmured, casting his mind out.

“If I want to save the people in my village, I think that’s the answer I must seek. The endings to those stories about plants that heal. Mushrooms people swear were blessed by divine forces. Roots imbued with untold magic. Things like—”

“Blue Moons?” Alwin interrupted, going for casual and grinning to himself when he realized the rustling of Otto’s steps behind him had halted.

He smoothed his expression and turned around to see him standing, his mouth open and wide eyes directed at Alwin.

“B-Blue Moons are beyond a myth,” he stuttered. “They’re a fairy tale.”

Alwin widened his eyes in pretend shock. “They are?”

“Aren’t they?”

“Why don’t we find out?” Alwin suggested, linking his hands behind his back and directing them to a spot where he knew a tiny pond was hidden between the trees. He needed water, and they needed to pass through there anyway.

“How do you know where you’re going?” Otto asked, rushing after him as Alwin turned right past a large broken stump. “Everything looks the same.”

“I’ve learned most of the forest by heart. There isn’t much else to do when I’m not granting trades.”

“How long have you been doing so?”

“Just under a decade, I think.” Alwin tried not to let his voice falter. “Time moves strangely when you’re all alone and have very little contact with the outside world.”

“I… Can I ask…” Otto started, then paused.

“You can ask anything you’d like, Otto. If I’m able, I’ll provide you an answer.”

“Where were you before coming here?”

Alwin felt his heart seize at the question. “What makes you think I was anywhere else?”

“The stories. All of a sudden there were people talking about the Frog Prince in the forest, but nothing before that. So either you were well hidden and they didn’t know of you, or you came from somewhere.”

“Brains too.” Alwin smiled in Otto’s direction and saw him frown softly.

“What?”

“You’re right,” he said instead of replying that he thought Otto was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes upon, inside and out. “I wasn’t always here.”

“Where were you?”

“I was home,” he said, the words tasting bitter on his tongue. “It may be hard to believe, but I wasn’t always alone. I had a family I loved and who loved me. I was happy.”

He forced himself to keep moving forward. To look ahead and not turn to see Otto’s pity. He didn’t need that. He didn’t want it.