Page 30 of The Frog Prince (The GriMM Tales #6)

Thirteen

Otto

H e woke up to something poking his cheek and pinching his eyelashes to peel his eyelid open. He swatted at the intrusion blindly.

“Stop that,” he heard Alwin whisper, then a frog croaked before hopping away from his face.

Ah, one of Alwin’s subjects was determined to wake him up, apparently. He forced himself to open his eyes, expecting the usual assault on his senses.

Instead he was greeted only by the brilliance of an emerald gaze a few inches from his own face. His heart began to pick up speed in a different, unfamiliar rhythm as he realized just how beautiful those eyes really were.

He lifted his hand and touched the tips of his fingers to the corner of one of Alwin’s large eyes, watching as he closed them and leaned his head into the touch. Otto reveled in it.

“Morning,” he said, his voice rough with disuse. He felt Alwin shiver next to him at the sound.

It drew his attention to how close together they’d been sleeping, and the memories of the night before flipped around in his mind like the pages of his favorite book.

Alwin’s lips under his own, his body cradled in Otto’s arms. The gentle vulnerability as he let Otto in. The permission he’d given to Otto that had made him feel like the most powerful man alive. He was allowed to touch Alwin. He was allowed into his personal space.

It made his blood rush south, and he felt his body react in a way he didn’t think either of them was ready for.

“Alwin?” he murmured, desperate to divert Alwin’s attention.

“Morning,” Alwin said, reaching up and covering Otto’s hand still on his cheek with his own.

“What time is it?” Otto asked.

“Barely dawn.” Alwin smiled softly.

Otto’s brows furrowed at that information and he rolled his head into a tilt. “Then why are you waking me?”

“You wanted to know what the Frog Prince does with his days, did you not?”

Surprised Alwin had taken his questions so seriously, Otto found himself blinking in shock. “And that starts at daybreak?”

“Frogs don’t understand the intricacies of the working day.”

Otto found his mouth curling at the corners as the ridiculousness of that dry, affronted statement sank in. “A prince’s work is never done?”

“Just so.”

“Well, I did ask for this.” Otto rubbed his eyes with a fist.

“You did. And I am not one to deny you anything.” Otto’s breath caught as the sincerity in those words rang through the trees. Alwin averted his gaze pointedly, like he had revealed too much, and rolled to his webbed feet. “I would be a terrible host, that is.”

Otto followed his unique form with his eyes, lying on their lily pad bed as he contemplated the conundrum that was the Frog Prince.

He watched Alwin walk to the edge of the broken stone floor and stand against the backdrop of the still water.

He dove in gracefully, disappearing beneath the surface with barely a ripple.

Otto scrambled to his hands and knees, crawling over to the edge and trying to peer beneath the murk and lilies. All he saw was his own distorted, gap-mouthed reflection.

A hand shot out from beneath the surface right under him, grasping his wrist. Otto barely had a chance to react before he was being tumbled under the water and into Alwin’s arms.

Surprisingly, fear wasn’t the foremost emotion he felt as he vocalized into the water, opening his eyes to see a laughing, frogish face peering back at him from among the reeds.

It was a whole other world at the bottom of the glen, and he was barely able to take it in as they broke the surface easily, Alwin keeping them afloat with his hands at Otto’s waist.

“Childish,” Otto scolded after he got his breath back, barely able to see past the water streaming down his face.

He felt Alwin’s chest vibrate, his throat expanding with a croaking laugh.

“It suits you,” Alwin said.

Otto scowled. “Being half drowned?”

Alwin reached out and plucked a lily that he hadn’t noticed was perched on his head like a jaunty hat, presenting it to him on his palm. “As pretty as a flower.”

Otto choked up a glob of water, he was so caught off guard.

Alwin’s wide mouth pulled into a smirk. “Charming. Ready to see more?”

“I think so.” At least he’d been given a warning this time around.

“Hold your breath.”

Otto’s brows flew up toward his matted hair. “What?”

“The waterways are quicker than feet. I’ll lead you.”

“You keep forgetting I don’t have gills.”

“Neither do frogs, so you’ll be just fine,” was the dry retort.

“You know what I meant!” Otto exclaimed.

“Then say what you mean.”

“You’re infuriating.”

“And you’re lovely, so shall we move this along?”

“You… Wait…” Otto’s mouth hung open. “What did you say?”

“Take a breath.”

“No, the other—”

He barely had a chance to take in a gulp of air before Alwin was pulling them back under the surface of the water.

Otto made sure not to blow out all his air at once this time, getting used to the pressure all around him. Alwin offered his hands and Otto took them, feeling long fingers wrapping around his wrists and forearms as Alwin began to swim backward just below him, dragging him along effortlessly.

Otto’s head moved from side to side, taking in all manner of aquatic creatures and flora that he’d only glimpsed before.

Despite the dirt and algae, the colors were vivid in their own ways.

The waterweeds and reeds swayed in beautiful shapes, and along the floor, water grass had grown in lush carpets, boasting a beautiful garden for creatures to swim in and out of.

He let go of one of Alwin’s hands and sifted his fingers through it, the grass tickling his skin. The action sent a few fish and frogs darting away, and he smiled in wonder, having to remember to keep his mouth closed.

So many beautiful colorations passed by his eyes, sleek bodies cutting through the water and nudging affectionately against their prince. They gathered around him at once, climbing on every inch of him and haloing his head like a crown.

Alwin greeted all of them, listening to whatever grievances they had, holding court under the water.

Otto was so fascinated that it was a while before he realized his lungs were burning with lack of air. He looked up in panic, unable to tell the distance to the surface, but his arms were guided around Alwin’s shoulders to hold on.

Alwin pushed them up to the surface with a strong kick so Otto could gasp a breath before they dove back under again.

The frogs followed in an entourage as Alwin picked up the pace, slicing through the channels that had been made under the water.

It was beautiful. Like nothing Otto had ever imagined before.

They traveled this way for a while, Alwin taking him through his kingdom and checking on things, briefly surfacing for Otto to take in much-needed air.

It was exhilarating, sending a sense of adventure that had been drowned in responsibility suddenly racing through him, the burden lifted by the water.

They came to a stop in a shallower part of the watery network, breaking the surface with Otto able to place his feet on the floor. His legs felt weak and unsteady in the soft silt, but he quickly got his bearings.

When he glanced at Alwin, he was scanning the area diligently, moving carefully toward what looked like dozens of makeshift basins that had been dug into the mud around the edges of the pool.

When he looked closer he saw that they were full of tiny tadpoles in varying stages of developing into full frogs.

This was clearly the frogs’ breeding ground, and Alwin was checking on the spawn that would have no doubt been eaten by predators in any other case.

A few tiny frogs swam past Otto, one hopping onto Alwin’s shoulder as they gathered around him like he was a doting parent they’d missed. He watched Alwin smile at them, handling each and every one of them with the utmost care and respect, making sure they all received equal attention.

“You’re a good ruler,” Otto said, watching Alwin be swarmed with a soft expression on his face.

“Hardly,” Alwin murmured, taking the frog from his shoulder and gently placing it back in the water. “But I do what I can for them.”

Otto frowned. “You’ve created a safe space for them to thrive here.”

“There’s balance in everything. What I do here for my frogs has affected the natural order of things, I know this.

I did my best not to intervene at first…

but they came to me looking for protection.

I hear their worries and I hear their hurt, just like you do for your patients,” Alwin said.

“I found it wasn’t something I could ignore, wise or not. ”

Otto stilled, taking the words in silently, feeling them reverberate through his own mind as if they were his own thoughts.

He knew all too well what it felt like to want to do better and be forced to swim upstream to do so.

There was so much malice in the world. He’d experienced some, observed other instances.

He was used to Henne, who saw money and fame instead of people, and his father, who had lived beyond his means no matter the consequences to his children.

It was rare to find true kindness. To find compassion.

It was why he and Gisela had clung so hard to Liesel, who’d experienced tragedy and sadness she hadn’t deserved but still stayed so goodhearted.

Otto often felt he had to compensate for the bad in the world by offering as much good as he could, and yet…the way he had treated Alwin at first was the opposite of that.

He’d judged him. Vilified him. Betrayed him.

He supposed he wasn’t much better than those selfish people, driven and blinded by their own desires with no care for those they felt were beneath them, stepping on and using them to reach their end goal.

No matter the justification, Gisela wouldn’t have wanted that. It was shameful, coming to this realization. It made his cheeks flush dark red and his ears burn.