Page 40 of The Frog Prince (The GriMM Tales #6)

“Otto?! Gisela?!” Liesel gasped, coming upon the scene and pushing to the front, attracted by the commotion and the crowd that was continuing to grow. “What is going on?”

“Liesel!” Otto called out to her. “Please, go get Freida…”

Henne got closer to Alwin in the chaos, leaning over his twitching figure and blocking out Otto’s pleas.

“I can make it stop,” Henne whispered. “All you have to do is agree.”

Alwin groaned, too agonized to speak, only able to shake his head into the bloodstained ground under his cheek. He heard a single croak in the distance, like a cry.

Henne grabbed his face with vicious fingers. “I’ll kill them then. All of them. I’ll start with Otto, and then I’ll raze your precious kingdom to the ground. Everything you care about I’ll take, and leave you in the ruins of it.”

Not again , Alwin’s heart wept. Not again .

He’d sworn he wouldn’t allow anything like it to be repeated. He would protect those he loved like he couldn’t before, no matter the cost to himself.

His eyes found Otto, begging for forgiveness. He was already staring at him, his tearstained face making Alwin’s eyes sting with phantom tears of his own.

He did his best to convey everything he’d never get a chance to say. All his love, even if it had to remain unspoken. He didn’t want Otto to question it when he looked back.

“Very well,” he whispered.

The pain had cleared his mind enough that he could feel the tickle of magic at the back of his mind, the dripping of the well echoing back to him, waiting for a request.

Blue eyes widened in panic, and Otto began shaking his head and struggling more. “No, Alwin. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t! Please don’t.”

Henne gasped in shock and triumph, his eyes sparkling with victory. “Get him up. Now, you fools! Didn’t you hear me?!”

He was dragged back to his feet, just dangling there between them with no strength to stand on his own. More people whispered around them, pointing.

“Ask,” Alwin said.

“I want to be known far and wide for my deeds. The most famous man in all the land. More famous than the queen herself!” Henne said in a breathless rush, eyes alight with his fervor.

“Let it be known,” Alwin said, and the whole crowd hushed, holding their collective breath. “In exchange for the safety of Otto and Gisela, Henne asks for fame and recognition, his name spread across the kingdom far and wide.”

“Alwin,” Otto whispered, heartbroken.

“And so shall it be,” Alwin continued, feeling the brilliant hum fill him up.

“His name will be in everyone’s mouths; a day will not go by without it passing their lips.

Henceforth, he will be known as Henne the Traitorous, a healer who poisoned his village to get what he wanted, living in infamy and recognized for all his deeds, just as he wished. ”

Gasps and whispers rang out, and Henne’s face drained of color. He whipped his head back and forth. “No, no, that is not what I asked!”

Possessed by magic, the mutterings didn’t stop, and Henne grabbed the front of Alwin’s bloodied shirt, spittle flying into his face. “You tricked me, you filthy monster!”

“I simply granted you what you asked for,” Alwin stated plainly.

“ Take it back !”

“The deal has been made. Your name is spreading far and wide as we speak.”

“Then I’ll kill you to break it!” Henne declared, desperate in his madness. “Kill him! Kill him now!”

The blows came down hard, blanking out his vision for a second.

“NO!” Otto screamed. “Do something! Someone, please. He helped you. He helped all of you! You heard him. Henne is the monster!”

The crowd shifted some more, conflicted and unsure. A few stepped forward, looking at each other. Alwin could hear croaking in the distance as more blows rained down on him.

“Faster!” Henne screamed. “Kill him!”

He took his cane and snapped the end off, turning it into a pointed stake. He raised it high and Alwin prepared himself for the end at last.

Everything seemed to happen at once then. An army of frogs and toads broke from the tree line in a cacophony of croaks, led by none other than Jurgen and Farwin.

Screams broke out, and something barreled into Alwin and the guards in the ensuing chaos, knocking them all down like dominos.

The hands holding him let him go as his captors tried to keep their feet. Alwin wasn’t so lucky. He fell to the ground, opening his eyes to see Otto standing there in his place, with frogs at his feet, heaving for breath as Henne’s cane dug into his bloody chest.

The two who had been holding him had been pushed over, Jurgen sitting on one terrified man’s chest, his throat sac inflated.

“If you dare touch him again, you’ll wish you were dead,” Otto growled into a startled Henne’s face, his own face tight with pain. Then he shouted louder. “That goes for all of you! If any of you want to touch him, you’ll have to go through me first!”

“You’d be willing to die for this monster?” Henne asked in disbelief.

Alwin watched Otto lift his head, blood running down his chin, more seeping around the wound in his chest. “He isn’t a monster. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep him safe. Even die.”

The declaration ripped through the air, pointing swords at everyone and daring them to step forward. These were people he had grown up beside, who he had treated and cared for, and now he was standing in front of them with an army of frogs at his back and choosing Alwin confidently and surely.

Alwin had never felt so loved in all his life.

The rush of it was overwhelming. Like witnessing the magnitude of the sun rising just for him. So much warmth. So bright he couldn’t stand to look for long lest he be blinded.

And then he yelled out as a wave of crippling agony overcame him. He gasped, clutching his bloodstained chest, trying to breathe.

No…he couldn’t die yet. Otto was hurt. Otto could die from a wound like that.

I offer the rest of me to heal him , he whispered to the magic still bubbling inside him. Anything you want. Just heal him, he begged as another wave of pain crashed over his head, drowning him.

Hands cupped his bruised and bloody face, Otto coming into view with more tears falling down his face. “Alwin,” he gasped, looking him all over. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Behind them, the townspeople had started to move alongside the frogs and toads, closing in on Henne and his guards. Gisela was freed, and she threw another punch at her assailants, screaming and yelling.

It was all background noise as Alwin’s back arched in agony.

“Alwin, please.” Otto looked terrified. He ripped Alwin’s shirt open to try and assess the damage. “Is it the beating?”

Alwin managed to shake his head as he felt the magic draining away, leaving him completely at his final request.

If anything, Otto looked more frightened. “What did you bargain? To heal me, what did you offer?”

Alwin curled a hand weakly around his forearm. “E-everything.”

Otto’s face crumpled and he sobbed. “Why? Why would you do that, you stupid prince?”

“Because I couldn’t lose you all again. Especially you,” he gasped, his eyes closing. “I couldn’t.”

“Again?” Otto asked, nudging his face. “Alwin, open your eyes. What do you mean again? Alwin?!”

Alwin dragged his lids open, Otto’s beautiful face filling his vision. He wondered if he could tell him now, at the end, everything he had wanted to say but couldn’t. When he reached for the words this time, he found them free of any chains. “My name is Prince Adalwin.”

Otto’s expression of shock was the last thing he saw before he doubled over in pain, Otto’s chest absorbing his scream.

“Alwin!”

Everything was pain as the magic moved through his body, stripping him down until he felt like raw nerves and empty skin. He writhed, gasping into fabric, unable to tell where one wave ended and another began.

And then he fell limp in Otto’s lap.

A shaky hand moved over his head, like it was scared to touch. “H-how?”

Alwin panted hard, every breath causing stabbing pain in his broken chest, but the lethargy and sickness he had felt from the poisoning had lessened a little.

He was still here somehow, and when he reached, he couldn’t hear the echo of the well in his head anymore. That background hum of magic was completely gone, an aching hole left in its wake.

Noise began to filter back in; gasps of shock and surprise all around them.

Gentle hands turned him over on Otto’s knee, cupping his face to raise it into view. Searching blue eyes ran over every inch like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Alwin?” Otto asked again, nervous and unsure. “Is that you?”

Alwin frowned, but it felt different from what he was used to. Something tickled over his forehead.

A thumb traced a path along his jaw right in front of his ear, continuing on to the curve of his neck, where it stopped, worrying the skin like he was attempting to rub something off. Alwin could feel the vibration of his fingers trembling.

“Otto?” he said hoarsely, barely audible. His tongue felt thick in his mouth, like it no longer fit.

Otto didn’t hear him, the pads of his fingers mapping out the features of Alwin’s face. It felt completely foreign, the skin dry but not uncomfortable, the sensitivity dulled. He felt as if he had a towel covering his face while the rest of his skin still breathed.

It felt suffocating, and he reached to push whatever it was off, finding nothing but smooth skin that grew wet from his touch.

“What?” Alwin asked.

Otto caught his hand in his, turning it over in wonder. It was the same as before. He laid a reverent kiss to Alwin’s palm, eyes closing. “It is you.”

Alwin croaked in misery, not understanding anything.

Otto’s eyes shot open, eyes moving all over him. “Where does it hurt the most?”

Alwin shook the question off. “What happened?”

Otto looked at his face for a few more moments, mouth opened like he was searching for words. Instead, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.