A Prince among Frogs (23 page)

Millie’s mouth dropped open and she glanced at Audun, who looked equally stunned.

“Take them out of here while I close this hole,” Emma told Millie and Audun.

“But the wind … ,” Millie began.

“The wind won’t bother me as long as I’m a dragon. If I have to change back, your father will keep me from falling in. Now go! We’re wasting time.”

“You heard the dragon,” said Millie as she and Audun ushered Frazzela and Song of the Glacier into the corridor. Audun ducked as a candlestick flew past, and a woman’s veil came flapping down the corridor and got caught on Song of the Glacier’s ridge. Millie and Audun had to work together to close the door. The moment it was shut, everything that had been flying in their direction fell to the floor, making it look as if a troop of vandals had visited the castle. The noise of the wind died down as well, although it left a ringing in Millie’s ears.

“What happened in there, Grandmother?” she asked Frazzela.

The old woman looked away as if unable to meet Millie’s eyes.

“We were taking a little look around,” Song of the Glacier hurried to say. “Frazzie went first and the floor exploded out from under her.”

“I could hardly hold on,” said the old woman. “Fortunately, Song reached me before the wind got too strong or I would have been dragged into that horrid hole. Did you see how dark it was in there?”

“You have nicknames for each other?” asked Millie.

“Why not?” said Frazzela. “Song of the Glacier is the loveliest and most gracious dragon that ever lived. I’m honored to call her my friend. You know,” she said, turning to the elderly dragoness, “I let only my best friends call me Frazzie.”

“My grandfather can’t even call her that!” Millie whispered to Audun.

“No one has ever called me ‘Song’ before, but I like it,” said Song of the Glacier.

“May I call you Song now?” asked Audun.

“No,” his grandmother said, giving him a frosty glance. “You may not.”

“You know,” Frazzela said, turning to the elderly dragoness, “you’ll have to come visit me at Upper Montevista. We have such lovely mountains. I’m sure you’d enjoy seeing them.”

“What a nice invitation! I may just take you up on that. And if I do, perhaps I’ll take you for a sightseeing flight.”

“Oh, I couldn’t impose!” exclaimed Frazzela, although Millie thought her grandmother looked thrilled.

The two grandmothers walked away shoulder to shoulder while their grandchildren stared after them in amazement.

“You know your grandmother was covering for my grandmother,” said Millie. “Frazzela was probably snooping around when she started up those stairs, and your grandmother heard her holler.”

“That’s probably true,” Audun replied. “But Song of the Glacier would never admit it now.”

“I did it,” Emma said as she and Eadric came into the corridor. “I couldn’t close it at first, but as soon as I put Olebald’s ring on my finger, the spell worked and the hole closed right up. It was just in time, too. That wind was getting stronger by the minute. If I hadn’t closed it I think it would have taken the entire castle apart stone by stone.”

“I’m sure that was what Olebald wanted to happen if we were to get back into the castle,” said Eadric. “I know Francis and Haywood checked our tower, but the trap was probably laid so that only a woman could set it off. We’ll go over the entire castle again to make sure there aren’t any more traps. However, I think we should get something to eat first. That food smells delicious. Let’s go get some before it’s all gone.”

Emma laughed her distinctive laugh, which sounded almost like the bray of a donkey. It had been so long since Millie had heard it that she couldn’t help but smile.

“You ate before the wedding,” Emma protested as she and Eadric started toward the door to the courtyard. “How can you be hungry again?”

Audun waited until his in-laws walked out the door before he pulled Millie into his arms and said, “Alone at last!”

“This has been a most interesting day,” Millie said, leaning against his chest. “We caught Olebald, made him change Felix back, and got married. And to top it off, my grandmother finally likes dragons!”

“And my grandmother likes your grandmother enough to offer her a ride on her back. That’s the most improbable thing of all.”

“This is our wedding day, so I really don’t mean to argue, but I’d have to say that you’re wrong about that. The most improbable thing is that you and I found each other. I thought I’d never meet the man who was right for me. Who would have thought that a human and a dragon could make such a perfect match?”

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Victoria Wells Arms for her wisdom and patience, Caroline Abbey for all her help, and Kalissa Haff and Kitty Hamilton for their marvelous name suggestions.

Thanks also to
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities
by Amy Stewart, which provided inspiration for the stinging tree. It is a very real tree that grows in Australia and a few nearby islands, with tiny “hairs” that contain a neurotoxin. Brushing against these hairs can cause unbearable pain that sometimes lasts as long as a year!

Books by E. D. Baker

T
HE
T
ALES OF THE
F
ROG
P
RINCESS:

T
HE
F
ROG
P
RINCESS

D
RAGON
’
S
B
REATH

O
NCE
U
PON A
C
URSE

N
O
P
LACE FOR
M
AGIC

T
HE
S
ALAMANDER
S
PELL

T
HE
D
RAGON
P
RINCESS

D
RAGON
K
ISS

A P
RINCE AMONG
F
ROGS

W
INGS

T
HE
W
IDE
-A
WAKE
P
RINCESS

Copyright © 2010 by E. D. Baker

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in the United States of America in September 2010
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in September 2010
www.bloomsburykids.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Baker, E. D.
A prince among frogs / by E.D. Baker.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: While Princess Millie and her dragon fiancé prepare for their wedding, the entire royal family of Greater Greensward teams up to find Millie’s baby brother, who has been kidnapped and turned into a frog.
ISBN 978-1-59990-349-1 (hardcover)
[1. Fairy tales. 2. Princesses—Fiction. 3. Dragons—Fiction. 4. Kidnapping—Fiction. 5. Magic—Fiction. 6. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ8.B173Pr 2010    [Fic]— dc22     2010004970

E-book ISBN: 978-1-59990-639-3