A Prince among Frogs (22 page)

“Can you smell that?” Eadric asked, inhaling deeply as he accompanied Emma and Felix from the Hall. “They’ve started baking for the wedding. I wonder if they have anything ready yet. Perhaps we should go see.”

Seventeen

M
illie was crossing the Hall on her way to her great-aunt when Audun matched his steps to hers.

“Believe it or not,” Millie told Audun, “our wedding almost seems like a minor event after all that’s happened today. I’m almost too tired to get excited about it.”

They stepped aside as a group of servants carrying benches from the Great Hall walked in front of them. Other servants staggered under the weight of tables until some soldiers went to help them.

“Wait until you see what they’ve done to the courtyard,” said Audun. “I think it looks great.”

“Why are they decorating the courtyard?” asked Millie as Grassina left a group of courtiers and linked arms with her.

“Because the weather is perfect and there isn’t room for everyone in the Great Hall,” Grassina said. “Come outside, you two, and I’ll tell you what I’ve planned.”

Millie didn’t realize how late it had gotten and was surprised to see that it was already growing dark out. The courtyard bustled with activity as fairies strung flower garlands and twinkling firefly lights between the buildings. Servants were filling bowls with even more flowers. Ralf’s parents were lighting torches and King Gargle Snort of the fire dragons was already sampling fairy-made dandelion and herb wines with King Stormclaw of the ice dragons. Li’l and her children were helping the ladies of the court hang decorations from the parapets, while Garrid, Li’l’s mate, helped Ralf drape banners down the sides of the towers.

“This is wonderful,” said Millie, “but where are my grandparents?”

Grassina sighed. “Queen Frazzela is waiting in your grandmother Chartreuse’s chamber until the ceremony begins. Eadric’s mother refuses to go anywhere near a dragon, which is making things a bit difficult, I’m afraid. Your two grandfathers are directing the search for any magical traps or devices that Olebald might have set in the castle, which means that Francis and Haywood, who went with them, are really doing all the work while the two kings debate the best way to trap werewolves.”

“And what is Bradston doing?” asked Millie. She had spotted her young uncle near the fairies, but he didn’t seem to be doing anything.

“Ogling fairies,” said Grassina. “Although he told me that he didn’t trust them and would keep an eye on them for us.”

Millie laughed. “That’s Bradston, all right.”

“It sounds as if you have everything well in hand,” said Audun.

Grassina smiled and looked around with a sigh. “I believe I do, except for one thing: you. Clean clothes are waiting for you on your beds, so it’s time for you to go change. Hurry now. I hear the musicians tuning up.”

Millie felt more lighthearted than she had in weeks as she and Audun ran up the stairs to change. They parted at the top and Millie hurried to her chamber to see what Grassina had selected for her to wear. She had planned to get a new gown made for her wedding, but as she’d thought she’d have plenty of time, the gown had never been started. Throwing open her door, Millie ran to her bed and stopped. It was her grandmother Chartreuse’s gown. Millie had seen it once when she was young, but her grandmother had told her that she wasn’t allowed to touch it. Although her grandmother rarely showed affection, Millie knew that letting her wear the gown was a gesture of true love.

Millie reached out to stroke the gown with tentative fingers when one of her grandmother’s ladies-in-waiting came to help her dress. The woman did her hair as well, and when Millie descended the stairs in the creamy white dress edged in pearls and decorated with pearl-outlined blossoms across the bodice, she looked and felt every inch a princess.

She had reached the corridor on the first floor when fairies arrived, bringing carefully selected flowers. It took only moments for them to weave the flowers into Millie’s hair, then each one gave her a kiss on the cheek for good luck. The fairies left, and Garrid was there with his daughter, Zoë. They had brought her a necklace made of stones the exact shade of green as Millie’s dragon scales. Millie bent down as her friend fastened the necklace around her throat. When she straightened up, both Zoë and Garrid gave her kisses on her cheek.

“For good luck?” Millie asked, her eyes shining.

“No, because we love you,” said Zoë. “See you after the ceremony. I want to hear all about everything!”

Audun met Millie at the door leading into the courtyard. He looked so handsome in his clothes of silver and blue that her breath caught in her throat and she found she couldn’t speak.

“You look beautiful,” he said, raising her hand to his lips.

Millie smiled and suddenly her voice was back. “For someone who didn’t know anything about kissing when we met, you’ve gotten very good at it.”

“There’s a reason for that,” he said and kissed her full on the lips.

“Ahem,” said her father. “I hate to interrupt, but isn’t the kiss supposed to come after the ceremony? We have a courtyard full of people waiting for you two, so why don’t we get started?” Taking her arm in his, he nodded to Audun and escorted Millie down the stairs.

Millie had expected to see the local pastor there to officiate, but she hadn’t expected to see King Stormclaw waiting for her as well. It made sense, though, when she thought about it; Audun had told her that the king presided over all ice dragon weddings. She noticed that the pastor looked pale and cringed every time King Stormclaw glanced his way, but the king seemed to be enjoying himself.

Eadric walked Millie to a spot halfway between the pastor and King Stormclaw, and a moment later Audun was by her side. Although it wasn’t part of the ceremony, he took her hand in his and squeezed. A warm feeling flooded through Millie; it occurred to her that she was very fortunate indeed to have met someone who could share both worlds with her and could understand her better than anyone else.

Lost in thoughts of Audun, Millie paid little attention to the ceremony itself. She spoke when prompted and assumed that everyone else said the right thing. But when the pastor and the king pronounced them husband and wife, and it was time to kiss Audun, Millie smiled.

After a kiss that lasted so long the guests began to fidget, Millie and Audun turned around, pausing to wave to everyone. The humans cheered and stomped their feet while the dragons roared so loudly that their breath knocked fairies from their perches on the flower garlands. The sound would have been deafening if the ceremony had been held indoors.

Millie and Audun looked out over the crowd seeing the smiling faces of their friends and family. It took a minute for Millie to realize that one face was missing; Queen Frazzela, her grandmother, wasn’t there.

“I don’t think my grandmother came to the ceremony,” she told Audun. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

“That’s odd. I don’t see mine, either. I wonder where they are.”

Millie frowned. “I thought my grandmother might leave early, but I never thought she’d skip the ceremony altogether! I can’t believe she did that!”

“I don’t think she left. See, there are the witches who brought her.” Audun nodded his head toward a group that included Klorine and Ratinki.

“And your grandfather is still here, so your grandmother must be, too,” Millie said as she peered into the crowd. “I know they’re biased against each other’s kind, but I can’t believe our grandmothers would fly all the way here and then not watch us get married.”

“You don’t suppose they ran into each other, do you?” asked Audun. “I’d hate to see what would happen if the two of them were left alone together.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Millie said, although even she didn’t think she sounded convincing.

The crowd thinned out as servants set food on the tables. When the guests started to sit down, Millie was pleased to see that the groups were mixed with humans sitting with fairies and dragons. She knew she should go from table to table, talking to her guests, but it didn’t feel right that the grandmothers weren’t there.

“I think we should go look for Frazzela and Song of the Glacier,” she said, turning to Audun. “Frazzela may hate dragons, but she loves fairies and there are more than I can count here tonight. And I have this feeling …”

“I think you’re right. Song of the Glacier wouldn’t miss this unless something really important came up, but the king is here and so are the rest of his councilors.”

Thinking that they could see better from the top of the stairs, Millie and Audun crossed the courtyard and started up the steps. “Millie, where are you going?” called Emma as she and Eadric hurried to meet them. “You should be out here talking to people.”

“We haven’t been able to find Grandmother Frazzela or Audun’s grandmother Song of the Glacier. Have you seen either of them?”

Eadric had his mouth open to reply when they heard a muffled roar from inside the castle. “That sounded like my grandmother,” said Audun, and they all turned to run up the stairs.

A human voice shouted, frantic and scared. As soon as they entered the corridor, a wind began dragging them toward Emma and Eadric’s tower, growing louder with each step they took. They found the door to the tower standing open, and when they looked inside they saw the top half of Frazzela on the circular stairs with Song of the Glacier bending over her.

“Grandmother!” Audun shouted over the roar of the wind. “What are you doing? Leave that woman alone!”

“Don’t be an idiot, boy!” Frazzela screamed. “Your grandmother is holding me up. If she lets me go I’ll be sucked into this blasted hole. Help me, you fools! This poor dragoness can’t hold me forever!”

Millie grabbed the door frame to keep from being dragged into the hole and tried to get a better look. Her grandmother was hanging on to the edge of a hole with her legs dangling below her. The wind was blowing around Frazzela, pulling loose items past her into the gap and creating an unearthly wail. Song of the Glacier stood with her back braced against the stairwell, straining to hold on to the old woman.

“What on earth— Mother, what happened to you?” Eadric shouted.

“I stepped on your stairs, that’s what happened to me,” the queen shouted back, sounding cross. “The step collapsed under me and I can’t get out. Don’t just stand there, help me!”

“And be quick about it!” shouted Song of the Glacier. “I can’t hold her much longer.”

The wind was growing stronger. Herbs that had been strewn on the floor in the Great Hall whipped past, stinging Millie’s cheek when she turned her head to look.

“Olebald must have set a trap here!” Eadric shouted as he and Emma came to stand beside the hole with their arms wrapped around each other. “Audun, you lift Frazzela from that side and I’ll lift from this one!” yelled Eadric. “You’ll have to hold on to us, ladies, or we’ll fall in, too. On the count of three. One … Two … Three!”

The veins stood out in Eadric’s forehead as he strained to lift his mother, while Audun’s face turned crimson. But no matter how hard they tried, they weren’t able to get Frazzela out of the hole. Millie was afraid they were going to hurt themselves, and was relieved when they let go and stepped back.

“It’s no use. We’ll have to try something else!” Eadric shouted.

“Hurry up!” cried Frazzela. “I’m losing the feeling in my legs.”

“Humans aren’t strong enough to lift them out, but dragons might be!” yelled Millie.

Emma nodded. “Three should be enough.”

It was the first time Emma had changed into a dragon in front of her mother-in-law, and the first time Millie had done it voluntarily, but Frazzela seemed more afraid of the hole than she was of any dragon. “Hurry!” was all she said as Millie reached under her arms.

The wind still felt strong, but not nearly as strong as it had when they were humans. Three dragons were able to lift the old woman out of the hole easily. When Frazzela was free, Song of the Glacier staggered back from the edge and sat down. “I must be getting old,” said the dragoness. “When I was younger I could have lifted her out by myself.”

“Not with that wind, Grandmother,” said Audun. “You saw that it took the three of us just now.”

“Thank you so much, Song,” said Frazzela. “I would have died if it hadn’t been for you.”

“You’re welcome, Frazzie. I’m glad I could help.”