The Frog Princess 07 - Dragon Kiss Read online

  The sky was clear the next morning except for a scattering of clouds in the distance. He had no trouble finding Millie’s scent again, but he hadn’t flown far before he lost it. This didn’t worry him at first. Turning on a wing tip, he retraced his flight path, returning to the spot where he’d last smelled her. He continued on, more carefully this time, and lost the odor at exactly the same place. Audun tried again and again, each time becoming more agitated as well as more determined not to give up.

  Eventually, he caught the faintest whiff of another familiar scent, one he had smelled for the first time in the castle near his home. It had been the Blue Witch’s castle, and although his family had been trapped in the walls, it hadn’t been the witch’s doing; she had been a prisoner as well. He couldn’t remember the old woman’s name, but he did know that she and Millie had become friends of sorts. It was possible that she might even know Millie’s whereabouts.

  Following the new scent, Audun flew toward a part of the forest where the trees were older and taller. As he passed over a clearing, he glanced down and saw a nymph with long, green hair paddling in a small pond, while a unicorn drank from the shallower water. At Audun’s approach, the nymph slipped into the depths of the pond. The unicorn snorted, shook its mane, and turned to run.

  The dragon flew on and soon the old witch’s scent drew Audun to a clearing where nodding bluebells surrounded a small, well-kept cottage with a newly thatched roof and a gently puffing chimney. Three white-haired women sat in the shade of the only tree in the clearing, sipping from cups shaped like half-opened tulips. Not wanting to startle them, Audun landed at the edge of the forest. He was about to call out a greeting when the woman in the muddy-colored gown glanced over her shoulder and said to her friends, “Don’t look now, but there’s a dragon sneaking up on us.”

  The woman in gray lowered her cup. “If you won’t let us look, Mudine, you’ll have to do the looking for us. Is it anyone we know?”

  Mudine shook her head. “I’ve never seen a dragon like this before. He’s white.”

  “ ‘Never trust a dragon you don’t know,’ my old mother used to say,” said the woman in gray.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Oculura,” snapped the smallest woman. “I had the same mother as you and I never heard her say such a thing! She wouldn’t have trusted any dragon, living or dead!”

  “You’re older than I am, Dyspepsia. You left home years before I did. I had to listen to a lot of mother’s adages before she choked to death on that fried radish.”

  “Can you two stop arguing long enough for us to deal with this dragon?” asked Mudine.

  “That’s easy enough,” said Oculura. “A wall of flame should chase him off. It worked on my last husband when he wouldn’t stop coming around.”

  “That’s even more ridiculous!” said Dyspepsia. “This is a dragon we’re talking about. They love flames! Why don’t we try something like this . . .”

  Rising to her feet, the little old witch swept her arm in a grand gesture while muttering under her breath. With a rumble and a whoosh! a torrent of stones rose out of the ground and flung themselves at Audun’s head.

  Befuddled, Audun half-turned, lifted his tail, and swatted the stones aside. He hadn’t done anything to provoke these humans, yet they were attacking him. All he wanted to do was talk to the Blue Witch about Millie. Maybe they didn’t understand . . .

  “Excuse me!” he called, taking two steps closer to the old women. “I just wanted to . . .”

  “Well, that didn’t do a bit of good,” said Oculura. “The beast is still coming to get us. Maybe if I do this . . .” Speaking under her breath, the witch held her hands in front of her, then thrust them apart as if she were trying to move something heavy.

  Audun yelped as the ground opened beneath his feet. He spread his wings and was about to fly away when Mudine said, “And I’ll do this!” Smiling with glee, the old woman fluttered her fingers at his feet and said something Audun couldn’t quite hear. Vines erupted from the hole in the ground and wrapped themselves around Audun. “Go ahead and use your fire on those, dragon!” she shouted. “Those asbesta vines will never burn!”

  The white dragon roared in surprise, jerking at his trapped feet and flapping his wings. Suddenly the door to the cottage burst open and a fourth white-haired lady stepped out, blinking at the sunshine. “What’s this racket about?” she demanded. “I thought you were going to let me take a nap.”

  Taking a deep breath, Audun exhaled onto the vines, which immediately turned a sickly shade of yellow and shriveled. Free again, he rose into the air and cupped his wings so he could stay in place. He would have flown away if he hadn’t recognized the woman who had just stepped outside as the witch he had come to see. It was plain that she recognized him at the same time, because her eyes grew wide in surprise.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

  “I’m looking for Millie,” said Audun. “Do you know where I might find her?”

  “Why?” the witch asked, sounding suspicious.

  “Because I love her,” he replied. “I don’t want to live without her.”

  The Blue Witch snorted and said, “You sound like you want to propose.”

  “I do,” said Audun. “I want her as my mate. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

  Slapping her knee, the Blue Witch chortled. “Now if that doesn’t beat all! That’s got to be the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “I wasn’t joking,” Audun said, giving her the sternest look he could muster.

  “Then you’re in for a big disappointment,” said the witch, sounding a lot less cheerful. “Her family would never let her marry a dragon! You’d have to be a human before you’d get even a glimmer of a chance.”

  The crest on the back of Audun’s neck wilted. “So you’re saying there’s no hope for me?”

  “I didn’t say that,” said the Blue Witch. “Dragons can do lots of things, some that come naturally, and some that have to be taught. Your elders figure they’ll teach you what you need to know once you’re old enough and smart enough to handle it. If you’re serious about Millie, go talk to your king and his dragon council. They’re the only ones who can help you.”

  “I’ll do that if I have to, but I want to talk to Millie first. Do you know where she went? I was following her scent until I lost it over the forest.”

  “You won’t be able to find her. Millie’s mother used magic to whisk her away to someplace where they could talk with no one interrupting them. Even I couldn’t follow them if I wanted to. I doubt Millie would want to see you now, anyway. She’s in a lot of trouble and having you there would just make it worse. Nope, your best bet is to see your dragon council. If you’re lucky, the members might have a soft spot for true love—if you really love her, that is. You do, don’t you? I’ll be angry if I helped you like this and you weren’t sincere.”

  The Blue Witch wouldn’t let Audun go until she was convinced that he meant what he’d said. After that, she made her friends apologize to him for attacking him with their magic, and by then they were all declaring how hungry they were and made him stay to eat. While they shared a meal of leftover stew (giving Audun all the meat), the Blue Witch began to reminisce about life in the Icy North, making the white dragon tell her friends about it as well. It wasn’t until late afternoon that she finally let him go with a sack of dried fish and the good wishes of four white-haired witches.

  Audun’s wings were heavy as he flew away from the witches’ cottage. He had been so looking forward to seeing Millie again that he hadn’t allowed himself to consider the fact that she might not be findable. Dipping one wing, he started to turn in the direction of the Icy North, but changed his mind. Although he might not be able to see Millie, at least he could see the castle where she’d grown up. Even that much contact with something of hers might ease the ache in his chest.

  The castle wasn’t hard to find once he left the forest whe
re the witches lived. Scanning the horizon, he soon saw green pennants snapping in the wind atop the tall, slender towers of a castle. With the sun at his back, he sped toward the castle and landed in the courtyard. A stable boy was nearly dragged off his feet when the horse he was walking saw Audun. Screaming, the horse fought to get away, but the boy held on and got the animal under control long enough to get it out of sight of the dragon.

  Audun was wondering if he should leave when an older woman with gray-streaked auburn hair swooped out of the sky on a magic carpet and landed in the courtyard beside him. “May I help you?” she asked.

  “I wanted to see Millie,” said Audun. “I’m a friend of hers.”

  The woman’s lips widened in a warm smile. “I’m her great-aunt Grassina. Wait just a minute and I’ll see if she’s here.”

  A flicker of hope lit up Audun’s eyes. “Do you mean she’s home?”

  “A little bird told me that she got back a few hours ago,” Grassina said over her shoulder as she headed for the door. “She might be resting, though. I’ll just go up and—”

  The door flew open and Millie came racing out, shrieking, “Audun!” Dashing across the cobblestones, she threw her arms around the dragon’s neck and clung to him.

  Audun smiled, curved his neck around her, and said, “I told you that you couldn’t keep me away.” Millie turned her head and he saw that her lovely green eyes were red from crying and her cheeks were streaked with tears.

  Two other women appeared in the doorway, neither of whom was smiling. The older woman had golden hair like Millie’s, but it was sprinkled with white. She was beautiful, despite the cross expression she was wearing. “It’s that dragon, the one she was telling us about. He shouldn’t be here, not after all the horrid things Millie said.”

  “I didn’t say anything horrid, Grandmother,” Millie cried, before turning back to Audun. “I just told them how much I care about you,” she said, looking into his eyes.

  “No human should love a dragon,” said her grandmother. “It isn’t right.”

  “That isn’t fair, Mother,” said the other woman. “Eadric loves me whether I’m a human or a dragon, just as I love him no matter what I am. I simply don’t understand how Millie could feel so strongly about Audun after such a short time. Unless it’s her dragon side . . . Flame Snorter swears she fell in love with Grumble Belly the first time she saw him.”

  This woman looked remarkably like Millie and it occurred to Audun that this had to be Millie’s mother, who was not only a princess, but also a witch and a Dragon Friend. Audun squinted his eyes and could see a rosy glow around her, the fabled sign of a true friend to dragons.

  “I’m honored to meet you, Dragon Friend,” he said, bowing his head. “I’ve come to court your daughter.”

  Millie’s grandmother’s hand flew to her forehead and she swayed as if she’d been struck. “This is worse than I thought,” she said in a strained voice. “We can’t let this happen. We’ll be the laughingstock of all the kingdoms. Or worse yet, the object of their hatred. If we let dragons marry into the family all the neighboring kingdoms will consider us unsuitable to rule. We’ll have armies marching on us from every direction.”

  Millie’s mother sighed. “I wouldn’t go that far, Mother. No one has complained about my dragon side. However, Millie, we can’t let you marry a dragon just because you’re attracted to him. I’m sure you think you love him,” she said, holding up her hand when Millie started to speak, “but you hardly know him. You can’t truly love someone you don’t really know.”

  “That’s not true, Mother. Audun and I have been through so much together! I know him enough to know that I do love him!”

  At Millie’s words, Audun felt a warmth growing inside him like he’d never experienced before. While he’d known that he loved Millie, he hadn’t been sure that she felt the same way about him. Now that he was sure of her feelings, he knew that nothing in the world could keep them apart.

  “I’m sure you think you love him, darling, but there’s only one way to know for certain. Give it time and see if you both still feel the same way.”

  “Oh, we will,” Millie said.

  “Did I forget to mention that the test works better when you aren’t together?” her mother asked. Dust began to swirl around Millie’s legs, tugging at the hem of her gown.

  “No, Mother, don’t do this!” Millie exclaimed, looking at her mother in horror.

  “It’s for your own good,” her mother’s voice said over the rising wind. She was standing only a few yards away, yet she sounded as if she were a long way off. “You’ll appreciate what I’ve done someday.”

  “Millie!” Audun shouted, as he felt her being pulled away. And then both she and her mother were gone, leaving Audun with Grassina and Millie’s grandmother.

  “Don’t look at me that way,” the older woman told Audun. “It’s for the best. You never should have come here. Now go back to wherever it is you’re from and leave my granddaughter alone.” Turning abruptly, she strode back to the castle door. “I’ll see you inside, Grassina,” she added, then firmly closed the door behind her.

  Audun felt as if a giant had swatted him out of the sky into the side of a mountain. He turned toward Millie’s great-aunt, certain that she was waiting to tell him how his love for her niece was hopeless and that he should leave and never come back. She was wrestling with her magic carpet, however, and was more intent on shaking off the dust that had covered it when the wind had carried Millie away than she was in telling Audun anything.

  “Let me help,” said Audun.

  Grassina stepped aside as the dragon picked up the edge of the carpet with his talons and flapped it until the dust puffed free and drifted across the courtyard. “Thanks,” she said, nodding her approval. “You know, you don’t have to listen to everything Millie’s grandmother says. My sister, Chartreuse, is a very negative person and can never see the good in anything. My husband is a wonderful man. He was an otter for many years, although I fell in love with him when he was human,” she said, half to herself. “Chartreuse still doesn’t like him and is always making unnecessary comments about smelly otters and how she expects him to lick his fur. He hasn’t done that in years—at least, not in public. All I wanted to say was that if you really love each other, you shouldn’t let anything stand between you. If you want to be with Millie, I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

  Three

  It took Audun three days to reach the part of the Icy Sea where King’s Isle was located. On the final day he’d flown above frigid, choppy waters where jagged glaciers provided the only places to land. A storm chased him for the last few hours, catching up with him shortly before he reached the island. Fighting against the buffeting wind and freezing rain, he saw little of his goal in the stormy darkness and would have flown past it if a flash of lightning hadn’t reflected off the island’s icy crags. He didn’t notice the dragon sentries who flew out to meet him until their wings actually touched his. Flying wing tip to wing tip, they guided him to the only opening into the home of the ice-dragon king, leaving Audun at the highest spire.

  With ice-coated wings and aching muscles, Audun was so tired that he staggered as his claws finally touched the ground. When the door opened and another dragon appeared to escort him to a place where he could rest, Audun could only nod his thanks and stumble after him to an empty chamber where a ledge along the wall served as a bed. Curling up on the ledge, he slept the rest of that day and well into the next, too tired to open his eyes when dragons came to check on him. He dreamed of Millie and of what their lives would be like once they were together. When he finally woke, it was to the sound of the door creaking open and talons clicking across the floor.

  Raising his head, Audun blinked in surprise at the pair of young dragons who stood by the door, watching him. They were both females, one was probably nine or ten years old and the other’s age was closer to his own.

  “He’s awake!” the younger dragoness whispered to the
other.

  The older dragoness had been staring at Audun in a way that made him want to squirm. “Welcome to King’s Isle,” she said, giving him a radiant smile.

  Although Audun had never visited King’s Isle before, he knew quite a bit about it. It was the stronghold of the king of the ice dragons from the day he was chosen to rule until the day he died. Dragons lived for a very long time, so the selection of a new king happened once every few hundred years. The current king had been selected nineteen years before, after the death of the previous ruler, who had been so old that his scales were dull and brittle and his teeth worn down to nubs. The stronghold was also the home of the king’s councillors, as well as of the dragons and dragonesses who made up his court.

  Because far fewer female dragons than males were born, females were treasured and treated with great care. At the age of eight, dragonesses were brought to the court of the dragon king to be raised until they were old enough to start a family with their own mates. It was the responsibility of the king to select their mates as well as to see to the education of the dragonesses. Both Audun’s mother and his grandmother had spent their formative years living on the island. Audun was sorry he had ignored most of their stories. It would have helped if he’d learned what the dragons on the island did, especially those like the dragoness eyeing Audun.

  “My name is Hildie,” she announced, letting her eyelids droop in an odd sort of way. “I’m glad you’re awake. Dragons our age rarely visit the island. Have you come to petition the king for a mate? Say you have. All the others who have come are so old. I’d hate to end up with one of them.”