FAIRY FROGMOTHER by Charlotte Henley Babb, page 4/6
"What do you know about a prince?"
"They—" she waved a webbed-hand at the pond etc. "— have had to follow him ever since they got turned into frogs. They have to get something from him to go back to being women. Do you think he would like me?"
Maven saw the seed of an idea. "You know how it is with magic," she said. "You'll have to get him to love you even when you are a frog. It might be best to find him first, then tell him the truth."
Murmurs came from the bog. "Why can't you free us?" "She's just a frog--I'm a real princess." "You are NOT--you're a dairy maid!" "Whoever heard of a fairy frogmother!"
"Ladies, ladies, calm yourselves," Maven croaked. "I've already tried my spells. I can't undo someone else's magic. Maybe if you fill me in on this Queen you're cursing and her prince, I can get her to change you back."
The woods filled with the protesting croaks of dozens of desperate frogettes. But as the night faded into predawn, Maven gathered the elements of a plan. Any female within five feet of Prince Erwyn, only son of Queen Tarryn, became short, green and slimy. Most of them were caught in the moat around the castle, which was surrounded by a magic desert. The Queen< evidently liked their singing.
These woodland frogs, however, were mostly maidens who had ventured, unknowingly or purposefully, too near the prince as he fled the Queen's magic.
Unfortunately for them, the frogettes were drawn to him like flies to roadkill—even as they told Maven their stories, they hopped through the forest searching for him. At dawn, he was discovered sleeping on a bedroll covered with a cloak, his horse tethered nearby. He had doubled back into the forest to escape both his trackers and any unsuspecting village maidens.
Maven hopped forward, telling Medori to stay hidden. She shushed the frogs, making the forest dawn suddenly quiet.
The prince sat up, startled. He stared into the dark, seeing only dozens of pairs of bulging eyes. His escape was cut off by frogs on all sides.
"I hate frogs," he said mournfully. "I know you can't help it, but please, just leave me alone."
"We'd love to, your Highness," Maven said, "but we need your assistance. That stone you wear causes all this havoc. If you could remove it..."
"Only my mother can take it off," he said, "or a woman who is not affected by the spell." He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and studied Maven with her wand. "And you cannot use your counter spells either, Witchfrog, but go ahead and try; you magical folk are all stubborn, as I well know."
In magic, the rules must be followed, but only to the letter. The worker sets her own intent. Maven pretended to try enchanting the prince, but instead laid a protection spell on Medori and a glamour to hide her true form. Not a sparkle nor a flash came from her wand.
"Can I go now?" He got up and packed his small camp, jerking his bedroll from beneath the frogs who had climbed aboard.
"We can't stop you," Maven said. "But Your Highness, I entreat you, take me back to your mother and let me reason with her to free all these maidens."
"Might as well reason with a dragon for its hoard," the prince said. "It is useless anyway. If I do not find a bride by sunset today, I never will. It is my twenty-first birthday; her magic dooms me at sunset to be her child forever, never to marry, never to be my own man."
Maven motioned to Medori, who stepped forward, kneeling at the prince's feet. She said nothing but gazed into his eyes.
Erwyn backed away. "No, stop, you'll be...."
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