FAIRY FROGMOTHER by Charlotte Henley Babb page 6/6
When everyone had been given water, the Queen's men started out across a dry plain, barren of plants as far as the eye could see. It was not just a desert, for there is life in the desert. This was scourged land, rocks scraped dry of topsoil, with no relief from the sun, no slight breeze or trickle of water. Magical wards protected the Queen's realm: fear-mongering illusions. How desperate Erwyn must have been to face his own fears to escape..
Maven listened to all the stories of the horsemen. They seemed to be
under a glamour as well, both to find Erwyn and to return him to the Queen. They were afraid of their Queen, but too afraid not to return with their quarry. That kind of power over took a lot of energy. Maven wondered how the Queen managed to channel it.
Medori was not dealing well with the heat, although the spell under the
cloak was helping. Fortunately The Queen's wards had little effect, as
Medori's frog-like mind had little imagination. Maven and Erwyn weren't doing nearly as well. They were wet, but nearly parboiled as well. Erwyn kept twitching, closing his eyes and muttering to himself.
Images of snakes slithered through Maven's mind—she knew that some
snakes ate frogs. She decided to try imagining cool pools of shining water, dappled in shade and sunshine. The harder she worked at her imagery, the less afraid and more comfortable she became. That was her answer. Fear was the Queen's energy source. Fear and loathing and any other emotion that being locked in a frog's body might engender. Power fueled by the fear of the power—the oldest trick in the book.
Maven hoped they would reach the castle well before sunset, as she had a lot of spell-casting to do and no room to do it.
By the time they reached Queen Tarryn's castle, the setting sun sent
shafts of golden light into the great hall from just above the treetops. Frog voices echoed as the party crossed the moat. Maven heard longing and sadness, anger and fear in the voices—plenty of energy to keep the spells
going.
The party stopped. The captain assisted Medori from the horse, thinking that his prince was weary and weak from the heat. Maven's glamour had faded in the face of Tarryn's magic He could not help but see that she was shorter than the prince, and much lighter, but she also wore the amulet...
Medori retrieved the two frogs and Maven's wand, which she wrapped in the sleeve of her dress. She pushed back the cloak from her shoulders and
carried Maven and Erwyn before her, as if she were presenting them as
gifts.
The queen rushed out to meet her son. Her graying hair hung frizzy
around her hollow and dark-eyed face. She froze in horror when she saw the amulet hanging from Medori's neck.
"I have found a bride, Mother," Prince Erwyn croaked, having regained
some composure. He hopped out of Medori's hand with a splat onto the floor.
"Change me back!"
"Who dares to transmute my magic?" Tarryn's voice silenced the hall.
The sun's light deepened to red.
"Magic kept too long turns on itself," Maven said, "You may have your
son forever, as he is, or you may let him live as he is meant to live. But choose now, for this day seals the spell."
"No woman shall have him!" the queen cried. She pulled her wand from
the sleeve of her robe and sent the spell towards Medori, but as with Maven, it back-lashed, shrinking her into amphibian fury.
"I am no woman," Medori said. She removed the stone and laid it at her
feet. She motioned to Maven. "See my true form. I am sorry, my prince."
Maven removed her spell.
They sat in the shadows of the sunset, red light making banners that
floated ever higher on the walls, four frogs facing fate.
Erwyn edged closer to Medori. He looked into her eyes, still the same
emerald shade, though much more prominent. "I never liked frogs," he said,
"but now that I am one, I see how beautiful you are." He pulled himself up
to his most regal stature. "I pledged my troth to you, and if you will have
me, prince or frog, I will marry you."
"Frogs need not marry," Medori peeped. "I am yours." They embraced.
The shadows climbed the walls as the sun set.
"What do you want, Queen Tarryn?" Maven asked. "Can you leave your
son like this to keep your illusion of youth? Set him and yourself free,
and come back to your old life."
"You have lost me, Mother; I will be myself, whatever you decide."
The sun glowed through the window as it neared the horizon. Tarryn wobbled first toward Erwyn then toward Maven, her eyes twitching.
"Love is stronger than magic, Tarryn," Maven said. "Love your son.
Use the magic and set him free. Let him be happy."
Tarryn crawled to the touchstone, trembling. "It must be said in
sunlight," she croaked. "Help me." She took one side of the necklace and
Maven took the other. Nodding agreement, they leapt to the window casement. It was high, but they scrambled up to the ledge. Holding the stone up between them, they chanted the spell in the last rays of the sun.
Polychrome sparks flowed out of the stone, followed by screams and
wails, shrieks of joy and moans of disgust. Every frog-maiden within a
hundred leagues was suddenly human and naked and wet again, scrambling to get out, get dry, get away, get dressed. Except Tarryn, Medori and Maven. Prince Erwyn scooped up Medori in his hand and looked deeply into her eyes once more. He kissed her, stroking her head and back with his forefinger. His mother and Maven spoke together to complete her
transformation. Erwyn did not release her, but held her close as she
transformed.
The full moon rose as the sun set, and the damp dew fell. The magic
desert disappeared in the darkening twilight as the moat spread its water
out to meet the distant forests. It was a good night to be a frog.
"What about us? Being a frog doesn't seem so bad." Tarryn said.
"I'm too old to start being green." Maven hopped down to retrieve her wand, not something to be left lying around. When Tarryn followed, she dragged the stone down from the window, shattering it on the castle floor.
"Get your wand, quickly," Maven said. "Let's grind this stone into
dust, sprinkle ourselves with it, and maybe we can change each other
back."
Maven showed Tarryn how to ride the wand and leap into the air. They
called in a tiny dust devil to swirl the broken pieces, magically grinding
them into sparkling dust, which stuck to their skin. They said the transformation spell together and emerged fairies again, gossamered and
winged.
"What happens to rogue fairy godmothers?" Tarryn asked as she fluttered
around the great hall. "I don't know that I want to go back to saving the
youngest and goodliest from society."
"Fiona mentioned counseling, but the last time she 'counseled' me, I
spent a couple of cycles living under a bridge as a troll."
"Fiona's still in charge?" Tarryn made a face.
Maven nodded.
"So much for that. She scheduled me to be a nursemaid for a dragon. That's when I left. Don't you think we can find some good to do?"
"I know I've had enough of Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauties."
"Let find some older women in distress."
"Yeah, or some older men."
They flew out into the golden moonlight in search of adventure.
Charlotte Babb says upstate South Carolina is a great place to live with the fae among the ferns and sassafras in the red clay, and Charlotte Babb listens as they spin their yarns in her ears and her hair. It's only the mundane who can't see the
castles the air, but think them only dust bunnies and cobwebs. Visit her at
charlottebabb.com or manifest your own dreams with her at beyourownfairygodmother.com.
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