Once Upon A Princess

9: Negotiations

"Frog!" she exclaimed, because she didn't know its name.

Instead of reaching out for it — which seemed like a bad idea all around — Amelia grabbed at her skirts, balling them in her fists. The impulse to race out of her room was almost too hard to ignore. But she had to remind herself that she was not the intruder here. This creature had somehow gotten in, and acted as if it didn't care about being in a princess's bedroom.

The frog, for its part, seemed affronted by her exclamation, then recovered quickly, perhaps realizing how alarmed it just made the princess. It was so expressive, even though it barely had a face.

"I guess that's called for, since I did startle you. I'm sorry for that," it said, voice cartoonish and croaky.

Amelia sat on her bed, thinking that would be the best way for her to not freak out. She still felt the desire to flee. She finally undid her hands, slowly clenching and unclenching her fingers. Underneath the fight or flight was anger. She didn't really understand it, but seeing the frog made her mad. She kept hold of that. It was better to be cross with the frog than to show fear and run away from it. When she was finally ready, she scooted closer to her nightstand, keeping her eyes level with the bulbous, glassy eyes of the frog. Her voice came out low and biting.

"What are you doing here?"

"Why are you whispering?" the frog asked her.

She scrunched her face in annoyance. "I asked you first."

The frog spoke louder, as if it was trying to defy her. Its face looked almost smug.

"Why do you feel the need to whisper? Especially since you just shouted very loudly. And by the way, my name is not—"

"I don't care what your name is!" Amelia hissed with urgency. "There are guards outside my door, and they're on alert."

"They didn't come in just now, so they must not be doing their job correctly."

Abruptly the frog hopped down from her nightstand, hopping towards the door.

"What are you doing? Now you're leaving?"

"I can see I'm not welcome here."

"No, that's not what I meant, I was just—"

"Afraid you'd see me again?"

The frog turned around slowly, hobbling awkwardly on its long legs.

Amelia was taken aback by the question. The absurdity! She wasn't afraid of seeing the frog again. That was something she couldn't stop thinking about. How did it not understand that an enchanted stranger in her private space was frightening? The fact it had guessed her emotion correctly but was so far off the mark only nettled her more.

"Why would I be afraid to see you again?"

"Well, unless you were so eager to help me that you literally dived into the water, I assume you wanted to get rid of me. Albeit, in a very strange way. Did you think I'd drown or something? You know I am a frog right?"

She stood up at the accusation. Everything this tiny animal said was so aggravating!

"What? No! I didn't dive into the water. I fell."

A frog rolling its eyes was so comical Amelia would have laughed if the situation was appropriate.

"Right. You fell in. That's behaving like a princess should. Did you think you'd get sympathy from me, playing the damsel in distress?"

The words hit her in a painful place; they were too close to the things her mother had accused her of. Why did no one seem to think she could slip and fall? Well, she could stand it from her mother, but the frog was going too far.