Once Upon A Princess

10: Puzzle Solved

Amelia went the rest of the evening and into the next day without even thinking of the frog. In some part of her brain, she knew that it probably would come back. But for some reason it was easy to erase it from her mind. She had other things to worry about. Most pressingly, she had the constant nagging presence of her dozen guards as she attended lessons.

"Could you please stop elbowing me?" she said in exasperation to the guard on her left.

She was in between two of them on her small table, her tutor sitting across from them as she guided the lesson. Amelia's arm space was now filled with not only school work but also tall, burly guards with much too big arms for such a small table. It didn't help that even her legs were cramped; her knees knocking into her tutor's under the table.

The guard looked apologetic at her words, but couldn't really adjust to a better position than he was already in. He was perched on the edge of the table, and another inch to the side would send him off onto the floor. Leesil was on the princess's right, and was keeping her arms and legs as tightly pressed to herself as possible, but her shoulders and hips were still broad enough to be in the way.

Due to there being little room on the table, Amelia's handwriting looked severely worse than it actually was, as any sort of movement from either guard meant her pen was suddenly veered in a random direction. It had been a long day.

After nearly the twentieth time that her paper had been smudged, her tutor finally lost her temper. The princess could only have the finest tutor Avenor could offer, and that happened to be Madam Tunna. She was old; older than Amelia's dad. She had perceptible wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and lips, and her hair was gray and always pulled back into a tight, slick bun, and her eyes were gray too: razor-sharp and quick when it came to finding mistakes.

"Could you let the princess have some breathing room, or is that a part of your duties as well? To smother her?" Madam Tunna's lips were so thin you could barely see them, a sure sign she was angry.

The guard to Amelia's left looked like he wanted to shrink into himself. Even grown men couldn't handle the gaze of Madam Tunna.

"Orders from the king. Keep a constant presence on the princess," he replied gruffly, avoiding the tutor's raptor gaze.

"Nowhere in those orders does it tell you to interrupt her lessons, now does it? I'm asking you to let us have the tables to ourselves, so we can practice her arithmetic without silly interruptions."

She made a small flick of her wrist, and like magic the two guards stood up and went to stand behind Amelia. There was barely room for them there, as there were already a handful standing protectively over her. More were stationed at the door.

Amelia breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you, Madam Tunna."

The tutor said nothing but she did quirk her mouth up at the edges and then began her lesson again.

After the lessons Amelia went looking for her father, hoping they could practice some sword fighting today. She was, of course, accompanied by her guards as she roamed the halls. They sounded like a herd of animals; there was no way to disguise the clanking footsteps of a dozen people. It was like she was announcing where she was at all times. Surely that wasn't good for security.

The princess found the king in his smaller study, one he used when he was doing business alone. He looked tired, papers in front of him that he was signing almost benignly. He looked up at her intrusion and gave her a small smile.

"My love, how were your lessons today?"

She realized there were eyes on them, but she went up to him anyway and crawled onto his lap. She was getting too big for it, she realized. Now sitting on his lap she was the same height as him. She gave him a small peck on his cheek before answering him.

"They were fine. It was hard with those guards though."

The king looked up briefly to her dozen or so guards, all of them trying to make space in the room for each other and the royal family. They gave the king sheepish smiles and shrugs. When he looked back at his daughter, he mirrored their expressions.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I've been just so scared since Prince Theolon's disappearance. You know he went missing right by Avenor, right?"

Something struck her as odd when Amelia heard that, but she couldn't figure out what. Instead she nodded.

"I know you're worried about me."

He swallowed a lump in his throat, looking at his daughter. He'd told her before about how scared he was for her. So young. So many dangers present in the world for her to come across.

"I am. I'm sorry, I can't help it. It comes with the territory."

"Of being king?"

"Of being a father." He gently picked her up and placed her back on the ground as he stood up, adjusting his coat around him. "If you'd like more relaxed security measures, I can send some of them away. But I'd like at least a few with you at all times."

"Can't we have a fighting lesson today?" she asked, looking up at his face. She almost regretted asking, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.

Before he could answer her, the door opened again to produce the queen, followed by a trail of her own guards. The small office was now full to the brim of people. Amelia recognized the guard that saved her from her fall in the pond, flanking the queen with a somber expression. She tried to get his attention, but he didn't seem to be focused on the present moment.

Rowena only gave a glance to her daughter before addressing the king.

"Your Majesty, I've just heard word that they've found the carriage the prince had been riding in."

The king seemed to stand up straighter even as he put his hands down on his desk with a strange force. His veins seemed to stand out against his hands; energy coiled but unable to release.

"And? Any sign of him at all?"

She shook her head, and Harold seemed to wither under the news, energy expended in a shuddering breath.

"The guards are missing, and there's no sign of the prince. The carriage was seemingly abandoned deep in the woods. There's known to be witches lurking there. It's possible the carriage was attacked."

The king did not seem to believe this. He shook his head. Amelia, again, felt a strange prick in the back of her brain at the word 'witches'.

"I don't think so. Witches aren't known to be aggressive. It could easily be bandits. Let us focus the search parties on the area where his carriage was found. We'll notify the King and Queen of Gell immediately."

Rowena simply gave a nod, though Amelia saw some tension in the lines of her mouth. The princess wondered how much loyalty her mother had to the king. She certainly acted the perfect role of wife and servant to the realm and king.

With that she left, and as soon as the doors closed behind her Harold sank back into his chair with a sigh. Without really thinking about it he reached for his daughter's hand, lightly brushing her hand with his knuckles

Witches. Border of Avenor. The missing prince. An empty carriage... Amelia's thoughts were a blur, several pieces seemingly unrelated suddenly coming together and making a whole picture.

"I hope he's alright, I really do," Harold whispered softly, unaware of the calamity of Amelia's puzzle suddenly solved.

And truthfully Amelia barely heard his words, because she had suddenly gone cold with the realization. How could she not have seen it before! Before she was really thinking about it she began to leave, her guards flanking her once again. She heard her father say something as she left, but his words fell on deaf ears.

She wandered the grounds then, aimlessly, trying to look for the little green frog with its alien eyes and annoying jests. Her search was in vain, because of course the frog could easily find her but her searching eluded her. By the evening bell call for dinner, the guards were tired and confused and Amelia was frustrated. A mystery finally solved; another to confound.

Why was it that as soon she actually needed the frog, it decided not to show itself?

Despite easily erasing the frog from her thoughts this morning, it now seemed they would all but consume her until it decided to find her again.