The Frog Prince and His Servant (Completed)

Chapter VI

HENRY'S POV

There he sat in front of me as if he were waiting patiently for my arrival. The torch's light reflected off his brown eyes giving a sense of wisdom. The wolf let out a low growl while baring his teeth but he showed no signs of truly attacking. This is a warning for me, he's showing dominance and one wrong he will tear me to pieces. I look away and with a satisfied grunt he tilts his head back and howls once more. Not a moment later more wolves have joined us, surrounding me in a circle. Different wolves of color and height silently moved closer, making little space for me. What is this, I don't feel threaten, so what is happening? The first wolf stood and sniffed me and when he was done he tilts his head to the side. His eyes glaze over and a female voice boomed out of nowhere.

"So, Faithful Henry, you're looking for the Prince of Grimm are you?"

Where is that voice coming from?  There's no one else here who could talk.

"These are my wolves, I can communicate through them." She explains my obvious confusion. 

"How do you know who I was looking for?" I asked looking at the main wolf which seemed to be where the voice is coming from.

"Oh, because he is right here with me. Now before you do anything drastic, allow me to explain what will happen. I had something in mind for our dear Prince Jonah but seeing as I had already captured him there was no real fun. How boring is that? Boring things gets on my nerves. So I devised a game if the Prince wins, he lives a happy life with the one he loves, and if he loses his life is mine to do whatever I want with."

My nails dig into my palm and I frown, "What is the game then?"

"That is only for the Prince to know. If I were to tell you the Prince will win easily. What I need you to do is to turn back and return to the castle. Tell the King to stop looking for him."

"He would never even think to stop-"

"Well then, you better persuade him, because he will not find him anyways. Not in his state." She laughs.

I furrow my eyebrows while looking down at the wolf. What has she done to him? Who is this woman? 

"Is that all I need to do?" I questioned. 

"Hm... kneel."

I was taken aback, she wants me to kneel?

"Kneel." She demands again with a stern voice which was followed by a growl from the wolf.

"Henry! Don't you dare-" My Prince's voice echoed through the forest. 

"Shut up! Henry kneel or I will kill him and have my wolves eat you for dinner." She commands.

I unwillingly kneel before the wolf, not wanting my prince to be hurt because of me. My breaths were ragged, she has total control over the situation. My prince, why did you have to take this path alone?

The black wolf stood proudly above me, the torch's light made him look menacing now. His growl rumbles sending chills down my spine and before I could react, his sharp teeth was sinking in my neck. My voice caught in my throat and I sat limply on my heels. The world around me became blurry as the wolf kept his teeth in place. Something warm flowed through my veins causing me to drop the torch and fall asleep.

JONAH'S POV

Panic arose within me at the sight of his still figure from the witch's vision. That panic quickly turned to anger when he fell lifelessly.

"You'll pay for what you did to him, I swear it!" My voice rasped.

"Tsk, don't worry he'll be fine. This is just a challenge for you. I cast a spell on my wolf's saliva to make Henry more sensitive to his emotions. The bite mark will heal over time. The only real danger right now is that torch, but don't worry I had my wolves take care of it. There is a pond near where they will discard it."

I let out a shaky breath. This witch is crazy yet a genius. 

"Oh, one more thing, you only have a week to beat the game."

"A week? How can I-"

"You should use that princely charm of yours to reel in the neighboring kingdom's princess."

I sighed and thought things over. Could I really pull this off? This is way bigger than me and I don't know if my pride could allow me to...

"Come here prince. It's time to bring you to your new home." She snaps her finger and a second later I'm standing and following behind her.

We're heading to the next kingdom. King Wilhelm's territory. It'll be a two-day walk so my week will start when we arrive. This will give me time to think of a way to get through this. Then out of nowhere, the witch whistles and soon her wolves were back at her side.

"Hello, my loves. You've done well, now I need two of you grow in size so that we may ride you and arrive at King Wilhelm's kingdom quicker. Can you do that for me?" She asks the wolves nicely and two of them stepped forward. 

She pets them between their ears and said thank you as their bodies began to grow and misshape. The wolves grew into a more human form, werewolves.

"You go on and carry the prince. Hurry now, I'd like to arrive by morning."

The black wolf, the same one that bit Faithful Henry, threw me over his back and launched himself into the sky. In sheer terror, I grab his fur and held tight, not wanting to fall to my death.

"Well, isn't this fun, Prince Jonah? Werewolves are great runners, but their jumping distance is incredible!" She laughs happily as she raises her hands above her head, enjoying the ride.

I couldn't help but feel annoyed, I could die at any moment without a chance to beat this game and here she is having the time of her life. I shake my head and hide my face in the werewolf's fur. 

Henry, whatever happens, be strong. More so now than ever before. Your emotions will be on the edge, and you could reach a breaking point that you can never recover from. I could never forgive myself if that happens. Don't let this get to you, and fight. Fight for me.

Word Count: 1,069