The Toad Prince

Chapter Six

Aurelian escorted Nadaria out of the ballroom and to an upstairs hallway with what seemed like endless doors. He was a stern-looking man, and she felt like a small child in his presence. The butler opened a door and allowed her into a luxurious bedroom.

“There are ladies’ clothes here, but if you’d prefer those laundered just set them out of the door and I will have a maid tend to them and return them in the morning. I’ve also had them draw you a bath. If you need anything else, just ring and Nicoleta or another will attend to you.”

“Okay. The blonde woman, who is she?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yes. I suppose it is,” she muttered. Not exactly, but it was apparent she was someone that Sorin loved. A wife or lover.

“He can tell you more. Although you should not expect to see him tomorrow. He is always somber after the full moon ceremony.”

“So, this happens every full moon?”

“Every full moon since 1852, yes.”

Her eyes widened. “You guys have been stuck in this curse for a hundred and seventy years?”

“Yes. And we deserved every second.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Why?”

“Rest well, my lady,” he said, turning on his heel and taking clipped steps away from her down the hallway.

“Okay. Goodnight, Aurelian,” she called after him.

The grumpy old man didn’t answer, and Nadaria slipped into the bedroom. She found a nightgown and checked the bathroom, where a claw-footed tub was full of warm water. Roux didn’t hesitate, sliding down her arm and into the bath.

“What have we wandered into here, Roux?”

He laid his head on the edge of the tub and flicked his tongue.

“This is all too strange,” she muttered. No one could convince her otherwise. Lord Sorin’s fairytale happily ever after. And here she was, having devoted her life to happily ever after. Not to mention the water lilies. A flower she had been fond of as long as she could remember. Too many coincidences to be coincidence.

Nadaria trusted in the Goddess that she had led her to where she needed to be. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind. But she was unnerved to find out the truth. Despite his unfortunate status as a vampire, Nadaria liked Sorin. What did he do to deserve such an awful punishment? It had to be bad. She had never seen a curse so intricate and cruel.

Something evil and bloody had happened in this castle. Tomorrow, she needed to get some other witches. She sighed, thinking that she needed her mother’s help.

The next morning, a soft knock on her door drew her from the overstuffed bed. Nadaria had slept well, considering she was in a haunted castle. She shuffled over to the door and opened it to find a young woman, no older than eighteen when she was turned vampire, bearing her laundry and a tray of breakfast foods.

“Hello,” she said with a kind smile, and her accent was much heavier than the others. “Clothes and food.”

“Yes, wonderful. Has anything ever made a girl happier?” Nadaria joked.

The young woman tilted her head but giggled. “I am Dumitra.”

“Nadaria.”

“Yes. Yes, we all know. Nicoleta say you save us all.”

Nadaria’s eyebrows shot up, and she felt her cheeks heat. “I will do my best.”

The girl nodded so hard Nadaria worried she might hurt her neck, and she took the items.

“Do you think they’ll mind if I poke around a little, Dumitra?”

“What is it you are poking?”

Nadaria chuckled. “I mean, look around, in the castle.”

“No, I don’t think they’ll be minding that. Maybe Aurelian, but he is angry old man.”

“Yeah, he’s a little grumpy. I’ll be like a ninja. No one will even know I’m here.”

Dumitra nodded with a blank expression. “Okay.” The girl took a key off of her neck. “A house key. In case you meet a door you want to be unlocking.”

“Thank you!” Nadaria said, taking it. “You won’t get in trouble for this?”

“Oh no. Nicoleta say my brain is scattered. I’ll just tell her I lost it.”

Dumitra left her, and Nadaria dressed, allowing Roux to take his spot around her neck.

Nadaria wandered around the house, and she was more than a little annoyed that her magic was dampened. She trusted her intuition—as a water witch hers was better than others—and she followed it to a locked door.

Looking around, she used the key and entered. The air was old and dusty, like the door hadn’t been opened in a long while. She fanned some spider webs from the doorway and walked to open the curtains. The morning light filled the room, and her heart pinched. It was a grand bedroom built to accommodate the lord and lady of the castle.

Everything was bright, trimmed in white and yellow, but the room had taken on a shadowy appearance with the dust. She swept it off of the feather duvet and stared at the pattern of lilies. More disturbingly, was the baby bassinet on one side of the bed. A wooden rattle and hand-stitched doll sat in it, tied with a yellow ribbon like they were a gift for a child that hadn’t been born yet.

She sighed, and an overwhelming feeling of sadness overcame her heart.

They’d covered a painting with a white sheet, and she ripped it away. Sorin stared back at her, holding in his arms a beautiful blond woman in a wedding dress. He was human in the picture. There was no hint of red in his dark brown eyes, and although neither smiled with their mouths, as was normal back then, their eyes were lit with happiness.

Underneath it was a wooden jewelry box on an intricate dresser. Nadaria opened it and swallowed when Love Dream by Lietz chimed. On the lid an inscription read, viața mi-a dat un basm în tine. Nadaria knew a couple languages, but Romanian was not one of them.

She snooped around a little more, but found nothing of interest. Before she left, she restored the room to its original state, covering the painting and pulling the curtains.

She wandered around the castle, finding the dining room where she’d eaten with Sorin. The glass window was restored, as he’d promised. From there, she found the ballroom again. There were no candles or decorations this time. The cold autumn air blew in from the open doors, and she pulled her cloak tighter. Roux nestled deeper into her clothes, and she pet him through the fabric as they approached the pond.

Nadaria put her hand over the dark water, trying to sense… well, anything. She looked at the lone lily, like one shining star in the blackness of night. It hummed with evil magic, but the flower did not whisper any of its secrets to her.

She walked out to the castle grounds and saw ducks floating in a small pond. Nadaria grinned and wandered that way, reaching into her cloak.

——————————

Sorin stood at the window, feeling dark like he always did after the ceremony of the curse. His eyes were drawn to a bright spot of pink floating down a path to the pond.

The bubblegum witch.

He watched her break off pieces of a bread loaf and feed the ducks. His breath caught, and a long ago memory needled its way into his brain. The first time he’d seen Crina, that’s what she’d been doing. A brown cloak instead of pink, but kneeling at the edge of a pond and feeding ducks.

“f**k. f**k,” he muttered, rubbing his hands over his face as guilt chewed his heart like a hungry rat.

Why did she have to kiss him like that yesterday? Why did he have to enjoy it so much?

Sorin looked at his wrist, where the toad and the lily twisted in black ink. He knew why, of course. He also knew he’d used this bond to get her here, when otherwise he didn’t think she’d have come. And here he thought he couldn’t hate himself more.

Aurelian stood next to him. “She is sharper than the others. She will figure it out… Dumitra says she has already been snooping this morning.”

“I know.” He grabbed his cloak. “I must speak with her.”

“Ah, and blessed be the magical ward, for you would surely be receiving an ice shard up your ass without it, my Lord.”

“That is certain, Aurelian.”