Chapter 2: Albert, Part 2
1190 Words
Albert found the change to palace life very difficult. He wasn't sure how to eat with knife and fork. Clothes were strange and uncomfortable. But most of all he missed being a frog and singing in his beloved pond all day. The only thing that made it at all bearable was the princess. She taught him how to eat with utensils and helped him choose the most comfortable clothes. She even stood up for him when he chose his entire wardrobe in green. But each evening Albert would slip out of the castle and go down to the pond. There he would sit in the light of the moon and sing. They were sad songs, and Sue listening on her balcony would determine to try even harder to make her prince happy.
One day while Albert and Sue sat in the sunny courtyard escaping from the wedding plans for a brief time Sue's nurse came out to bustle Sue back into the castle.
"I'm about to be married. I don't need a nurse." Sue yelled in rebellion. "Go away, and don't bother me anymore." The old woman looked at Sue then slowly and silently left.
"Why did you yell at her so?" Albert asked. "Surely she is only trying to help."
"She's been my nurse longer than I can remember. But I don't need a nurse anymore, and I don't like being fussed over."
"If you don't need a nurse, maybe she needs you." Sue looked at him quizzically.
"Why should she need me. I'd think that she would be glad to do something else for a change."
"What?" Albert asked reasonably. "She has always been Nurse."
"I don't know. That's her problem anyway." Sue grumped.
"You are her princess. I think that makes it your problem." Albert pointed out. "You should give her something else to do if you want her to stop bothering you."
Sue looked at him for a moment.
"I hadn't thought of that." She jumped up. "I'm going to go and talk to her."
"What are you going to ask her to do." Asked the frog prince.
"To be the nurse for our children!" Sue laughed, and ran off to find Nurse. Albert sighed and wandered down to the pond. He thought wistfully of his old uncomplicated life as a frog.
Yet as the days before the wedding shortened, Albert's common sense made itself felt. Even the King found himself discussing difficult problems with his guest. The Queen went so far as to admit one night while she and the King worked over the proclamation for the wedding that Albert might make quite a suitable match.
"By the way dear, have you found out exactly who Albert is?" She asked. "We really can't have a proclamation reading 'Today the Princess Susan Aurelia Constance Esther marries Albert.' We need to know a little more about his background."
"Quite right, you should ask Sue in the morning."
The next morning, the day before the wedding, Sue walked down the stairs to breakfast.
"Good morning." She smiled, and glided into her place.
"Good morning Sue." The Queen nodded. "Your father found a minor detail that needs to be cleared up. We need to know Albert's full name and a little more about him for the proclamation."
"I have been so busy that I never thought to ask him." Sue said. "I will ask him today."
Out in the courtyard, which had become their favourite place, Sue found Albert. He was staring moodily through the gate down toward his old pond.
"Albert, my mother asked me what your other names are."
"Other names? I only have one name."
"But Princes always have lots of names. Like me, I have four."
"I like Sue best," Albert said with a smile.
"But you are a Prince, you must have other names."
"No." Albert sighed "I have no other names. I am not a Prince." Susan stared at him, then laughed.
"You must be a Prince. Why would anyone enchant somebody who wasn't a Prince?"
"You did, Sue." Albert said looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite fathom.
"Oh Albert." Sue blushed.
"But you did Sue. You turned me into a Prince."
"And if I turned you into a Prince, what were you before?" She demanded.
"A frog. I'm a frog Sue. I was never a prince until I met you."
"You're not an enchanted Prince?" Sue's face turned red. "You let me think you were a Prince all this time, and all the time you were just a frog? What am I going to tell my father? That I'm marrying a frog?" Sue stood now, screeching at him.
Albert flinched with each question.
"You creature. You abominable creature. I hate you." The princess turned and fled from the courtyard.
Albert sat for a long while, then slowly he stood and walked down to the pond, a sad, shrinking figure in green.
The Princess locked herself in her bedroom. She refused to talk to anyone. Other than to tell her father through the door that the wedding was off; that everything had been a terrible mistake. She closed the window then wept on her bed for three days.
Finally, she got up and washed her face. Squaring her shoulders, she unlocked the door and went down to breakfast. Her family greeted her with a wary silence. The Queen gave her an approving nod.
Things returned almost to normal. As the weeks passed, Sue floated quietly through life, her face cold and pale. She rapidly lost weight. One morning she no longer had the strength to get up.
The King and Queen worried about her. They begged their daughter to tell them what was making her so unhappy. But Sue simply stared out the window and said nothing. The old nurse came to the princess's room to be by her side. She bustled about cleaning and tidying, opening the window to let the fresh summer air in. The day passed and as the evening came Sue heard a voice singing outside her window. It sang of the summer night, and the sorrow of a love lost. It sang of the moon shining on the pond and of a beautiful princess named Sue. It sang of enchantment and a broken heart.
"Albert," the princess whispered. She stood and staggered to the window. "Albert."
His deep, sad voice soared through the night,
telling of the joy and sorrow of his love.
Sue sat on the balcony and listened to the song through the night. In the grey of the early morning she slipped out of the castle. Walking slowly but with iron determination she made her way down to the pond.
"Albert." She called into the silver mists. "Albert, I'm sorry. I love you." The effort of walking overcame the weakened princess and she fainted beside the pond. There Albert, once again a frog, found her.
"My poor Sue." Albert said as he kissed her. "I wish I could make you happy."
The rising sun shone gold on two happy frogs as, hand in hand, they hopped into the pond.
- Writer
