Princed

Chapter 13

"What?" The king immiediately asked his daughter after Irenie had said she was going to find someone to break Prince Froglip's spell.

Actually, that was the word on everyone's lips, however, he was certainly the loudest.

"You'd have to leave the castle! Maybe even the kingdom-" Curdie gave voice to the thought everyone was thinking. "And not only would you be alone out in the middle of only God knows where, you would be stuck with- with that." He threw both hands out to gesture towards the cursed Prince Froglip.

"I'm aware," Irenie answered coolly as she rose from the bed and smoothed out her skirts in a dignified manner.

The offended Froglip glared angrily at Curdie but didn't really want to be punched in the chest again.

"But I have to do this. It's my duty, isn't it, Father?" Irenie asked. Her brow was low just like her tone as she stared at the king.

It was true that the king had said from the very beginning that Irenie's mission in creating peace between the goblins was hers alone. Not he nor any other servant of the king's was to help her, however, the mission the princess proposed was surely too dangerous for even the king to allow.

He puzzled to himself before the glint of some scheme touched his eyes for just a brief second. Irenie's father coughed into his fist and cleared his throat before placing his hands together in front of him in a kingly manner.

"If the princess feels comfortable travelling alone with the prince, then Irenie is right, I'm afraid." He looked at the human Froglip who had held a pleading expression which was rapidly becoming shocked. "The prince of the goblins is her responsibility, she can take horses and supplies for the journey, but no other help shall be awarded to her."

An outraged gasp broke from Ophelia's lips, her hands clenched at her sides. "She's your daughter!"

"And she'll be queen soon, there will be far more obstacles in Irenie's life than just a human ex-goblin Prince. This will be a good test for her." The king brushed his hands together as if to wash them of the matter, but lady Estrild was far from placated.

"Well, if you wont help her, I will!" she declared and her hand was grabbed by Curdie who nodded in affirmation as well.

"Thank you," Irenie said, bowing her head from relief as she rose from the bed where she had been sitting beside the goblin prince. She looked at the stone floor and her eyes lit up when she spotted a magenta strand of hair still stuck to the rock.

It seemed as if it was the only one left, however, that's all she would need. With furtive  movements, she wound the thing several times until it made a very thin loop of magenta, the perfect size to fit around someone's wrist.

"If you both can help me, I think I may have a way to make this look like Froglip never left the castle."

Irenie certainly couldn't change someone like her grandmother had, but she could whip up a spell that might disguise their appearance.

She looked at Curdie helplessly until he retreated with a knowing horror in the pits of his dark brown eyes.

"No! Not a chance. There is no way in hell-"

"Please Curdie-"

"What? What's this about?" The king asked in a confused but stern voice when he saw the look on the knight's face. Ophelia seemed to echo this question with her own bewildered expression.

"She's going magic me to look like Froglip." Curdie staggered backwards and visibly shaken, pointed at the makeshift bracelet Irenie had made from the goblin prince's magenta hair.

"Please Curdie," Irenie begged again. He was completely right about what she wanted to do, but it seemed like the only way to convince the goblins before she got back with a goblin Froglip.

The magenta strands glowed briefly before she offered it up to her friend and he was forced to grab it after a very long pause.

"Why don't we just give this to Froglip?" Curdie wined desperately as he held the hair bracelet in front of his worried eyes.

"Because," Irenie said, "this isn't permanent. Over time the bracelet will lose its magic and I don't have anymore of the hair left so it will have to be worn sparingly throughout the day." She stared hesitantly at the magenta hair. "Or only during the times when you want to look like Froglip."

Curdie sneered. "I would never want that, never."

"Please, sun boy," the prince chuckled, rising from his bed, "you would be so lucky to look like the prince of the goblins."

Curdie's face tightened into a scowl and he pretended to throw a fist at the prince again. Froglip let out another sharp screech and ducked behind Irenie for protection.

"It's not like Froglip's spell which has literally changed his entire body to the very core. Think of it like wearing a mask or a giant suit of armour." Irenie pleaded earnestly, although she already knew that Curdie would do what she was asking no matter how against it he seemed. "Although don't go fighting any of the goblins. It won't make you stronger than usual."

Curdie's face went a sour white colour and he bowed his head woefully. "You owe me after this, Irenie, like... my own horse or something." Curdie's grumble did not go unnoticed and Irenie quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, Curdie," she sighed in relief and released him. "You really are my very best friend, you know?"

"Yah, yah alright," he muttered bashfully and a red blush appeared along his cheekbones.

Ophelia grabbed his hand and smiled with her eyes closed. "You'll make the very best goblin prince."

Another snort came from Froglip who had drifted off to the very corner of the room, a baleful look on his handsome features, taking no solace or enjoyment from the sun people.

"I'll have some servants pack you a few bags and prepare a horse." The king nodded to his daughter solemnly and bowed his regal head. The strawberry locks touched by grey fell over his shoulders.

Irenie looked at her father hesitantly. "Hopefully you can still wish me good luck?"

He smiled and reached across the gap between them and brought his daughters head to rest against his chest. "Of course my child." He cast a dark look at Froglip who was still leaning disinterestedly against the wall. "And if that princed goblin, handsome or no, so much as does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable-"

"Father, trust me," Irenie said seriously but behind a clever smile. "I will have everything under control."

Which leads us to how the princess and the enchanted goblin prince ended up soaking wet, tied together in a cave, with no horse or supplies a mere 24 hours later .