The Frog Prince's Hair-Raising Predicament Read online

  A Tail Like No Other: Book Three

  The Frog Prince’s Hair-Raising Predicament

  People think that waiting in your tower for a dashing prince to rescue you is romantic. Believe me, that’s overrated. I should know. My name is Rapunzel Stiltskin, and for years my father kept me locked in a tower. And then my path unexpectedly crossed that of Arthurian prince Medwin.

  Medwin is my perfect match. He understands me, and he doesn’t freak out when my obscenely long tresses trip him or knock over various items. He also does things to my body that make me ask questions I almost don’t dare to answer.

  Am I a maiden? That’s what my father claimed, but if that’s the case, I’m not a very maidenly one. Medwin doesn’t think I’m female at all, and I believe him, especially when my libido responds to him in such a distinctively male—ahem—way.

  Now… If only my hair would leave us alone long enough for us to consummate our mating. Wait… Why is Medwin suddenly a frog?

  Note: This book is written in first-person point of view.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Fantasy

  Length: 45,903 words

  THE FROG PRINCE’S HAIR-RAISING PREDICAMENT

  A Tail Like No Other: Book Three

  Scarlet Hyacinth

  EVERLASTING CLASSIC

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

  THE FROG PRINCE'S HAIR-RAISING PREDICAMENT

  Copyright © 2013 by Scarlet Hyacinth

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-540-9

  First E-book Publication: November 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  THE FROG PRINCE'S HAIR-RAISING PREDICAMENT

  A Tail Like No Other: Book Three

  SCARLET HYACINTH

  Copyright © 2013

  Prologue

  Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away…But no, Merlinia isn’t exactly a kingdom. It’s more like…a region. And far is such a relative concept. Far from what? From whom?

  But I’m losing my train of thought. Let’s try this again. Once upon a time, in…Let’s be clear and frank, in Merlinia, there lived a powerful sorcerer lord. And he was a fierce, fierce man, guarding his privacy and his domain with his remarkable magic. Everybody feared him, and his outbursts of temper were well known all throughout the land.

  But what those people didn’t know was that he, Lord Rumpel Stiltskin, was also a very lonely individual. So when fate delivered a tiny baby in his arms, well, suffice to say he became an extremely dedicated father.

  Or at least, this was what he told me, his child, over and over, when he came to visit me in my tower. “You’re very lucky, Rapunzel,” he often said to me. “You have such a loving father to take care of you and protect you from this evil world.”

  Whenever he pointed that out, I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest. “Uh-huh. Does this protection have to imply me being stuck in a cold, empty tower all by myself?”

  “That’s for your own good,” my father argued. “You’re waiting for your prince, my beloved daughter. And when a worthy young man appears in your life, we will know.”

  I wanted to scream, for two main reasons. First of all, no matter what romantic notions I might have once entertained about a knight in shining armor finding me in my tower, I realized now that the entire endeavor was somewhat ludicrous. What kind of guy would randomly brave the unknown territory of a notoriously evil sorcerer to investigate the existence of a supposedly trapped and beautiful maiden?

  All these princes who hunted their brides by scouting the direst situations imaginable…What could they possibly be thinking? I mean, if in their bravery, they rescued so many damsels in distress, kudos to them. But I could not fathom specifically going on such a quest with the intention to find a soul mate. Weren’t the specifications of becoming a queen a little more complex than being pretty, lonely, and helpless? Didn’t queens need qualifications other than the skill to wait in a tower without losing their minds? Then again, perhaps they didn’t. They had attendants to do everything else for them. And in the end, what did I know about such things?

  But even if my father was correct about the virtues necessary to find a husband for me, I found one distinct flaw in his thinking. At first, when he spoke to me like that, I couldn’t tell what it was. It had been like a niggling fly, and made me feel awkward and uncertain. But then, in a bid to grant me a little happiness, my father had gifted me with a lovely mare named Magda. I didn’t know then that Magda’s appearance in my life w
ould signal a change far greater than I’d have ever believed.

  Because yes, my prince had been waiting, and he was perfect. But again, I’m getting ahead of myself. This story is just beginning. I still have too much to figure out for it to end.

  Chapter One:

  In Which a So-Called Maiden Rides to the Rescue

  Growing up, I’d been filled with romantic notions about my supposed future husband. My father had encouraged it, telling me time and again how perfect and loving my soul mate would be. Upon our first meeting, our gazes would meet and instantly, we would know that were meant to be together. I’d run into his arms, and he would sweep me off my feet, from my tower, and to his lovely castle, where I would become his queen.

  The books I was brought both encouraged this notion and confused me a little. As I advanced in age, I was gifted a great deal of tomes filled with romantic tales. And then, I noticed that, unlike the maidens in those books, I didn’t have generous bosoms or pert breasts. Concerned, I asked my father if my future husband would be disappointed at my lack of development in that regard. That had been the last romantic book I’d been given to read.

  As time passed, my father outfitted me with garments that covered practically every part of me, and I came to realize that the romantic love from those old stories wouldn’t be for me.

  And then, I found my first friend. Magda, the magical mare. It was what I called her. She always seemed amused by the alliteration.

  “You have to stop hiding,” Magda used to tell me. “Take those thick veils off. You have a beautiful face, Rapunzel. Show it.”

  I had hesitated at first, but when Magda and I were alone, I’d eventually relented. After all, she was only a horse. My father might have forbidden me to go unveiled in the presence of other people, but likely, she didn’t count.

  Magda was also a little strange in that she seemed surprised, and then quite upset, whenever I referred to myself as Lord Stiltskin’s daughter. Finally, one day, she asked me, “You do realize you’re a boy, right?”

  I had laughed at my friend’s words. “What are you talking about, Magda? I’m a girl.”

  Or so I said. But in my heart, there had always been a seed of doubt telling me something was wrong and different. I might have been sheltered, but I was not an idiot, and I had sensed something wasn’t right.

  Still, whether I was a boy or a girl mattered very little when I learned that Magda had been stolen from her original owner, Prince Kirril of Arthuria. Deciding to return Magda to Kirril was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. As it turned out, Kirril had been generous enough to gift her to me. But between those two events, something of great importance happened. I met Medwin.

  Medwin was Kirril’s older brother, the middle prince of Arthuria. He was also engaged to be married, to the Morgannian princess, Anelah. Or so everyone thought. Actually, Anelah was an evil witch who had impersonated the true heir of Morganna. She had Medwin under a powerful enchantment. Kirril and his mate, Dineiro, claimed that I was the only one who could break the spell. I had my doubts about that, but I decided to do my best to help.

  It was through this chain of events that I ended up in Arthuria’s capital, Camelot. The night before the wedding, I sneaked into Camelot. I couldn’t even be sure that I was doing the right thing, since all I had to go by was a dream of a man who looked like a pixie and called himself the Fairy Godfather. In addition, I wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, since a lone stranger covered from head to toe in elaborate garments was bound to draw some attention. Thankfully, I had Magda with me.

  “This way,” she said as she nudged me along. “Keep your head down and stick to my side. It’s a long way to the palace.”

  I held onto Magda’s reins and walked by my mare’s side. It wasn’t that I couldn’t ride her—but we were trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves at all costs. My heart raced and my palms felt clammy as we advanced through the city. Camelot was huge, and even at this late hour, bustling with activity. I’d spent my entire life in a tower in the middle of nowhere, so I had no experience whatsoever with big settlements. The closest thing I’d come to socializing with other people was my brief interaction with Kirril, Dineiro, as well as with Victor Frankenstein, and his mate Larue. My father didn’t really count.

  But in spite of my wariness of this alien environment, I continued onward, clinging to the knowledge of the importance of my quest. By the time we reached the palace, I was almost hyperventilating. Seeing all the guards surrounding the place didn’t help. It was a good thing that the royal weddings weren’t held here, but in the palace gardens. Even with Magda’s magic, we would have never gotten inside unseen. My own powers were untrained at best, since, in spite of being a great warlock, my father had never taught me the intricacies of spell casting.

  As it turned out, my lack of skill in magic didn’t matter. The structure was guarded, but with Magda’s help, we managed to give the Arthurian watchmen the slip. Of course, we couldn’t enter the palace itself, but we did manage to sneak into the courtyard, and that turned out to be enough.

  Unexpectedly, Victor Frankenstein and his mate Larue met up with me just as Magda and I reached the stables. Well, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it wasn’t actually their arrival that startled me. The dream had pretty much informed me that they would be waiting. Victor’s feline shape didn’t exactly shock me, but I hadn’t been told that Larue would be invisible.

  In the end, none of that mattered, though, because they guided me toward what needed to be done. Larue handed me a pouch filled with pixie dust. Together, we slipped out of the palace yet again. “We need to get you into the Temple of the Great Father,” Larue whispered as we walked through the streets of Camelot. “That’s the only way you can assist to the ceremony without making anyone suspicious.”

  I nodded, although his words made me wary and apprehensive. “And how exactly do I do that?”

  “Don’t worry,” Magda told me. “We’ll help.”

  I fell silent, musing over everything I had been told. The pouch filled with pixie dust felt heavy in the pocket of my robes, reminding me of the promise I had made to Medwin’s family—and to Medwin himself, in my heart. It was perhaps fortunate that we got to the Temple of the Great Father pretty quickly, because otherwise, I’d have worried myself sick.

  From that point on, things grew a little more complicated. In my Merlinian garb, I stood out like a sore thumb, and I couldn’t rely on Magda’s magic to assist me. The corridors of the temple were cramped, and I couldn’t exactly take a horse inside. Therefore, I had to leave Magda at the entrance of the temple. Larue and Victor came with me, though, since a small house cat and an invisible pixie wouldn’t draw the eye.

  Truth be told, my sense of direction was terrible. By myself, I would have had no clue as to how to find my way through this place. For the better part of my life, I’d been trapped in a tower, and I’d only managed to escape with Magda’s help. However, Larue seemed to know where we should be going, and I could only follow, feeling a bit useless and scared.

  No sooner had we entered the temple than we heard someone approaching, humming a hymn of praise under his breath. I instantly ducked behind a nearby tapestry, knowing it wasn’t the best place to hide but completely out of ideas. Through the material, I could see a High Father apprentice approaching, his gaze focused on the book in his hands.

  Larue, Victor, and I hadn’t exactly discussed what we should do if we ran into someone. Well, there was not much Victor could help with, but perhaps Larue’s magic might have been able to distract the man in question. For some reason, though, I felt like I couldn’t wait for the others to act.

  Sending a prayer of forgiveness to the Goddess, I lunged forward, jumping the man in question. I didn’t have a clear plan in place from this point on, so I just summoned my magic and willed the apprentice into unconsciousness.

  Predictably, it didn’t work exactly the way I’d wanted it to. Instead, my hair wormed its way out of
the pony tail I’d tied it in and wrapped itself around the apprentice. I actually hated having people randomly touch my hair, but the damn thing often had a mind of its own and acted like a conduit for my magic.

  With the amount of hair I had, I could have easily strangled him, but just the thought of it horrified me. Instead, my locks rocked him to sleep, and he fell into an enchanted slumber, clutching a few strands of hair while still humming under his breath.

  “Good job,” Larue said, sounding a little surprised.

  “Thank you,” I answered. “Now let’s hope he won’t wake up.”

  As soon as I ascertained that, I quickly searched his clothes. Much to my relief, I found a set of keys. One of them would likely open his quarters and provide me with a disguise. However, I found myself in quite a predicament, because I had no idea where the room in question could be, and if I advanced any further in my current garments, I would surely be spotted.

  With Larue’s help, I have been able to find my way through the corridors, but was it really worth the risk? As if guessing my thoughts, Larue suggested a different approach. “Come on. We’ll stash him someplace and see where we go from there.”

  Larue and I started to drag the man away from the place he’d fallen and to the first door we could find. It was locked, but the set of keys managed to solve that problem. The room beyond turned out to be a study of sorts. There were only books and items of worship, nothing I could use for a potential disguise.

  “You’ll have to use his clothes,” Victor told me, a note of apology in his voice.