Bella did not want to leave him to deal with this by himself; it seemed unfair.She had studied maps at her father’s elbow as they bent over the kitchen table and knew how far the distance was between their homes.She had a long, perilous ride ahead of her.“I will not feel safe traveling alone.‘Tis too far and dangerous for a solitary traveler to accomplish, let alone a female.All manner of ills might befall me.”
She watched Riven take a deep breath, his froggy throat bellowing out with the motion.“That is why I worked out a perfect solution for you.”He swam to the nearby shore, then returned and handed her the tiny chest.“Open it.”
‘Twas a lovely golden chest, tiny and etched.This item alone would raise eyebrows if she were caught carrying it, and it was probably the most expensive gift she had ever received.“‘Tis too much, my prince.”
“‘Tis not for you.Open it.”
She frowned when she saw the two sugar cubes inside.“I do not understand.”
“One cube will help Nocturne make the journey to your home in but a single day.”
“Impossible.”
“Says the woman conversing with a frog.”
She smirked.“Touché.”She poked one with a finger, heartened by the hope that she might be home in a day and not weeks.“And the second cube?”
A long pause greeted her as she held his eyes.“In case you ever wish to return.”
One fat tear rolled down her cheek, and Bella spun from Riven so he would not see it.“This is the most thoughtful and the most perfect of gifts, Your Highness.I thank you for it.”
“Riven,” he corrected.
“How will I know it is you?If I return?I do not know what you or Luc look like.”
“Well, I shall be the happy, dashing, carefree prince with sandy-brown hair and hazel eyes.Luc looks like a fish to this day.A miserable one.”
She smiled, picturing Riven making jests to a room full of high society people.“And you shall expect me to just walk up to you?In the middle of your entourage?”
“Bella, if you ever appear in my court, trust that I will be unable to look away.”
The way he studied her had Bella’s heart racing.
“There is more,” he said.“Come.”
She followed him to the crusty shore he just left.He emerged and pointed from the water’s edge.“I collected coins half the night for you before I thought of creating the sugar cubes.You have been kinder to me than most when you had nothing to gain from it, and for that, I wish to see you provided for.”
Bella’s mouth dropped open at the pile of shiny coins glinting in the sun.She picked them up and let them trickle through her fingers, tinkling as they clattered back into the pile.“Alber...um, Riven, you are too kind.But I cannot in good conscience accept this.You are a prince, and I am but a merchant’s daughter.‘Twould be unseemly.Plus, you are sentenced to be a frog and are imprisoned here.I am free to leave.‘Tis most unfair.I cannot profit from your misery.”
He placed his wee hand on her finger and squeezed.“Which is precisely why I collected these.You are the purest, most decent person I have ever met, and as a male and your friend, I needs must see you safely home.I hope one day you will think fondly of me.”
“I think fondly of you now, you belligerent bullfrog.”
The silence stretched a moment.“Put them in your pocket, Bella.Allow me to provide for you.This may be the only time I shall be able to do so.”
She forced a laugh.“A prince is providing my dowry.Whatever shall my father say?”
“Tell him it is a found treasure, then.Do not waste this on immature boys who do not value you for who you are inside.”
She met his earnest eyes and warmed mightily to him.Were he human, she would pine day and night for him.She was dangerously close to doing just that right now.“You are too kind.”
“I learned from the best,” he said, making her heart flutter.
With this bounty, Bella could afford whatever treatment her father might need.Once he recovered, Papa could even attempt any number of new inventions with the remaining coin.
There might even be enough left over to start a small school.One with lots of books.
“Might I tell Papa that I won it in a contest?One involving my cleverness?”
