A Prince among Frogs by E. D. Baker Read Free Book Online Page B

the shadow again. Another swing of his tail and the beast hit the wall hard enough to crack stone. The red eyes blinked, then moved from side to side as if a great beast were shaking its head.
    “There it is!” shouted Sir Jarvis, appearing in the darkened corridor as a pale blue glow.
    The beast backed away, its eyes watching the advancing ghosts as one blue glow after another joined Sir Jarvis. The ghosts began to take shape, becoming a little less transparent, although Millie could still see the walls of the dungeon through them. More appeared, coming through closed doors and solid stone walls. One materialized right in front of Millie. “Pardon me, Your Highness,” he said, tipping his dented metal helmet.
    Soon more than a dozen ghosts were crowding the shadow beast, and it began to pace as if looking for a way out. When the ghosts moved closer, the beast leaped, soaring over Audun and Millie and disappearing in the shadows behind them.
    A shout went up from the ghosts and they gave chase, turning back by twos and threes into pale blue wisps that poured down the corridor after the shadow beast.
    “You were amazing,” Millie said, standing on tiptoe to kiss the dragon on the cheek.
    “I wish I could exhale ice like Frostybreath can. That might have slowed the beast down,” Audun said, turning back into his human form.
    “Or done nothing at all,” said Millie. “The shadow beast is a ghost, after all.”
    They found the king on the other side of the secret passage door talking to Millie’s cousin, Francis. The king looked up as the door creaked open. “Any news?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
    “No news of Felix, but we did learn something about the person who took him,” said Millie. “He—or she—is a magic user.” She continued by telling him what had happened to Li’l and Zoë.
    King Limelyn didn’t look happy. “I was afraid of that. If someone used magic to whisk Felix away, he or she could be anywhere by now. Francis and I have been inspecting the secret passage to make sure the kidnapper didn’t go this way.”
    “We haven’t found anything here, but then we wouldn’t have if the kidnapper used magic or went out the window,” said Francis. “I’m sorry I’m not more help. I’ve been focusing my study of magic on ways to make myself a better knight. I should have listened to my parents and broadened my studies to include a wider range of magic. I can’t do much unless I can see my enemy.”
    “If we need magic to help us find magic,” Millie said, “we’ll have to go ask someone who can do the right kind of spells. I’m going to the enchanted forest to see if any of the three witches are home.”

Five
    T he cottage lay in the heart of the enchanted forest, far from any other human or witch dwelling. It had once belonged to a would-be witch who had captured Millie’s mother after Emma had been turned into a frog, but now it was the home of three real witches, two of whom were sisters. Although all three witches were friends of her family, Millie was especially fond of Azuria, the Blue Witch, and it was Azuria whom Millie and Audun first saw when they landed in the field beside the cottage.
    “Hello, Millie! Hello, Audun!” the witch shouted as she ran past, waving a butterfly net. A sapphire blue butterfly zigzagged just out of reach as the elderly woman lunged after it, her net snapping in the air.
    The air around them shimmered as the two dragons turned into their human form and stood waiting for Azuria to come back. When the old witch continued to dart around the field, Millie looked at Audun and shrugged. “Maybe we should talk to someone else.”
    They could hear voices arguing inside the cottage as they drew closer, so they knew that the two sisters were home. Millie’s mouth watered at the scent of fresh-baked cherry pie, and she smiled when Audun raised his nose to sniff. She knocked on the door, and a moment later it opened with a bang. A woman with gray hair and