"Father!", exclaimed the princess, running to hug him.
"My little one!", said the king when he saw her. "Are you all right?", he asked surprised. "I thought you would be inside. You weren't in your room, so I knew you had come to meet the witch again.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I had to look for Prince James. The delay could have cost him his life", she said, showing her beloved.
"We'll talk about it later... But I'm glad he's all right!", the king said, seeing the healthy boy.
"My lord", said the prince, putting away his sword and bowing.
Everyone bowed as well, except Lilian.
"So you appeared... was it really magic?", asked the king.
"It was! Nothing in this world would make me abandon your precious daughter, my lord", said the young man.
The king nodded and looked toward the direction of the invisible dome.
"She never gets tired...", he said to himself.
The king looked around in amazement to find Lilian, who lowered her gaze when she saw him.
"Lilian, what a surprise. Who is this?", asked the king seeing the girl near her.
"Mirian tricked us that time. Emily was alive the whole time", Lilian said to the king's astonishment.
"How cruel...", he said and looked at the two of them ruefully.
Then the king declared:
"I see that everything is fine here. I invite you to dinner tonight at the palace. We have a lot to talk about".
"My father... we need to enter the dome again", said the princess almost in a whisper.
The king gave him an inquiring look.
"If I may summarize, Edgar, unfortunately we have forgotten in there the magic flowers that Mirian has always wanted, and every minute she is closer to finding them. We have to go in and stop her from catching them and getting out of the prison. Now, we still have an advantage while she doesn't find the flowers, but we are losing precious time that we can't afford to waste. We have to act now", said Lilian, uneasy with the delay.
Everyone looked at Lilian in amazement that she had called the king by name.
The king stared at Lilian for a while and then enunciated:
"All right! Let's go in then. Everybody come with me, except you, James. Your parents are looking for you throughout their kingdom. Go find them and put an end to their despair. I want you to go with him too, Agatha".
"All right, my lord", replied the prince.
"Father, please, I can be useful if Mirian uses magic. Besides, I want to repay the good that Lilian did for me by bringing James back", cried the princess.
The king was very reluctant, but agreed:
"That's fine, but I'm doing this because I know you're going in anyway. We need to talk about this later... Be careful!"
Agatha sketched a slight smile.
"In that case I will go too, my lord. Please send a messenger to tell my parents that I have been found", said James.
The king ordered one of his men to take the message to James' parents. Then he turned to everyone and gave a speech:
"Let's go! Be prepared for battle if necessary. Let no one be left behind".
To be continued...
YOU ARE READING
The Frog Collector
FantasyPrincess Agatha is about to live the most intense days of her life. It all starts with a answer she will give to Prince James. But when she goes to the usual place where she will give that answer, he's not there. She waits, but tired decides to look...
