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(if: (history:)'s last is "Curse")[(set: $curse to $new)](else:)[(set: $curse to $old)]
(if: (history:)'s last is "Companion")[(set: $companion to $new)](else:)[(set: $companion to $old)]
(if: (history:)'s last is "Heart")[(set: $heart to $new)](else:)[(set: $heart to $old)]
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(if: (history:)'s last is "Stop")[(set: $stop to $new)](else:)[(set: $stop to $old)]
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}$old[Once upon a time there lived a handsome prince. (if: (history:) contains "Kiss")[$kiss[The prince had a faithful servant whom he loved, although he did not think his feelings were returned. ]](if: (history:) contains "Heart")[$heart[The prince's servant fell ill, and the prince sought help from a witch. The witch placed three iron bands around the servant's heart to secure it], but as payment, she](else:)[ A spiteful witch] cursed the prince, transforming him into a frog.(if: (history:) contains "Companion")[
$companion[The servant swore to do everything possible to break the enchantment.] And so for many months, the prince and his servant sought a way to lift the curse.](else:)[(if: (history:) contains "Servant")[$servant[ For many months, the prince and his faithful servant sought a way to(if: (history:) contains "Curse")[ lift the curse](else:)[ [[lift the curse->Curse]]].]]]
One day, a beautiful princess was sitting by a well, playing with a golden ball. She happened to drop the ball, and it rolled into the well. She began to cry, and said, "Alas! If only I could get my ball back, I would give my fine clothes, my pearls and jewels, even my golden crown."
A frog came up from the well on hearing this. It was no ordinary frog, but the transformed prince, who had been hiding from the summer heat in the cool well.
"I will fetch your ball," said the frog. "But I do not ask for your pearls and jewels, your clothes, or your golden crown; only that you love me, and let me be your companion, and sit next to you at your table and eat from your plate and drink from your cup, and let me sleep in your bed."(if: (history:) contains "Curse")[$curse[ For his plan was to be the princess's(if: (history:) contains "Companion")[ companion](else:)[ [[companion->Companion]]] until she loved him enough to kiss him, and thus he would be freed from the curse.]]
"Oh, yes, I promise I will," said the princess, but when the frog dove down and returned with her ball, she took it up and ran off without thinking of him again.
The next day, as the princess had sat down to dinner, she heard a knock at the door and a voice calling, "Princess, open the door for me!"
She did, but when she saw it was the frog, she was frightened and shut the door. Her father the king asked for an explanation, and she told him of the ball and her promise to the frog. The king said to her, "What you have promised, you must keep to."
Thus the princess was obliged to let the frog into the dining room, and lift him onto the table(if: (history:) contains "Companion")[$companion[. Her distate was obvious to all, including the prince's servant, who had come asking for work at the manor. The servant watched with(if: (history:) contains "Heart")[ a heavy heart](else:)[ [[a heavy heart->Heart]]]] as the princess reluctantly let the frog](else:)[, and let him] eat from her plate and drink from her cup. When all were done eating, she took him reluctantly upstairs, and put him in her bed as she had promised, and they slept.
For three days this continued. (if: (history:) contains "Heart")[$heart[Every evening, the servant waited upon them at(if: (history:) contains "Dinner")[ dinner](else:)[ [[dinner->Dinner]]], and every night, the servant prayed that the prince would soon be returned to his true form.]
](if: (history:) contains "Kiss")[$kiss[However, despite the prince and the servant's hopes, the princess did not grow more fond of the frog, but continued to resent his presence. Finally the servant, who loved the prince deeply, took up the frog and kissed him instead.
$old[At that, the frog turned back into the handsome prince, for true love's kiss had broken the witch's enchantment.] Everyone rejoiced, and the servant's heart swelled with joy and love until the iron bands shattered.
The prince and his servant bid farewell to the king and princess, and rode off together. $old[They returned to the prince's kingdom, where they lived happily ever after.]]](else-if:
(history:) contains "Stop")[$stop[However, the princess did not grow more fond of the frog, but continued to resent his presence.
Seeing that it was hopeless, the two left the kingdom in search of another maiden who might love the frog prince. Some say they are still wandering to this day.]](else:
)[(if: (history:) contains "Princess")[$princess[The faithful servant waited upon them at dinner, and spoke to the princess of the frog's virtues, and he grew less repellent in her eyes. ]]As time went on the princess's heart softened, and she grew to enjoy the company of the frog. On the third night, when she put the frog in her bed, she leaned down and kissed him goodnight.
When she kissed him, there was a sudden light, the frog turned back into the handsome prince(if: (history:) contains "Curse")[$curse[, for true love's kiss had broken the witch's enchantment]].(if: (history:) contains "Princess")[$princess[ The prince's servant, who had been loyal for so long, rejoiced that the prince's true form was restored.]]
It was settled that the prince and the princess would marry, and they rode off in a carriage driven by(if: (history:) contains "Servant")[ the prince's servant](else:)[ [[the prince's servant->Servant]]]. They returned to the prince's kingdom, where they lived happily ever after.](if: (passage: (history:)'s last)'s tags contains "end")[
The End
<a href="javascript:window.location.reload();">(Restart?)</a>]]
You pull the horses to a stop in front of the king's manor, and the prince and princess come out with their arms linked, laughing.
Your heart is tight in your chest. The prince looks up at you as he stops next the carriage. You recognize his sharp smile, and his soft eyes, and the angle that his jaw makes when he turns back to the princess, and you're so glad to see him restored to his rightful form that it hurts.
The prince helps his new fiancée into the carriage. She's young and beautiful, with happiness flushing her cheeks and her hair long and flowing. There's something bright and willful in her eyes that says she'll make a powerful queen one day.
You blame happiness for the painful squeeze of your heart.
You're the frog prince's servant, and once upon a time, you loved him.
[[Back->Story]]
You see it in your nightmares: The creeping green magic overtakes the prince, twisting his body in pain. You never realized until that moment exactly how familiar you were with the prince's body, everything from the back of his neck to the angle of his elbows. You used to be able to recognize him from the strong, graceful way he moved, even from the very corner of your eye.
But in that one moment it's all gone. His broad shoulders hunch and shrink, his limbs shrivel and round, his mouth grows wide and grotesque and his eyes bulge. You want to cry out but your voice still sticks in your throat from what had come before, and anyway it's over in an instant, and all that's left is a frog, squat and ungainly.
"There," crows the witch. "That is your price."
Trying to breathe around the pain in your chest, you beg the witch to take it back. This is not what you wanted. But she just laughs.
"The deal is done," she says, and leans down to pick up the frog and look into his round, staring eyes. "Of course, the curse can be broken, as most curses can, by true love's kiss." And then she bursts into laughter again, wild and cruel.
And so your master's fate is sealed, you realize. For a prince can only love a refined and noble lady, but no lady will love a frog.
You pick up the prince and flee, feeling like your heart would break if it still could.
[[Back->Story]]
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"You don't have to come with me," the prince tells you. His voice as a frog is a low, unfamiliar croak, but you still pick out the note of hesitation behind his words. "Stay here and live a normal life."
You shake your head. "It's my duty to serve you."
You don't say "You saved my life," or, "I loved you." You don't say that you wouldn't know what to do with your life without him.
Instead you tell him, "I promise by the iron in my heart that I will do everything in my power to break this enchantment."
That very iron squeezes painfully at your heart as you say it, for you know the task in front of you won't be easy.
The two of you travel for many months. No noble lady is willing to hear the petition of a commoner carrying a frog, claiming it's a prince. You decide not to reveal the whole story, but to simply let the prince woo the lady as a frog, until she loves him, and kisses him, and he's restored to his true form.
It's not the best plan, but it's the only one you have.
[[Back->Story]]
You were born with a weak heart. As a child you were plagued by spells of faintness as your heart fluttered like a trapped moth, but your family's place was very important, serving the royal household, so you kept at your duties as best you could.
It's not until many years later that the illness truly hits. You wake up in the middle of the night with your heart pounding faster than ever before, careening wildly against your ribs.
The royal physician says your heart will exhaust itself and you'll die.
The prince's eyes grow dark and serious, and that night he takes you out, beyond the edge of the city, to see the witch. You cling to his arm, dizzy. Your heart hasn't let up, and your chest feels bruised from its pounding.
The witch lays a long-fingered hand on your chest and tells the prince that she can control your heart. "But you must pay the price," she tells him.
"Anything," says the prince.
The witch's eyes flash. "I want you to promise you'll pay, princeling, whatever the price may be."
A sea of dangerous possibilities open in her words. "No," you try, "you don't have to," but you're not sure how loud your voice is over the echoing drumbeat of your heart.
"I promise," the prince tells the witch, eyes steady. "Whatever the price may be."
The witch smiles at that and gives you three small iron balls to swallow, which you do. And then she taps a bony knuckle on your chest and the iron moves inside you, sliding cold through your body, up from your stomach to your chest. The pieces are getting bigger, compressing your lungs, pressing against your ribs. You cry out as they touch your enflamed heart, curl around, squeeze it, until it can't even beat -
When you open your eyes, you find yourself crouched on the ground, the prince kneeling anxiously by your side. You realize that your heart is beating so slow and steady you can barely feel it - but you can feel the three iron bands that wrap tight around it, holding it still.
The prince smiles at you, relieved, and you expect to feel a swell of warmth at the sight of him, but your heart is constricted by cold iron, and you feel nothing but a twinge of pain.
"Now," says the witch, and you see green magic bubble up in her palm. "Time for the price."
[[Back->Story]]
You have a hard time telling one emotion from another now. They all feel like a trapped lurch in your chest, a reminder of the cold weight of the iron. So as you stand in the grand dining room, serving at the king's table, you're not sure what you feel.
The princess is young and beautiful, with a spark in her eyes that gives her an air of having a great destiny. Perhaps she would make a good match for your serious prince. Is it hope, then, that pinches at your heart?
But there's also the permanent obstinate pout of her lips. She still wrinkles her nose in disdain as she shares her food with the frog. It's hard to believe she could ever love the frog prince. And that means the curse won't be broken, and you should despair.
Still, she listens when the prince talks, telling her of the things he's seen on his journeys as a frog. You were with him during all of it, but now he never even glances back at you in your corner, only looks up at the princess, eating from her delicate golden spoon. Maybe the pained throb of your heart is jealousy - even though you don't love him anymore, because you can't, now.
You think about the future and you imagine the prince on the throne, in his true human shape, tall and regal, and this girl with her willful eyes beside him.
Your heart lurches because you know
[[that has to happen->Princess]].
[[that can't happen->Stop]].
Bending, you pour water into the princess's cup. "There you are, your highness. And for you as well, my lord," you say, looking at the frog prince squatting on the table.
The princess giggles. "He's not a lord, he's just a nasty frog!"
"Forgive me," you say. "I thought he must be a lord among frogs, as he is here as your honored guest, eating from your plate and drinking from your cup."
"Oh," says the princess. "That's only because -" But she stops herself.
You imagine she'd prefer to think she has a lordly frog as a guest than to admit the foolish bargain she made earlier.
The prince breaks the silence. "You flatter me, but I am but a humble frog," he croaks, ducking his broad head. "The princess has been very kind to let me dine with her."
The princess's cheeks grow pink and she doesn't object; the king just chuckles. "He's certainly clever for a frog."
You retreat to your corner with the water pitcher. It's not much, but already you see the princess looking more favorably on this frog who she decided to help.
You don't know if that's enough of a seed to let love blossom, but you hope from the bottom of your ironbound heart that it is.
[[Back->Story]]
You can do nothing until the next day, when you get a chance to speak to the prince. You meet at the well, where the prince goes during the day when the princess is occupied, and sit in the shade of the trees.
"Is the princess warming to you at all?" you ask, thinking you know the answer.
"No," says the prince. "Last night she threatened to throw me against the wall."
His voice is wry, but you feel a spike of alarm at his words. It's your duty to protect the prince, and you can't do that here, when he's like this.
"Let's go," you say. "I don't think she'll ever love you."
"It's not like you to give up," croaks the prince. "Didn't you promise, before? To do whatever to takes to break the curse?"
"Of course," you say, heat flushing your face. "But I won't see you humiliated for nothing."
"Unless there's anyone else around who might love me, the princess is my best hope."
You don't want to pin your hopes on the spoiled princess, but as far as you know, there aren't any other good candidates here.
You loved him, of course, before your heart grew cold and still, with a love as vast as the sea. But now you can only feel a painful echo of the feeling, small and shallow.
Or is it shallow? When you think of the prince, your heart can only give a tiny jolt in its bonds, but the force of the jolt leaves you breathless.
The summer day is calm around you, and the prince is sitting quietly in the dappled shade of the trees, but you feel tension run up your spine. You feel like you're at a crossroads.
Should you really
[[give up and seek another princess->Story]]?
[[try kissing the prince yourself->Kiss]]?
[[<img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11552171/LD35/book%20cover.png" alt="The Frog Prince and the Iron Heart">->Story]]
There's only one option remaining. Feeling reckless and certain at once, you pick up the frog and press your lips to his cool green head.
Even the iron bands can't prevent the way your heart stops still for a moment.
White light swirls up around the frog, a pure, bright version of the witch's magic. He grows heavier in your hand until you have to drop him, covering your eyes against the light that shines around him.
And then a warm human body falls into your arms. Instinctively you catch him and hold him up, blinking away the spots in your vision so you can look into the kind eyes of your prince.
"That worked?" he breathes.
"Yes," you say, feeling his body warm and solid under your hands.
"You love me?"
You had thought you couldn't love anymore - but how could you do anything but love him, when he's your prince? You relish the way your heart swells against the cold metal bars, even though it hurts.
"Yes," you say, and then, "//You// love //me//?"
"Very much," he says, pulling you close, his eyes warm. "I wish I had known you returned the sentiment, I could have eaten a few less flies."
You smile at that, breathless. Your whole body feels warm except your heart, which remains cool and still as a block of ice.
There's still that to worry about, and the fact that you're not at all suitable for a prince -
But he kisses you then, his mouth finding yours, steady and forceful, and your whole body leans in to meet him, filling with happiness.
There's a sharp crack that feels like a blow to your chest, and you stagger in the prince's arms.
"What's wrong?" he asks, pulling back, but you just laugh, breathless. The iron bands have broken, cracked as your heart swelled with love.
Freed, your heart doesn't pound frantically like before, but beats with a deep, warm pulse, sending rushes of joy through your veins.
"My heart is yours," you tell the prince, and for a moment the two of you can only smile at each other, healthy and human and happier than you have been in a long time.
[[Back->Story]]