One Kiss by Nadia Lee Page A

“There cannot be three more like them in all the world.”
    “Obviously, the frog stole them from the prince!” Serenia shrilled.
    The duke stiffened. “But—”
    “There is no but! Arrest the frog now!” Then Serenia faced Molly. “And you. You’ll pay for your impudence.” She gestured to the porcupines. “Arrest that one too!”
    Their paws tight around their swagger sticks, the porcupines rushed out and surrounded Robert and Molly. The quills on the rodents vibrated, as they were wont to do when faced with danger.
    Robert looked reproachfully at Molly. “You were supposed to keep silent.”
    “I promised to help you, remember?”
    “But what about your mother?” he whispered.
    “I gave her the all the coins and told her to hide before we left home. She’ll be all right.”
    “And you?”
    “I have to do what is right. I cannot stand by while you are accused of lying, cheating and stealing, when it was the princess who did all those things and more.”
    Robert closed his eyes. Why must he be stuck with a disobedient maid with an excess of honor? A lowborn should act like a lowborn and care only about her own security.
    But if she’d done what you expected, would you have cared for her at all?
    No. If she’d been everything he’d expected, he would’ve never felt this kind of fear for her, this intense need to protect her.
    If he could keep her safe, he’d slay a dragon in his current form, he’d—
    He blinked, suddenly unable to breathe. Was this… Could it be…?
    By all the gods, he loved her. He, Robert, Prince of the blood, Scion of Lustrea and Heir to the Throne, was in love with…a maid.
    His limbs went slack, his jaw loose. How… When…?
    “Now that the criminals are properly under arrest,” Serenia began, “let us punish them, starting with my traitorous maid.”
    Robert snapped back to reality. Molly was glaring at the princess, showing not an iota of fear. Pride and love filled his heart until he thought it might burst.
    “Since you seem to believe that a sane, reasonable person would promise to kiss a frog of her own volition, why don’t we start with that, hmm?” Serenia waved at the porcupines. “Seize the maid and that, that…amphibian!”
    Robert leapt and evaded the grabby paws. The one good thing about the curse was that it made him extremely difficult to catch.
    “Stop hopping or we’ll stab her!” one of the porcupines said, a long sharp quill in his hand. The tip of the spine pricked Molly’s tender neck; blood beaded instantly.
    “Don’t hurt her.” Robert stopped evading the porcupines. They immediately grabbed him, their grip tighter than necessary.
    “I’m so sorry, Robert.” Molly sobbed.
    “How touching.” Serenia pursed her mouth. “Still, you shouldn’t have committed the crime if you didn’t want to suffer the consequences.” She turned to the porcupines holding Robert. “Take him to my maid. Make her kiss him, with
her own lips
.” She smiled with pure malice. “That’s just the first of the many punishments I have in mind for you, Molly. I still cannot believe I let someone as base and treacherous as you near me.” She started to shake badly, her reaction too exaggerated to be natural. “I do believe I feel faint.”
    John stepped closer to her. “My love, allow me.” He put an arm around her shoulders, then gestured at the porcupines. “Get on with it. We have a celebratory banquet to attend.”
    The porcupines shoved Robert over to Molly, then pushed their faces together. They had little finesse, and Robert thought he might snap in half as the pressure from their paws pushed him to Molly’s soft mouth. Like princess, like rodent. Molly’s lips squashed against his face with more force than he expected.
    Then he felt himself drop. He hit the marble floor, suddenly in agony throughout his entire body.
    His skin was raw and his jaw felt loose. All his joints burned, as if he’d run for leagues without stopping. He couldn’t