“Could you please scrape what’s left of the lip balm into smaller containers, Martha?” asked Anya. “There should be fifty-five uses left, I think. We’ll need them when we fight the Duke.”
“I’ll do that,” said Martha. “And I’ll make soup after the cauldron’s cleaned. But what about my newt? I don’t understand why it didn’t work on him. Can you try again?”
“I will,” said Anya. “Where is Shrub anyway?”
“Hiding somewhere,” said Ardent, returning from weasel chasing, his tongue lolling out and sides heaving. “Do you want me to find him?”
“No,” said Anya wearily. She dragged herself to her feet. “I’d better see what’s happening. Any news of our allies? Anyone?”
“Hedric’s just back with some other druids,” said Ardent.
Anya looked across the clearing. Hedric was emerging from the undergrowth with three other druids behind him. There was also a raven on his shoulder, and he was animatedly talking with it.
Anya was just about to head over when she stopped and groaned. There, behind the extra druids, was a Gerald the Herald, looking rather tentative but still coming forward.
“That’s the last thing we need,” she said.
“He might know something useful,” Ardent pointed out.
Sir Malorak, who had assumed a position of second-in-command under Anya, met Hedric and spoke to him briefly. Both then walked on towards Anya, with the extra druids, Gerald the Herald, and a few of the former frogs who didn’t have jobs to do following along.
At several paces away, they stopped and bowed their heads.
“Don’t do that,” said Anya uncomfortably. “I’m just a younger princess.”
“You are the Frogkisser who has saved us,” said Sir Malorak. “We must offer our respect and gratitude.”
“Well, keep it for later,” said Anya, who was tired and grumpy. “And what’s that Gerald the Herald doing here? I don’t want any spies for the Duke lurking around!”
“I’m on a special assignment,” said the Gerald the Herald nervously. He was skinnier and considerably younger than any of the others Anya had seen, and had not only an artificial moustache and nose, but also a very ill-fitting wig.
“You don’t talk funny like the others?” asked Ardent.
“Um, I can,” said the boy. “Royal Dog Questions Authenticity of Herald!”
“Don’t,” said Anya. “What’s your special assignment?”
“I’m to stay with the Frogkisser and her army,” said Gerald. “And record what happens for posterity.”
“So you won’t go and talk to the Duke?” asked Anya.
“Uh, no,” said Gerald. “I have to stay with you until … ”
He hesitated.
“Until what?”
“Well, the Superior Gerald told me until you’re dead or transformed,” he said quietly. “But I’d prefer to report your triumph over that pack of sorcerers, uh, if that’s all right with you.”
“Pack of sorcerers?” asked Anya sharply. “What do you mean?”
“Duke Rikard and the rest of the League of Right-Minded Sorcerers.”
“This is what I came to tell you,” said Hedric. He gestured to the raven. “Oddbins here, he has been visiting the castle. Duke Rikard has called for the aid of all the League, and he has sent his bone ship to collect them. By dawn tomorrow or earlier, all five sorcerers will be with his army!”
All five sorcerers?” repeated Anya. “Rikard, The Grey Mist, Ahuren the Nightgaunt, Grandmother Ghoul, and that pirate one, Yngish?”
“That’s what the Superior Gerald told me too,” said Gerald. “By raven, of course. I was already in the forest, reporting on the … on a … on the lost fawn. You might not have heard about it, a pet of one of the foresters … ”
His voice trailed off. No one was listening.
“So by dawn,” said Anya heavily. “Four more sorcerers!”
This was very bad news. While the former frogs would have considerable magical resistance against being transformed again, with so many sorcerers, many more transformees would be bound to end up as amphibians again, and Anya had a limited number of uses of the lip balm. The other sorcerers might well have more awful spells to use too, like The Uproarious Gout of Flame she’d read about, or The Poisoned Pincushion of Absolute Doom, which peppered a foe with a thousand tiny poisoned arrows …
She took a deep breath.
“Have we had any news or word from the dwarves, or Bert, or the dogs?”
“One of the ravens saw a force of humans and dwarves marching over the downs,” said Hedric. “It must be them. They should be here by dusk, or a little before.”
There was a general rumble of approval at this news. Anya looked at the sun and was surprised to see it was already sinking and the afternoon well advanced. Time had flown by while she was kissing frogs.
“And the dogs?”
“No report,” said Hedric.
“I wonder what they’re up to,” said Anya. “Are you sure you don’t know, Ardent?”
Ardent shook his head and crossed his eyes, an emphatic negative.
“I wouldn’t have thought they’d leave in the first place,” he said.
“I think we’ll have to attack as soon after dusk as we can,” said Anya. “Take the castle, imprison the Duke, then … I don’t know, either prepare to be attacked in turn by the other four sorcerers or flee back into the forest and try to hide from them. What do you think, Sir Malorak?”
“This battle has been a long time coming,” said Sir Malorak. Her eyes were cold and hard. “It is not just between you and your evil stepstepfather. It is a contest between the All-Encompassing Bill of Rights and Wrongs and everything enshrined by it, and the sorcerers who would do whatever they please to whomsoever they please. I think we must take the castle and then stand and fight, whatever the enemy brings against us. Fight and win, for the Bill of Rights and for our Frogkisser!”
Everyone cheered, including the people around the clearing who couldn’t have heard a word and had no idea what they were cheering for.
“We must scout out the enemy position,” said Sir Malorak. “May I send a small force to do that now, Princess?”