And so the Princess kissed the frog, and the Prince laughed because, How did she fall for that!?! -- OohLookShiny
The Princess Orinoco glared at the Prince as he laughed so hard that he fell out of the tree he'd been hiding in.
The frog in her hands said, "He promised he'd release my family... Please forgive me."
Princess Orinoco carefully put the frog down by the pond, drew her knife, and marched over to the laughing Prince. His laughter cut short as she threatened to cut his throat. "The frog's family. Where is it?"
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry..." he wailed.
"Fa. Mi. Ly. Now."
"Yes'm, sorry'm. IthoughtIwasfunnyandIwasn'tIappologise."
She lead him like a dog on a leash to a small hole in the base of a tree, where he'd hidden a jar full of frog spawn. Princess Orinoco snatched it off him.
"Of the two of you," she announced, "I prefer the frog. Never darken my doorstep again. Or my kingdom's borders."
"But--"
"Leave. While I am still generous." She cut him dead and returned to the pond, where she released the frog's spawn into the quiet waters of the pond. "My apologies for the inconvenience, M'sieur Grenouille. I will post a guard on your pond tonight."
"Bless you, your highness," croaked the frog. "I am small, and I have few abilities, but my family and I are always in your debt."
Princess Orinoco kept her word. Any frog and their family who chose her garden ponds were under her protection. Frogs proliferated as a result, and pestilence plummeted. New Mages all over the kingdom had an eager queue of froggy applicants for the position of Familiar.
And as for Prince Malarky's kingdom... the frogs abandoned the entire land. And the resultant pestilence ran riot.
Yet Princess Orinoco's army of frogs kept them from her borders.
Which just goes to show that you should never mess with talking animals.
(Muse food remaining: 18. Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories! Or comment below!)