Excerpt 1: The Curse of Prince Amir Elias's eyes blazed with fury. "That’s exactly it, Amir. You never take me seriously. Well, tonight, you will." Before Amir could react, Elias raised his hands, and the room seemed to darken. A hush fell over the guests as they turned to see what was happening. Magic crackled in the air, and Elias’s voice echoed through the hall. "Prince Amir of Eldoria," Elias intoned, his voice filled with power and malice, "you have betrayed our friendship and wounded my heart. For your arrogance and lack of understanding, I curse you!" There was zero time to react, and Amir knew it. Elias could see it in his eyes along with fear for what might be coming. A wave of energy surged from Elias, hitting Amir with a force that knocked him to the ground. Pain seared through his body as he felt himself shrinking, his limbs contorting. The world spun, and when it finally stopped, he found himself looking up at the towering figures of his guests from the floor. Gasps and cries filled the hall as the guests realized what had happened. Amir tried to speak, but only a croak emerged. He looked down and saw that he was no longer a prince, but instead, a small, emerald-green frog. Elias stood over him, his expression one of cold satisfaction. "The curse is simple, Amir. Only a kiss of true love can break it. But given your inability to recognize love or take it seriously, I doubt you will ever find it." Amir’s heart pounded in his tiny chest. He tried to hop toward Elias, to plead with him, but Elias stepped back, his eyes now filled with a mixture of sorrow and resolve. "Goodbye, Amir. Perhaps this will teach you the humility and understanding you so sorely lack." Royal guards went to charge the sorcerer, but they never stood a chance. Elias disappeared in a cloud of black and red smoke, leaving nothing behind but air, the little green frog, and the shocked and bewildered stares of the guests. Excerpt 2: A Garden of Destiny Back in the Eldorian garden, Leo sat by one of his plants that was struggling to grow. He was still processing the fact that he’d been having a conversation with a frog. Then he had to process why he found that frog so damn infuriating. He caught Amir watching him intently on more than one instance and had been busted tracking the little frog’s movements himself. “Please come back.” The frog’s voice was stronger and covered the distance between them much more than Leo would have guessed it could. Since it did, he responded without moving. “Why should I? You are rude and arrogant, and frankly in my opinion, deserving of this curse.” “I did say please.” Arms crossed, Leo stared Amir down for a minute before getting up and returning to the side of the pond. He sat on the grass and extended his legs so that he and the little guy were seemingly back to back. “You will not raise your voice or speak to me in a condescending tone if you expect me to stay and listen. I do have some time and have been told I’m a pretty good listener. So, if there’s no rudeness or nonsense from you, I’ll stay.” Leo couldn’t believe it, but the frog sounded sullen in his response. “Fine.” “Um, I don’t know…” Leo moved to get up. “What I meant was, thank you for giving me another chance, Daddy.” Appeased for now—and definitely intrigued about that slip of the tongue, Leo listened intently as Amir shared his story. "I was cursed for my arrogance and thoughtlessness. I was transformed into this form, and I need someone to help me break the curse." “Are you truly remorseful for your actions, or are you only interested in changing to break the curse?” “Well, wouldn’t I be a fool to not want that? Yes, Leo, breaking the curse is at the top of my list. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.” “No, I suppose it isn’t. But for the record, this is warning number one for using that tone on me.” “What tone?” Amir was exasperated by Leo’s demands and high-handedness. “The one with the ‘you’re an idiot’ subtext to it,” Leo said. He almost let out a little laugh but held it back after glancing at Amir. Enchanted Daddy is available exclusively in the
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