Prince Terrance pressed his palm against the last oak at the forest's edge and felt it push back. He was a man again, tall, dark-haired, human after a year as a frog. An old woman had broken that curse three nights ago. But she left him one warning: he could not walk past these trees, and he did not know why. Beyond them lay every road that led home, and the chance to find someone who might love him whether he croaked or spoke. The wall of air held him like glass. He struck the barrier with his shoulder. It threw him back into the mud. His hut stood behind him, patched roof and crooked door, the home he'd built as a frog with human hands he'd only just gotten back. He hated it now. It was a cage with a chimney. A small green light drifted from the branches. A firefly. It circled his head, glowed brighter, then darted toward a hollow log at the tree line. It landed, waited, and pulsed twice. Terrance had seen it do this before. He crawled closer and looked inside the log. Carved letters ran along the wet wood. His own name. Below it, three words scratched by the old woman's knife: "Stay for her." He did not understand. Then he heard the crying. A girl stumbled through the ferns, barefoot, her white gown torn at the hem and streaked with dirt. She was near his age. She gripped her skirt in both fists and ran like something chased her. She saw the hut, saw him, and froze. "Please," she said. Her voice shook. "Are you real? I've walked all night." "I'm real," Terrance said. He stood slowly, hands open. "You're safe here. Nothing follows into this forest." She wiped her face and studied him. "I ran from a wedding. They wanted me to marry the king. I don't love him." She laughed, sharp and tired. "I'd rather sleep in mud." Terrance stared at the carved words on the log, then at her. The curse had not trapped him for punishment. It had trapped him to wait. "I'm Terrance," he said. "That's my hut. It leaks, but it's warm." "Elara," she said. She looked at the barrier he could not cross, at the mud on his shoulder. "Why are you out here alone?" He almost told her everything. The frog, the curse, the wall. Instead he offered his hand. "It's a long story. You need to sit down first." Elara took his hand. The firefly lifted from the log and lit the path to his door. Terrance felt the barrier at his back and knew it had not moved. He was still trapped. But now he understood the reason, and the reason was standing beside him, shivering in a ruined gown. The curse had kept him here until she arrived. His task had changed. He no longer needed to escape the forest. He needed to make her stay.