Royal Misfortune

The banished princess had been living off the land for several weeks, by now. The forest was still testing her, showing little sympathy, but each evening felt less and less like death. Perhaps someday it could feel like home, she mused. Maybe after some time had passed she could venture into civilization in search of an ally. For the moment, she was on her own, and she was doing alright.

It was about time for dinner, and tonight she managed to catch a frog. The frog looked at her with sad, scared eyes, realizing this was the end of the line. She felt a little bad, but it would be stupid to let dinner get away over a moment of guilt. "Sorry, little guy," she said as she beheaded the defenseless amphibian. The princess cast the head aside, then the torso, and set to skinning those precious, meaty frog legs. She roasted them over her campfire. They smelled delicious.

With some excitement, she picked up one of the legs. Not forgetting her manners, she gave a small prayer of thanks to the spirit of the frog whose sacrifice would get her through another day. The princess raised the meat to her lips and took a bite.

The change happened so quickly, she didn't see it. One instant, she had a tiny morsel between her fingers, and the next, she had hands full of what appeared to be a human leg. She dropped it, screaming, and she spit out a chewy mouthful of pink, bleeding flesh. Looking to her fire, another intact human leg was beginning to glow painfully as it was licked by flame.

Before she could stop herself, the princess turned to look for the discarded parts. The bare torso of a young man lay legless and bleeding mere feet from where she sat. And then...

The princess covered her face and ran from her camp to vomit. As she emptied her stomach she screwed her eyes shut as tightly as she could, but the sight was already burned into her brain. A human head, cut off at the neck, mouth agape, and sad eyes frozen in fear. Atop his golden hair, a prince's crown.