About twenty of his paces later, we entered a small rocky clearing with a little creek running along the edge. I quickly took in the remains of a fire and a pile of date branches, but what really caught my attention was the man asleep on a pile of grass. Royal roared.
Ricardo sprang awake and scrambled to his feet.
“Your Highnesses.” He dropped down on one knee and into a bow.
“Rise,” I said. I shifted over to slide off Royal’s back. He lowered himself so I wouldn’t have to drop so far.
Ricardo rose with a grin. “I knew it was you, Your Highness,” he said to Royal.
Royal growled and looked at the fire and pile of grass and the dates, of which several had been eaten. Ricardo’s face fell. “I-I’m sorry, Your Highness. It was late when I found this spot. I sat down to wait and I must have gotten cold and hungry and tired because the fire got lit, the dates went into my belly, and the grass fell under my head.”
I laughed, a real laugh, for the first time in weeks. Ricardo smiled again, but at me this time. “It is good to hear your laugh again, Princess.”
Royal snorted.
I reached up and he put his jaw in my hand. “Now why are you out of sorts?”
Excerpt from The Beastly King – Royal Book 4
