I didn’t like him touching her one bit. But when he finished by creating a way for her to protect herself, I decided it was ok. He had almost thanked me for saving my cub mate. It went a long way to making me feel better about him.The dragon had told me it was me who he should thank. It was true that I had chased the thing off. And it had been for her. But I wasn’t thinking about how it could benefit anyone else, at the time.The prince attached a couple pieces of leather over his hands and legs. I suppose it would help in protecting him. But I wonder how he uses it.Veronica was so interested in what the prince monster was saying that I felt left out. But I smiled when I thought about how she had squeezed my hand, when the Prince almost thanked me. It made me happy that she acknowledged I was res

They took the secret passage down to the dark damp dungeon because they wanted to avoid anyone who might be moving throughout the castle at night. Everyone should be in bed already but there still might be lingering guards. Veronica didn’t want to risk it. It didn’t take long for Prince Vaugn to agree. It seemed that Roger was agreeable with that too. But Veronica suspected that Roger wanted to see Prince Vaugn struggle through the tight passages again. The walls were Roger’s home, Veronica thought. She appreciated him sharing it with her.Once they had gotten close to the door that should never be opened, she expected Roger to open the way. But he paused, looking through the cracks. “Look.” He whispered.She bent down to peek through. Her father stood at the door, scratching his

They entered the dining hall, quietly. The castle seemed to groan around them, almost as if it were coming alive. When they entered the dark dining room, they could see nothing. It was twice as dark as the rest of the castle with no light breaking through.Veronica and Prince Vaugn were slinking through the dark when something grabbed them from behind. Prince Vaugn swung his sword and Veronica struggled. He deflected his blade at the last second, when he realized it was their fathers who had them.Veronica breathed in heavily and wrapped her arms around her father. “Dad, are you alright?” She asked quietly.He put a finger over his lips and pointed at the corner of the room. It blended in perfectly with the shadows that filled the room. The keeper was larger than a horse at this point. It slept in the co

 I watched the noisy girls as they fought over who knows what. Prince Vaugn seemed perplexed. But aside from Veronica’s rising temper, there didn’t seem to be any danger.We had made it to the cabin and everyone had a place around the room. The front door was left open to include Sladesaple. When we were waiting for Veronica to fetch the healer, he told me that his name was Disacland Sladesaple but it was obvious I could not say all that.Sladesaple suggested I only say part of it. But even that was hard. It was frustrating because I wanted to talk to my cub mate just as good as the monster prince.Veronica sat down in a wooden chair. Gale laughed and sat on her lap, as Prince Vaugn laid the father monster on the bed. Veronica tried to push Gale away. 

I was little again, maybe five. Up until I saw the look in the monster king’s haunted eyes at Saple’s cell, all I could remember from back then was how scared I had always been. But now, I watched the child who was me. I ran around in circles beneath a blazing sun in a giant green field filled with little white flowers. I was laughing and playing happily. Looking up from the field, my younger self started jumping around as if I saw the best thing in the world. In the sky, a dragon descended. With a bubbly excitement, I ran up to the dragon after it was on the ground and assaulted the rider. A hearty laugh escaped the rider’s throat. He bent over and rubbed my young head with a joyful smile.  “How’s my little man, Roderick?” The name shocked me, as I remembered the King calling me by that name that day. It wa