Chapter Three of Return to Me is up!
“Look! Leon, right over there, look!”
Raihan stopped in his tracks, completely dropping the game they were playing, and pointed at the grassy hillside.
“Huh?” Leon skidded to a stop next to Raihan, suddenly pulled out of their game of tag he’d been losing quite handily. “What is it, where?”
“Right there! Do you see them?”
Basking in the sun on the hillside were several creatures. They were about the size of a dog and generally reptilian, with green scales and a wide, squat build. They each had a massive bulb growing from their backs, like a flower that hadn’t yet bloomed. Leon gasped, his eyes wide and bright.
“I haven’t picked a name for them yet,” Raihan admitted. “But I’ve met ‘em before, they’re pretty friendly, as far as monsters go. Wanna go pet one?”
Leon opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a call.
“Don’t wander off too far, boys!”
Camilla came jogging closer to them, her royal guard armor a bit too bright in the sunshine. She paused as she also spotted the creatures and looked back at the boys.
“Ah, found some of those plant lizards, I see.” Her voice was stern, but warm, and she smiled more often than most of the other guards.
“They’re nice ones, I promise!” Raihan insisted. He liked Camilla more than some of the other guards that had supervised their outings, but he hadn’t tried to drag the prince over to pet monsters in her presence before. “You just need to know how to approach them!”
“Hm…” Camilla considered both the boys and the creatures. “The ones I’ve come across mostly like to sleep, but I can’t say I’ve seen anyone pet one before… it still might not be a good idea.”
“Please?” Leon begged, putting on his best puppy dog face.
“I’ve done it before,” Raihan insisted. “Lots of times. I know all the monsters around here!”
Camilla sized up Raihan for a moment, resting a hand under her chin.
“How about you put your coin where your mouth is first, and then we’ll come over?”
