"No, Your Highness," Prince Bentrik said. "Neither do I. That's what I'm worried about."
XXII
He succeeded, the next morning, in convincing everybody that he wanted to be alone for a while, and was sitting in a garden, watching the rainbows in the midst of a big waterfall across the valley. Elaine would have liked that, but she wasn't with him, now.
Then he realized that somebody was speaking to him, in a small, bashful voice. He turned, and saw a little girl in shorts and a sleeveless jacket, holding in her arms a long-haired blond puppy with big ears and appealing eyes.
"Hello, both of you," he said.
The puppy wriggled and tried to lick the girl's face.
"Don't, Mopsy. We want to talk to this gentleman," she said. "Are you really and truly the Space Viking?"
"Really and truly. And who are you two?"
"I'm Myrna. And this is Mopsy."