The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 6

Reluctantly Ralf looked at his reflection in the mirror. He saw what he always saw, a scraggly little man with an obviously crippled leg, a hunched shoulder, and hazel eyes that wished they were seeing something else rather than himself right now. As usual, his Dragon's Mark stood out on his right hand, reminding him that he was more powerful than he looked. This allowed him to have a moment of confidence until he looked at his hair and saw that it was horribly tangled.

Quickly he grabbed a comb and tried to yank through the tangles but to little avail. He sighed and tossed the comb aside, grabbing his cane instead.

With the cane in his right hand he began moving towards the door. He liked to leave for dinners early to give himself plenty of time to get there. It always took him twice--if not three times--as long as his family to walk down to dinner.

He met his mother in the hallway and she commented on his appearance. "You look so handsome," her smile was genuine as always. Ralf would never understand his mother's belief that he was a strong and handsome prince. He figured it was only a mother's unconditional love talking. After all, only a mother could ever love such a crippled, disgruntled, scrawny excuse for a man such as himself.

"Thank you," he replied anyway. "You look lovely as usual."

As always his mother went around to his left side and gently took the cane from his left hand and replaced it with her arm. He looped his arm with hers and leaned on her for support. His mother was the only person he was comfortable enough to do this with. Anyone else and he would feel too weak. But with his mother he felt completely at ease and appreciated her kind and loving help. Of course he was also comfortable with Elysia, but he would never lean on her so he could walk at ease. He wanted to be as strong as her.

When they finally made it down the stairs, his mother quickly released her hold on him and returned his cane before they rounded the corner. He nodded in thanks and was forced to move with his own effort now.

"I'll see you in there," his mother whispered, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder before she departed to the dining hall.

Ralf took his time, making sure not to stumble. The top part of his leg worked fine, it was from his knee down that had paralysis. So sometimes his left thigh would overcompensate and jerk him forward a little.

It took severe concentration for him just to place one foot in front of the other, something most people didn't have to think about at all.

When he made it to the dining hall, two servants bowed and opened the doors for him to enter. As he passed by he smiled at the two servants and then took in the scene in front of him. He could see his mother and father in the back of the room talking with whom appeared to be the King and Queen of Copia.

Amongst others in the large room he recognized the commander of the Lyran army, former Queen Maria, Henry, Miles, and several of Lyran's most prestigious citizens and militia members. Turning his head he saw two more new faces in the crowd. Both were females, one a slender woman wearing a simple, purple-tinted dress.

The other woman Ralf knew could only be Henry's future bride because she was absolutely stunning. She was wearing a slimming red dress with patterns of white swirls spiraling the length of the material. Ralf practically laughed at himself for even hoping that Henry's fiancé would be anything but gorgeous. Of course that would never happen, Henry's life was far too perfect.

Knowing he needed to do it at some point, Ralf figured he might as well walk up to the foreign princess now, before he was introduced by someone else.

As he approached her he was all too prepared to converse with her in the only language she knew. Both Ralf and Elysia had spent hours upon hours learning other kingdoms' languages so they could be prepared for anything. For Ralf, learning the languages of other kingdoms was something he did because he wanted to. For Elysia, she learned the languages because she would more than likely one day live in another kingdom, standing beside a king of a different culture. Everyone knew King Alan wanted to build strong bonds between kingdoms and arranged marriages were the sure fire way to do just that.