The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 9

"Waiting for us," Ralf corrected, knowing that Henry would never be there for him. Ralf knew his brother well enough to know that the only reason Henry--who rarely ever went to the dragon training grounds--would be on that hill would be to impress his future bride, Princess Karolina. Henry probably thought Ralf had nothing better to do than let his dragon be a show-and-tell for a foreign princess.

"If your brother thinks I'm going to wag my tail and do tricks for this rotten princess, he's got another thing coming," Mirum hissed.

Mirum was one with Ralf's soul, she knew his secrets, his desires, and so she knew about his incident with the princess. Mirum was a beautiful, powerful dragon who loved Ralf more than anyone else in the world, but she could be a little sassy when it came to defending Ralf.

Although Ralf never could seem to understand why he was chosen to be a dragon bond, Mirum knew all too well why she had chosen him. So when other people criticized Ralf and made him feel small, she would get so angry at their ignorance. Why couldn't they see what she saw and felt in him?

As they neared Prince Henry and Princess Karolina, Ralf could see the worry on the princess' face. He could tell she was weary of dragons. Mirum didn't help matters when she purposefully landed harshly on the hill, shaking the earth beneath them and causing the princess to stumble.

Henry caught the princess before she fell, and shot a look of anger towards Ralf.

"To what do I owe the privilege, brother?" Ralf shouted down to his brother. He stayed on Mirum, enjoying the view of his brother below him for once.

Prince Henry composed himself before saying, "I thought I would show Princess  Karolina what this kingdom is most famous for, its dragons."

Ralf noted how Henry said dragons, and not dragon bonds. Any time Henry could ignore the fact that Ralf was bonded to a dragon, he did.

"Why didn't you just show her Fuego and Luna then?"

"Because," Henry began, "I figured it would be better if you showed her."

For once Ralf thought that perhaps a compliment was about to take place, that maybe Henry would add that it would be better if an expert in dragons showed the princess the kingdom's dragons.

But instead, Henry explained, "I have so many details I need to look into, so many soldiers I need to train that I unfortunately don't have time to show Princess Karolina around today. I figured since you aren't busy doing anything, you could show her."

Mirum's response to this was a low growl that warned Henry to bite his tongue. "If he wasn't your brother, I'd claw his face."

"Calm down, Mirum." Ralf sent soothingly. He gave her neck a gentle pat as he responded, "What makes you think I'm not busy?"

Henry gave a small laugh. "Let's be honest Ralf, are you ever truly busy? I have people counting on me to put together an army, you've only got yourself to worry about. So if you please, would you kindly show my bride-to-be the dragons of Lyra while I take care of business?"

Mirum snarled viciously in Henry's direction, making him take a cautionary step backwards. "Control your dragon, Ralf."

"I don't take orders from you," Ralf spit back. Then, realizing the ridiculousness of it all, Ralf took a deep breath to calm down before he dismounted his dragon.

Despite the fact that Ralf did not like the princess, he couldn't help but feel sorry for scaring her and making her watch an argument between himself and his brother.

As he grabbed his cane, Ralf shot a glance at the princess. Her eyes were frightened and she looked like she wished she was home, instead of here. After a moment she caught Ralf's eye and he held her gaze. "Do what you have to do, Henry. It's no problem for me to show her around. I was planning on training David today, but it's no harm for her to watch."