<span style="font-size: 12px">He had wondered if she would have stayed standing, her back taut like as wood, and ready to be snapped like scissors to a string.  It would've been foolish for her to stay still, and he would've been deeply displeased and disappointed had he lost his current hand over his brother.  Thus, when she overcame her hate with logic, he silently hummed approval.  King Ildos would've found her amusing, but the Queen would've starved her for years, and Tyrius would've had a little <i>too</i> much fun with her mouth and bones.  There was an ongoing joke with the other siblings that Tyrius was an eastern dragon that the Queen picked up and couldn't bear to leave, and that was why he was more claw than thought.<br/>
<br/>
When they exited the room, he corrected her again — "Rafaele," — and then he walked slowly, setting the pace as they made their way across the grandiose castle to his small, carved out nest.<br/>
<br/>
He smiled, pulling the conversation back to her earlier remark before they had left.<br/>
<br/>
"Tyrius, the crown prince — the fire-kissed, as they call him — is not my older brother," he informed her.  "You have much to learn about your superior half, fledgling — this way."<br/>
<br/>
The castle was decorated with Queen Fane's touch.  It was elegant, but it was not simple, nor was it humble.  She loved to show off their riches, their heritage and history.   There were artifacts and antiques from all of the clans and cultures and species dominated by the dragons under King Ildos and his fathers and their fathers before them.  There were family portraits and paintings of far away mountains and volcanos; there were cloths and fabrics and quilts; and worst of all, there were so many pictures of the crown prince, from infant to adolescent dragon, to the crowning of the title of heir, to the present day, where Tyrius stood, distressing and undeserving, beside the throne.<br/>
<br/>
"His mother is Queen Fane," he continued, "which gives him birthright, though we were both born in the same season.  One more turn, fledgling, and you'll arrive at your new home."</span>