<span style="font-size: 12px">With his hand against the back of her neck, he stroked her skin with his thumb, knowing that the crown prince was watching this transgression  very closely.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh?' he said in response to her words, his eyebrow raising.  So he hadn't heard wrong.  He had thought she had scoffed something adamantly disrespectful earlier, but King Islo had quickly called his attention away, and so Raffe had disregarded it, thinking it a trick of the mind and the ears.  He was pleased to see that he had been incorrect, however, and that the fire of her defiance extended past a simple frown.  He always did like his playthings with a little more <i>bite</i>.<br/>
<br/>
"Dragon?" he repeated, amused, and then corrected her, "Rafaele, fledgling."  <br/>
<br/>
He continued, "Chief Teryn is an uninteresting creature with eyes bigger than both his stomach and brain combined."  Raffe shrugged, thinking back to the barely handful of times he had met the man. "To call him violent and barbaric would be an insult to the eastern dragons.  No, I'm sure he did not truly understand nor appreciate your value."<br/>
<br/>
Then, he turned to the king and queen and cleared his throat.  "Father, my queen," he said politely.  "I take my leave.  You have my sincerest thanks, once again, my queen, for the lovely gift."  The words were purposely said toward the queen, and he matched her irked gaze with a cool and clandestine one of his own.<br/>
<br/>
Raffe glanced back at Chioni, tilting his head.  "Bow, fledgling."<br/>
<br/>
</span>