The Princess's Dragon Read Online Free

Princess Alistasaria Deliandra Andraselle Ariva.” The watching crowd bowed their heads, just as they had for the prince. No one curtsied or bowed for the lower-ranking heir and princesses in the presence of the king and queen. Sarai paused during the recital of her name and then descended the marble steps, first halting in front of her father to sink into a deep curtsy, then to her mother to dip slightly less, then to her brother where he stood on the dais to barely bob her head. Then she too, took her place beside him, to wait for the last princess, so that the party could officially begin.
    “Your Highness,” said the steward, returning to where Sondra stood behind the curtain, just out of sight of the crowd. She clutched her stomach briefly, sucked in several cleansing breaths, snapped open her fan, and promptly sneezed when a stray feather flew free and tickled her nose. The sneeze dislodged some pins holding her silver circlet in place and it began migrating south, pushing her heavy hair before it as more pins came loose. The steward motioned imperatively to her, and she stepped forward, trying unsuccessfully to blow the stray hairs out of her eyes and tilting her head back in an effort to reset her circlet without using the hand even now positioning her fan, or the other gently grasping her skirt.
    This was, of course, the position she stood in when the steward swept aside the curtain and the light of a thousand candles struck her full in the face, at the top of a flight of marble steps in front of hundreds of judgmental nobles, a king, and, worst of all, a critical mother. She froze in horror; head tilted so far back that everyone received a lovely view up her nostrils, her circlet flopping loose and dragging her hair with it, and a burning blush crawling up her neck and across her face. This time the silence felt more awkward than awed.
    Then the steward, a true professional, cleared his throat and commenced with his announcement. “The Princess Casiondra Falanell Cristalona Ariva.” The watching crowd dipped their heads, many hiding smirks and fat, malicious smiles. Sondra took the opportunity to straighten up and reposition herself, unwilling to glance at her parents. She paused, counted out the requisite seconds in her head, and then proceeded down the steps as gracefully as she could with her face still on fire, until she stood in front of her father. She curtsied deeply, glancing obliquely at him to find him smiling with a genuine fondness and no hint of condemnation. Then she curtsied less deeply for her mother and spared a glance at a face frozen with disapproval. Sondra heaved a mental sigh and continued to her little brother. He smirked at her when she lifted her

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    head from the bow, but she saw the strain of his barely contained laughter.
    She bobbed her head to her sister who bestowed on her a compassionate and slightly amused smile. She then took her place on the dais beside her sister and they waited while the king welcomed all the guests, imploring them to enjoy his hospitality.
    After his short welcoming speech he waved to the musicians in the galley, and music filled the ballroom. The crowd immediately broke apart and separated into many smaller groups to chat and gossip, the favorite pastime of bored nobility. The prince could barely restrain himself from bounding off the dais to join two other boys his age, a young duke and an heir to a barony.
    Sondra groaned when she spotted her ladies-in-waiting descending upon her, and turned to Sarai only to discover that her sister’s keepers had already collected her and herded her off to bore her to tears. Sondra desperately considered her escape routes when a deep, amused voice startled her out of her contemplations.
    “If you’re thinking of going out the window, you’ll never get there in time.
    Every other exit is too far away for any pace other then an all-out sprint. I suggest you join me on the dance