Chapter 2
After ages of waiting, the grand ship of the Bardians finally arrived at Port Legann. Kalasin was tensed. She gripped her brother's hand and squeezed it, hard.
"Ouch! Relax, Kally. Your prince won't eat you alive," teased Roald.
"I can't believe you, Roald. I can't believe you can still tease me at this moment." Jon and Thayet heard them and smiled knowingly at each other.
The ship came to a halt. Then a herald came out suddenly from nowhere. He cleared his throat and announced in a loud voice. "Welcome our guests from Bardia!" Slowly, the Tortallans saw a crowd of people stepped out of the ship. There was a young man in the front. He seemed to be the leader of this crowd. He must be the prince, thought Kally. The Bardian prince looked no more than twenty-two. His medium-length chocolate brown hair was tied neatly in a low horsetail. Although the distance between Kally and Alexis was quite far, she could still see that the prince had brown eyes. He's gorgeous. I think I will be happy to marry such a fine young man. He's just…perfect…Oh, Kally, what are you thinking? You don't even know him yet. You were never the one who goes boy-crazy. You are becoming one of those silly court ladies now.
The handsome prince bowed to the monarchs and said, "Nice to meet Your Majesties. I am Alexis, the crown prince of Bardia." King Jon nodded. "There's someone I want you to meet. This is Roald, my son and the crown prince of Tortall," the two princes bowed to each other, "this is Kalasin, my daughter." Alexis bowed, and Kally curtsied. Then Alexis took one of Kally's hands and brush it lightly to his lips. "Please to meet you, Princess." Kally blushed on that.
It's Alexis' turn to introduce the Bardian to the Tortallan. "This is Princess Alice, my sister." Alice was the most beautiful girl the Contés have ever seen, except for Thayet and Kalasin, of course. Princess Alice has the prettiest blonde hair and a pair of dreamy blue eyes. "This is Princess Louisa, also my sister." Louisa was less pretty than Alice. She has blonde hair that was the same as her sister's, but instead of having blue eyes, she has green eyes. "This is Princess Catherine, my cousin." Catherine was a plain girl. She has a head of dull, brown curly hair with soft gray eyes. "Princess Florence, my other cousin." Florence was slightly prettier than her sister, Catherine. She has coppery hair and lively brown eyes. "This is Duchess Natalie of Carnought, also my cousin." Natalie was not as beautiful as Alice, but she was also considered pretty. She has black hair and serious dark brown eyes that sometimes looked like black. "Duke Boris and Duchess Deborah of Manam." The duke and the duchess were both in their middle ages. "Lady Adele of Manam, Duke Boris' youngest daughter." Adele was eight and was a pretty girl already. "Lord Robert Courmon, the ambassador of Bardia." Courmon was a big man in his late-thirties.
King Jon nodded. "Welcome, my guests. Welcome to Tortall."