That evening, Benjamin sat at the table having dinner with his parents. He wasn't really eating though, more picking at his food. He was nervous, he couldn't stop thinking about what his parents might want to talk to him about. Whatever it was he couldn't imagine it being very good.

He'd been sitting there for almost an hour, no one said anything. An awkward, uncomfortable silence gripped the room and made him want to run away. He hadn't seen his parents since he was thirteen, he didn't even know what to say to them. He'd imagined this several times. He had always had a thousand things that he wished he could say, but now none of them came to mind.

"You're not eating?" his mother asked. Her voice was filled with concern. "I had the chef make your favorite casserole."

"Oh... it's very good," he said, taking a big a bite. He hadn't realized how long he had been sitting there staring at his plate.

"We're glad to have you back, Benjamin," Mea tried to spark a conversation.

"Thank you, mother," he replied quietly. "Renee told me that your heart grieved in my absence, mother."

"Yes, I love you and I was afraid for you. I've missed you so much," said Mea.

"I missed you too," he answered. "I'm sorry that I brought grief upon you."

"I was only worried that harm would befall you," she replied. "I feared for you. I never believed in my heart that you had truly betrayed us."

Benjamin nodded and silence returned to the room.

"Now that you are here, it is time for you to start taking on some of your duties as future king," said Henry.

Benjamin looked up and gave his father a pained look. He didn't deserve the throne and he didn't want it. He wanted nothing to do with it. He'd caused the kingdom enough trouble as it was. He feared that if he became king he would only lead Anoria to ruin. "Father... I don't deserve the throne, not after what I've done. Isn't there anyone who can take my place?"

Mea shook her head. "You are the only heir, other than your uncle... but his only daughter died a few years ago. So you are his only heir. And we have no other relatives, accept your cousin Natalia and she has her own kingdom to worry about. If something happens to us this responsibility will fall to you. That's why we need to prepare you now."

"Milia died?" he asked. He hadn't even known that his cousin had died. He felt saddened as he remembered playing with her as a boy.

Henry nodded. "She was ambushed by an orc pack."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know," he said. "But I can't do it, I'm not like you. I'm not strong enough to rule the kingdom. I can't do it alone."

"Benjamin, no one ever said that you have to do it alone, you'll get married one day," Henry smiled.

"I don't know if I will, father," he replied. "I don't know if any girl would ever be able to look past my appearance or my past... the rumors that have spread across the land about me. And..." he broke off, not wanting to tell them about Drake's threats. He did want to marry Renee, for he had loved since the very first time he had seen her in a dream. His heart felt strangely bound to her. But he was also afraid to... because he didn't want her to get hurt on his account.

"Well that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about. We have been advised to arrange a marriage for you," Henry told him.

"I can't get married," he said, a little more harshly than he had intended.

"Why not?" his father asked. "Are you married already? Or do you have a special lady waiting for you somewhere?"

"No. I don't... I just can't get married. Drake swore that if I did, he would feed my wife to his dragon." A few tears slipped from his eyes as the horrific images of the wives of some of Drake's men being fed killed by the dragon filled his mind. He tried to stop himself from crying, knowing that his father was watching. Benjamin wasn't sure what was worse... watching a helpless woman being burnt alive by the breath of a dragon... or seeing her husband scream and cry out in agony as he watched his beloved die. The men were made to watch, from above where they would be helpless to save her. No, the worse part was his own guilt. How many times had he risked everything to keep their marriages secret... how many times had he tried and failed to save a maiden from such a terrible fate?

He couldn't bring that same fate upon himself, and he certainly couldn't bring that fate upon any maiden to die such a terrible death because of him.

"I've seen it happen too many times. I can never marry... I cannot bear to lose my wife in such a way..." he spoke at last.

"We won't let Drake take you or your wife from these halls. He doesn't have enough men to lay siege on this castle. You deserve to be happy," Henry said.

"But do you really think that I could make my bride happy? Do you really think that you could find a maiden who wouldn't be frightened by my appearance? I love children... but they are afraid of me," he said.

"That's just because you're tall and you wear a mask and armor that makes you look like some kind of human-dragon creature. Remember you were afraid of my falcon disguise when you were young," Henry said.

"Oh..." he said, completely oblivious. He could remember how his father had chased him around wearing the falcon mask he'd worn during his days as a thief. It had been terrifying to a four-year-old who didn't realize that it was just his father wearing a mask.

"If something happens to you, Anoria will be left without an heir. That could cause a civil war," Henry continued. "Worse it could tear the whole land apart."

"We understand that you don't want to endanger your bride, but we have received council from the last remaining wizard. She believes that you are the one whom was prophesied to defeat Obsidian and restore light to Anoria. But according to the prophecy, you will only accomplish those feats with your bride," said Mea.

"What prophecy?" Benjamin asked. He heard whisperings of a prophecy... but he still wasn't sure what the prophecy was about. In fact it seemed that no one really knew. There had to be at least a hundred different stories. The prophecy was thousands of years old and it's true words were long lost. No one knew when or where they had been written... nor if they had ever been written at all for that matter.

"It was foretold long ago that a prince of Anoria would marry a girl with dragon's blood in her veins and together they would defeat the darkness and bring back the light," Mea explained.

"But what makes you think the prophecy is about me?" Benjamin asked.

"There is something your father and I never told you. When it was close to the time for you to be born, I fell ill. I had been poisoned by Obsidian and it nearly killed me. We sent for a young wizard who practiced mostly in medicine. He was... we thought the last wizard. By the time he arrived I had began to recover, but he told us that you were taking the poison into your own body to save me. When you were born you weren't breathing and your heart wasn't beating, but thankfully the wizard had an antidote that was able to save you," Mea said.

"Is that why you weren't able to have anymore children after I was born?" Benjamin asked sadly. He had often begged his parents for a baby brother or sister, and there had always been a sad look in his mother's eyes when he asked.

"Yes, but I am just glad that you survived. I owe you my life, even before you were born you loved me enough to give up your own life to save me," Mea told him.

"I would gladly do it again," he said, taking her hand. He had always been very close to his mother, and now he understood why he shared such a special bond with her.

"And I would do the same for you," she said.

"I know," he whispered. Then he placed a soft kiss on his mother's hand.

"On the day you were born a stone fell from the red star. That has never happened before or since..." Mea said.

"You believe that it was a sign that I am the one the prophecy spoke of?"

Mea nodded.

"Obsidian has been trying to kill both you and the woman you destined to marry... your soulmate... since before you were born. You will only be strong enough to defeat him together. Until you marry her, you are both vulnerable," Henry said. "Yes you may be putting her in danger by marrying her, but she is already in danger from someone worse than Drake... Obsidian. At least once you are married you will be able to protect one another."

Benjamin nodded. "If it will keep her safe, then I will do as you have asked of me. Just promise me that she will be kept safe from Drake."

Henry nodded. "She will."

"How will you find the girl from the prophecy?" Benjamin asked.

"The wizard told us to follow our hearts. Your destiny is bound to the fate of this girl... we must believe that the one we chose is one the prophecy spoke of," Henry replied.

"Have you chosen whom I am to be wed?" Benjamin asked with a heavy heart. He feared they had chosen one of the snobbish you ladies of the court.

"Your father and I have discussed it. We want you to marry Renee..." his mother began and he felt his heart skip a beat. ".... She may not be of noble birth, but she is kind and loyal to our family. She would have been our chosen heir if you had not returned," Mea said.

Benjamin felt as if he couldn't breath. If he could choose any maiden in the whole world to marry it would be her. Every since the first time he saw her in his dreams, he longed to find her and now he had. Perhaps since he had dreamt of her since before he had ever laid eyes on her it meant that she truly was the girl from the prophecy. Perhaps the dreams were to show him the girl he was meant to marry. Even if there was no prophecy... or it wasn't about them, there was no woman in all of the world that he would rather spend the rest of his life with.

He had made no reply, he had only stared at his mother so she continued. "I know that she is only a handmaiden, but I believe you will grow to love her once you get to know her. She is kind, with an adventurous spirit... a daughter of the forest. She is a wonderful person."

"She is..." kind, beautiful, amazing, incredible... he wasn't sure what he had meant to say.

"I hope you are happy with the maiden we chose to be your bride," said Henry, seeming to notice his hesitation. "We can choose someone else if..."

"No. I am very happy. I spoke to her earlier. She's very beautiful and kind... and wonderful. And... it may sound strange but I feel as though I have known her for a long time, from my dreams," he whispered. He pulled out his art book and showed his parents the painting of the girl from his dreams. Her long hair was reddish brown and her eyes were hazel and filled with that look of loss and loneliness they knew all too well. Her soft rosy cheeks were dotted with freckles.

"I am amazed... it looks exactly like her," Henry said.

"Perhaps this means that she is the girl from the prophecy," said Mea. "Perhaps you dreamt of her as a sign."

"That is my hope," Benjamin whispered. "But even if we are not the ones the prophecy spoke of... in all my life there has never been another girl I have longed to marry."

"I remember when you were young you often spoke of a girl you saw in your dreams," Mea continued.

Henry laughed. "I seem to remember that he tried to run away on multiple occasions to try to find her."

Benjamin blushed softly. "I never stopped looking for her. I thought I found her a few times long ago... but there was always some reason I couldn't stay long enough to know for sure. To ask her name. But I am sure this time... I knew her name."

"I can tell that you care about her very much," Mea said.

"I do... but are you sure that she would be happy about the marriage?" he asked.

"I haven't talked to her about it yet. But she likes listening to stories about you, I don't think that she would judge you by the rumors that have spread about you. She sees you the way your father and I do," said Mea. "But I'm going to talk to her about it tomorrow."

Benjamin nodded. "Just make sure that she's happy about the arrangement. I don't want her to be forced into marrying me if she doesn't want to. I just want her to be happy."

"So do we. We love her just as much as we love you," his mother replied.