There had been no opportunity for an advance messenger to be sent ahead of us to Hollowhold so our first stop was with Prince Milos. Even with my poor devotion to my academic studies, I knew that he was heir to the Halivaaran throne.

Everyone knew that! After all, he was the second most important man in the realm, after King Degron himself.

Sadly, he was also married. Nevertheless, it was important that we declare our arrival to the King's family, if not to the King himself – that would be up to him. Milos would also, assumedly, find us lodgings within the city.

I wondered if I should talk to him about getting a tutor straight away. I was far enough behind in my education without wasting my days in Hollowhold. I certainly needed to learn the magic of portalmancy before I came of age, or I might never recover my image as a woman of high breeding.

A single King's Guardsman from the gate led us through the city. He was dressed in purple and gold, the King's colours, and they, together with his pike, denoted his authority.

The tall arches of the entranceway became a great stone courtyard ringed by temporary wooden market stalls, crowded by merchants and consumers. The courtyard walls were dotted with smaller passageways, and it was through one of these that our guide led us.

The sunlight that filtered through the stone arches faded as we turned into the doorway, and wall-mounted torches became the sole source of light. The claustrophic corridor was barely tall enough for a man mounted upon a stallion, but I guessed that it had been measured and carved almost exactly.

It seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but a few minutes later we emerged into some sort of meeting hall. It was taller and wider than the corridor by far, but nowhere near as large and open as the market hall through which we’d passed. The edges of this room were also marked with smaller doorways, and I gathered that such things were a feature of the general Hollowhold architecture. No doubt, small passageways such as we had just traversed crisscrossed the mountain’s interior in a maze that made Helmfirth look like a peasant’s cottage.

The hall was filled with comfortable-looking couches and tables. Prince Milos – whom I instantly recognised by his regal purple and gold tunic, his amethyst crown, and his prickly white hair – was seated at the far side of a great stone table.

I realised that we were not the only dignitaries to visit him that day. We probably weren't even the most important ones. No doubt the capital saw emissaries not only from the Duchies and Counties that comprised Halivaara, but from other distant realms.

I wondered if I would meet desert nomads from the Borderlands or raiders from the Frostlands in this hall, but I could see none when I glanced over its occupants. Most waited in the couches and chairs provided, and we quickly dismounted and did the same, leaving our soldiers to handle our horses.

We waited well over an hour for Prince Milos to see us, as there were several other visitors in line before us. When we were finally called up, only Wilbern, Timoth and I went forward, as we represented the noble element of our party.

I shook with trepidation as I took the steps that would carry me to the Prince. It was one thing to know that such an important and famous figure was nearby. It was another entirely to actually meet and converse with him. I hoped I wouldn't come off like a child.

The Prince appeared to be in his early thirties, which I thought to be odd as he had yet to produce an heir. His wife was seated next to him. She had smooth black hair and piercing green eyes, and appeared to be of a similar age. She was clad in the black robes emblazoned with the emblem of the Vizonian Order – a sword embedded point-first upon a grassy hill –and I hid my surprise.

The Vizonian Order maintained an outpost in Haelling Cove, and when I had turned twelve their representative had come to my father and suggested that they take charge of my portal training. Father had steadfastly refused, and afterwards I had learned why.

'Saemara,' he had said to me when we were alone. 'The Vizonian Order may be well-liked by the common folk, and even the King, but I advise you to be wary of them. Their intentions may stem from holiness and they may be aligned with Halivaara for now, but they are not answerable to any man of the realm.'

His counsel flew over my head when I was twelve, but I’d nevertheless asked, 'what do they do?'

Father had wanted me to understand, so he spoke slowly. It’d worked, for I still remember his words.

'Do you know how it is expected that you will join your portal – when you are able to create one – with that of your husband, when you marry? As your mother and I did when we wed?' I nodded, and he continued. 'Vizonia is a massive portal realm, crafted from so many portalmancers over so many centuries that it is bigger even than the entire Reach. Yet few know what takes place there. To join the Vizonian Order, one must be trained from the age of twelve or even earlier. When an initiate comes of age, their portal is joined to Vizonia, and they clad in black robes, and allowed only to wed other portal users if they will also join their portals to Vizonia. They have a military arm, called the Vizonian Guard, and I have never allowed them in the Reach. If one day you rule, I trust that you will maintain the same restriction. It is not a wise decision to allow soldiers of foreign or unknown allegiance into the lands one is sworn to protect.'

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I had come to realise what his words meant. Yet I held no opinion of the Vizonian Order, for I’d had little to do with them after Father's refusal to have me trained in their ways and wedded to their land.

The men in the castle spoke well of them, and sought their favours by offering any children they had who were inclined to become portalmancers to the Order. I knew not what they hoped for in return, as the Vizonians seemed mostly to be a religious order, though one disparate from the monks and monastries I was more familiar with.

This all rushed through my head in an instant as I sat opposite the Prince and Princess, between the Duke and Count. I forced my mind back to the present.

'Who do we have here?' the Prince asked as we waited for him to invite us to speak. 'I recognise the colours of Trent. And the emerald circlet. You are Duke Wilbern, heir to the Duchy of Trent.'

'I am honoured to meet you, my prince,' Wilbern said in response.

'And I you,' Prince Milos responded. 'I'm afraid that I do not recognise your companions. They are from no duchy of Halivaara. A county, perhaps?'

'The Free County of Ebonreach, my prince,' Timoth responded. 'I am Count Timoth, heir to the County, and this is my sister, Countess Saemara.'

I suddenly realised that I didn't know the proper greeting for the circumstance. Had I been standing, a curtsey would have been appropriate, but it would have been very awkward to stand up just to curtsey. I bowed my head slightly, hoping that if it was appropriate it would be sufficient, and if it was unnecessary it would go unnoticed.

The Prince continued. 'Welcome to Hollowhold. You have come far, citizens of the Reach. I welcome the three of you to the capital.' He paused, as if to increase the majesty of his words. 'I shall inform the King of your presence when next I see him. Do you come with a purpose?'

Wilbern responded first, as was expected. 'I travel with the Count and Countess, my prince. My only purpose is to learn the ways of the Kingdom, the capital, and its people.'

Milos did not seem thrilled at his words, but possibly he was merely weary from spending the day in a chair greeting visitors.

'I will find you and your attendants lodgings in the Royal Quarter of the city. Is that all?'

Timoth shook his head frantically, as if suddenly afraid the Prince would disappear before we could state our aims. Milos gestured that he should speak.

'The Countess and I plan to stay until her coming of age, which is nigh two years away.'

'I've already said that I shall find you accommodation suitable to your station,' Milos said irritatedly, but Timoth spoke again.

'A very gracious offer, my prince, and one which we gladly accept. The Countess also requires tutors to complete her scholarly education.'

My brother had chosen to bring up my need for tutelage to the Prince after all. I think he’d been instructed by Father or perhaps Mother to make very certain that I was not left to my own devices.

'Surely she has outgrown her education?' Milos commented with an unusual directness. His eyes scanned me as a stablemaster assesses a riding horse.

'She is sixteen, my prince. She requires tutors to complete her studies,' Timoth reiterated. This time, it was the Prince's wife who spoke.

'Has she undergone a Vizonian apprenticeship?' she asked.

This was what Father had referred to, and what the Vizonian outpost at Haelling Cove had suggested for me years earlier. I shook my head, and Timoth spoke.

'No, my princess.'

'A shame,' the Princess said, and then faded back into her seat.

Prince Milos leaned forward to conclude the conversation with his final words.

'I shall find you not only lodgings, but also tutors for the girl's education. I trust that is all.'

It was not a question. Timoth could only nod meekly. I hoped that we had done nothing to offend him. My guess was that he was merely busy, judging by the number of people seated in the pews hoping for an audience.

The five of us stood, sensing that the discussion was at its end. The Duke and Count bowed slightly before the Prince and Princess, and I curtseyed. Then we returned to our men travelling party, who were waiting at the back of the room.

'What do we do now?' I asked.

'We wait for the Prince to send someone to show us to our chambers,' Wilbern responded, and Timoth nodded his agreement.

After another hour of waiting, three servants approached us in the purple and gold of the King's Guard. One each spoke to Wilbern, Timoth and myself respectively, and I realised that we were to be quartered separately. Timoth suggested that I take two or three of the soldiers, with me, but the guide assigned to me shook her head.

'No men are allowed in the women's quarters, save the royal family and their servants,' he said.

I understood from her words that the Royal Quarter was divided according to gender, and though it was different to the way things were in Haelling Cove, I was not overtly surprised. It made sense, after all, to prevent scandal. I doubted that so many nobles were ever gathered in one place as during a single day at Hollowhold.

I realised that I’d been wearing my riding clothes when I greeted the Prince and I had moment of dismay. At least I'd had Daegwin clean them when we'd stopped at Helmfirth, but it still wasn't exactly the proper clothing for a lady meeting the heir to the Kingdom.