Only Daegwin accompanied me as we were taken, on foot, through one of the wall passageways by the female guide. The archways seemed minute after witnessing the gargantuan majesty of the Hollowhold entranceway, especially as most of the Hollowhold rooms seemed to be quite tall and wide in comparison to the passageway entrances.

Torchlights burned brightly to show us the way to our quarters, and I realised that in an underground city such as this, the torches must be kept burning all day and night. I assumed the city possessed some sort of air filtration system to empty the smoke from the air.

The thought made me instantly cognisant of the fact that I was walking deep within the side of a mountain, trusting the ancient stone to defend me against the weight of thousands of tonnes of dirt. If I had truly been claustrophobic I would no doubt have seized by panic, but as things were I was barely able to conceal my terror. Haelling Cove had been so small, so low, so open. I could scarcely believe that only a matter of days earlier I’d been lying on a beach, soaking in the sun's rays.

I wondered if I would see the sun at all in the next two years.

Perhaps sensing my distress, Daegwin put a hand on my back to steady me. Her presence calmed me, and I took a deep breath and forged on.

The guide assured me that we were nearing our destination, and we emerged from the passageway into a much taller corridor. Either side was bordered, not with stone walls as in the passageway, but with stone houses carved into the wall and roof stacked alongside each other like bricks in a wall.

I realised abruptly that this was the Royal Quarter.

The houses were familiar enough, with windows and wooden doors and even viewing platforms on a few of them. Yet they would never be graced by the sun, nor look upon anything but the corridor road that lay between the two opposite rows of houses.

It was eerie, being somewhere so familiar yet so alien. I maintained my poise as best I could, letting the guide lead me to the house that I’d been assigned. As they were essentially identical it did not stand out to me, except that it flew no pennant. The other houses boasted colourful pennants out the front signifying the allegiance of the occupant. I resolved to have a sky blue and white pennant made as quickly as possible.

The guide unlocked the door to the house and handed me the key.

'Is there anything else you need?' she asked, and I considered the question for a moment.

'I need my chests brought from the carriage,' I said.

'I will see to it. I notice, my lady, that you have only one attendant. Would you like me to suggest others?' she asked.

I seriously considered her offer. I was used to having two attendants, and I felt it likely that most of the women here would employ more than that.

Yet, something stayed my answer. Perhaps it was the time Daegwin and I had spent together, or the trials we’d faced. Her and I had been the only ones to keep our heads during the encounter with the nymphs.

I looked at her, and realised that if I asked for more attendants, she’d be hurt. Though her feelings were not my biggest concern, that was enough for me to decline the guide's offer, at least for now. If I changed my mind later, I could always seek out new attendants on my own.

'No, thank you,' I finally replied.

The guide nodded and left. Soon, Daegwin and I found ourselves alone and unburdened at the doorstep of my new home.

'Shall we go inside?' I asked rhetorically, then stepped through the doorway.

While I waited for my chests to arrive Daegwin and I explored the chambers, lighting the torches and candles as we went. My new home was possessed of two storeys, which was fairly new to me because, aside from the keep, most structures at Haelling Cove stood only one level tall.

A straight stone staircase joined the two floors, and I noted that the ground floor was possessed of a kitchen, a bathroom, and a wide living area, while the top floor contained one master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and three bunks in a smaller bedroom for the servants.

'Make yourself comfortable, Daegwin,' I suggested. 'That's going to be your home for a while.'

'My lady, if I may ask, why did you refuse the offer of more servants? There are beds enough for three in here,' she asked.

She was becoming more bold. She had a lot to learn before she could presume to speak to be regarding personal matters, as Gwaeda had sometimes done. Daegwin sat on one of the beds, claiming it as hers.

'Did you want me to say yes?' I asked her. I wasn't sure whether I'd made the decision for my benefit or for hers.

'No, my lady. You are not such a difficult charge,' Daegwin replied, and I smiled. That was a compliment, I think.

'I trust you, Daegwin,' I lied to her. Well, half-lied, perhaps. I wouldn't have trusted her with my newborn child or anything, but she had learnt how I liked to do my hair fairly well.

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'Ma'am, if I might speak regarding something more personal?' she asked, and I threw my earlier presumptions out the window. It seemed that our brush with death in the Dreadwood Forest had emboldened her.

'I am in no mood to be criticised,' I warned her. I sat on the bunk opposite Daegwin. I'd have to have the extraneous beds removed, and made a mental note to do so.

'My intention was to do the opposite, my lady,' Daegwin said. 'I did not dare to speak before the Count, my lady, but now we are alone, I wanted to tell you that I thought you were very brave, seeing off those nymphs like that. I was petrified, as it were, and you were unarmed, and their fingernails looked so sharp… If you’d not acted, I fear we’d all lie in the forest right now.'

'Well…' I started, uncomfortable with the servant's praise. 'Thank you, Daegwin. You did your part also.'

I added the last because reciprocal kindness felt necessary in the context, but I could think of nothing specific she had contributed.

'It's a shame that I can count only one success against my name, while my failures scarcely fit on the one hand.'

'You are too harsh, my lady,' Daegwin said.

She unpinned her dark hair, letting it fall freely across her shoulders. I realised I could also relax; the idea seemed so alien after weeks in the company of strangers. I let my hair out and kicked my riding shoes onto the floor. I realised that I still had Timoth's boot-knife strapped to my ankle and retrieved it, laying it on the bed.

'Count Djiron was a strange man, not like a man of the Reach. And it was Count Timoth that sent him away, not you, my lady.'

'Perhaps,' I said, not entirely agreeing. Tears began to well in my eyes as I considered my other failures. 'Yet it was my command that brought the vengeance of the faeries upon Gentleman Wargwa.'

'You couldn't have known, my lady. The Gentleman certainly didn't, for he obeyed without one word of complaint,' Daegwin pointed out.

She was right. I’d been too harsh on myself. Timoth certainly hadn't helped, as his words had been most unkind. Yet, he too must have been under a lot of strain. He’d suffered his own failures, and he’d struggled under the burden of command throughout the journey. I hoped that things would be better between us now that we had reached Hollowhold.

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of half a dozen servants. Four of them were carrying my chests, and I directed them to put them in the master bedroom. The other two were distinguished by the lack of burden and the fair condition of their expensive clothing. One of them, a dashing gentleman with a chiselled jaw who I thought to be in his late twenties, introduced himself to me.

'I am Master Orjeik,' he said. 'I hope you are the Countess Saemara.'

'I am,' I replied. 'What brings you to my chambers?'

'I am a tutor of portalmancy, my lady,' he said. 'I can help you advance your portalmancy skills.'

To inaugurate them, more like. I didn’t blame Master Kane for my own failings, though I'm sure his slow speech and desperately old age had had something to do with my disinterest in the art of portalmancy. I knew it was important, and I was glad that my new tutor had a bit more life in him.

'That is superb news, Master Orjeik. Forgive me, for I am a newcomer to this city. When and where would be convenient?'

'If it suits you, my lady, I can teach you here, in your chambers. I will come every day at eleven and I will train you until lunch,' Master Orjeik suggested.

I considered his proposal, and found it acceptable. I had little idea of what I would do to fill my days in the capital, so perhaps I’d be able to focus on my studies. Looking at Master Orjeik and the way he exuded confidence, I was suddenly interested.

The second man was of a more familiar appearance. His white hair and wrinkled skin put him in his fifties at least, though I still thought him to be much younger than Master Kane.

'Master Robarin, my lady,' he introduced himself. 'I am a tutor of history and politics.'

'Welcome to my chambers,' I said, for want of anything more appropriate to say. 'When would you prefer to visit me for our lessons?'

'After lunch, if that is pleasing,' Master Robarin suggested. 'Perhaps, two o'clock?'

'This is acceptable,' I said. The two men in my living room were now joined by the other four, who had finished carting my chests up the stairs and into my bedroom. I turned to the six men. ‘Thank you all. I look forward to seeing two of you tomorrow.'

They smiled and made their farewells, and then departed.

I was alone at last, with my possessions in the house.

I closed the door, shutting out the outside world. It was just me and Daegwin now, and two chests of clothes and jewellery that needed to be sorted. I feared for their condition after having spent almost two weeks crammed into a small chest and carried by horse-drawn carriage through rain and forest. I told Daegwin to prepare dinner, hoping that the kitchen cupboards were well-stocked. Then I went upstairs and, without Daegwin's assistance, began to sort through my belongings. I could have assigned the task to her, but there was something relaxing about going through familiar items in an unfamiliar place.

I had two wardrobes and a chest of drawers in my bedroom, as well as a mirror and a four-post bed with a table alongside it. That made it much like my chambers in Haelling Cove, except for the mirror.

I’d never possessed a mirror before, as they’d been extremely expensive in the Reach. I took a moment to examine myself in it, and saw that I had indeed lost weight. I hoped Daegwin was cooking a big meal.

I took some time to transfer my clothes into the wardrobes and chest of drawers. My heels I stowed at the bottom of the wardrobes, and my more practical footwear I crammed into one of the drawers. My jewellery also went into a drawer. My books I put into or atop the bedside table, and my family portrait I stood atop my chest of drawers.

Finally, I was home. Or at least the next best thing.

I discarded my dirty riding outfit, and dropped it at the entrance to the servant's quarters so that Daegwin would take notice of it and wash it once more. Part of me hoped that she would say that the clothes were unsalvageable. If that were the case, we'd watch them burn in the living room fireplace.

I discarded my chemise in favour of my nightrobes and visited the kitchen. Daegwin saw my arrival and bade me not enter while she was cooking. At first, I was angered by her presumption to give me a command, but then I realised that I would never have entered the kitchen during mealtime at Haelling Cove. Even servants deserved some privacy, I realised.

I left her alone. Travelling in a small group with no chance to get away could wear on one's nerves, and we would both benefit from some separation. .

As such, I waited in my bedroom for dinner. I relaxed on the bed, and when Daegwin brought me a tray of food and bloodberry juice I sent her away so that I might eat alone.

I slept in a place that I could call my own for the first night in what seemed like forever.