There was no flash of light, no journey from my home to Master Orjeik’s portal realm. It was like stepping through the threshold between rooms, and just as simple. One minute I was in my living room, the next I was standing on a grassy field, perhaps fifty feet across. A wooden chest lay further back, but aside from that it was unfurnished. I also saw large avian or reptilian footprints at its lodge.

Despite the fact that the circular field ended abruptly at all sides, the sky seemed to go to the horizon. There were even clouds in the distance. It was strangely serene, and no noise filtered through the portal into Orjeik's realm. The portal itself looked identical to its counterpart in Hollowhold.

'Do you see now? Just grass and sky. Much the same as in the Reach, I imagine,' Orjeik said to me.

'What happens if you walk off the edge?' I asked him.

'You die,' the Master replied grimly. 'Well, at least that is what is thought. No one has ever returned. Possibly, one is pulled into the void indefinitely.'

'Wouldn’t it be safer to have railings at the edges of this realm?' I asked.

'Some do, particularly those who aren’t able to create portals more than a few feet in diameter. However, I choose not to. My portal realm is a place of peace and serenity.'

'What about that?' I pointed at the chest.

'That is the only part of this realm that I keep to myself,' he answered succinctly, and I looked away as if chastised. He gestured that I should sit on the grass as he did so himself, and I crossed my legs before him. 'Why don't you try to open a portal again?'

'What, here?' I asked him incredulously. I had no idea what would happen if a portal was opened within the portal realm.

'Why not? How do you think one leaves the portal realm?' he asked. As if to support his words, the portal through which we had entered blinked out of existence. I realised that he not only controlled the summoning of portals, but also their dissolution afterwards.

'Of course,' I said, putting things together in my mind. Master Kane had never been much concerned with the practical side of things. It was all about philosophy and mind games with him. 'What about if our portals are joined, and I enter from somewhere different to you, and then leave through a portal you create?'

Master Orjeik shook his head. A breeze swept through the realm, stirring the grass and making me shiver. 'You can only ever leave a portal in the same place that you entered it. Much as your portal will always appear in the same, central location of your portal realm. But enough of this talk, I want you to try and summon another portal.'

I noticed he had dispensed with the “my lady” honorific, but I didn’t mind. Sitting here, in his portal realm, he felt so superior to me that the concept of my own nobility was almost laughable.

I cleared my mind. It was much easier when it was just myself, Orjeik, and the soft grass. There was no thought of the stone over my head that threatened to come crashing down at any moment, nor any heed paid to the sounds of Daegwin shuffling about in the kitchen. The only sound was the breeze, the only texture that of the grass, the only sight that of the sky, and the only smell that of my own perfume. It was all familiar, and so so simple. I thought of how simple it all was, and how my fingers became the grass, which became the sky which became my perfume. It was all one circle. It was all the same thing.

Then a portal appeared.

At first, I thought Master Orjeik had grown tired of waiting, as it had been several minutes since his request. Then I realised that he was looking at me, his face coloured by impressed surprise.

'You’ve done it, Saemara.'

'That's… mine?' I asked, too stunned for words. The portal shimmered at the edges just like everyone else's.

I had done it.

I was a portalmancer.

'That's yours,' he said, and at that instant, the portal disappeared.

'I didn't tell it to go,' I said, frowning.

'That is your next lesson,' Orjeik said, standing. 'You must continue to be mindful for the portal to remain. There is no simple command for it to disappear, you must simply think of something else if you want it to dissipate.'

'What if I get stuck in my portal and the portal disappears and I can't summon another one?' I asked him, suddenly afraid. I took to my feet to face him.

'Then you will die of hunger,' he said, yet there was a light tone to his words. 'It does not happen very often. The first summoning is always the hardest.'

'I would be more able to enter my portal in future if you could come through it with me. That way I’d feel comfortable that I would be able to leave again,' I said.

Orjeik was already summoning his own portal, this time without the hand gesture. I felt that he’d used it previously for show.

'You should think longer on what you ask of me,' the Master replied. 'Most people are not like me. Most people can count the number of visits they've had to their portal realm on one hand. Come now, we return to Hollowhold.'

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

He stepped through the portal without waiting for me, and for a second I was afraid. I had needed to hold his hand to enter, after all, but I realised that there was no such restriction on leaving. I jumped through the portal, feeling stupid when I landed in the safety of my own living room.

'You need not jump, my lady. A step will do,' Master Orjeik advised me.

I nodded. Daegwin was nearby, cleaning the dishes from last night's dinner in the kitchen basin.

“What made those footprints?” I asked. The impression in the soil had been of three claws, and one more jutting from the heel.

“There are rumours… legends of strange creatures that live in the portal realm and can freely cross between them. I know of no one alive who has ever seen how, however.”

'Would you like me to try again?' I offered, but he shook his head.

'Alas, my lady, the clock ticks ever onward, and I must find some time for lunch before I’m due to visit my next student. But do not be disheartened, for you have made more progress in one lesson than in two years of teaching in Ebonreach.'

His face was coloured with a smile, which served to soften his otherwise hard cheekbones and facial stubble. I couldn’t help but smile in response.

'Thank you, Master Orjeik,' I said to him, truly thankful. For the first time since my twelfth birthday, I felt like I could be a portalmancer.

I was no longer a disappointment. I was truly a noblewoman.

'It's my job, my lady,' he replied, his smile turning to a smirk. Then he opened the door and left.

My smile remained for the rest of the day. Even after lunch, when Master Robarin had scowled at my poor knowledge of Halivaaran history, I smiled. He instructed me to start from the founding once more, when the lords of the Mountain Duchy and the Duchy of Trent had become one through marriage, and the Kingdom had been formed. I feared that my progress in the more academic fields would be as slow as ever, but still my smile remained, for I had summoned a portal.

As Master Orjeik had said, the first one was the hardest. Given a few more lessons, I would be able to summon it at will, and it would become my second home. Or my third home, if one counted the first two at Haelling Cove and Hollowhold.

I found myself daydreaming, considering what I'd put in my portal realm. Master Orjeik had kept his almost bare, though perhaps that was for the selfless benefit of his students. I had heard tales of assassins filling their portals with an arsenal of weapons, that they might have access to them anywhere.

I was able to use this example to think of many other uses for portals. A thief might steal an item, then retreat to his portal until the danger had passed, and then escape some nights later.

Yes, non-perishable food might be a good thing to keep in one's portal, as well as a pale of water. But that wasn't very personal. I'm sure Master Orjeik's chest had contained something very dear to him, perhaps a family heirloom, or the deed to his home. Most people's portals did, at least that was my understanding.

All I had in my possession that could be considered dear was my family portrait. I supposed that I could keep my expensive jewellery safe in my portal realm, but I wasn’t particularly attached to any of it. I supposed could always keep a change of clothes in it, so that if I were in a situation as I had been yesterday when I met Prince Milos, I could change out of my dirty clothing and into a fresh outfit.

My afternoon reverie was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Daegwin answered it, and a man appeared in the doorway. I thought at first that he must be a servant due to the restricted access that was enforced in this part of the Royal Quarter, but then I recognised his tunic. It was the same as Prince Milos had worn the previous day, though the man who wore it was different. I immediately knew who it was from those two facts alone.

'Prince Alum!' I said, half in greeting, half in surprise, and half in question.

'Good evening, fair Countess,' he replied smoothly.

His hair was fair like his brother's, but it had more yellow than white to it. It brought to mind his family name, Goldmane. His eyes were the blue of the Tfaeller pennant that Daegwin had put up during the day, only they were electric, seeming to flash with lightning as he shared my gaze. His shoulders were broader than his brother's, yet he lacked none of Milos' height.

'You are Countess Saemara Tfaeller?'

'That I am,' I replied. I was too shocked to be star-struck, and perhaps that worked to my benefit as I gestured at the dining table. 'Please, sit down, my prince.'

Sadly, Prince Alum shook his head.

'I'm afraid I shan't be staying long. I've come on behalf of my father to see that you've settled in. I bring his apologies that he is too busy to see you personally.'

I nodded, grateful that I could meet the King's younger, more attractive, and unwed son in his stead.

'Think nothing of it.'

'Is there anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable? Would you like me to recommend a restaurant for dinner, perhaps?' he offered kindly.

I was still in a glowing mood from having summoned my first portal, and the Prince's visit had only served to cheer me further. Perhaps too much.

'Only if my prince would care to join me.'

He smiled, exhaling, and looked away. After a moment, he turned back to me.

'My lady, you understand that I have a lot of suitors. I beg your forgiveness, as I must decline your offer. Perhaps another night.'

'Of course,' I said, sensing that the conversation was over. 'Another night, my prince.'

With that, he left almost as suddenly as he had appeared. Daegwin closed the door behind him and turned to me, a girlish grin spreading across her face. I knew I shared it, though it looked alien on her usually stern features.

'The Prince! At our house!' Daegwin exclaimed.

'At my house,' I reminded her.

A million thoughts were racing through my head. He was the most eligible bachelor in the land. I wanted him to look upon me and see a potential partner, not a little girl.

'I care not that he does not stand to inherit the Kingdom. He is the only Prince who as yet lacks a wife. I will be that wife,' I declared.

I knew not what gave me such certainty, but clearly it was my elation from the day's events that gave me my determination and optimism.

Still, it was not so unlikely. I might have been a mere Countess, but the rank of a Free County was somewhere between that of a regular County and a Duchy. Like a Duchy, Ebonreach answered directly to the King and not to a middleman, yet the King had refused our accession to the rank of Duke, on the grounds that our lands were insufficient in size to be divided into sub-Counties.

Perhaps I would remind Prince Alum of that, and he would see me as the equal of the Duchesses that undoubtedly pursued him. He was not so much older than me, as it had seemed as if almost a decade stood between him and his brother. That put him in his early twenties, which would be a socially acceptable distance when I came of age. I had two years to pursue him, and, unless I uncovered some substantial personality defect that I was, as yet, unaware of, I would make him my husband.

And I would be his Princess.