'I am almost of age,' I told Alum. I don't know why I said it, and it certainly made the conversation more awkward. I tried to cover up my words with new ones, 'but yes, we should talk.'

He smiled at my nervousness. To my utter surprise, he reached out and took my hand.

'There is no need to feel nervous, Saemara. Things have changed.'

'They have?' I asked him. He emanated a comfortable warmth, and his quiet confidence made me feel safe in his company. I let him hold my hand and relaxed in my chair.

'They have. I don't know if you… if you want me,' to my surprise, his speech faltered. I suddenly realised that he was afraid that I would refuse him, probably almost as much as I was afraid that he didn't want me. I suppose that my self-restraint may have come off that way to him, even though it had been at his request. I enjoyed the brief moment of validation, letting him continue rather than telling him that he was all I ever thought about. 'A year ago, when last I was here, you were younger. Scandalously younger. Now you are mere weeks from adulthood, and the traditions of our land allow for courting to begin in preparation for your birthday. If that's what you want, of course.'

I smiled. I wanted to retain the upper hand by staying detached and not allowing him to romance me, but my smile was involuntary. My fears that he would find someone else were totally unfounded! Even better, he’d come back without any prompting on my part! It felt like a daydream, but the almost painful tension in my gut told me that I was wide awake. As I spoke, it felt like I was a passenger in my own body, and that my voice had a mind of its own.

'It is what I want.'

His smile appeared just as powerful and out of control as mine. Something was happening between us, I could feel it in the tingling of my fingertips and the deep breaths I was drawing within my chest.

'We should talk more, first,' he said, and my grin turned mischievous and I pulled my hand back.

'First? We can talk, I don't know what else you were expecting,' I said. I was not truly indignant, but that was how I hoped I appeared.

'Of course. I'm sorry, Countess,' Alum said, and his tone and expression conveyed sincere regret for his words. I couldn't let him think he'd truly upset me, so I laughed genially.

'Fear not, Prince,' I told him. 'But tell me, does your brother know you're here?'

'My brother?' he repeated, as if he didn't understand why I asked. I was sure that he did, there was no way I knew what Prince Milos thought of Alum's personal life and Alum himself did not. My suspicions were confirmed when Alum said, 'My brother's opinion matters little to me. We do not often see eye to eye. In any case, he has no footing from which to demand that I marry according to his wishes. His marriage to Alissia brought no wealth or manpower to the realm, nor did it stabilise relations with wayward houses or foreign powers. '

'Do you know about Duke Wilbern's intentions for me? I asked him, wanting to get everything relevant that had occurred to me in the past year out of the way.

Alum scoffed, 'That weasel? I am aware of his intentions, but I would not wed him to any woman I cared about.'

I inserted myself into his words with great relish. I doubted he had the authority to prevent such a union, but the fire in his eyes stoked one within my heart.

We spoke in the light of the fire for hours. Pae served us dinner and Regeda returned home, but they were far from intrusive. Alum had the awareness to restrict his intake of bloodberry wine.

Nonetheless, we discussed mostly trivial matters. Alum held my hand safe between his own, and I told him I didn't want to go home. He replied that once I came of age I could live anywhere I wanted, free of my parents’ influence. I smiled at that, and we discussed such simple matters as his duelling practise. I think he enjoyed that; it seemed to make him feel manly and strong, for he spoke with no small degree of bravado. I was ecstatic to see him at ease, for it was often said among the noblewomen that he isolated himself and moved without purpose.

Tonight, I was his purpose.

When the hours ebbed by and we were forced to confront the lateness of the hour I knew what I must do.

'You should go home, Prince,' I told him when the matter was raised.

He bowed his head politely, and said, 'If that is your wish.'

'It is,' I replied.

Not only was it essentially our first date, but I was not yet of age. While physical intimacy no doubt occurred during similar courtings, it was still essentially taboo and I wanted to do things properly. All of my cynical musings that I should have lain with Alum that night almost twelve months ago went out the window when he appeared at my door. I didn't need to take such a risk to lock him down; he was already mine.

'In that case, farewell Countess. I shall be back tomorrow night,' he said, but I shook my head. My next words pained me, but I had been thinking about courting Prince Alum for almost two years, and prior to that I had often considered courting noblemen in general. I knew that to allow him to see me at a whim would only invite him to take my affections for granted. I needed to maintain a safe distance until I came of age, and hopefully his fondness for me would grow in my absence.

'I have an engagement tomorrow. Perhaps the following evening?' I suggested, and he nodded.

'I look forward to it, my lady,' Alum said.

He left me with a kiss on the back of my hand, and disappeared into the night. I returned into my house and was greeted by my giggling attendants.

'Countess, I daresay that he desires you more than you desire him,' Regeda observed. I realised I was giggling stupidly alongside them.

'What a surprise! I almost relieved myself right there on the doorstep,' I exaggerated for effect to a chorus of laughter.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I was filled with joy at the Prince's visit, and the sudden increase in my future prospects. It was almost too much to consider sober, and with that thought I retrieved my unfinished glass of wine.

'You were right to delay his next visit, my lady,' Pae added. 'Men lose interest if they consider you too attainable.'

'I know, that's why I did it.’

'We could prepare another bed, my lady, if you want him to stay the night without sharing a bed,' Regeda suggested, but I shook my head vigorously in disagreement.

'I must invite no trouble. I leave for Haelling Cove in less than a fortnight, and must preserve my virginity as well as the Prince's affection for me in that time,' I explained, not only to my servants but also to myself. If I said it out loud, I hoped that I would be more likely to adhere to it.

After the initial excitement and congratulations died down, I fell asleep with a girlish grin spread across my face. The morning brought with it that same smile: Alum's visit had not been part of a dream.

It also brought with it a visit from two men that I had met previously: Prince Milos and Highfather Ioran. It concerned me that they chose to visit me together, and I immediately knew that their intention was to dissuade me from accepting Prince Alum's suit. I invited them into my house nonetheless – what else can one do when a prince at your door? - and we talked at the dining table.

'What brings you to my abode?' I asked them.

'Matters beyond your comprehension,' Prince Milos said irritably. I think he’d considered the matter dealt with a year ago and was annoyed that it had sprung up again.

'Then perhaps you should leave,' I retorted, emboldened by the fact that I had Prince Alum's support, and exasperated that people were still trying to come between us - and with such rudeness! I mentally checked myself, trying to keep in mind that these were men who usually got what they wanted.

Highfather Ioran put his hands on the table as if to separate Milos and myself before speaking more genially.

'There is no need for harsh words. We simply wish to educate you, my lady, on matters that you may as yet be unaware.'

I nodded, accepting the Vizonian's compromise and call to cool our tempers. 'What is it that you think I do not know?' I asked. 'I know that the Prince could marry some foreign Queen, or some Duchess, but he does not want to. Nor is the need pressing, as there are no Duchesses likely to inherit nor any foreign Queens whose alliance would benefit the Kingdom.'

'I am aware of what you are aware, Countess,' Prince Milos said slowly. 'I know that you know that Prince Alum could do better than you, and that a marriage with Duke Wilbern would benefit the House of Tfaeller more directly than one with my brother, and that such a marrige would benefit the Kingdom through the stablisation of the Duchy of Trent. Yet you seem not to consider any of these things important, for you continue to court Alum. Are you actively trying to oppose the will of the King, or are you simply selfish?'

'Prince Alum makes his own choices,' I replied through gritted teeth.

'It would be better if you wed Duke Wilbern,' Ioran added quietly.

'That is not out of the question as yet,' I said, still wanting to keep the Duke in reserve. Then, as the conversation seemed to have stalled, I said, 'do you bring no new information?'

Prince Milos sighed. 'The Halivaaran treasury groans under many burdens. Mother's medicine is expensive, and Father's decision to let me administer his affairs has affected the Crown's tax income. We can barely defend our holdings in the Borderlands, and a pretender rebellion for Trent would require us to divert soldiers from the frontier, unless the pretender was to our liking. It is imperative that Duke Wilbern's claim be secured by the birth of an heir. It is also imperative that Haelling Cove secure soldiers to defend the river mouth - without taxing the manpower of men loyal to the King.'

‘Again, you bring me nothing that I have not already considered. The Prince assists in the safeguarding of the Haelling. And it matters not to me who rules in Trent, nor which stretch of Borderlands wasteland we claim as the boundary of our kingdom. What matters to me is the Prince's happiness. Besides, I have heard that many of the common folk of the Reach were vexed by your decision to withdraw the King's men from Haelling Cove. Some talk of independence.'

The last words I spoke had come in a recent letter from Father, though for him to risk writing them down likely meant that the dissenters’ rumblings had been occurring for some time, and were now too widespread to safely ignore. It was incredibly unlikely that they would act without the support of the ruling family - my family - but Haelling Cove was very distant from Hollowhold. Milos had to see that.

'You speak of rebellion?' he accused me.

'Not I. Yet I must consider the wishes of the people of my land,' I said, though they had scarcely ever passed through my mind. I was cloaking my affection for Alum in a veil of righteousness. 'If they wish to rebel in sufficient numbers, I must either support them and convince my husband to assist me, or betray their wishes and refuse them. The better option is to tie Hollowhold to the Reach, with a marriage between myself and Prince Alum.' I frowned, and changed my tone as I realised that it was still early days yet. 'If it comes to that. We have much still to learn about one another before such a marriage can even be contemplated.'

'I hope that you come to your senses before then,' Prince Milos said, and I wondered if he had listened to a word that I'd said. I felt that he’d already made his decision and cared little for why I might not agree with it.

'The Vizonian Order would be willing to furnish you, or your Father, with a good deal of coin if you were to change your mind,' Ioran said.

'You want to pay me to marry Wilbern?' I demanded.

'Or, at least to stop seeing Prince Alum,' Ioran responded. He met my gaze, and I realised that he was not at all ashamed of his words. I wondered where the Vizonian Order got their money from. They owned no land in Halivaara and had no direct employees, other than priests. To my knowledge, their sole source of revenue was through meagre donations.

I shook my head. 'I will not. I will not let what the Prince and I have be ruined by coin, or by any outside interference. If we do not wed, then you will be happy and I will be sad, but I will not let it happen any other way than naturally.' Privately, I resolved that it would not happen that way either.

Highfather Ioran sighed and turned away. Prince Milos' expression turned from distate to something more grim. He spoke slowly.

‘My lady, it is with regret that I must inform you that Prince Alum would make a most unsuitable husband.'

I raised a single eyebrow. 'He would?' I asked skeptically.

'Sadly, he committed a crime so heinous that the King was forced to pardon him, lest his act cost him his title and his future,' Milos said, and I nodded.

'I know of the royal pardon he received. Will you not tell me what he did that required pardoning?' I said. It had weighed on my mind surprisingly little as I felt confident that Alum would not do anything wrong. I wondered if I would be willing to wed him without knowing this important element of his past.

Prince Milos shook his head, 'it is not my place. In fact, it is illegal. The records were burned, and few know of it. Only Prince Alum can shed light on it for you, and I advise you to ask him.' He was probably only trying to sow discord between us, but I nodded anyway.

'Is there anything else?' I asked after an awkward pause.

Highfather Ioran indicated that he had little else to say and turned to Milos. The Prince screwed his face up in frustration, but eventually came to the conclusion that there was little else to say.

'I will let you think on my words. Perhaps you will consider it best not to return to Hollowhold after you travel to Haelling Cove for your coming of age ceremony.'

'Perhaps,' I said dubiously, standing. They followed suit, and I guided them to the door and showed them out. They left without another word, and I closed the door behind them. I knew that dating a Prince would bring with it certain risks, but I did not expect them to come from the heir to the Kingship and the master of Vizonia. I would have to talk to Alum about it.