The journey back to the Cave seemed to take no time at all; they traveled in silence, but it was not the tense, anxious quiet that they had flown to Marlise’s ward in; it was a light, comfortable stillness. As the statues of the first generation Dragonknights swam into view, Milius glanced back at Hestia, smiling, and she smiled back. As Milius’s eyes fell back on the entrance to the Cave, however, his smile faltered.

Lumeus landed gently, and Milius and Hestia dismounted, finding themselves face-to-face with Hestia’s second traveling companion, Cole, who was staring at them with his arms folded, looking positively furious. Behind him stood Ariana, Sirius, Shakil, and Frederick, all looking exasperated.

“Cole, you're awake!” Hestia said delightedly, bounding forward and embracing him. Cole patted her on the back rather stiffly, glaring at Milius. When she had released him, he said, with his eyes still on Milius, “Good, you're here — now we can go.”

“What do you mean, ‘go’?” Milius asked, bewildered.

Cole seemed not to have heard him. He looked down at Hestia, who was gazing back up at him, bemused, and said, “Pack your things, we're going.” He made to turn away, but Hestia gripped his arm.

“What are you talking about? Why do we have to leave? I thought the Elders said we could stay as long as we needed to?”

“That's what they said, did they?” said Cole, turning back to face her with a very fierce look. “I knew it — we shouldn't have come. We're leaving, now!”

“I don't understand,” Hestia protested. “Why are you upset? If it weren't for these people I would have died. You would have died!”

“Then you should have let me!” Cole bellowed. “Then, at least, we wouldn't be in these people's debt — !”

“Debt? Debt?” Milius said incredulously, looking around at the other Knights. “Can someone tell me what's going on, please?”

“He woke up in the Medical Wing a short while ago,” Ariana explained. “Wouldn't even listen to us when we tried to tell him where he was or what had happened. Just jumped up and tried to run away — then he saw Frederick —”

“He started on him, too,” Shakil said. “Something about knowing that he doesn't like to owe other people, or something?” He shrugged.

“It's just some stupid pride thing,” Sirius said dismissively.

Cole rounded on Sirius, glowering at him. “Oh, it's a pride thing, all right, but it's not stupid! Debts and favours — you have no idea the kind of hold they have over people! I won't allow myself, or my friends, to be placed in your servitude!”

“Servitude?” Milius said, his disbelief rising furiously. “No one cares about servitude! We helped you because we wanted to, not because we wanted you to become our — our slaves!”

“Cole,” Hestia said, as Cole opened his mouth to retaliate, “this isn't like what you're thinking. They're good people! I know it! They don't want anything in return, and besides, we can't leave yet — Frederick still needs his treatment!”

As she spoke, Milius held up the bag of items that they had obtained from Marlise. Cole scowled at them both. Then he said, through tightly gritted teeth, “Fine — you two can stay here and get your treatments. I'm going on ahead to meet Aunt Dian.”

“Well in that case, we can take you back to tow —” Ariana began quickly.

“No, thanks,” Cole said coldly, not looking at Ariana. “I don't need your help, I can find my way on my own.” He wrenched his arm out of Hestia’s grasp and pushed resolutely past them, starting off in the direction of the town.

“You'll never make it out of here on foot!” Sirius called after him. Milius noticed that his tone wasn't one of dissuasion, but almost, it seemed, one of hope. He frowned at Sirius, who shrugged. “What, it's true! There are all sorts of dangerous monsters running around in this place. And we already saw what happened when he met one —”

“Cole, stop!” Frederick said firmly. “You're being ridiculous. These people have shown us kindness, the least you can do is give them your respect. And besides, we're supposed to be traveling together! You can wait a few more days until I'm fully healed up!”

Cole stopped dead in his tracks. For a few moments he stood quite still, his back facing them, staring fixedly at the woods ahead of them. Then he turned, very slowly, looked at Frederick for a moment, then marched past all of them and disappeared into the Cave without another word.

Frederick sighed. “Sorry about him,” he said. “He's been through some rough times recently. We all have.”

“No worries,” Ariana said, smiling. “Let's just get back inside, get you your medicine, shall we?”

They turned and strode back into the Cave. Milius left everyone else at the entrance and went off to find Calder, handing him the bag of ingredients when he had finally tracked him down in the Elders’ quarters. When he returned to the other side of the Cave, however, he did not see Cole, Frederick, or Hestia, nor did he spot them at all over the course of the rest of the day, or even at breakfast the next morning. He did not understand why, but he had a shrewd suspicion that Cole was at the center of this decision.

He did not have much time to devote to the matter, however, as shortly afterwards, the Elders summoned the Knights again for what they had thought would be their final training session before the wedding (which would take place the following day); but in truth, the old men simply wanted to speak to them about the Exhibition which would serve as the post-wedding entertainment.

It was only now that Milius heard Calder speak about it that he realized that he had never actually thought much of what they would be expected to do during the actual Exhibition. After calling them to order, Calder extracted an egg, very much like the one they had recently wrestled from the Bellator Ligneas, from the pocket of his robes and opened it.

Unlike the first, no firework-like streak of light whizzed out and zoomed into the air; instead, there was a handwritten note, dotted with the crest of the Royal Family.

Calder peered at it for a few moments, then looked up at them and said, “According to this, the Archers, the Paladins, and the Hunters all arrived yesterday evening, and have, by now, settled in at their prepared chambers at the Royal Palace. We are expected to do the same by this evening. The exhibition will entail, as we could all have guessed, a display of the skills and magic that each group possesses. I am pleased to remark that you have all made great strides in your training. There have been many improvements compared to when you had just started, and I am positive that you will only continue to grow from this point onwards.

“Your period of training has finally come to an end. What you need now, is to pack. Our rooms at the Palace are waiting for us. You will meet us out front as soon as you are done. We will see to our guests. You are dismissed.”

The Knights left at once. They trooped along the corridors to their rooms in silence, but, quite abruptly, Milius seized Sirius’s shoulders, determined to receive an answer to the question that had been burning within him for so long.

“What?” Sirius said defensively.

Ariana and Shakil stopped and looked around, but Milius waved them along; they shrugged and continued back along the path.

“Who are you going with?” Milius asked, turning back to Sirius. “Mother said that since we're going to be seated along with the rest of the Royal family, we would need to have companions. Have you found someone yet?”

Sirius did not answer at once, he merely looked at Milius, who stared right back at him, unrelenting. At last, Sirius said, “Just worry about yourself, will you?” He smiled weakly, then clapped Milius on the back and strode swiftly away.

Milius did not find this a satisfactory response, but did not get the chance to pursue the subject, as they had other matters to attend to. He packed quickly, then met the other Knights, the Elders, Hestia, Frederick, and Cole at the entrance to the Cave. To his slight displeasure, Hestia ended up flying along with Ariana and Vrydius, while Milius was left with the over-eager Frederick, who kept gasping and pointing at various sights as they soared along. His discomfort was nothing to Sirius’s, however, as he had ended up carrying the still-glowering Cole, who had, with great reluctance, agreed to leave his room and travel with them to the wedding.

They arrived within minutes. The castle was enormous, and splendidly decorated. The dark stone walls gleamed brightly in the brilliant sunlight, and the many turrets and towers rose impressively above them, their high windows sparkling. Their welcoming committee gave them a very cheery welcome, then split up, several of them to get the dragons settled in in a paddock around the back of the castle, and the remaining two to lead them to their rooms.

If the outside was grand, it was nothing to the interior. They were led through vast, sumptuously decorated hallways; the floor was covered by an enormous, violet carpet, the walls lined with many handsome, ornate portraits. Several minutes later, they reached the prepared bedrooms. Ariana and Hestia were led into their rooms on the female side, the Elders led deeper into the castle, and Milius, Sirius, Shakil, Frederick, and Cole led into their own rooms on the male side.

The walls of Milius’s room were painted eggshell-white, with diamond-paned windows hung with magnificent amethyst-coloured curtains. The bed was large and looked very welcoming, especially after what he felt was an extremely long day. It was still quite early, but Milius flung himself into bed regardless, wishing to get this day over with as soon as possible, so that they could deal with the next. And miraculously, he drifted off remarkably soon after landing upon the bed.

The next day, he awoke to the genteel knocks of the castle servants. He washed and dressed, still half-expecting to find something wrong with the suit, but if there were any faults with it, he couldn't find any. The garments were as splendid as he had ever seen: dark and handsome, and remarkably well-fitted.

He pinned the wreath of silver-blue flowers onto his right breastplate, secured his golden ticket in his shirt pocket, and after examining his reflection in the mirror for a few more moments to ensure that it was as good as he could make it, he wheeled out of the chamber and down the superb dark wood staircase. He found Shakil at the bottom, wearing a neatly cut chestnut brown suit that blended well with his light brown eyes and hair, looking over at a pretty, white-haired young woman who was talking avidly to a brown-haired man that looked remarkably like Shakil, who could only have been his father.

Milius swept down towards him, intending to ask whether he had seen Hestia, and saw, to his astonishment, Sirius standing there in his own dark-and-gold suit, his scruffy beard neatly trimmed, his golden hair well-combed, smiling broadly, his bulky arm laced with Ariana’s, who was smiling as well.

She was wearing a dark red dress, long, crescent-moon-shaped earrings, and had her hair tied up in elegant ringlets, chatting merrily to who seemed to be her own mother.

“What's happening over there?” Milius demanded of Shakil, who apparently hadn't noticed him: he gave a little start and looked around.

“Oh,” he said, relaxing. “Milius.” He looked over at Sirius. “That's right, he never told you, did he?” he muttered.

“Told me. . . ?” Milius’s voice trailed off. He had suddenly remembered the day in the forest, after they had escaped from the mysterious, disappearing chamber. “It was when you went off together, wasn't it?” he asked. “To find food. I thought he looked easier on you when you two came back.”

Shakil grinned nervously. “Er . . . yeah, that was it. He almost chopped my head off when I mentioned Ariana, but I guess, since we were on a dangerous trip fighting off vicious monsters all the while, he changed his perspective of me after a little while. I mean, we were alone, and we had to trust each other. He opened up to me, after I told him some stuff about myself: he'd been interested for a while, ever since the Knighting Ceremony, but because of what she nearly did to *you*, he was conflicted. But now since everybody's cool —”

“He finally made a move.”

Shakil nodded. “Are you surprised?” he asked after a moment's pause.

“Truthfully? Yeah,” Milius said. “Very.”

“And are you okay with it?”

Milius did not answer immediately. He gazed at his cousin for a moment, and saw that the exuberance in his face was genuine. “I guess,” he shrugged. “I mean, it only matters if he's happy, right?” He grinned at Shakil. “So is that your date?”

He pointed over at the white-haired woman. Shakil nodded.

“Her name's Selene,” he said happily. “We have a bit of a past. She agreed to come with me today.”

Milius made to speak again, to ask him about this past of theirs, when, once again, he saw something that made his question die in his throat. Dressed in a long, emerald-coloured dress, with a superb opal necklace glimmering around her neck, and her dark hair flowing in waves around her head, Minerva was walking along ahead of them, arms laced and deep in conversation with a bearded stranger.

Several images flashed in his mind at once, several of them involving Palpatunde, which had most unfortunately been stowed in his bedroom upstairs, but before he could make a move to retrieve it, Hestia came sweeping down the stairs. Her hair was drawn back into a shining, elegant bun, her arms bedecked with golden bracelets, wearing a lilac-coloured dress and silver heels.

“Hello,” she said, smiling.

“Hi,” Milius said, casting a dark look at Shakil, who was wearing a very irritating smirk.

A clanging bell rang somewhere in the distance just as she reached the ground floor. The doors of the entrance hall were flung open, and people were beginning to file in.

“It's started,” Shakil said, straightening up.

“Shall we?” Hestia said.

She grasped Milius’s arm, Shakil went to join his fair-haired companion and his family, and they all made their way towards the door. As they reached the door, Milius thrust the golden ticket into one of the servant's hands. Shakil and the others took seats a few rows from the front in the cavernous, lavishly styled wedding hall, but Milius and Hestia were directed to the very front row. As they filed into the room, Milius looked around.

Dozens of large, ornate, wooden benches lined the floor, seating hundreds of people dressed in what seemed to be their most imposing set of vestments. He saw several of his old neighbours, and the Elders, who were seated at the second row from the front, beside Frederick and Cole. Milius and Hestia sat down beside Ariana and Sirius, who was still beaming. He appeared to be so content that not even meeting the eyes of his mother, Aurora, a dark-haired woman perched a few seats away from them, who had had a very serious argument with Sirius the last time they had met, did not cause his smile to falter. Beside her sat Sirius’s younger sister, Thalia, who had the same pale blue eyes and golden hair as her older brother. She was staring gloomily across at them. Sirius, however, showed no other sign of noticing his family.

A few seats away from them sat Minerva, who caught Milius’s eyes, looked very pointedly at Hestia, and then winked. As Milius leaned back in his seat, Sirius’s gaze fell on him; Milius raised an eyebrow.

“So,” he said.

Sirius did not look remotely embarrassed. “I wanted to tell you,” he said in a low voice. “But I wasn't sure how you'd react, and I didn't want to upset you —”

“It's fine,” Milius said, grinning. “Whatever floats your boat.”

They both turned, grinning, towards the vast, highly polished, mahogany platform at the front of the room, where people were now lining up under a neat, flowery arch. The clanging bell rang again, and everyone turned towards the doors. Regulus came striding into view, escorting his mother Porella, a tall and beautiful, though very haughty-looking woman. Her cold blue eyes roved over the surrounding crowd with superb, undisguised disdain.

She and Regulus swept up to the platform, where Regulus released her and retreated a short distance away, watching her turn to her fiancé, the king, a short, plump man with a heavy black beard, who was smiling widely.

“Welcome,” said the officiater. He was tall and wiry, with messy black hair, dressed in pure white robes. “Welcome, all, to the union of King Haygar, seventy-second to occupy the throne of Halgaria, for which he was named, and the Lady Porella!”

He continued to speak, but Milius’s attention was temporarily diverted. His gaze, which had been absently wandering the room, was suddenly met by a pair of sharp, olive green eyes on the other side of the hall. Everyone else in the room was staring fixedly at the King and Milius’s aunt, save for the man who was staring right at Milius. He had long black hair, which hung loosely around his head, and was wearing a neat, dark grey suit with orange markings under his eyes. For a split second more they held each other's gazes, then the moment had passed, and the man had turned away.

Milius, feeling slightly unsettled now, turned his back on the man and began to peer at the scene before him again.

“. . . Do you, Haygar Balentino, take Porella Walters to be your wife?”

“I do,” the King said.

“And do you, Porella Walters, take King Haygar to be your husband?”

“I do,” said Porella.

“Then I declare you bonded for life; you may now kiss the bride!” he said to the king. Haygar closed his eyes, stood on tip-toes, leaned in, and his lips met Porella’s.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the King and Queen of your country!”

The entire room rang with applause. Porella leaned towards Regulus, who kissed her on the cheek, and then removed her own silver-blue wreath of flowers from her dress. She clapped her hands and, to general astonishment, the wreaths soared off the shirts of everyone who had been wearing them, then folded themselves into small, twittering birds of the same colour, which zoomed around and around their heads, chirping eagerly.

Milius clapped along with everyone else, though his narrowed eyes were fixed on Regulus, who was looking down at the crowd with a look of utmost arrogance. The officiater gestured for them to stand, and as they did, the little birds soared out of the high, jewel-framed windows, and the doors flew open again. Golden-robed servers were waiting outside, gesturing the crowd towards them.

As the crowd filed back through the doors, Minerva caught up with Milius.

“Mother!”

“Hello, Milius,” she said, smiling. “Oh, you look so handsome! And who is this?” Her light grey eyes, so very like Milius’s, had found Hestia.

“Mother, this is, Hestia,” he said, a little tentatively. Minerva smiled at Hestia, who nodded in turn.

“It's nice to meet you.”

“And you, dear,” Minerva said. “Did you hear? There's supposed to be a dance floor outside. Shall we go?”

“Oh, I'm so sorry, Aunty,” said a voice; they all turned to see Regulus bouncing towards them, his unpleasant smile hitched firmly in place. “But Milius can't. He, along with all the other Knights, are needed out in the hallway. The Exhibition, you know. Come along, Milly. Sirius is already waiting for us.”

Milius looked up at Minerva and Hestia, who were both watching him a little anxiously. “It'll be fine,” he said bracingly. “You two go check out the dance floor. I'll see what this is about.”

“That's the ticket,” Regulus said, and he grasped Milius’s arm and marched him away.