Chapter Two

The two day trek to the Crystal Palace was neither arduous nor difficult, but for the young princess, who had never in her six years of life been beyond the royal gardens, it was the hardest journey she’d ever had to make. The narrow footpaths which traversed the island were made by people who travelled in single file on foot, only the roads in the capital and the harbour towns were designed for transportation by horse or cart. The people of Kirian had a strange relationship with animals, at least, strange to those outsiders who traded with the Island kingdom.


When Arianna was four, a merchant came to trade, riding a horse. She had been standing in a shaded archway, watching with fascination as merchants and diplomats made their way into the palace; some on business, others simply curious about the royal household. When they opened the gates to admit him, she stopped to get a look at the most recent visitor to her home and instead met the weary gaze of his mare. Horrified, she started screaming, running to the horse and beating the merchant's foot with a tiny fist, tears streaming down her face. As embarrassed servants raced to take her away and calm her, all that could be seen was the merchant's blood-red face as her shrill words echoed in the courtyard.


"He beats her!"


Hours later, after Iliana had given up trying to cheer her up and she lay exhausted on her bed, an occasional tear still slipping from closed eyes, her father entered the room, seating himself next to her, a gentle hand resting on her shoulder as he spoke.


"Arianna, I understand your need to protect the horse. I appreciate that need and admire it in my daughter. But there is another need, one that as a princess, you are required to learn early on in life. That is the need for diplomacy. As a future leader of this kingdom, it is up to you to think before you act, listen before you speak and look before you see. Do you understand?"


Opening her eyes, the princess nodded and the king smiled. "Good. I have issued an apology to the Lord Naro on your behalf. I trust that for the remainder of his stay you will behave with the decorum the people expect from a princess?” Lowering her gaze Arianna nodded again, tears threatening to spill from her eyes once more. Hiding a wider grin, her father spoke again.


“I thought that it would interest you to hear that I have bought the mare from the merchant and she will be released into the pasture with the other horses until she chooses her rider. Is that acceptable to you?"


As she looked up in surprise, all tears forgotten the king winked at her and with a delighted laugh Arianna leapt into her father's arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.


"Thank you Daddy!"


Now, as they walked the footpath to the northernmost point of Kirian, she wished desperately that a horse would choose her. Her feet ached more than she thought possible, and even though one of the footmen had offered to carry her on his back; she had politely refused, thinking back to the conversation she'd had with her father and that as a princess it was her duty to set the example.


Her father, walking behind her, was grim-faced and quiet though his heart burned with pride in his youngest daughter. She was; even at such a tender age, such a kind-hearted and responsible child, though she had moments where she dragged her sister into so much mischief that he was hard-pressed to remember that even as princesses they were still children.


On the second day, as dusk neared and the cloudless sky turned a soft pink, they crested a rise and before them stood their destination. The Crystal Palace had been named for the room which crowned the tower at the very centre of the seven half-circles which made up the rest of the building. Made from clear crystals which had been mined from the warrens of natural caverns beneath them, the room was the final training place for the students sent to the palace. The rest of the building appeared deceptively simple, made from solid granite which had been smoothed and polished until it shone silvery grey. The circles were cut in half by the edge of the cliff it was built on; the view from the rear of the palace looking out over endless blue oceans; waterfalls from hidden springs within the caves bursting from the rocks and misting the air before plunging hundreds of feet to join the waters below.


The Seven Senses of the palace were named such because within the halls of each half-circle, the seven senses of the students were trained, starting in the outermost circle with Smell and progressing inwards through Touch, Sight, Sound, Taste, Psyche and finally Spirit. For the student who reached Spirit and progressed to the Crystal Room, unimaginable power awaited.


For Arianna; as she followed the path across a wide stretch of yellow grass interspersed with large rocks towards the palace, the only thing her tired body registered was that within those walls would be a bath, a warm bed and hopefully food that didn’t include the dried cakes that were standard trail fare.