The next day at breakfast, Mathias, after receiving near-constant death glares from Lannetta, revealed his Talent to the king. He discreetly waited till the servants finished serving and had left before announcing that he had gained another Talent. Gaius was thrilled when Mathias told him of his sudden, newfound power. He was too overjoyed to notice how his son mumbled and muddled through a suspiciously vague explanation of how he discovered this Talent.

Thilda requested a demonstration, and Mathias obligingly showcased his powers, opening a portal from one end of the table to the other, which earned him cheers and claps from an excited Thilda and warm praises from Gaius. The family even tried out the portals, with Gaius immediately querying his son about their clothes passing intact through the portal. Mathias explained that he was unsure but intended to research it further.

Gaius clapped his son on the back, his hope and relief showing clearly. "Son, your Talent may well be the only way for us to protect ourselves against the enemy."

Mathias nodded silently; reluctance stirred heavily in his heart.

"For now, let us keep it a secret shared only between the four of us," the king continued with a slight frown, "lest the generals come clamouring over to request that you start using your Talent immediately. I think it best that you spend some time improving your control over your gift so that you do not suffer a dangerous burnout before enlisting your services in the war effort." Mathias stared in shock at the king before enthusiastically nodding his head, his mood lifting significantly. Lannetta and Thilda agreed to keep it secret as well.

Shortly after breakfast, Mathias asked for and received his father's permission to spend the rest of the day studying the portal to Earth, allowing him to escape the dreary meeting with the generals. Mathias was beyond thrilled! With a spring in his step, he set off on horseback to the portal, which was only a thirty-minute ride away from the castle and its surrounding city.

Lannetta watched in irritation as Mathias gleefully headed off to the stables. 'Running away once more!' she silently groused. Since his son was no longer available, Lannetta was roped in by her father to sit in on the meeting with the generals.

The vampire princess finally empathised with her brother's suffering as the generals took turns droning on for hours. The only person who was concise was Brennus, the Duke of Havar, first cousin to the king. The man was as tall as Gaius but lacking in bulk. If Gaius was a thick tree trunk, Brennus was akin to a sturdy branch, slim but not thin. His hair colour was a unique silver-ash, contrasting sharply with the rich honey-speckled gold of his eyes.

They were seated in full view of one another at a large round table covered in maps, charts, and other documents. Under so many watchful eyes, Lannetta could not show disinterest, even for one second. Glancing around, she noticed the duke looking her way. When he caught her eye, the duke gave her a sympathetic smile and earned a similar one from her.

One of the older generals spent an entire hour going into minute detail about blood rationing and storage for the troops, something she felt could have been efficiently discussed within fifteen minutes. When asked by said general, she gave her input regarding resource management, which everyone praised as very constructive and helpful. At first, she was happy to be praised until her father commented that since she had great ideas and foresight, she should attend meetings more often. That immediately left her feeling deflated and annoyed.

Once the meeting finally ended and most of the afternoon was gone, Lannetta went in search of Maxim for a bit of sword sparring to burn off some pent-up grievances. After beating him thirteen times in a row, she felt very pleased with herself and decided to call it a day, much to Maxim's visible relief.

The vampire princess casually strolled along the castle, pondering what to do next. As she passed by rows of paintings hanging on the wall of a particular hallway, she paused to admire her favourite of the lot. It was a portrait of a beautiful vampire, one of her great-ancestors, seated outdoors with sunshine reflecting off her wavy black hair. Lannetta always liked how bright it looked in the painting and couldn't help sighing enviously over the fact that a few hundred years ago, life had been different for everyone.

With the cloud-covered sky getting ever darker as dusk approached, Lannetta felt a smidge of concern that Mathias had still not returned. Her self-assigned role as mother hen to her siblings meant Lannetta had to go in search of her younger brother.

She set off at a gallop, cutting the thirty-minute ride to twenty. She probably could have run there just as fast but did not wish to break a sweat, letting her horse do the work instead. The young mare's hooves struck the ground in a constant rhythm that lulled her vampire owner into a state of mindless daydreaming.

Lannetta casually glanced around to observe the uninhabited lands straddling that particular stretch of cloud-covered road. It was once prime residential land, dotted with country homes of the rich and powerful, but now all that was left were crumbling mansions abandoned for centuries under the naked sky. The sight of such decay around Tilrigen was not unique because it had proven impossible to blanket all populated areas with cloud cover. There was not much a vampire could do but abandon their homes if they lay exposed. Lanetta had been born many years after the curse, so for her, avoiding the sun was second nature, an inbuilt survival instinct, but for her elders, their world was forever changed the day vampires were cursed to hide from the sun.

As she drew closer to her destination, the vampire princess slowed her horse to a brisk trot. Even from a distance, the large portal was observable, its light colouring the land and sky around it a beautiful milky-blue haze. The portal towered high above and was wide enough to easily fit two dozen men walking abreast. The terrain surrounding the portal was rolling hills for miles, although the portal itself was located on the only piece of flatland in the area.

When the three races first began establishing themselves on Earth, they did not stray too far from the portals. In fact, the explorers were the first to set up bases near them. These bases grew over time, and during the first three hundred years of peaceful existence, they expanded outwards, with the portals as the focal point.

During the subsequent three hundred years, when war prevailed, the portals and their surroundings were fortified, giving rise to three large, defensive cities. The werewolf city was named Hiraeth, the witches named theirs Onirique, while the vampire city was called Hjem.

Lannetta found Mathias seated on a grassy hill not far from the giant portal that led to Hjem on the other side, staring intently at it while holding onto a sketchpad and charcoal pencil. Below him, the usual hustle and bustle linked to portal travelling went on, with soldiers and civilian travellers entering or exiting the portal. On-duty helpers either handed out towels and robes to the naked travellers that arrived or collected the belongings of those about to depart to be stored in nearby long-term storage facilities. All the while, the steady glow from the portal bathed the area in cool light.

"Netta? What are you doing here?" Mathias was shocked when she sat down next to him. "You seem to not realise the time," she replied while patting his head. Only then did he glance up in surprise, taking in the darkened cloud-filled sky. "Oh. I am sorry, Netta dear. I was so caught up studying the weaves that I lost track of time."

In all his seventeen years of life, he realised that not once had he paid close attention to the large portal, not even after receiving his Talent or figuring out that his portals varied in their weave. The giant portal had always been synonymous with home, present without fail in plain sight, visible and yet overlooked when one lived in its shadow.

Mathias likened it to the scratch on the wall in his bedroom that he had accidentally inflicted when unwisely practising indoors with a sword nearly five years ago. For the first few months, seeing the ugly scar on an otherwise smooth surface had irked him unendingly, but over time the offending eyesore had somehow become unseen. He was only reminded of its existence one day many months later when Thilda had waltzed into his room unannounced and pointed it out. It was also the day he started locking his door to prevent any surprise visits. The one and only time he had forgotten had resulted in his ears nearly being yanked off his head and his secret thrown out in the open.

Just like the scratch, it had taken Lannetta's question to spur him into seeing the portal with new eyes. Now that he had, it took his breath away while simultaneously making him wonder how he could have been so blinded to the wealth of information hidden within its making.

Mathias lifted the sketch pad from his lap and handed it to her. Lannetta's eyes widened into globes as she stared at the intricate drawing of the portal weave. Dozens of lines like slithering vines were intertwined into a thick rope in the shape of a circle.

There was something about the way they twisted, layering one atop another, sometimes looping backwards, at other times twisted together like a gnarled tree root, that made Lannetta feel uncomfortable. Even though it was a mere sketch on paper, the drawing felt tangible. It felt alive. She repressed a shiver. Lannetta wordlessly handed the drawing back to Mathias, secretly happy that she could not view the portal as he could.

"I think I have worked out why my portals allow anything to follow through," he told her. "Look at this part here," he pointed to a section of the ring where a single vine wrapped itself many times around the other vines on the ring's main body.

"It reminds me of the knot on a hangman's noose," she muttered uneasily.

"Indeed, it does," he replied unperturbed. "That is the part of the weave that disallows anything other than living things to pass through the portal."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. I cannot explain it as anything other than intuition or a gut feeling, but I am certain of it. This weave is missing from all the portals I have conjured." He continued to stare at the portal, a complicated expression revealing mixed feelings and thoughts running through his mind.

"Netta, I think," he hesitated before continuing, "someone created the portals from the other worlds to Earth. It did not spontaneously occur as we have been taught to believe all this while."

Lannetta, who was already having a tough time dealing with the intricacies of portal formation, felt a heaviness in her chest hearing those words. "Who? A witch?"

"I doubt it was a witch, or they would have opened a portal to our homeworld and launched a sneak attack long ago."

"Then who?"

Once again, he hesitated before answering, "What if it was one of those beings the humans believe in?"

Lannetta let out a loud snort, "You mean their gods? Mathias, they think of us as gods. Whenever something happens that their minds cannot comprehend, they attribute it to divine intervention. And if a creature of greater power than them exists, then it is, without a doubt, a godly being sent from the heavens to save them from themselves."

Mathias listened to Lannetta's mockery without a shred of doubt in his heart. The portal was not a natural phenomenon that happened on its own. Not when there was such a specific, restrictive weave tied in place. He was adamant about it.

The siblings sat silently on the grassy hill, each lost in private thoughts. Lannetta pondered before asking, "If you can create portals, can you also alter them? Can you remove that string from the portal weave?"

Alter a portal? Could it really be done? Mathias wondered about its feasibility, feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement speed up the drumming of his heart. A tempting theory, although one he was sure was not as simple to pull off as it seemed. Ultimately, he decided it would be too reckless to test anything on the vampire portal itself.

"I dare not try." He grimaced, "Who knows what the consequences would be? How about I try replicating it on my portal before removing it to see what happens?"

"That is a good idea. Although I now realise that we need not alter the portal to Earth since you could just open one should the need arise." She looked at Mathias, who was silent. "If it is necessary," he finally replied.

The siblings made their way down the hill to where their mounts were grazing contentedly. Then, Mathias abruptly asked, "What about you, Netta?"

She looked at him in puzzlement, "What about me?"

"Everyone has been so focused on my Talent, but I know you have been working hard to control yours," he said. She blew out a puff of air, sending strands of hair flying away from her face. "What about it? My Talent is probably the most worthless in all the worlds. Who cares if I can recognise souls?"

"I do," Mathias protested, "I think it is a beneficial Talent to have. Imagine being able to recognise Mother's reincarnation." Lannetta stopped abruptly in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at her brother. Such a wondrous, hopeful thought had never occurred to her. She asked softly, "You think that could happen?"

"I do not see why not?" Mathias answered with confidence. Lannetta suddenly hugged him, her arms wrapped so tight around him it hurt, but he said nothing. Being the oldest, his sister was the one who remembered their mother the most.

With lifted spirits, they continued their journey down the hill, Lannetta updating the prince on her powers. "Truth be told, I have been experimenting somewhat with my powers," Lannetta admitted. "I have found a way to split a tiny portion of a soul away, and to store it safely."

Mathias frowned, his brows drawing together. Try as he might, he could not see the benefits and queried, "What would be the point in doing so?"

His sister reached out a finger and pressed it between his brows, forcing away the frown, "If the soul is reincarnated anew, it will instinctively be drawn to its missing piece."

Mathias let out a choked gasp, "Wh-what? Are you sure?"

His sister smiled, "I tried it out on Maxim's ageing horse. He knew its days were numbered and permitted me to store a sliver of its soul within a piece of jade. It died six months ago, but two weeks ago, a young wild colt appeared in front of the Orlov home and refused to leave. Maxim called me over, and I recognised its soul immediately. When Maxim placed the jade against its body, I saw the sliver flow back into the colt's body to reform wholly. According to Maxim, the colt was affectionate from the moment it laid eyes on him and behaves no differently from his old horse."

Mathias was at a loss for words. If his sister's powers could be used on vampires, they would never be separated from loved ones again, even in death! "You forced me to tell Father about my Talent, yet you keep such vital information about yours to yourself," he accused, although unable to keep a smile from spreading.

Lannetta quickly shook her head. "Let us not get ahead of ourselves here, brother. I have only ever tested my powers on one horse. Until I can replicate it further, I do not wish to give anyone false hope. Promise me you will not tell a soul about this," she said earnestly to Mathias. He could see her point, and so grudgingly, he agreed.

As they reached the bottom of the hill, Lannetta caught sight of a familiar figure. Duke Brennus and a group of soldiers bearing the duke's family crest leisurely rode their horses towards the portal. Seated in front of him was a little boy of five or so years with the same silver ash hair and honey-gold eyes. The boy caught sight of the royal siblings and immediately slid off the horse, much to his father's surprise.

"Matty!" The boy threw himself into Mathias' arms before squealing in delight as the prince twirled him around. After several turns, Mathias placed the boy back on his feet before squeezing his pudgy cheeks, "Are you heading back to Hjem city already, Orsan?"

"Yes, Matty! Mama's waiting for us," Orsan replied cutely.

"Duke Brennus, what a pleasant surprise," Lannetta warmly greeted when the older man stood before them with his horse in tow. He bowed slightly before replying, "After the week of meetings I have had to endure, I felt it was time to return to Earth with my son to visit my wife."

Lannetta could not help but chuckle, "Ah, yes, you have most definitely earned both my sympathy and your holiday."

"Matty! Come visit me and Mama and Papa soon," Orsan pleaded while tugging excitedly at the prince's sleeve. Mathias looked helplessly at the little boy, who gazed up with big eyes and a broad smile, expectation written clearly on his innocent face.

"The prince is a very busy man. You cannot impose on his time," the duke scolded his son while giving Mathias an apologetic look. Almost at once, Orsan became misty-eyed, his little chin wobbling ever so slightly as he held back a sob.

The prince sighed internally. Orsan was an only child, though not from lack of trying, of the duke and his wife, a rarity in vampire society. Predictably and perhaps a little pardonable on the part of his parents was the fact that Orsan had been spoiled rotten. As such, it would not take much for the silly child to start bawling.

"If I have some free time, I will come visit," Mathias told the boy noncommittally, but it was enough to placate him, drying his eyes and putting a toothy smile back in place.

The duke and his son said their goodbyes and continued on their journey. While watching the father-son duo head towards the portal, Lannetta said, "I never expected you to be in such cordial terms with Duke Brennus."

Mathias shrugged. "When you spend as much time as I do in the presence of the generals, you tend to get to know them. Brennus is the youngest and most easy-going among the lot. He is also family, if only distantly related. We get along well, and Orsan is adorable."

"He truly is," Lannetta agreed before they turned to head back to the castle.