"Good fellow- a Walkway if you please." Orlan shouted down to the Harbour master who in turn shouted to a young boy whom after a moment reappeared –walkway in tow.

Orlan fixed it to the side of the boat before turning to both 'Ladies' who had now made their way to the exit.

"Princess" Orlan announced loudly before stepping into a deep bow. "May I escort you?" Offering her his hand.

"You may- Sir Orlan." Princess Iasa raised her hand to meet Orlans and slowly and delicately made her way down the walkway, careful to not miss-step and end up in the water.

"Lady Eboni- May I do the honour of escorting you down the walkway?" Bren turned to her, his eyes gleaming with excitement while a smile tugged at his lips.

"You may- Lord Bren." She rolled her eyes as he took her hand in his and together they made their way down to the Pontoon.

"What a lovely afternoon of sailing don't you agree Lady Eboni- Much more fun than a business visit with my father to God's Land." Iasa announced loudly as the Harbour Master and Dock hands all bowed deeply, recognising who was in their presence.

"Your Majesty, it is an honour." The harbour master rasped, standing from his bow while wiping the nervous sweat that had begun to cling to his brow.

"It is, isn't it?" Iasa smiled at him for the briefest of seconds before turning to Eboni. "Come Lady Eboni, for I am sure the men will require both hands to protect us through the crowds." She held out her hand and together they slowly made their way down the pontoon and onto the dry land of the dock.

Eboni glanced back to the boat to see the men who assisted them staring after them in awe. Catching Bren's eye his mouth turned into a grim line. Iasa would not be pleasant company around other people it seemed.

Both Bren and Orlan had one had on the swords in their belts while their eyes flickered across the faces that had begun to surround them.

"Princess! It's 'un honour to 'av you on mi usband's dock- truly tis" A portly woman shouted out, while doing a running trot over to the stairs they were now walking up.

Iasa completely ignored her and continued to pull Eboni up with her. "If I stop and talk to one, then I must stop to talk to all. We will be out here for hours and that would just be dull." She whispered into Eboni's ear.

At the top of the stairs Eboni stopped- stunned from the sight in front of her. A bustling city of vibrant colours and intricate white buildings as far as the eye could see took her breath away.

People of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities were racing around, the city buzzing and alive.

She could tell who the rich were, with their overdone ribboned hair and brightly mismatched ensemble of clothes but the poor were not the grey and black drab city dwellers she had been expecting. They too wore bright clothes, all be it much more worn. Appearance it seemed, kept the economy of the city going.

While Bren guarded their backs, Orlan made his way in front of them clearing a path for as they weaved their way through the wooden stalls filled with every item Eboni could have dreamed of.

Fabric, Jewellery, statues and carvings, shoes, dresses, veils, books and more. When she tried to slow down to read their titles Iasa pulled her back to their normal pace.

"The markets here have been running since time began. It has tripled in size though over thousands of years. To stop it from growing any bigger my father has put permits on the stalls, so only a few of each type can be erected each season. There would be no point in the market if all of the stalls decided to sell shoes!" Iasa laughed, her eyes twinkling as they passed a jewellery stand.

"Of course, living in the palace means I hardly ever come to the stalls, I just ask for something that takes my fancy and I will have later that day." Her eyes roamed a shoe stall hungrily before settling on a pair of blue velvet shoes with large orange bows. "I think I shall make shoe bows the next trend. I do that you see. Make the trends. The ribbons you see in the lady's hair, I decided to come down to court one day with my hair like that and by the afternoon every respectable lady in the court had copied me." She smiled and sighed happily.

Of course it was Iasa's idea to have the ribbons. Eboni grumbled to herself, before she reminded herself that frown lines were very displeasing and a passive natural face was much more lady like.

After they had walked through the market they came to a tall brick wall that seemed to wrap around the entire inner city, Men in ghastly looking white and yellow uniforms patrolled its boundary, their long thin swords swinging from their belts as they walked.

Poking from the top of the wall were white towers that Eboni presumed must belong to the palace, but she couldn't be sure as the large gate that mediated access was firmly shut.

At the sight of first Orlan and then the Princess the guards jumped to attention.

"Open the gate!" A hidden voice bellowed out above the hubbub of chatter that surrounded the wall.

A heavy chain mechanism clanged as the gate swung slowly open, revealing the largest most over the top palace she had ever laid eyes on- even the pictures of fantasy castles in her childhood fiction books did not compare.

It was made of large white bricks that glistened in the sunlight. The main building was seven stories tall, with floor to ceiling windows all carved from Rolezal's native white wood. Behind the main building lay several other sections, each looking more extravagant than the rest. There were seventeen towers in total, all varying in shape and size, each coming to an end with a tall grey coloured cone roof.

Leading up to the stairs that wound up to the main doors, built from solid Rolezal wood carved in intricate detail at least three stories high- was a straight stone path. On either side were large fountains and looking closely she could see small swan like birds gliding over the crystal-clear water.

"Come." Orlan instructed as Iasa waited patiently for both herself and Bren to pick their jaws up from the floor.

"Your home is beautiful Princess." Bren said while walking to Eboni's side.

"Thank you, I hope you both enjoy it here. Though I understand why we can't wait here for long, you will both be welcome here one this is all over."

They made their way into the entrance hall in silence, the walls covered head to toe in brightly coloured carvings paintings and tapestries. Servants and courtiers alike scurried to the side of the rooms bowing and curtsying to the Princess as they passed. The Ladies and Lords flashing both Eboni and Bren looks of envy and contempt at being allowed in such proximity to the Princess while the servants eyed them nervously.

"Come, I will take you to my chambers." Iasa instructed making her way through complicated winding corridors, up and down staircases and through seemingly random doors. Eboni was lost by the time they entered the Princess's personal rooms, knowing for sure she would never be able to make her way back to the entrance by herself.

Iasa's rooms were white with accents of pink, the central room consisted of chairs upholstered in pink and silver stripes and a large pink rug the covered most of the floor. Large windows looked down upon the palaces private gardens, while three doors led off into different rooms.

A large set of double doors were open showing a large luscious poster bed with silver drapes and even more pink in the form of bedding.

"That door there leads to my wardrobe and that one there to my bathing suite." She said pointing at the two remaining doors.

"Your room is lovely." Eboni commented before taking a seat opposite Iasa on the chairs.

"The library is seventeen doors down on the right, there is a statue of my father on the left-hand side of the door so you won't be able to miss-." Iasa said. Before she could continue the door to her chambers flew open with a bang. On the other side stood a small squat man, red in face, breathing in and out with such force Eboni was sure he could blow them all away.

"Princess! What in Elementi's name are you doing here? You are supposed to be with you father!" He narrowed his eyes at Bren and then Eboni, who were both frozen in place, not quite sure what to do.

"Uncle. A knock would have sufficed to get my attention, rather than you battering my door down. I decided to come home. I am sure my father will explain when he arrives home in a matter of days." She waved her hand dismissively and with a quick nod of his head and he retreated from the room. "Uncle!" Iasa shouted out after him. "I need Clyde!"

"Yes Princess." He shouted back from down the hallway.

Within a matter of minutes a tall man dressed in a smart yellow tunic bumbled into the room, sweeping into a deep bow, his nose nearly scraping the floor, before standing to attention to wait for his instructions.

"Clyde. This is Lord Bren and Lady Eboni, I want have the chambers next to mine prepared for them. They will be staying as my honoured guests indefinitely. I brought them here in haste so they will require a wardrobe suitable for all activities, they are also to have the chairs next to mine at dinner and they are not to have any restricted access in the palace. Also, fetch me Darien. That is all."

With another sweeping bow, he exited the room.

"You think it is wise to involve Darien in what is happening?" Orlan asked, speaking for the first time since they arrived in the palace while taking a seat near the window, facing the door.

"I think it would be foolish not to tell him that the city is potentially in danger." Iasa answered.

"Who is Darien?" Bren asked, taking a seat beside Eboni.

"He is the head of the Rolezal army." Orlan answered. "We should however only tell him that the Dark Ones have returned and the prophecy has started, that should be enough to convince him to put more guards on patrol and keep a tighter lookout on the horizon- without letting too much information into the courts gossip network."

After Darien left with a pale face and determination to prove himself in the fear of danger, resolving to do all he could to protect the people of his country- Bren and Eboni were shown to their chambers. With instructions to dress for dinner that was to be served at 7:00 the door was shut and they were left in peace.

Looking around her chamber, Eboni spotted a bed like the one in Iasa's room as well as doors leading to a wardrobe and bathing suite. Opening the door to her wardrobe she eyed the contents of suspiciously, withdrawing a soft yellow gown, and matching shoes that she figured would be suitable for dinner.

She had two hours before dinner was due to start, so a trip to the library was in order. Sitting still while her Brothers and Sisters suffered and The Dark Ones started on their quest to find them again was not something she was prepared to do. Finding the library was easy enough, the large statue of the King was hard to miss. However, finding books that could hold useful information was another matter.

There were thousands of books lining every wall of the large room, the bookshelves reaching the ceiling. A large black chandelier hung in the middle of the room, tables carved out of white stone covering the floor space. The room however looked barely used.

She started in the most obvious place she could think of- 'T' for Tozaro. There were many books, most of them myths, legends, historical documents and children stories, however there were a few that looked to hold some potentially interesting information.

After exhausting that area, she moved on to 'D' for Dark Ones, only finding one book, a tatty brown leather bound journal that looked to be nearly falling apart from its seams.

She put it on the table with the others she had picked out and after checking the time moved over to the one shelf she knew could hold some promising information. The 'E' shelf for Elementi was crammed full of texts, scrolls and books. After ignoring anything written in the past two thousand years she came across copies of letters and texts in a small string bound journal written by the first priest of God's land to the First King of Rolezal. Dated from around the time The Dark Ones turned away from the light, she added it to the small pile. As she began to look for more, a light knock on the door echoed through the library.

"Enter." She said, hoping it would be someone whom she would not have to explain the nature of her books to.

A slight girl entered nervously, wringing her hands as she looked down to the floor.

"Good evening ma' Lady. I am Aliana. The Princess has instructed me to be your ladies maid as you left yours at home." She shuffled on her feet, still refusing to meet her eye.

"That is very kind of the Princess, I'm guessing you are here to help me get ready for dinner?" Eboni kept her voice gentle, trying to ease the nerves of the poor girl standing in front of her.

"Yes, Lady Eboni." She replied.

"Ok, One moment." She scooped up the books from the table, trying hard to cover their spines from view and walked up to the door. "Lead the way."

She followed Aliana in silence and as they walked into her chambers she quickly deposited the books onto her bed, shutting the door behind her.

"This is the gown you chose for dinner?" Aliana said startled, pointing to the soft yellow gown she had hung on the door.

"Yes, is it not ok?" Eboni asked, groaning inside sure she had just made her first big blunder.

"You have not been to many dinners before have you ma' Lady?" Aliana looked at her for the first time a sympathetic smile on her lips.

"It's that obvious?" Eboni laughed, taking a seat facing the wardrobe.

"Don't worry, I will choose you something acceptable." Aliana disappeared into the wardrobe reappearing moments later with a dark blue satin ball gown that fitted on top and flared out at the hips.

"Here, put this on and I will get you some shoes and jewels." She left the dress on the chair, and after Eboni had pulled it on she reappeared with white shoes and a large blue stoned necklace with matching stud earrings.

"Perfect." Aliana said smiling, helping her lace up the dress at the back.

Eboni felt very strange. She was wearing a fine gown and very expensive jewels but she did not feel like any of it was wrong. After being brought up all her life shunning personal and precious items she was sure she wold at least feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps it was because she did not actually own any of it herself. Yes. She thought. That was it.

For the remaining time, Aliana re-styled her hair and painted her face. Though after much persuasion on Eboni's part she left it natural, not the bright array of colours that Aliana had planned.

With a quick knock on the door Bren stepped in and smiled brightly as he took her in. He was dressed in smart grey dinner trousers with a dark purple shirt and matching shoes, his sword still hung at his side was attached to his hip by a gold belt. He looked as though he had been living in Rolezal all his life.

"Beautiful" he said taking her hand and leading her outside where the Princess was waiting.

"Correct answer." She replied, smiling when the Princess nodded in appreciation.

"I learnt my lesson." He chuckled back, offering his other hand to Iasa who accepted it readily.

They arrived at the dining hall to find a lavish and eccentrically decorated table laid for around a hundred people. Iasa lead them to the top table and they sat down on either side of her. The eyes of the courtiers on them, their whispers filling the hall.

Her Uncle walked up to them and after bowing to Iasa took the seat beside Bren. She watched as a portly woman waddled down the aisle created by two long tables and dipped into a deep curtsey before taking a seat next to her. After nodding in recognition of the Ladies status she turned back to the hall and watched as it filled with even more courtiers.

"That there is Lady Verna. Horrible woman." The Lady sat next to her commented as Eboni's eyes fell on an overdressed lady, her multitude of colours outdoing everyone in the room.

"My Aunt Liza." Iasa whispered in her ear, so Eboni knew who was sat next to her giving her a running commentary.

"And that couple there are Lord and Lady Hoppers." Lady Liza said pointing to the couple who had just entered.

After everyone had entered, curtsied and bowed to Iasa, eyed her and Bren suspiciously, been introduced by Lady Liza and sat down at the tables- the food was brought out.

Hours of food, wine- which Eboni, Iasa and Bren had all refused after the second glass- entertainment by both a small orchestra and jesters and the never-ending conversations- mostly one sided by Lady Liza, all made the time pass quickly. Eboni was ready for sleep.

Orlan had saved her from the embarrassment of drifting off in her chair by walking up to the Princess and quietly suggesting that it would be wise for them all to go to bed, for there would be nothing worse than having to leave in a hurry and being too tired to do so. Iasa hastily agreed and after bidding everyone a good night they retired to their chambers.

Snuggling into the comfort of the plush bed, thoughts of the Darkness that had plagued her mind for the last few nights swirled into colour, exotic food, drink and clothing as she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Eboni and Iasa live very different lives, do you think them will ever be able to become friends? If you were Eboni and Bren how would you react to such a different culture?