An hour later Miriam had two ladies-in-waiting, an acute attack of dizziness, growing concerns about the amenities of this ghastly stone pile—which appeared to lack such essentials as running water and electricity—and a stiff neck from all the necklaces they’d hung on her. The ladies-in-waiting were, like Margit, family members who lacked the fully expressed trait that allowed them to world-walk. The Misses Brilliana of Ost and Kara of Praha—one blonde, the other brunette—looked like meek young things waiting their turn for the marriage market, but after spending a couple of days with Olga, Miriam took that with a pinch of salt. “Were you really raised on the other side?” Kara asked, wide-eyed.

“I was.” Miriam nodded. “But I’ve never been presented at court before.”

“We’ll see to that,” the other one, Brilliana, said confidently. “You look splendid! I’m sure it will all go perfectly.”

“When do we need to leave?” asked Miriam.

“Oh, any time, I suppose,” Brilliana said carelessly.

The coach was even more claustrophobic with six over-dressed women jammed into it. It jarred and bumped through the streets and Brilliana and Kara made excited small talk with Olga’s companions, Sfetlana and Aris. Olga, sandwiched between the two, caught Miriam’s eye and winked. Miriam would have shrugged, but she was hemmed in so tightly that she could barely breathe, let alone move. It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic, she thought, mordantly trying to find something good about the situation.

After what felt like an hour of juddering progress, the carriage turned into a long drive. As it drew to a halt, Miriam heard a tinkle of glassware, laughter, strains of string music from outside. Olga twitched. “Hear, violins!” she said.

“Sounds like it to me.” The door opened and steps appeared, as did two footmen, their gold-encrusted livery as pompous and excessive as the women’s dresses. They hovered anxiously as the occupants descended.

“Thank you,” Miriam commented, surprising the footman who’d offered her his hand. She looked around. They stood before the wide-flung doors of a gigantic palace, a flood of light spilling out through the glass windows onto the lawn. Within, men in coats cut away over ballooning knee breeches mingled with women in elaborate gowns: The room was so huge that the orchestra played from a balcony, above the heads of the court.