Ella knew the Hazarans would be opening the other gates, and the retreating Petryan soldiers were now fully in rout. A soldier in red cringed as the horse surged forward, and Ella looked around her, knowing that the scene in front of her would always be remembered.

Now that she looked, she could see how starved, weak and dispirited the Petryan soldiers were. Many had dropped their swords at their feet and fallen to their knees in supplication. For a moment it seemed that the Hazarans would run riot through the city, burning and pillaging, but Prince Ilathor and the other tarn leaders soon called their men to order and the ruthless discipline of the commanders began to take effect. Petryan soldiers still ran ahead of them, but the prince first formed up his men — there would be no mad dashing through the terraces and cobbled streets of the tiered city; they would instead methodically search out pockets of resistance.

"This way," Shani said, turning the horse down a side street, and they left the scene behind. "I know a shortcut."

They took one street, and then another, each taking them higher above the city. Ella couldn't escape the feeling that they didn't belong here. They were in Tlaxor — Tlaxor! The capital of Petrya! The horse heaved and puffed out of its nostrils as it leapt up the long sloping path that lay in front of them, occasionally taking a series of steps as they constantly gained height.

"We need to go up that path," Shani said, pointing to a narrow set of stairs rising through the gap in a wall beside an area of rocky gardens. "The horse won't make it."

"Shouldn't we wait for the prince?" Ella asked.

"We can't risk the High Lord getting away," Shani said. "He's crafty, filled with cunning. If he wasn't he wouldn't have lasted so long."

The pair dismounted from the horse, where it stood blowing, flecks of foam at its lips. "You've done well," Ella said, patting the horse on its flank.

Shani led the way as the two young women climbed the steep steps, taking them two at a time. By the time they reached the summit Ella was truly exhausted, but they still weren't at the Poltoi Palace.

"Where is it?" Ella asked. They were once again on a sloping road, wide enough for two carts to pass each other.

"At the top of this road, can you see the iron fence?" Shani said. "On the other side of that fence lie the grounds of the Poltoi Palace."

"More climbing," Ella said.

Shani ran up the road, Ella close behind her. When they came to the fence, Shani didn't halt — she simply gathered a fireball, and in an instant there was a hole in the fence, the iron bars melting around the hole.