The Warrior's Apprentice opens with Miles washing out of the entrance exams for the Barrayaran military. At a loose end, he goes to visit his grandmother on Beta Colony, and well, overhears a nearby conversation, can't resist poking his nose in, and his forward momentum takes him all the way to being tried for high treason.A really fun story. I only have two issues with it - how Barrayarans can constantly _not_ recognise the only son of the former Regent and current Prime Minister, and Cordelia's lack of interest/interference in Elena's situation, given that she certainly would be in sympathy with her, and supposedly regards her as a daughter.I also find, in these early books, that Gregor is a bare sketch of a person - and a strange one given that Miles and Ivan are practically younger brothers to him, and Aral and Cordelia almost parents. While he would always have had a reserve, a barrier to full trust, he is just not very...person-like.