Sophia glanced once more at the retreating figures. The earlier cheerfulness had not disappeared from her face. Ulf, too, watched them with a broad grin and looked at Aisling-who was still wearing a stunned expression-as if she had just told him a particularly amusing story. Only Thana remained inscrutable.

  "Aisling, Mom thinks you and Rhys got together!" she announced with a laugh once she was sure that the ever-watchful Daphne and the boys, who were completely oblivious to the heavy suspicion hanging over them, were out of earshot.

  "It's time to confess. Since everyone already knows, you might as well admit it," Ulf added, forcing a stern tone.

  At the absurd accusations, all the weight lifted from Aisling's soul. She let out a frustrated laugh.

  "Fine, I admit it. It's time. I've been neglecting everyone because I've fallen in love with Rhys."

  She shrugged nonchalantly, then added quietly, "You can't be serious. You really can't."

  They weren't serious, of course. Aisling made a comical sight, summoning all the power of the falsely accused as she defiantly squared off against the grinning Ulf and Sophia. She even put her hands on her hips for effect.

  "Sophia knows exactly what the two of you have been up to," Ulf teased the indignant girl in the yellow dress.

  To illustrate his point, he pulled the quiet, serious Thana into a half-embrace. Thana didn't laugh. Her restraint felt forced, unnatural. Normally, she would have joined in on the teasing and laughter.

  "Yes, Aisling, I know exactly what you've been up to in secret. You and Rhys have been writing stories for each other," Sophia cut off any further grumbling. "I know that much, but Mom and Lady Livia were just discussing, near the swan statue, how they have to talk to you two now. Mom started looking for Rhys because she noticed you weren't around either."

  Sophia turned fully toward her cousin.

  "We were sitting on the bench behind the statue, and we couldn't believe our own ears. We followed right after Daphne, just in case you two were together, so she wouldn't make a scene," Ulf added swiftly, cutting off Aisling before she could protest. Thana, still caught in his embrace, now looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

  Aisling crossed her arms in defiance.

  "You know what I think of this assumption? If they believe this about me, then they deserve to spend the entire day spying on us. I'm not explaining myself to either of them."

  She hadn't expected their innocent secrecy to spiral into a full-blown family conspiracy. It stung that her mother and Daphne hadn't even tried to talk to her. Instead, they had resorted to hints, theories-and, of course, snooping.

  "I read your stories. They're very creative. I think you should continue them," Sophia tried to soothe her still-annoyed cousin.

  Now, their small group once again fit the solemn atmosphere of the Hall of Ancestors.

  "It's a great joy to find companions for creativity. I'm sure Lady Livia and Daphne will be thrilled to learn what you two have been hiding," Ulf added with a sudden seriousness, finally releasing Thana. The girl nervously adjusted her long black hair, her gaze fixed on Aisling's purple bracelet.

  Aisling didn't mind that their secret was out. Softening a little, she grew curious.

  "You read them?"

  "Only I did. I found them on Rhys's desk, and..." Now Sophia hesitated, suddenly flustered. She didn't want to seem like Lady Livia or Daphne-whose distrust she had just laughed at so openly.

  "...and she took a little peek at them. Stuck her pretty little nose right into them," Ulf finished bluntly.

  Sophia shot him a grateful look. Ulf had a habit of interrupting her, cutting her off mid-sentence, and generally being an infuriating, freckled Viking-but over the years, he had become an honest friend and a protective, unofficial brother.

  "I hope others join your creative circle-especially those whose main talent is storytelling. Your stories are really good," Sophia steered the conversation back toward creativity.

  "What are the stories about?" Thana finally spoke, her curiosity genuine.

  The ghost that had haunted her seemed to vanish.

  "Mirael and Kaelen's adventures in the world of Nexoria, during the rule of Drakthor," Sophia summarized concisely.

  Thana stepped closer to Aisling with understanding.

  "It connects to your exam topic too. Don't be too mad at Daphne and your mother. You know how much parents protect their children's first mutual teenage love," she said, her expression once again unreadable.

  Ulf wasn't only skilled at teasing and provoking others-he also had a knack for finding solutions.

  "You don't need to explain yourselves to your mother and Daphne. I have a better idea. Tomorrow, invite Fionn over, and you two present your stories to them," he suggested.

  Ulf had developed his problem-solving skills during his troublemaking years. It was his greatest strength.

  "I like the idea. This way, Aisling and Rhys won't have to explain themselves openly, and our parents won't feel too humiliated for snooping, spying, and jumping to conclusions," Sophia agreed.

  Seeing the support from her friends, Aisling relaxed her defensive stance. She let her arms drop from their protective fold.

  "They didn't mean any harm, they just... Parents overthink everything," Thana smiled for the first time since the topic of a possible love triangle had surfaced behind the swan statue.

  Across from the Altar of the Ancestors, the holo-gate had begun to flicker faintly in golden and pink hues.

  "Let's go to the Millennium Oak instead. Your stories are beautiful, and they deserve to be shared. We can introduce your new creative companions to the community," Sophia expanded on Ulf's peaceful resolution.

  "Or-just for fun-you could play a little prank on them today. Sophia, you invite Fionn over, and Aisling, you slip away to discuss the story with Rhys," Ulf suggested mischievously.

  "Perfect! Tomorrow we'll clear everything up, but today we'll have some fun. If they're going to be suspicious, they deserve to be a little confused," Aisling seized the opportunity for playful revenge. Now, she was grinning too.

  "The others are coming," Thana warned.

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  Their waiting broke the conversation. As Aisling stood among her friends, she found herself reminiscing about her very first day of school. There had been no older children in her family, so she and Sophia had only vague ideas about school, drawn from family stories.

  Despite their parents' encouragement, both had been terrified of that first day.

  "No, Aisling, if you and Sophia sit with the same holo-mentor, you'll have fewer friends, fewer mentors," Lady Livia had tried to convince her tearful daughter.

  A floor above, in Sophia's space, the same conversation had played out.

  The next day, the two cousins had stepped through the gate together. The holo scanned their health, and then-inside the vast building-they parted ways for the school day. Aisling sat down beside a silver-haired girl named Velia, who became her first acquaintance. Soon, Sibius and Solveig joined them. That same day, Sophia met Thana, Ulf, and Baalit.

  That day, they also met their mentors. The four of them, who had sat around the same holo-mentor, received four mentors from the year above them and four more from students two years older. It was a simple system: first-time mentors were chosen from those sitting closest to them. The same applied to the older group-the nearest available students became their mentors.

  From the beginning of the fifth year, students sat around the holo-mentors based on their inclinations and abilities, but this didn't change anything about the mentor system. Aisling had an inclination for studying history and an ability for storytelling. From the beginning of the fifth year, she spent her lessons alongside three other students with similar inclinations and abilities. Her classmates changed, but her mentor-partners did not.

  "Our parents were right. If Sophia and I had sat together, I wouldn't be mentor-partners with Velia, Solveig, Sibius, and the others now. I wouldn't have befriended my own mentors either. Or I wouldn't know Thana, Ulf, Baalit... and of course Rhys... Fionn. It's a great custom that parents don't allow family members of the same age to sit with the same holo-mentor," she thought with satisfaction and agreement.

  "Today, the ones coming to discuss the mentor farewell with me are the same ones I sat with at the holo-mentor on the first day of school," she mused further, raising her eyebrows in amazement as she realized that the number twelve had accompanied her throughout all her school years.

  "There were twelve of us on the first day. Twelve of us on the last day. Twelve of us when we were mentees, and twelve of us when we were mentors. The Twelve... and in the first and last years, the circle is the most perfect. The beginning is the end, only in between, there are countless experiences and lessons," she reflected.

  The athletic-built, long silver-blonde-haired girl walked straight to Ulf. Aisling admired Velia's traditional, refined attire once again-the ankle-length white linen tunic with red, blue, and gold Scythian embroidery, where only the upper part was colored. Even on the long sleeves of the tunic, only at the ends could one find tiny red griffins.

  "Velia and her griffins," she looked at the girl fondly. Even on the first school day, she had a griffin pendant on her necklace and griffin motifs on her bracelet. Only on her earrings did the griffins never appear. She always wore elongated, teardrop-shaped earrings. "Maybe it was her refined taste and the griffins that drew me to her on my first day," she smiled.

  'Hey! The others are coming too!"

  She didn't make a big deal out of her arrival. She stood next to Ulf and waited for Baalit's form to take a definite shape in the flickering lights of the holo-gate.

  "Why wasn't Baalit here with you today?" Aisling asked curiously.

  Thana had just finished staring at Velia. Once again, she looked like someone who had been startled by ghosts.

  "He spent the day with Fabia's family. He's starting his subordination period, and they were discussing the Martyrs' Celebration," Sophia informed them about their mentor-partner's program.

  Now Thana was also watching Baalit's arrival. Out of the entire mentor-circle, Thana was the peculiar girl who had never fallen in love. The Martyrs' Celebration, held almost immediately after the school farewell, didn't concern her. After the celebration, the school's graduates began their year of subordination in their peers' families.

  "Baalit hasn't changed much since we first met," Aisling remarked. "And neither have you, Velia. You always choose your Scythian clothes and griffins. Baalit still wears knee-length tunics with purple embellishments."

  "Two predictable people," Ulf interjected with a playful tone.

  Baalit's slim, athletic figure, symmetrical face, and high forehead were now fully visible. Yes, he was still wearing a knee-length tunic with an open upper part, adorned with purple embroidery and cinched with a silver belt decorated with geometric patterns.

  "Why did you all go silent?" he inquired with mock grumpiness instead of a greeting. "You weren't talking about me, were you?"

  Baalit was half-Punic, like Rhys, and half-Phoenician. His parents gathered creative partners around them who had an inclination for landscape painting. Eshmun and Elissa had been lesson-partners throughout their school years.

  Ulf, ever the hospitable one, clarified for their mentor-partner.

  "Well, you got that right. Aisling was talking about your love life and your clothes."

  Aisling furrowed her brows and fixed the Viking-who was even more of a gossip than she was-with a sharp, unwavering stare until he looked away.

  "Ulf is exaggerating. We were just talking about how you and Velia haven't changed your tastes much," she corrected.

  "If I hadn't changed at all, I'd still be staring at you during breaks," Baalit retorted.

  Thana didn't give them time for more teasing.

  "Now that we're all here, we could go to the Swan to discuss the mentor farewell."

  "You'll find me in the peristylium," Ulf bid farewell to Velia.

  Thana walked a few steps ahead of Sophia, Baalit, and Ulf. She didn't even glance back at Velia and Aisling.

  The space behind the Swan statue was their favorite place. Whenever it was Sophia's turn to host either the mentees or the mentors, they always spent their time there.