The Brannor room assignment arrived in mid-summer. Jasper saw the Tidefall crest on the envelope and shouted for his mother before opening it. She came running fast enough to think something was wrong.

"What?"

"Room."

She stopped.

"You shouted like the house was on fire."

"Sorry."

"Open it."

Jasper tore the top carefully anyway. BRANNOR YEAR TWO RESIDENCE ASSIGNMENT. Room B-12. Capacity: four students. Assigned students: JASPER HOLLOWAY HARPER VALE AVA REES, Fourth bed: UNASSIGNED. Jasper read the last line twice. His mother read over his shoulder.

"So all three of you are together."

"Yeah."

Relief arrived so quickly it almost embarrassed him. The fourth bed being empty did not. Room Fourteen had taught him that a four-bed room did not need four names to be a proper room. Tidefall used flexible capacity. Some rooms filled. Some did not. Students arrived at different times, moved for practical reasons, or simply left spaces unused. Infrastructure, as Ava would say. Not prophecy. Jasper immediately wrote two letters. Harper's reply arrived first despite living farther from the mail exchange. B-12. ALL THREE. BRANNOR HAS EXCELLENT ADMINISTRATION. ALSO I CALL THE BED NEAREST THE WINDOW. Ava's arrived later:, Jasper wrote back:, Jasper replied:

I am pleased. Please note Brannor did not "win" anything. Also B-12 is two corridors from the common room and one floor above the quiet room. I checked the map. The unassigned bed should remain unassigned unless residence staff place someone there. Do not let Harper turn it into Bag Bed Two before term starts. Of course she had checked the map. I cannot promise anything about Bag Bed Two. A postcard from Mia arrived the following week. She had been assigned a room nearby with two other Brannor students and one open place. PLEASE INFORM HARPER THAT BEING IN THE SAME ORDER DOES NOT GIVE HER PERMISSION TO STEAL MY HAND BALL. Tell her yourself. This is self-protection. Fewer first-year items. More subject books. Bring Brannor stone.

The B-12 letter included a supply list. Order scarf with permanent trim would be ready on return. Bring one personal item for room shelf if desired. Jasper chose the tiny counterweight lift Soren had made. The history box would also return, but not as a room decoration unless Harper and Ava agreed. Consent rules even for sentimental junk. His mother liked the new room arrangement until she saw "upper Brannor floor."

"How high?"

"Not cliff-high."

"That is not a measurement."

"Ava says one floor above the quiet room."

"I don't know where that is."

"Neither do I exactly."

She stared. Jasper smiled.

"There are railings."

"That sentence has not improved in a year."

He pinned the room letter above his desk. Three names. Four beds. An empty place with no special meaning at all. Next year would fill it with books, damp towels, arguments, homework and whatever Harper refused to put away. That was enough.