Order interviews sounded more serious than they were. Nobody sat beneath a lamp and asked first-years to defend their personalities. Instead every student had a ten-minute conversation with one staff member not attached to a specific Order. The purpose, Professor Ward explained, was not to influence Choosing Tide.

"Then why do it?" Harper asked.

"Because being placed somewhere is easier if you have already thought about what you hope to learn."

"What if I already know where I'm going?"

"You don't."

"Brannor."

Ward moved to the next question. Jasper's interview was with Professor Elowen in a small classroom overlooking an inland garden. No sea view. He appreciated the choice. Elowen sat opposite with one page of notes.

"What Order do you want?"

"I don't know."

"Good."

Jasper blinked.

"Good?"

"Means we can discuss what you value instead of why your preferred answer is correct."

"Harper's going to hate this."

"Harper has already completed hers."

"How bad?"

"Private."

Jasper smiled. Elowen asked about classes. He said shielding. Ocean Studies, complicated. Making and Mending more than expected. She asked when he felt most useful. Jasper thought of the storm. Then deliberately looked past it. Helping Soren repair the book. Working with Mia and Theo under a shared shield. Explaining a knot to another student after he finally learned it himself.

"When I know what I'm doing," he said.

Elowen smiled.

"Honest."

"During the storm I didn't know what I was doing."

"You knew enough to report, ask and not assume command."

"Because everyone kept telling me."

"Learning from people still counts."

She asked what frightened him about Orders. Jasper had not known he was frightened until the question.

"What if Harper and Ava go somewhere else?"

There it was. Elowen nodded.

"Possible."

Jasper looked down.

"I know."

"You would still have classes together. Meals. School. Friendship does not require matching Order."

"I know."

Again, knowing and feeling were different.

"What if I get Brannor and they don't? Or Nocten? Or anything? We won't live together."

"Correct."

Jasper hated adults who refused to make impossible promises. He trusted them more. Elowen continued.

"Room Fourteen happened by staff assignment. Your friendship survived holidays, mixed class groups and different activities. If it cannot survive a corridor, the corridor was not the problem."

Jasper smiled reluctantly.

"That's annoying."

"Many useful things are."

"Everyone says that here."

"We have limited material."

She asked one last question.

"What do you hope the Order you enter teaches you?"

Jasper thought longer. Velmor could teach exploration. Nocten could teach how to understand mysteries carefully. Calyx could teach patience and repair. Brannor could teach protection without reckless heroics. He wanted all of them. Then one answer arrived.

"How to be useful without thinking I have to do everything."

Elowen's expression softened.

"Good answer."

Jasper left. Harper was waiting outside because privacy apparently ended at the door.

"What did she ask?"

"Private."

"Traitor."

Ava sat on the floor beside the wall reading her own interview card.

"You are not supposed to compare."

"I didn't ask you."

"You were about to."

Harper sighed. They walked to lunch. Jasper tried to imagine three different Order wings. He disliked it. Harper finally broke.

"Fine. I said Brannor."

Ava said, "We knew."

"Ward asked what if not Brannor."

Jasper looked at her.

"What did you say?"

"I said I'd survive."

That was not what Harper would have said months earlier.

"Then she asked why I want Brannor."

Ava slowed.

"What did you say?"

Harper shoved hands into pockets.

"Because I'm good at running toward stuff."

Jasper laughed.

"That's not the Order motto."

"I know. Ward said that."

Harper kicked lightly at a crack in the floor.

"Then I said because I want to get better at knowing when running toward stuff actually helps."

Jasper stopped laughing. Ava smiled. Harper saw both faces.

"Don't."

"We didn't say anything."

"Your faces did."

Ava's interview had been with Professor Crowe. She refused to share details for almost a full day. Then, during lights-out, she whispered from her bed:

"I said I want to learn how to make decisions before I know everything."

Harper answered immediately.

"Brannor."

Ava threw a pillow at her. Jasper lay smiling in the dark. Maybe the Tide would separate them. Maybe not. For the first time he understood that placement did not have to validate who they already were. An Order could be about what they still needed to learn. That made every option more interesting.