"Who would have thought that one day all of us would be attending the same academy?" Sylvia said.
She stood with her brothers near the edge of the hall, watching people move past in their evening clothes. Some were already gathered in lively groups, speaking as though they had known one another for years. Others hovered beside their families, looking around with the same mixture of curiosity and nerves that Sylvia felt beneath her own smile.
She recognized more faces than she had expected. A few belonged to people she had met at formal events; others were students she had heard about long before she'd ever seen them. Until tonight, many of them had occupied separate parts of her life. Soon they might be sitting in the same classrooms, seeing one another every day.
Lucius looked around with interest. "It's exciting, I'd say. Perhaps we'll even end up in the same class."
"Oh, no. Please, not that," Alfred said.
Sylvia turned toward him. "Why not?"
