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Meveris landed on the Academy grounds next to his twin brother, Lanveris, right on his spot on the invisible line the other dragons created. He was the last of the candidates, so it only left Aderys, the older student from the escorting team, who was bringing up the rear. Once he touched the ground and tucked in his wings, they all shifted to their walking forms and their bags fell behind them.

The twins exchanged grins, then both looked towards the welcoming group gathered behind the headmaster. Their older brother, Taveris, who was now teaching at the Academy, was the easiest to pick out from the small crowd due to his height.

The sight of him was still a marvel to Meveris, who grinned even wider at Taveris”s small smile as the thought of He”s alive, he”s alive reverberated through him. Ten months of having his brother back hadn”t erased the two months of mourning when Taveris had been considered dead. The memory of that time was impossible to let go of, yet—if ever.

Still, Taveris was here now, and so were they. Since Meveris and Lanveris were the youngest among their siblings, they were the last ones to come to the Academy, but after years of hearing stories, and dreaming, and hoping, they were finally here.

Before landing, they could see the school premises from above and catch a glance of everyday life—people going in and out of the buildings, probably on their way to or from their classes, others practicing on the fighting grounds, and some seemingly just mingling around. Now, Meveris could hear the muffled sounds of fighting from a distance, and he couldn”t wait to get started, too.

He”d struggled to contain his excitement for the last several days and even on their way over here, he”d been doing loops in the air to release some of that energy. But he tried to reign it in, now, as he surveyed the welcoming group, recognizing some of the people present, either from back home or from various Academy ceremonies he”d attended as a guest over the years.

The headmaster stepped forward, and all the candidates straightened even more, causing the man to smile.

”Welcome to the Academy,” he said as he looked up and down the line of the eight candidates as the escorting team stepped aside. ”We are glad to have you with us, and we hope to see you thrive here. It is a great honor to be a companion, as I am sure you are all aware. But it is also not an easy task, nor should it be. It requires dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. It is asking a lot from you but it also fulfills you in a way that changes you forever.”

Meveris was tempted to elbow Lanveris, but they settled for exchanging glances, and he could see the same joy emanating from his twin. Sure, they”d worked hard to get accepted into training that would lead them here, and they would continue to do their best at the Academy, but right now, they were both more excited to meet their companions than to think about the training ahead.

Finally, the headmaster released them, and Meveris rushed towards Taveris without a second thought. With his older brother standing at the back of the group, Meveris needed to meander through the others, but when he finally reached him, he tackled Taveris into a hug that almost toppled them both over—and would, probably, if Taveris wasn”t as good as he was at staying upright when attacked.

”Wind”s curse, try to contain yourself,” his older brother grumbled even as he hugged him back.

Inhaling Taveris”s familiar scent, Meveris swallowed hard and tightened his embrace even more.

”Shut up,” he muttered, which was a frighteningly weak comeback, but that was all he had.

”Be careful,” Lanveris spoke up from behind him. ”This is our teacher you”re talking to, now. Right, Master Taveris?”

Taveris huffed and let go of Meveris, who reluctantly stepped back so that his twin could take his place.

But Lanveris tossed him his backpack first. ”You forgot something back there.”

”Thanks, Lan.” He tugged it to his chest as he watched his two brothers hug it out.

For all that Lanveris appeared clear-headed and calm, Meveris knew his twin like no one else. Nobody was more excited about Taveris teaching at the Academy than the two of them—aside from the man himself, maybe—because it meant they”d get to spend a lot of time with him.

Meveris looked around the slowly dispersing crowd. ”Where”s your better half?”

Ever since they”d found each other at the searching ceremony five years ago, Caleen had rarely been more than a wing-length away from Taveris anytime Meveris had seen his brother.

”At home.” Taveris pulled back from Lanveris and brushed his hand over the front of the teaching robe he had on. ”We no longer live here, remember?”

”Ah, yes, the royal residence.” Meveris grinned. ”I forgot.”

Taveris sighed, turning away and walking towards the main building, leaving them to fall into step on his sides as they caught up with him.

”You make it sound as if we lived in a palace.”

Lanveris snorted. ”Not yet.”

Even after all those years, it was still bizarre to think that Taveris was the companion of Teranea”s future king. Hook, he even had an official title since they”d gotten married last month—he was the Prince Consort, now.

”Our house is smaller than the one you left this morning, actually. And it”s less than half an hour”s flight away from here, so it”s perfect for now.”

”I guess I assumed he”d come here with you as often as possible,” Meveris said.

”It”s an adjustment, for sure, but since he”s neither a student nor a faculty member, he can”t just drop in anytime he wants. Besides, he has a job, too, you know.” Taveris looked between them. ”But don”t worry, you”ll see him at your searching ceremony. We offered to be advisers in case either of you finds his companion. And Paeveris and Amelyn are coming, too, so we”ve got you covered even if both of you find your matches.”

”Aww, you love us,” Lanveris teased, but Meveris almost stumbled over nothing at the idea of not matching on his first try. He knew, in theory, that it could happen, especially since there had been fewer humans than usual for the last few cycles. In the past, dragon candidates slightly outnumbered the human ones more often than not, but things tended to even out in the long run. Lately, though, the disproportion had been greater, resulting in some reluctance to even apply among the dragons back in Paryada.

Thankfully, there were ten human candidates this time around, which would suggest coming back to the usual numbers. Aside from the eight new dragon candidates who”d arrived today, however, there were still several who hadn”t found a match in the past. Meveris didn”t have to be great at mathematics to understand there was no way every dragon would find a match today.

He couldn”t stomach the idea that he would be one of those needing to wait, though. He”d always envisioned Lanveris and himself finding their matches right away and he wasn”t willing to let go of that dream just yet.

Hopefully not at all.

”Here we are.” Taveris”s voice pulled Meveris back to the present as he opened the timber door and led them into the main building through what appeared to be a side entrance. ”This time, the dragon candidates arrived later than most human ones, which means we need to make sure that you won”t cross paths with them before the searching ceremony. They know to keep to their rooms this afternoon as we want to show all the candidates around, but better safe than sorry.” He paused at the second door of the several up and down a shadowy corridor. ”This is yours for now.”

Lanveris entered first and Meveris followed. The room was roughly the same size as their old one back home, before their older siblings moved out and they could each have their own space. There were two narrow beds on the opposite sides of the large window, a dresser, and a small table with two comfy-looking chairs. The space lacked any personality, but it was to be expected, given that it was theirs only for a few days.

”There”s not enough room here for your easel,” Taveris told Lanveris, ”but I”ll keep it in my quarters until you move.”

”Thanks. I won”t have time to paint anyway, so that”s not a problem.” Lanveris turned to Meveris. ”Right side?”

Meveris nodded. ”Right side.”

”Figured.” Lanveris sat down on the bed on the left and leaned back on his arms. ”I”m tempted to lie down, but I want to see the Academy more.”

”Me, too.” Meveris put his backpack on one of the chairs. ”We merely glimpsed parts of it whenever we came here for one of the ceremonies, since Mom and Dad kept us close all the time.”

”As they should,” Taveris offered dryly. ”You two tend to get in trouble easily, for one, and two, nobody from outside of the school gets to wander around freely. That”s not safe.”

It wasn”t an outsider who almost murdered you, Meveris thought, but he squashed it quickly.

”Well, now we”re here to stay, so come on, show us the good stuff,” he said instead. ”The training grounds, the horse barn…”

”Your new office slash armory,” Lanveris added, getting onto his feet in one rolling movement Meveris had never managed to execute this smoothly.

”Yeah, yeah, fine.” Taveris waved towards the door. ”Come on, then. I have a fight practice to lead in a few hours.”

* * *

Leaning against the sliding partition door, Meveris stared at the horse slowly chewing hay on the other side of the stall.

”I want one,” he declared, in awe.

Horses were rare in Paryada, so he hadn”t seen one before, but now he wanted to find out everything about them. And pet them a lot. He wasn”t as sure about riding them, but he was willing to try.

Taveris snorted. ”Well, then you”d better match with somebody who already has one, because we”re not getting you a horse. But as far as practice goes, this one is the most sensible one of the bunch. Never go near the black one over there,” he added, pointing towards the back.

”Which one did you ride?” Meveris asked.

With a brief grimace, Taveris tilted his head towards the one Lanveris was currently sketching next stall over.

”Avia over there. She”s fine, I guess.”

”You”re beautiful, darling, don”t you listen to him,” Lanveris told the horse before closing his small sketchbook and walking up to them. ”You”re a brute who doesn”t know how to talk to the ladies.”

”Such a shame.” Taveris rolled his eyes. ”Now, come on, I need to check to see if the armory is still standing after the horde of newbies undoubtedly stormed through it already.”

Meveris rushed towards the exit. ”Yeah, come on. I want to see it.”

While he and Lanveris were both good at hand to hand and swords, he knew they would be required to train with different weapons here. Taveris, who was easily the best fighter in the family, had been warning them for years about practicing with knives and other things, but, truth be told, both Meveris and Lanveris had stuck with what they liked best.

Not anymore, though.

Taveris was going to kick the scales off their asses and call it training, that was for sure.

Still, even that didn”t diminish Meveris”s enthusiasm. Finally being here, at the Academy, with not one but two brothers at his side—it was a dream come true already. And once he met his companion… Hook.

He”d be set for life.