Captain Sirin pulled from his breast pocket a piece of paper, which he began to read from in a voice not nearly so loud as the major. In pairs of two names were called by the captain, and those named rose to exit through the door in the front. Some, excited or anxious, hurried to the door and beyond. Others were more reticent, taking a long while to make the door and lingering until the next pair forced them on. Watching those called, Alara couldn’t pick up any discernible pattern among the pairings outside of there not being any of the older candidates paired together.
“Alara Morrit,” the captain called. The thirty-seventh name. “Torin Miller.” The man that was to be Alara’s partner was seated three rows behind her. As they stood, he nodded to her, and they both hurried to the front. Wh
