Sophia could see from the boy's expression that he was seriously weighing both possibilities. Kaleb could betray her secret and hand her over to Drakthor. But there was the other possibility as well.
"At worst, I'll run away and hide somewhere well until night falls," the girl thought.
If she still couldn't return to her own world by morning through practice, then she would think about how to obtain food. Only now did she take a closer look at Kaleb. It wasn't even certain that she was faster than him, or that she could outrun him at all. And she didn't know which direction she should run in to reach a safe place.
Kaleb truly thought both options through carefully. If he handed this girl and her secret over to his parents and Drakthor, then perhaps he himself—together with his future family and children—could move into an even mossier house than his parents'.
And of all years, this was the one in which he had to marry. His deed would not be forgotten by then.
Still, he decided otherwise. His instincts urged caution. The story of the Twelve and the Brotherhood was far too strange for a hasty decision. He felt the weight of responsibility and did not want momentary glory.
"If Sophia is up to no good, I'll still have time to stop her. I'll just say she deceived me too. I'll say she introduced herself as nothing more than a simple girl in need of help."
Meanwhile, Sophia was still carefully scanning the surroundings. Her only point of orientation was a windmill.
"The settlement must be in that direction," she thought.
So she would run the other way if necessary.
But it wasn't necessary.
"Don't be afraid. I'll help you," the boy finally said curtly.
Sophia was curious why Kaleb had decided this way. Perhaps if she began probing gently, she could learn more about Mirael, Kaelen, and that old story as well.
She approached her questioning cautiously.
"Earlier you called us thieves," she remarked.
As she spoke, she watched every twitch of Kaleb's face with alert attention.
"Well, Sophia, perhaps it's something entirely different. Yes, something happened to that girl, Mirael. When my people think of it, restless dreams still plague them to this day. No one knows what truly happened back then. And now you arrived here out of nothingness. I'm just being cautious until I know more about this whole strange affair. I'll help you find out the truth, and until we do, your secret is safe with me. You can be sure, Sophia, that if you're up to something bad, you won't get away with it. I can always decide differently once I see that you're planning harm."
Sophia found the boy's motivation acceptable. Of course, she still couldn't trust Kaleb either. But for now, she set aside the idea of fleeing.
"You say your people are still terrified when they think of what happened to Mirael. Aren't you afraid?" Sophia asked.
Her surprise at the boy's courage was justified. Her sudden appearance out of nowhere was a continuation of the same old event that still held the region in fear.
"Well, I'm not afraid. You belong to the Twelve, and to that Brotherhood… and you don't even know much about them yet. You should be the ones who are afraid."
Now that Sophia's suspicion that Kaleb would betray her had eased somewhat, she no longer felt fear. Curiosity and joy overwhelmed everything else. She was in Nexoria. She could learn more about the Twelve, the Brotherhood, Nexoria itself. Back home, the others would be glad. Perhaps she had even come closer to finding Rhys and bringing him back to their own world—before the Festival of the Martyrs. Perhaps she had arrived in exactly the right time interval to find Rhys already here—or still here—in Nexoria. It wasn't certain, but there was a chance she had arrived at the right time.
"Well, you're right, Kaleb. We don't know much, and after what happened to Mirael, this whole thing might be dangerous for some reason. For you as well. You haven't been drawn into anything yet. It's enough for me if you keep my secret," Sophia offered him the safer path.
The boy didn't let her finish her monologue.
"I said I'm not afraid. Maybe it's no accident that you splashed down right in front of me. No one can escape their fate."
That argument surprised Sophia. She herself believed it wasn't a coincidence that she had seen Kaleb during practice.
"Yes… that's possible. You might already be part of this strange story. I don't believe it was an accident that I saw you in particular while practicing," she admitted aloud.
"We'll uncover everything we can about the past, about ourselves, about the Brotherhood—together," Kaleb reinforced his earlier decision.
A girl was approaching the river. Kaleb's face first reflected joy, then seemed to darken slightly. Sophia noticed this, even though it all happened within seconds.
She observed the approaching girl more carefully. She wasn't walking slowly, but she wasn't hurrying either. Her clothes stood out first—there was less decoration on them.
"Maybe that means something here," Sophia thought.
She didn't ask directly. She had already accepted Kaleb's invitation to stay temporarily with his family. She would learn how people lived in Nexoria even without indiscreet questions.
Kaleb was already thinking about what he would tell his parents about Sophia.
"You're looking for an acquaintance around here," he said to the girl with a wink.
"Of course. I already said Rhys might be here."
Sophia was so absorbed in watching the approaching girl that at first she didn't understand why Kaleb was repeating this.
"That's what we'll tell Liza and my family—that you're looking for an acquaintance," he explained.
"All right. So that's Liza. If I understand correctly, she doesn't belong to your family," Sophia asked curiously.
"Yes and no. She's not a relative, if that's what you mean. She serves us," Kaleb clarified.
"What do you mean, serves? Surely she didn't just finish her studies and become a subordinate?" the girl exclaimed.
She tried to interpret Liza's position according to the order of her own world and time.
Kaleb had no idea what a subordinate was. Instead of answering, he asked.
Sophia willingly explained the concept of subordination to him.
"All right, now you tell me what a servant is. I thought Liza was a subordinate in your world and would become your lifelong partner," she remarked.
Kaleb's gaze darkened again for a moment.
"Well, we feed her, and she works," he said.
"Oh? So this is how Nexoria treats some people!"
The girl was genuinely outraged. She even raised her voice. She looked at Kaleb angrily, as if he alone were responsible for the whole system.
"Yes. Don't you have servants in your world? Who does the work?" the boy asked.
"If I can, I'll take Liza away from here," Sophia continued.
"And what would that solve? She's only one among many," Kaleb waved it off.
"And you're fine with this?" Sophia pressed, just as outraged.
"No. I'm not fine with it either."
Kaleb looked deeply and sadly into Sophia's eyes. Her anger immediately subsided. She could see that he truly meant it—that he was unhappy with Liza's situation and that of others like her.
"In our world, machines do the work. How barbaric it is to force others—human beings—to work."
She couldn't restrain herself. She immediately sympathized with Liza and those like her.
"Well, perhaps your future is the continuation of our present. Maybe this will change in time," the boy said hopefully.
He wished that their world would turn toward something better. He wished there would never be servants again.
"It's already too late. People are being oppressed here. People are suffering."
Sophia no longer felt so good in Nexoria. Who knew what other horrors she might learn about the past—out of which their world, their future, had been born.
"Yes, Sophia. Some people suffer. But we love Liza," Kaleb said defensively.
"But Liza can't just leave you freely whenever she wants, forever—can she?" Sophia pressed.
"Well… she can't. Only if her family requests her back and sends another girl to serve instead. Or if she gets married."
The girl fell stubbornly silent and began tearing at the blades of grass in front of her.
"You suffer sometimes too, don't you?" Kaleb asked, a bit sharply.
"Not like this," Sophia replied, rolling her eyes.
Liza was still far away. There was time to talk about their school system—how everyone's inclinations and abilities were developed. Then Sophia spoke about the Creative District. Of course, people could work there according to their talents and abilities—but only as a hobby. There was no need for human labor. That was essential.
"Perhaps this will be our future," Kaleb repeated.
"Or perhaps those who could invent our world's technology are kept busy with pointless servitude," Sophia threw back cruelly.
"Sophia, this isn't my doing," Kaleb reminded her.
"Now that you know it could be different, it's your responsibility too," the girl replied, not gently at all.
"Look, if Sophia and others like her didn't exist, what would happen to the litters?" the boy asked.
There was a hint of laughter in his voice, but the girl didn't notice.
"The what?"
"You know—Liza was a good servant, and you can reserve children from her line for future service."
Kaleb struggled to stay serious.
"Tell me that doesn't exist. Not even here. Tell me you just made up that horror."
The boy finally burst out laughing.
"Obviously, I was just teasing you."
Sophia let out a relieved sigh.
"You said that if Liza gets married, she won't be a servant anymore. Can she marry anyone?" Sophia asked.
"Yes. Liza decides that herself. But you should know that this doesn't apply to us. From time to time, when enough young men and women gather, pairs are decided by lottery. Only the servants' districts don't have such a lottery."
That information surprised Sophia as well. She rolled her eyes again, though she didn't become angry this time.
"What are districts? Please explain this marriage-by-lottery thing a bit more."
"There are twelve districts around the castle. The last three belong to the servants. There's no lottery there. No one cares who marries whom. The first three districts hold separate lotteries. It's bad enough if someone from the first district ends up moving back to the third—but everyone hopes during the lottery not to be sent to the rear districts. Those at the front hope not to be sent to the second or third. The same applies to the other districts where lotteries exist."
"And how does someone move from the fourth district to the third—if not even through a lottery-based marriage?" Sophia asked.
"Only if Drakthor honors them for some reason. The houses there are mossier, and greater respect comes with them," the boy explained readily.
"You made this up too, didn't you?" the girl marveled.
"No, that part is real. The mossier your house, the more respect you receive."
Sophia saw no point in commenting on the connection between mossy houses and respect.
"And you can be sent back from the third district to the fourth if Drakthor punishes you, right?" she asked, just to make everything clear about the districts.
Kaleb nodded.
"And the servants were sent to the last three districts as punishment, right?"
"Some were sent there as punishment. Others had no punished ancestors at all—they were simply born in the last three districts. Perhaps because of some ancestor long forgotten," he explained.
"An ancestor even family memory no longer knows," the girl clarified.
"Liza's family was born there too," Kaleb added.
It was as if he wanted to defend the girl—and her family—by sharing this with Sophia.
Sophia noticed that Kaleb never took his eyes off Liza, who had been born in the servants' districts.
Kaleb's dreamy gaze told her everything.
"You like Liza," Sophia stated the obvious.
"Mind your own business, girl!" Kaleb snapped.
His face flushed all the way to his hairline.