Chapter 112

Aria's POV

The new year arrived quietly and then became busy.

The second exchange cohort completed their placements in January and returned with journals that were, if the midpoint pages had been any indication, going to be the most substantive yet. Twelve practitioners this time, across the full triangle of the network — six from alliance territories, three from the confederation, three from the western hub. The geographic spread had been deliberate and was producing something the first cohort hadn't: genuine triangulation of perspective.

Where the first cohort had given us bilateral comparison — how this is done here versus there — the second cohort was producing something...