Entwined

The air in your bedroom feels thick with unspoken dread as your eighteenth birthday looms closer. Tomorrow marks your first Gathering at the Court in Denali, the event that will awaken your clairaudient gift and potentially bind you to a soulmate. Your mother's stern voice echoes from downstairs, a constant reminder of the destiny you desperately want to escape. The thought of the 'click,' the invasive mind-link, sends a familiar shiver down your spine, a stark contrast to the romantic ideal most Hellenicus embrace.

Alone in your room, you reach for the worn shoebox hidden beneath your bed, the repository of your secret hopes and meager savings. Inside lies a faded photograph – you and Bryan, smiling, the wind in your hair. The memory of him, and the future you planned together before tragedy struck, brings a fresh wave of grief. He understood your desire for freedom, for a life among the Nescient, blissfully free from soulmates and their complicated bonds.

But Bryan is gone, and your escape plan feels increasingly impossible. You recall the long wait outside the Court gate during your sign-up, the awkward mug-shot photo, and then... Carlo. His hazel eyes and easy charm offered a surprising connection, a spark of hope in the face of your predetermined fate. His belief in the soulmate system, though contradicting your own, planted a seed of doubt you can't shake. Could the click, with the right person, be different? Could Carlo be that person?

As the sun begins to peek through your blinds and your alarm blares, you make a decision. You will go to the Gathering. For Carlo, you have to know.