Three months.
Three months of sparring with Sylceris every morning, eating together, studying together, walking the halls together.
Three months of divine magic lessons with Selene, each one warmer than the last, each one ending with longer looks and less excuses.
Three months of Aegis publicly playing the cold, disaffected noble while privately juggling a wife, a church inquisitor, a shadow mage, and a household full of people who all needed her attention.
Three months of the twins feeding her names, too. The list had grown to six confirmed Umbral Blade operatives at Rosevale, not counting Sylceris herself. Six students embedded in the population, blending in, waiting.
Selene had four hearts and a kiss she still hadn't acknowledged out loud. Sylceris had five hearts, a bondmark Aegis had gotten after that first time, and a growing trust that Aegis was going to have to betray eventually.
[Don't think about that part yet.]
The bondmark was, by the way:
Umbral Vanguard
