The morning began not with birdsong or the soft caress of dawnlight but with Sasha's voice detonating through Eiden's room like a military-grade alarm clock set to "soul evacuation."
"Eiden! Wake up already!" Buried beneath layers of blanket, Eiden groaned. A hand crept out from under the covers to shield his eyes from the dim morning light filtering through the curtains. One eye cracked open, bloodshot and bleary, to find Sasha standing beside his bed with all the menace of a school prefect inspecting dorm infractions. Arms folded. Eyebrows furrowed. Disappointment levels: mother-tier. "…What time is it?" he croaked, rubbing sleep from his eyes with slow, disoriented fingers.
She ignored the question entirely. "Go wash up and come downstairs. Breakfast is ready," she declared, pivoting sharply on her heel before striding out of the room like a general leaving behind orders.
