I woke because someone knocked on the door, which was already a poor start.
I opened one eye. Dream Haven had spread across most of the bed during the night, and I was comfortable enough that getting up had become a moral question. The knocking came again.
"Lord Vortex?"
Tessa. I closed the eye.
[You are awake.]
'Debatable.'
"You have morning cultivation in twenty-three minutes, my lord."
Even the household was against me. "Thank you."
Her footsteps went away. I stared at the ceiling.
[Twenty-two minutes.]
'You aren't helping.'
[I am counting.]
'That's the opposite of helping.'
I sat up. Eventually.
***
Instructor Sorel had found a room with a wooden floor and decided that made it suitable for cultivation. I suspected she considered comfort a weakness. The five of us sat in a loose circle while she walked between us, listening to our breathing and occasionally ruining someone's morning. Mostly mine.
"Slower."
I opened one eye. "You didn't even say my name."
