The next morning, Theora woke up first, and for a second, she was surprised to find her cousins in the room before remembering they'd snuck in with her last night. She smiled at the two of them on either side of her, both deep asleep. She had also slept later than usual on account of the short night; the sun was already beginning to rise outside the window, and it was the first streaks of light hitting the glass that had woken her up. Trying not to wake either of them, she snuck out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready. As promised, Cylea put her hair into two tight braids against her skull the previous evening, so she only had to brush the ends past the ties on her shoulders, and she could braid the remaining ends on her own later. She washed her face, excited for the day, and decide
