Liam woke to bright rays of sunlight filtering through the windows of his room, the warmth of late morning spilling across the floor and reaching the edge of his bed in pale golden strips. For several seconds after opening his eyes, he did not move. He simply lay there staring at the ceiling, letting his mind rise slowly from sleep instead of forcing himself awake all at once.
The room was quiet, the kind of quiet that only existed when the academy had not yet returned to its usual rhythm of lectures, training bells, marching students, and distant instruction. For once, there was no immediate pressure waiting at the edge of his consciousness. No assessment. No roar. No underground hall. No instructor's voice telling him what he had done wrong.
