Breakfast reached the table in waves.
Silver covers lifted beneath Hayashi's supervision, releasing the warm fragrance of butter, roasted herbs, fresh bread, spiced meats, fruit glazed in honey, delicate pastries, and enough food to sustain several awakened bloodlines through a minor war. Porcelain bowls arrived beside crystal pitchers of juice. Tea steamed in elegant pots. Coffee dark enough to revive an ancestor circulated among the adults.
Within minutes, the great Empyrean table lost every trace of ceremony.
Conversation tangled across its entire length.
Brian argued with Landon about whether three plates of bacon constituted breakfast or a public cry for help. Cherry kept stealing from Landon's plate whenever he turned his head. Rhea quietly moved Brian's third serving farther away while he complained about oppression. Maddie was attempting to convince Yuki and Amber that a tower of honey-glazed pancakes could support itself through "structural confidence."
