CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

THE DISMISSAL OF THE MASTER BUILDER

Lara woke up refreshed, and the coffee was ready once again. Lipe brought a tray to her bed.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" he whispered.

"I was already awake," she sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard, let out a loud sigh, and accepted the steaming cup offered by Lipe. "This is all very strange."

"What?" he asked, as if nothing there was strange. As if it were natural for her to sneak into his bed in the middle of the night.

"Being called a sleepyhead," she smiled at him and sipped the coffee. "I don't remember ever being called that before."

"Wow, not even as a child?"

"Maybe I was, every child is called a sleepyhead, I suppose. When I had to go to school, I remember studying in the mornings until I was ten, so I believe I must have been called sleepyhead at some point. But if I was, I don't remember."

"Did you finish your studies?" Lipe asked, and she took her time to respond. She stared into the depths of her cup, buying herself some time.

"I