Once they finished their meal, the siblings gathered in the back courtyard. They took their usual places on their cultivation cushions beneath the plum tree, where countless lessons had been shared.
Each cushion's position had been carefully chosen long ago—arranged in a neat semicircle to catch the morning light while remaining sheltered by the tree's protective branches. Their mother settled onto her own cushion with fluid grace, her robes arranging themselves in elegant folds around her as she prepared to begin their lesson.