She had rendered her king speechless. Normally, Akira would have relished that fact. Not today. Today, she was utterly exhausted emotionally and physically. She found no joy in even the simple things, not when Askel was so sick. If she lost him, no she couldn’t think about that.

She turned to leave the room again when Ehren caught her wrist a second time. She stopped but didn’t look back at him.

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“Akira, he’ll pull through,” he told her. “If he’s anything like you, he’ll pull through.”

She shook her head and shook him off. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that Askel was nothing like her. He had always been weak and sickly ever since he was born. She remembered what it was like when they didn’t know if he would make it through the night. She retreated to the bathroom where she could sob without anyone seeing her.