Amadeus made his way quickly through the palace gardens. His sister, the Queen, had called him to the old gardener’s house. Why she had him come there instead of her personal chambers, he didn’t know. He was brimming with questions for her.

He burst through the door of the house out of breath. His sister was speaking quietly with his nephew, Ehren, in the doorway. This confused him. He made his way to them.

“Why in the world did you summon me here, sister?” he asked, his deep baritone voice echoing off the walls.

Ehren turned to glare at him but said nothing.

“Your patients are through there,” his sister replied without looking at him.

“Patients?”

Ehren nodded and gestured through the door. Amadeus went through the door and into the corridor beyond. A light guided him to the bathroom just down the corridor. He tapped on the open door before entering.

Sitting on the floor in front of the tub was a young woman. Though she was sitting, Amadeus could tell she was tall. Her hair was very light in color, though whether it was pale gold or platinum or silver he couldn’t tell. It fell in tangled waves down her back. Her hands moved of their own accord over the boy in the tub. They were badly injured. It was a wonder she could move her fingers at all. The boy in the tub was unconscious. His breathing was shallow and sweat beaded on his brow. This alone told him the boy had a high fever. When he was done assessing both figures, he sprang into action. He laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She didn’t look up.

“You’re going to have to scoot over if I’m going to help him, young one,” he told her.

Her eyes flicked to him. She said nothing and didn’t move an inch.

“Your eyes remind me of someone.”

Her eyes flicked back to him.

“She had eyes like yours, captivating. Her name was Seona, Seona Eames.”

The girl lifted her head and blinked away tears.

“Seona Eames was our mother,” she said.

“You must be Akira then and that must be your brother.”

“Askel has epilepsy. He had several episodes yesterday, which caused his fever.”

“And your hands?” he asked her.

“Please ignore my hands until Askel’s fever is down. Please,” she begged.

“At least tell me what you did so I know how to treat it after I get his fever down,” he replied.

She looked away. Up until now, she had kept eye contact with him. She must have injured them on purpose.

“Akira, you need to tell me what you did,” Amadeus said. “I cannot treat your injuries otherwise.”

“Then don’t treat them!” she snapped furiously. “My brother is the one who needs your help more than me! I’ve done all I can for him and I can’t lose him too.”

This last statement surprised him. He looked back down the corridor toward Ehren and the Queen. But they were no where in sight. He looked back to Akira. Her badly damaged hands now hung limply at her sides. Silent tears coursed down her cheeks. He sighed.

“Very well, I must agree your brother’s condition is more serious than yours,” he told her. “However, I expect it will take some time to bring his fever down. In the mean time, try to get some sleep.”

Akira looked up at him with hope in her tear filled eyes. He turned back to the corridor and called for Ehren.

“Yes Uncle Arri?” he asked from the doorway.

“Would you see to it that Lady Akira is made comfortable so she can get some rest before I take a look at those hands?” he asked.

Ehren nodded before replying.

“Of course, uncle. Kira, can you leave him in my uncle’s capable hands?”

Akira looked back at her brother. She kissed his forehead like he was a child and whispered something to him before rising and going to Ehren.

“Please, take care of him for me,” she whispered. “I can’t lose him too. If I lose him, I’ll have nothing left of myself.”

With that, she brushed past Ehren and into the corridor. Amadeus looked to Ehren startled and confused. Ehren sighed.

“They lost their mother and two youger siblings recently,” he said scrubbing his face with his hands. “From what I know, Askel is the one who takes care of their father most of the time.”

“The man doesn’t have a nurse?” Arri demanded.

“Loxley Eames was a very proud man,” Ehren replied. “It’s unlikely he would have wanted one but with Askel’s health, I’m sure they must have one come by intermittantly.”

Arri shook his head. He could never understand why people were too stubborn to let someone take care of them. He sighed and turned back to Askel.

“Uncle Arri?”

“Yes, Ehren?”

“I think when her father had his stroke, Akira lost her mentor and her father at the same time. Essentially, she lost a piece of herself. Then, when she lost her mother and siblings she lost more of herself. She’s burried herself in her thesis because that’s the only thing left of her that she can make sense of.”

“Her thesis is how she processes her grief?”

“Her work in general. It reminds her of her father, because you can’t really call the way her father is right now living.”

“No, you can’t.” He sighed. “Family obviously means a lot to her. So I’ll do everything in my power to keep her from losing another family member just yet.”

Ehren grasped his shoulder in silent thanks then followed Akira’s footsteps out the door. Amadeus watched him go then turned back to his patient in the tub.