Ehren watched the machine breath for her. Askel was curled up on the bed beside her. He’d been crying ever since he’d been informed of her condition. He, like Ehren himself, had not left her side since. Thane had come and had been confering with his uncle since they had gotten Akira stabilized. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but they both looked rather serious.

The air around them suddenly began to swirl. When it stopped, Lady Asena stood before them with a young girl at her side.

“My lady?” Thane asked.

“This is Annika Ivaneko, she is a priestess of Hel,” Asena replied.

“Can she do it?” Thane asked her.

“I can do the ritual you ask,” the girl replied. “But there is a price. Her life has already been spared once. As such, Hel has cursed her. A goddess’s curse is harder to remove than a normal curse. I must not be disturbed.”

Annika turned to Ehren.

“You are the only one who may stay,” she told him.

Ehren was about to protest but Annika held up her hand.

“Her brother is too weak to withstand what is required for the ritual,” she told him with a sigh. “I know he wants to be there for it but I am also sure he knows his own limitations.”

Ehren looked to Askel, who nodded.

“What is it you require of me priestess?” Ehren asked.

Annika raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“He has not left her side for the last several days,” his uncle told her. “He helped stabilize her.”

“Do you have feelings for her?” Annika asked him as she crossed the room to Akira.

“I…” Ehren started.

The door burst open at that moment. Ferros stood in the doorway panting.

“Ferros, where has your sense gone?” Uncle Arri demanded.

“Ehren, the council…” Ferros panted ignoring his uncle.

“What about the damned council?” Ehren snapped.

“They’re moving to have Akira and her brother removed from the castle,” he replied.

“Why? How did they find out about them in the first place?” Ehren asked.

Ferros shook his head, telling Ehren he didn’t know anymore than he did.

“My lord?”

Kase’s voice was no surprise but his presence was, seeing as Ehren had told him to spend some time with his family.

“What is it, Kase?” he asked.

“It seems her screams were heard in the council’s wing,” Kase replied. “When no one would give them an answer, they went to the king.”

“And he told them about Akira and her brother,” Ehren guessed.

Kase nodded. Ehren sighed and scrubbed his face. He was exhausted and worried beyond what he had expected for a girl who was a stranger to him now. He turned to Annika.

“How quickly can you perform this ritual?” he asked her.

“I cannot rush the ritual or she will die,” she replied.

Ehren nodded. He turned back to his brother and noticed that Kanoa had appeared beside him.

“Kanoa, have you come from the council meeting?” he asked.

Kanoa nodded then said, “They are close to a vote and will not listen to anything the king says.”

“They will listen to me,” Ehren growled. He turned to Annika again. “Prepare everything for the ritual, I must deal with these idiots that my father insists on keeping around. I will return when I have dealt with them and we can begin the ritual.”

Annika nodded and turned to the gathered adults. Ehren made his way out of the room and past his brother.

“These idiots?” Ferros asked falling into step beside him.

Ehren said nothing and set his mouth in a hard line. Ferros didn’t press him, just walked with him. When they entered the council room together, they presented a united front.

“SILENCE!” Ehren ordered the council members.

Silence descended on the room almost instantly. None of the council members had ever seen him carry himself with the authority he now exuded.

“How dare you!” he thundered. “How dare you try to throw out one of our citizens who needs our help! Akira and Askel Eames are respected members of society. Askel suffers from epilepsy and after so many episodes he spiked a high fever and Akira was afraid taking him home would kill him. This young woman just lost her mother, her younger brother, and her younger sister recently. Perhaps you remember the Lady Seona Eames. You treated her with the utmost respect, I expect you to do the same with her surviving children.”

“Prince Ehren, what of the screams we heard?” one of the council members asked.

“The screaming was the Lady Akira,” Ehren replied coolly. “And I can guarantee you you would scream too if you had been whipped as she was. That whipping nearly killed her and it will most certainly kill her if you send her and her brother home. For while she is stable now, that can change in an instant. And with their father incapacitated as he is, it is unlikely she will survive if she is sent home.”

“Their father?” another member asked.

“Yes, Loxley Eames,” the king replied. “It seems several years ago he had a stroke that has trapped him in his body. He lives but it is not an existance I would wish on even an enemy.”

“Why does the Lady scream?”

“Lord Ciaran, you would scream too if you had been whipped close to 1,000 times and forced to relive that pain in your dreams,” Ferros replied calmly. “The Lady Akira was sent to a corrupt finishing school run by nuns. The Mother Superior ran the school more like a prison than a school.”

“And just how do you know this, Prince Ferros?” Lord Cassian countered.

“I was told by one of her relatives shortly after she arrived here,” Ferros answered smoothly. “Mavi Eames also mentioned there was a way to help her.”

“Then help her and get her the hell out of the castle!” Lord Ciaran exclaimed.

“My Lord it is not that simple,” Ehren sighed. “If it were do you not think Master Arrhenius would have already used it?”

The lords all looked at one another.

“I grant you that my uncle is very smart and wise but even he cannot know everything,” Ehren told them. “What has afflicted the Lady Akira is beyond his scope of knowledge. We have had to ask her relatives for help finding someone who knows how to help her.”

“You are speaking of a priestess of Hel are you not, Prince Ehren?”

“Yes Lord Kian, I am.”

“Hmm, you realise there is maybe only one born a century do you not?”

“I have been told they are very rare. What is also rare is what is happening to Lady Akira. Normally, something like this would either take root and fester or it would die. In her case, it did neither. It is slowly killing her. This kind of thing is extremely rare. So rare in fact, that few priestesses of Hel even know of the ritual to begin with.”

“Are you saying that even if you found a priestess, it is highly likely she would not know the ritual to save the girl?”

“Lord Kian, we have been lucky,” Ehren replied. “The Lady Asena, a relative of Akira’s, has found a priestess of Hel who can perform the ritual.”

“Then why are you here, Prince Ehren?”

“I am here because I heard of the Lords here wanting to send Akira home in her condition. Since the Lady cannot defend herself, I came here in her stead.”

“Prince, I have heard nothing from you that has convinced me she should not stay until she is recovered enough to go home,” Lord Kian told him. “However, she must go home as soon as she is able. We cannot afford to show favoritism to any of our citizens.”

“Of course not and I never intended for her to stay this long. I offered the old gardener’s house to her and her brother so they could rest before returning home. I had no idea the demons that haunted her dreams.”

“Son, no one could have known that the Lady Akira had been branded as she was,” his father said. “She stays until she is recovered enough to go home and her brother can see to her care alone. Everyone is dismissed”

The king had spoken and given them the time that was needed to take care of Akira. Ehren sighed in relief. Ferros clasped his shoulder.

“Good job, brother,” he congratulated. “I can’t believe they actually listened to what you had to say.”

“I only told them the truth,” Ehren replied.

“You did more than that, son,” their father replied. “You showed them you could become king and that you would be a wonderful and caring king.”

Ehren inclined his head.

“Go, return to the Lady Akira,” his father said putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “The lady and her brother will need you both. Go.”

He squeezed their shoulders once before turning and disappearing down the hallway. Ehren looked to Ferros confused. His brother shrugged. Ehren shrugged back and turned down the hall that would lead him back to Akira.

“I hope this ritual works,” Ferros sighed.

“Have faith, brother,” Ehren replied.

“Faith in a pagan priestess?” Ferros sneered. “No thank you.”

Ehren stopped and turned to face him.

“Why do you look down on those with different beliefs than ours?” he demanded.

“I don’t look down on them, I simply don’t trust them,” Ferros replied with a shrug.

“Uncle Arri is pagan, do you not trust him to take care of you when you’re sick?”

“That’s different, he’s family.”

Ehren scoffed. He turned and continued down the hallway.

“Since you don’t trust the priestess, your precence is not necessary,” he spat over his shoulder.

“I may not trust her but she is Akira’s only hope,” Ferros replied. “So I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

Ehren said nothing as he pushed open the doors to the infirmary. Upon opening them he saw Askel standing in front of his sister, facing off against a rather imposing figure.