Akira nodded before walking away. She knew Sarika would probably be with Taki so she went straight to Taki's room. The mother and daughter were laying in bed, Sarika fast asleep while Taki was quietly looking up at the ceiling.
"Am I disturbing?" Akira asked softly as she entered the room.
Taki turned to look at her and smiled before getting up after releasing herself from Sarika's protective embrace. Taki covered her mother and covered her before walking towards Akira.
"I thought you were still asleep."
"I woke up a while back." Taki responded truthfully as she glanced back at Sarika, not wanting to wake her up,"I still haven't bathed so we can talk after. I won't be long."
Akira nodded and told Taki she would be waiting for her. Taki seemed to fall quiet at the prospect of Akira waiting for her in her room but she forced a smile and walked to the bathroom where a tub of water was sitting with warm water ready for use. Once she was certain Taki was bathing, Akira walked towards the bed to look at Sarika. She slept comfortably and this made Akira wonder if she would even be able to see anything even if she watched for hours. What body part would fluctuate?
For all she knew maybe this was a strong wizard who would recover with a few hours of sleep and everyone had slept quite a lot that day. Even after watching Sarika for a while, Akira noticed nothing was wrong and she sighed. She sat down by the bed side and let her head rest on the mattress, closing her eyes to think. Wait! Akira's eyes flew open and she pulled back the blanket covering Sarika. She slowly pulled up the sleeping woman's top to expose her abdomen, looking in the spot where Thaggar had injured the wizard. Akira gasped at the sight of a faint red, nearly invisible line. She covered Sarika once more and sat back down, her mind an ocean of thoughts.
"What's wrong?"
Taki's voice broke Akira's line of thought, making her aware of where she was. She was surprised when she saw Taki wearing an attire similar to her own; a cropped top and knee length skirt with tassels.
"How convenient...." Akira mumbled.
"What?"
"Oh nothing. I was just.... thinking." Akira answered awkwardly then when Taki didn't respond she quickly added,"Oh earlier? I thought I saw a spider on the bed so I was checking."
"Really? Where is it?" Taki asked excitedly walking towards the bed.
"I must be seeing things, you know? Lack of sleep and...."
"Fear?" Taki asked suddenly serious as she sat next to Akira.
They were both quiet for a while, no one even daring to breath too heavily. The silence was broken by a knock at the door, a maid bringing food.
"The King sent food for you both." The maid said smiling at the two and they smiled back politely.
"Where is the king?" Akira asked.
"He is dinning with Tak."
Akira nodded and the maids left. She turned to look at Taki, noticing that she seemed a little lost now and she assumed it was because of the mention of Tak. To dissolve the tense atmosphere, she quickly started to plate out the food and struck up a conversation, talking about the weather.
"It has actually gotten cooler quicker this winter. I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough. You're already doing great."
"Mhhm.... aren't you cold?"
"No. I'm used to it and I really wanted to look like you." Taki responded stuffing Akira's mouth with ham while she giggled.
They talked as they ate and soon they woke Sarika. She greeted them, her gaze lingering on Akira's face before she decided to head back to her own room. Taki walked her mother out, back to her jovial and happy self. Taki returned a few moments later and sat in front of Akira, a small smile on her face. Akira smiled back politely, her gaze cloudy as she was lost in thought; what if they don't find out who the wizard is? What would happen to Savvy?
There was a little bit of assurance that the wizard would not attack immediately but what about later. If the wizard gained more power then he could kill anyone he wished to kill; even her own husband or brother. Akira shook her head to get rid of the thought and she looked at Taki again. This time Taki was looking out the window, lost in thought. Akira's eyes trailed down towards Taki's exposed abdomen and she noticed that Taki was covering herself, her arms crossed over in front of her.
"I think I hear someone coming this way." Taki said and she got up to check the door.
Sarika was coming there, her steps slow and deliberate, her gait unhurried.
"Are you scared too, mother?" Taki asked with a little smile as she looked at Sarika, her gaze filled with admiration for the woman.
"I just....wanted to get away from my own line of thought. I hope you don't mind?"
Sarika was looking at Akira when she said those words and she was holding her breath as though she was waiting for confirmation. Akira smiled and shook her head while murmuring that she didn't mind. Taki pulled her mother in and as they walked towards the bed, both smiling, they didn't notice Akira's face go pale. She was frozen, her mouth agape as she looked at mother and daughter.
Taki's eyes were swirling, just like the wizard's eyes had and even her abdomen seemed to have a faint red mark appearing and disappearing but that wasn't what surprised her the most. Sarika's face was changing between that of a man and her own, her innocent smile being replace quickly by a sinister one, her or rather his eyes looking ahead at her with mockery each time they replaced her brown eyes.
"What's wrong Akira?" Taki asked patting Akira's shoulder.
Akira suddenly felt unsafe, wanting to get away from both of them immediately. She looked at Taki, noticing the look of worry on the girl's face then she turned to Sarika who looked even more worried. Not wanting them to follow her, Akira gave an excuse of going to see Thaggar stating that they had plans to meet after lunch. Sarika's face fell, wondering if Akira was leaving only because she was still upset with her but she didn't say anything and watched as Akira left hurriedly. Once in the corridor, Akira slowly broke into a sprint, running as though she was being chased making the guards alert to fight of whatever was chasing her but nothing came.