"I'm fine… I'm fine. Sorry. I really am."
He forced a small smile at Ragar, who gazed at him with concern.
He wasn't sure if he was saying that for Ragar's sake or for himself.
One step.
Then another.
Slowly, he moved forward and stopped before what was once his mother.
Lowering himself to his knees, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.
This wasn't quite a prayer.
More like a moment to steel himself—to set his resolve.
After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to examine the body.
They had said it was preserved exactly as it had been at the moment of death.
So he needed to view it as if this were the very moment she had died.
"Yori… Did my mother drink the poison herself?"
