Liam began noticing the tiredness before he admitted that it bothered him.
At first, it had been easy to explain.
Arik's days started before sunrise and rarely ended before midnight. The sovereign bond continued settling into his ether, the council had discovered that an oath apparently entitled them to bury him beneath several centuries of deferred administration, and every provincial delegation wanted private time with the future emperor before returning home.
Anyone would be tired.
Arik was still himself.
He remained sharp during meetings, remembered details Liam forgot, corrected ministers when they attempted to summarize uncomfortable problems into something more pleasant, and somehow continued reading reports after dinner while Liam abandoned his own tablet and fell asleep beside him.
Nothing was visibly wrong.
Except Arik had not touched him properly in almost a month.
Liam realized that while sitting across from him at breakfast.
