Five years ago…
All Ezra could feel was pain.
Even after all the anesthetics they had given him.
Even after years of brutal knight training that had taught him how to endure broken bones, deep wounds, and endless exhaustion.
None of it compares to this.
It hurt.
It hurt so much that he couldn't even think straight anymore.
'I didn't think it would hurt this much.'
Ezra was crying.
He wasn't even ashamed of it anymore.
Tears streamed down the sides of his face as another scream escaped his throat.
His head fell back against the pillow because there was nothing else he could do.
He couldn't even see what was happening.
A cloth barrier separated him from the doctor and the others assisting with the birth.
Perhaps that was for the best.
Ezra imagined most mothers wouldn't want to watch themselves being cut open.
Time stopped making sense.
Minutes felt like hours.
Hours felt like days.
Voices echoed around him.
Someone dabbed the sweat from his forehead.
