Of Forgotten Dreams (Book 1) [NANOWRIMO 2022]

Chapter 8

Yun opened her eyes, and quickly felt her whole body was aching with discomfort. The scent of herbs caught her attention as well, a very strong smell of herbs. She inhaled in deeply, and pushed herself upwards, feeling sore all over.

She looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings, and wondered where she was. Somewhere from beneath her, she could hear people working in the kitchens; the smell of food faint but present in the air; and horses from a nearby stable whinnied. She paused. When did her hearing get so good?

A candle flickered in the wind, the change in lightning capturing her attention. She turned towards it, and immediately had to close her eyes as the brightness pained her eyes. Tears formed almost immediately, and Yun had to blink a few times before her vision readjusted again. She turned around the room, careful to keep her eyes away from the candles, and discovered than only a few were lit, so the room was supposed to be much dimmer than it was now.

My senses. Yun realised as she hands curled around the sheets. What happened?

She desperately tried to recall, but the only scenes that would come to her was how she had crawled out of her room, rolling onto the snow, before she fainted. Somehow, the light started to pulse again, travelling up her neck as they soothed the throbbing in her head.

The light, of course. She lifted her hands and watched as the glow retreated like water beneath her skin. The fire started because of the light. But it had never acted in such a manner before. Why did it suddenly?

The door creaked open, and Yun flinched slightly at the noise. She saw from the semi-transparent screen that blocked the bed from the rest of the room that Ling had brought someone along with her,

Ling's jaw dropped as soon as she saw Yun awake and sitting up in bed, then she squealed. Yun frowned slightly, before giving her a small smile at her excitement. The person next to her looked pleasantly surprised as well, but he did not interrupt the two girls. It was only until Yun looked towards him that he stepped forwards to introduce himself.

"Lady Yun, I am Healer Wong, and I have been treating you for the past week whilst you were unconscious." He said. "I see that you have recovered nicely, but to be safe, would you allow me to check your pulse?"

Yun nodded, pulling out her hand from under the sheets and set it on the edge of the bed. Healer Wong sat down on a stool as he placed two fingers on her pulse, listening intently.

"You've recovered nicely, and quite quickly I should say." He nodded. "Is there any other discomfort that you are feeling other than muscle soreness or giddiness perhaps?"

Staying silent, Yun quickly decided that she should shake her head. Whatever the reason for her heightened senses, she thought that it was related more to her light powers rather than her injuries. And that was something she couldn't show nor tell others about.

"Very well then, another two days of bed rest with some tonic medicines would suffice, before you can resume your daily activities as usual." He stated, standing up to leave. "I am going to check on Lord Gu now, if you'll excuse me."

"My father?" A sudden strike of fear overcame her, her pulse quickening rapidly. "Healer Mo, what happened to my father?"

He stopped and turned over to face Yun, an apologetic look on his face. "Lady Yun, I-"

"Healer Mo, please do tell me what happened to my father." Urgency coloured her voice. "Is he here as well? Can I see him?"

"Lord Gu is currently ill. Your maidservant, Ling, told me that he was the first one to find you lying out in the snow. However, when he went to get you, your room... exploded."

Exploded?

"Lord Gu sheltered you to the best of his abilities, but he was wounded from the fire. And since it's winter, he has gotten a nasty cold. And to answer your second question, he is currently resting in the Gu Manor. You are living in a small inn in town as your room is destroyed in the fire." Healer Wong told her what happened, the soothing tone unfortunately doing nothing for her.

Her whole world suddenly felt as if it was crashing down. She had caused the fire. And an explosion afterwards? No ordinary fire could do that. It was she that caused her father to be injured, and it was she that had made him ill because he was trying to protect.

Tears started to stream down her face once Ling escorted Healer Wong out of the room, blurring her vision.

She let out a sob, looking at her hands in horror. She was a monster. A monster whom had hurt the one she loved the most and the one that had loved her the most as well.

Hands patted her knees soothingly. Yun lifted her head to see Ling sitting next to her, looking worried. "It's not your fault Milady, if that was what you were thinking." She said reassuringly.

"But I-" Oh, how she wanted to say that her powers caused this. Her damned powers caused this. But she couldn't get it out of her to say that.

"Milady, whatever happened, it was out of your control."

"It was... out of my control?" Yun repeated, the words registering in her blank mind. "It was, out of my control."

That was it. Control. She hadn't learned how to control her powers, that was why she had hurt her father.

"Can I, can I see my father?"

"Milady, you have to rest. The healer said that you still need bed rest before you can go out anywhere. You wouldn't want Lord Gu to worry once he wakes up that you are sick again, won't you milady?"

Yun stopped trying to get out of bed immediately, the words halting her. Belatedly, she nodded. "Two days."

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Yun set foot out of the snow and onto the concrete again. This winter was way colder than how she remembered the past years to be, and she could not imagine her father being able to cope with the weather. Her hands tightened around the small pouch she was holding.

The time that she had spent in the inn was excruciating, but she still tried to help the only way that she could, by making pouches of herbs that might help her father with the cold. This one in her hands, was one that contained a combination of herbs that can help with chest aches from colds. She also went through all of her notes that she had made from her dream, trying to see whether that there was anything that she could find on her powers but she was disappointed to find none. Even all the books borrowed from the library, none of them talked about any sort of powers even similar to hers.

The idea of having something to do with her hands made it slightly bearable.

The door to her father's room soon came into sight. She inhaled deeply, her shoulders tense as her fingers dug deeply into the pouch. Ling helped to open the door gently, not wanting to disturb her father. Her father had just fallen asleep, according to Healer Wong whom she met on the way here.

She stepped into the room, holding her breath as she tried not to let the footsteps wake her father. A tear rolled down her cheek as she saw her father lying on the bed, tucked under the sheets. But even still, she could see that he was shuddering. His face was pale, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin.

She took several more steps closer, before she felt onto her knees. The pain in her heart, it was too much. Swallowing her tears, she shuffling herself closely towards the bed. She lifted the edges of the blanket, and slipped the pouch underneath the sheets. She tucked the covers back, smoothing out the creases as her fingers lingered at the edge of the bed.

No matter what, I will make this right.