Of Forgotten Dreams (Book 1) [NANOWRIMO 2022]

Chapter 27

"Yun, you're looking under the weather today, are you sure you're feeling fine?"

Yun nodded, her trembling hand lifting the dagger again, her feet moving into position.

"This is getting ridiculous." Ying shook her head. Instead of continuing to help her practice her defense by attacking her with the sabres, she swept both of them forwards, and a strong gust of wind blew her to her feet, despite her efforts to stand straight at first.

She rolled onto the ground and coughed, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"You're sick, and you have to rest."

"I can still train." Yun insisted, trying to get up at Ying's words.

"No, you cannot." Lord Xu finally sighed from his desk as he placed the scroll on the table. "Yun, I understand that you really want to get this right, but resting is also an important part of training. If you don't rest, you can't train."

"Listen to Ying and get some rest. If you're feeling better by the end of the day, you can still train."

"But I really still have the-" The rest of the sentence was cut off by a sneeze, and several dcoughs that shook her frame slightly.

"Lord Xu, will you please-?"

But Lord Xu already seemed to know what Ying was going to say. He flicked his wrist towards Yun, and she watched as something cut through the air. She hissed as it landed on her wrist, searing her skin. She only managed to take one look at it before her whole world spun.

The next thing she knew, she was in bed, lying tucked in. Confused, she lifted her thin blanket and saw that she was already in her sleepwear, like she had never got out of place in the first.

She really thought that she could have trained the whole morning, but now that she was in bed, she felt her eyelids becoming heavier. And dressing would be a chore, she thought to herself. Within a few more blinks, and she felt herself falling asleep.

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Yun woke up, blinking the crust out of her eyes blearily. She felt her whole body was sluggish, her mind moving slowly as well.

"You're awake."

Yun turned over, wriggling under the blanket to see who was standing beside the bed. It took her a few moments of staring until she realised that it was Jin.

"Let me help you up." He murmured, and she felt hands around her shoulders, slowly pulling her upright. She clutched at the blanket however, remembering that she was still in her bedclothes. Turning over in embarrassment, she tried to wriggle away from him as well.

"Here, drink this." Jin offered a bowl to her, seeming not to notice anything out of the ordinary. "It might be still hot, but I blew on it for you."

"What is this?"

"Lord Xu sent for the healers to make you herbal soup for your cold. I volunteered to take it up for you however."

She looked at it, and then back and Jin, before slowly bringing up a hand to take it. The bowl was trembling as she held it, and she tried to bring up her other arm as well, so that she could drink it with the spoon. And then, Jin's hand was on her back supporting her. His hand gently wrapped around her wrist, and lifted it to the bowl.

It took some time for her to finish the concoction, and when she did, Jin took the bowl from her and set it aside, before propping her up properly.

"I'm fine. Seriously." Yun croaked as she put two hands at her sides, slowly pushing herself up. Jin's warm hands were immediately on her shoulders, supporting her.