Of Forgotten Dreams (Book 1) [NANOWRIMO 2022]

Chapter 22

Yun covered her mouth with one of the sleeves of her robes, tears trickling down the sides of her cheeks. Ying tried her best to clear the air however. With every step that she took, the smoke dispersed outwards in torrents so their vision was not obscured.

Soon, the red steps came into sight, and they both paused, seemingly thinking the same thing.

"Should we go any further?" Yun whispered, cutting through the blanket of silence.

"I'll have to notify Lord Xu first." She replied in an equally low voice. One of her hands combed through her hair, but instead of loose strands of hair, or weapons, or anything else that Yun had hoped to see, she saw a single yellow feather, tipped with orange. She let it loose, and the breeze that she conjured blew it out of her palms almost immediately.

"Let's go through the main building first."

• ───────────────── •

There were a few times where Yun was scared, but overall, nothing happened. She had expected to see gruesome demons, or bodies even. But there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I think everyone managed to escape." Ying said, relaxed her fingers and brought her arms back together to her sides. "This was a warning. The fox did make a statement indeed."

"So, where are they?"

"I'm not too sure, but the next place that we are supposed to go to was High General Jin's right? Maybe there will be something there." Ying suggested, immediately starting her way out.

"Where does he live?"

"In the Royal City, but it'll be quite close to the palace."

"Then Qi Die can't be there." Yun paused, thinking hard. "A consort is not allowed to leave the palace under any circumstances without the Emperor's permission."

"Simple then." Ying said. "She's with the Emperor."

There was a sudden whistling that stung Yun's ears.

"Down!"

An arrow made itself known, burying right into the ash next to Yun's feet. She stared at it, her mouth wide open. Ying was suddenly beside her as well, and with one slick motion, she pulled out the feather stuck on the arrow.

"This is bad."

"That was the feather you sent to Lord Xu." Yun stated, her hands trembling.

"It is. We're stranded."

Another whistle cut through the air. But this time, it ended with a thump, as if it stuck onto something thick. Ying quickly grabbed Yun's hand and pulled her outside. True enough, there was another arrow, stuck to the still flaming tree in the middle of the gardens.

A single line of words was on the parchement hanging from it as Yun got close enough to read it.

You know what you should do. Don't force our hands.

• ───────────────── •

"Where are we?" Ying asked as they made their way around the winding manor paths, trying their best to stay out of sight of the bustling maids and servants.

"I think we're near the main hall." Yun guessed. "If the Emperor is here, then the whole Jin family should be here."

"So, what are we doing here?"

Yun footsteps stopped. "I thought we were here because they were in some sort of trouble?"

"Yes, and I thought you knew how to solve it?" Ying asked back, suspicion leaking from her voice.