Page 25 of Dawn of Hope
There has to besomething.Anything. Even just a sentence that hints at something new the healers can try. When I thought I finally found a set of documents from a healer that looked promising, it ended as expected. The patient never woke up, and no treatments were successful.
Any mention of unconscious patients always turned out the same, and it was always noted that nothing more could be tried. The only promising piece of information that gave me some hope was the length of sleep. Most patients hadn’t lived more than a year or two after falling into the unconscious state.
My mother has been asleep for almost twenty-one years.
That has to mean something, that she was meant to come back to me. Whatever was going on in her mind that we could not see, she was fighting to stay here.
I need to find a way to bring her out of it, some type of plant or tincture that can wake her. There has to be another case where someone recovered from this. I just need to keep searching.
I’m not giving up.
I leave the castle earlier today so I can explore a bit more of the city. I don’t want to waste the little researching time I have, but I also want to stretch my legs and observe, not just rush to the library. The guards barely even pay attention to my coming and going now, only politely greeting me each time I pass through the gate.
I try to take a new route every day to soak in as much of the surroundings as I can. The more I see of the city, the more I love it, and the more I resent my father for not letting me grow up in it. It is full of life and our unique Blackwood culture, and I don’t feel like it is part of me, even though I am supposed to rule over it.
There is only so much I can learn about it by reading or from my lessons. I want to experience it, to really feel it. I want to talk to the people, see the art and the architecture. I want to go out into our forests,deep into the beautiful black woods that gave us our name. I want to see the villages and experience the mills that bring us our wealth.
Today I decide to pass through an older part of the city where the older structures still stand while newer ones were built around them. The buildings here are clearly different, the size and texture of the stones much smaller and smoother from years of the weathering and moisture in the air. Dark leaf covered vines grow up the sides of many walls, making the passages between the buildings even darker than others.
I wander through the alleys, nodding a hello to the occasional person passing through, but never stop to talk to anyone I come across. I finally decide to head back toward the library when I pass an opening to a small alley. A structure further in catches my eye and I stop, peering into the dim lighting.
The narrow alley widens around the structure, as if the buildings were built around it. I take a step closer, just inside the pathway, my curiosity making me forget my goal of getting back to the library.
It looks like a fountain, the light carved stone completely different from the buildings that surround it. I pause and listen, trying to pick up any sound of flowing water, but I hear nothing. My eyes snag on the chips and chunks taken out of the pool that surrounds it. Time has not been kind to it, with the damage and lack of water flow. It must have been here for ages.
I try to make out the carvings on the structure that stands tall from the center of the pool, but with the low lighting and mist filling the alley, I can’t quite see. It won’t take me too long to see what it is, at least while the sun hasn’t set. I take another step into the alley when a low voice startles me to a stop.
“Fancy seeing you here.”
I spin around quickly, clutching my chest and facing the entrance to the alley. A tall, broad figure completely blocks the entrance, trapping me inside the alley alone. Shadows cover his face, but the flutter in my stomach tells me I don’t need to be afraid.
Despite only hearing it once before, I recognize his voice. It shouldn’t be hard. He’s the only person besides Agnes and Estelle outside of the castle that I know.
“Dane, hi.” I smile at him as he steps out of the shadows and all thoughts of heading farther into the alley are gone. “You startled me. I didn’t hear anyone come up behind me.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and leans his shoulder into the stone wall. “I wasn’t expecting to see you this far away from the library. What are you doing all the way out here?”
“Just exploring. I don’t get a lot of time out of the castle, so I was making use of it.”
He tilts his head and eyes me warily. “I thought you grew up here. Don’t you know the city?”
“I did,” I stammer. “I mean, I grew up in Blackwood, but not inside the city. I lived in Vorley. Have you heard of it? It’s a small village close to the border we share with Portlin.” I mentally thank Edmond for all the geography lessons and my father for insisting that I know all the cities and villages in the kingdom. “Once I moved into the castle, I didn’t really have time to explore the city, so I’m trying to do that a little more now.”
“Well then.” He pushes himself off the wall and towers over me, a smile making his face light up. “It seems like you need an introduction to some of the fine establishments we have here.”
“Maybe some time,” I say. “Are you heading to the library as well? We could walk together. I haven’t seen you there in the last few days.” It feels so forward to say, but if he notices my discomfort, he doesn’t seem to mind.
“I apologize. My responsibilities have called me away, but I spoke with Estelle. She said you have been doing more research.”
“Yes, but I still have a lot of work to do. I should be on my way.” I drop into a small curtsey and lower my face to hide the disappointment I am feeling. “It was nice seeing you again, Dane.” I take a step toward his side, trying to squeeze past him and through the opening, but he slides in front of me and blocks my path.
“Wait.” He reaches up and grasps my shoulders, holding me out in front of him. I feel a rush of excitement at his touch, the heat from his hands boring through my cloak. I raise my eyes to look into his and lift a brow, waiting for him to say something more.
“How about you take one night off? Just one. You’ve been working so hard, and I could help show you some of the town. I could show you my favorite tavern. They have great food if you ever need a place to eat in the future.”
His rambling brings heat to my cheeks despite the increasing cold coming on with the setting of the sun.
He doesn’t want me to leave.