Awakening

Lysa awakens a new person.

9.

Awakening

 

It was a bewildering and rather frightening scene that surrounded Lysa after she awoke.   She was in a strange bed in a room that did not look like it belonged in Westmark.    Bruce was trying to keep her calm and gently restraining her, while the room filled with people.   

She recognized King Aedric and Queen Snoe, as well as Lady Mathlyn and Lord Matt, but there was another Elven woman with a single lock of silver amid reddish-brown hair.    She seemed familiar with her (and everyone else) and hurried over to Lysa’s bedside as if she were a healer.

“Don’t worry, my dear, everything is alright,”  she said soothingly to Lysa as she sat down on the edge of the bed.    Bruce moved back slightly and the Elven lady pulled in close and scrutinized her eyes for a long moment.

“Do you know who you are, child?”   She asked her.

“Um… yes… why?”

“Tell me your name, dear.”

“I’m Lysa, squire to Duke Aaron of Helios Valley.”

“Good!   Do you recognize everyone in this room?”

“No.   I don’t know who you are.” 

Everyone in the room chuckled slightly as if she had said something funny.    The lady smiled, “Well I am Deborah Ferebee, a Watcher "“

Lysa gasped, “Oh no, am I dead?!”

The laughter all around her told her that this wasn’t the situation.

 “No, child, thank Yesh, you are quite alive.   Though we weren’t sure you would make it.     So you know everyone else in this room?”

Lysa looked around and smiled as her eyes connected with the others, “Yes, I know Their Majesties, Lady Mathlyn and Lord Matt… but why are they here?    And where is Duke Aaron?   I thought… well, I guess I dreamed that… he was talking to me.”

She saw all of their smiles turn somber and dread crept across her.

“What has happened?”  She asked, nervously glancing from face to face, “Where am I?   Where are Duke Aaron and the others?    Bruce-“ 

She turned to her brother and pulled her hands out from under the blankets.     When she saw her pale white skin, she shrieked in alarm.

“Easy, sister!”   Bruce softly reassured her, taking her hand, “There is a lot to tell you, so stay calm and let Lady Deborah explain everything.”

“Okay…” She replied, feeling very frightened at that moment.

 

***

Lysa sat listening in amazement to the tale that the Watcher told her about the transformation that her body had gone through.   They brought her a mirror and she stared in disbelief at her face.    It was the face of one of the Hutcaiah Elves, but she had the deep blue eyes of one of their priestesses.    

“And this is how I’m going to look from now on?   I won’t change any more?”   She asked Deborah.

“I think you are done.”

“So why am I here instead of Westmark, and where is Duke Aaron?   Everyone looked strange when I asked about him earlier.   Where is he?”

“I’ll explain everything to her, Lady Deborah.”   Snoe announced, coming forward and kneeling down to take Lysa’s hands.

 

***

 

Ten minutes later, The Queen finished sharing the grim news to the mortified girl.    

“We’ve got to help him!   This isn’t right!”  She exclaimed, close to hysterics.

Snoe squeezed her hands, “We have a plan, Lysa, to rescue him!   But we need your help.”

“Of course!   Tell me about it!   I’ll do anything!”

“Alright, but you need to calm down and listen to the plan.    We need to think straight and we can’t panic.    If we want this to work and want to save Aaron, we need to focus.”

Lysa took a few calming breaths, “I understand, I’m sorry, it’s just so horrible to think about what he must be going through.   I’ll focus, Your Majesty, please tell me about your plan.”

 

Snoe spent several minutes outlining what she had in mind.  But it was clear that an actual planning session was needed, when she had assembled the rest of the members of the team.

“Tonight, in the conference room, we will all gather and make final preparations.   Lady Deborah, do you believe that Lysa will be well enough to assist us in seven days?”

“I think she should be well enough, but I would recommend having some healing spells cast upon her to bolster her recovery time.    Her muscles will probably be somewhat weak from her extended stay in bed.”

The Queen nodded, “Should we send word to my parents in Westmark?     Perhaps Reverend Zeatt would come and cast some spells.”

Deborah didn’t respond, but made a slight humming sound, as if she was not allowed to directly answer but did not think it was smart.

“Why would that not be a good idea?”   Snoe asked aloud, figuring that the Watcher wasn’t allowed to reply as it would violate some rule from Yesh.

“Perhaps there are spies of the Hutcaiah in Westmark?”   Aedric theorized and they all looked at Deborah, who just shrugged, but was smiling.

“So maybe that is why Sophia wanted Lysa brought here.”   Bruce added, and Deborah just kept smiling.

“Well, alright then, I’ll tell the others on our team in person.”   Snoe declared, “Lysa, you should try to get some rest.   I’ll send for one of the healers.”

“No need, child.”   Mathlyn replied, “Let’s not let this out, even amongst those we trust.   I’ll chant the healing spells on Lysa.    We need to keep this very quiet.”

“I agree.” Deborah replied, “In fact, I think I will go back to Westmark to join my fellow Watchers.   If anyone asks about Lysa, I will imply that she is still slowly recovering.   This will also keep me from interfering.   Yesh warned us to not use our knowledge to help you make decisions that you need to make independently of us.   But I will check back each evening, to verify that she is progressing.    Farewell for now.”   

To everyone’s surprise, the Watcher just abruptly vanished in a flash of blue light.

“That was sudden.”  Aedric said, “She seemed anxious to leave.”

“It was almost like she felt uncomfortable or awkward now that Lysa was awake.”   Snoe added.

“Maybe she was.”   Mattleos commented, thinking about Deborah’s conversation with him, “It must be hard, working as a Watcher.”

“Well, we all need to let Lysa rest.”   Mathlyn ordered, “Bruce, why don’t you stay here with her?    I’ll cast a few healing spells to begin restoring her strength, and then I’ll leave as well.    Lysa, chat with your brother for a while, and then get some rest.”

“I’m not sure that I will be able to do that, Your Highness.”   Lysa replied, addressing the widow of the last King by her formal title (which Mathlyn did not like to use, now that Snoe was Queen).

“You can still stay in bed and try to relax.    You have some very important days ahead of you, child, so you need to rest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  She consented and everyone began filtering out of the room to comply with Mathlyn’s request.

Reviews

[Elina]

"Lysa sat in amazement to the tale that the Watcher told..." I think you were wanting "amazement of the tale..." here. ?
"Snoe spent several minutes outlining what she had in mind, but also that an actual planning session was needed, when she had assembled the rest of the members of the team." This feels a bit awkward to read, and would benefit from some rewriting.

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks I'll work on fixing it tomorrow.