Fires of Love and War

Chapter 1

Hi again,

This chapter is dedicated to Aaliyah120602 for making the sweet cover on the side.

Please vote and comment if you can, I would really like to know what people think of the book and ways to improve it.

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I heard them before I saw them. How could I not, their whispers seemed to echo throughout the room. The overlapping of words made it impossible to uncover what they were trying to say, it didn't help that my head seemed to be fogging and confusing, as though I yet to fully awake. It felt as though my senses had become useless. Everything felt numb and disorientated. I tried to move only to find that my body was being unresponsive which caused me to inwardly groaned, I wanted to know what was going on and what all the fuss was about.

 'Is...going...alright' came a gruff voice. I started to be able to make out some of what was being said, though it didn't make much sense, it was simply a jumble of meaningless words.

 'Yes...painful...water...and fire' came a second voice.

Fire. That was when it started to come back to me. The pain began to settle back in, my body fell into agony as I tried to twist away from the discomfort. My body seemed to begin to respond again as I felt my fingers twitch from the sudden shock. I whimpered out in pain. With some effort I found that I now had more movement back in my body and instinctively gripped my stomach tightly with my arms, feeling as though this would help dull down the pain. It didn't. Searing pain broke out along my arm and I gasped. My whole body seemed to feel feverish and flushed. It seemed that something inside me hadn't wanted to remember and had tried to deny me my memories. I wish it had succeed, everything felt wrong.

After a while I grew more accustomed to the pain and it began to lessen over time. It still simmered around my body though it didn't feel so aggressive. It was then I noticed the cool cloth being dabbed against my forehead, and the gentle, comforting words of an old women. The cloth wasn't helping much, it wasn't my head that felt as though it was crippling, and instead it was my right arm and the fact that I was exhausted.

The voices seemed to have stopped and footsteps echoed around the room. They became fainter until I heard the sound of a door fall into place. It seemed someone was now leaving now that I had woken up.

Finally building up the strength, I forced my eyes to open only to find a small group of people crowded around the bed on which I was laying on.

'Orla! My child, how are you feeling? Oh I've been so worried. Here let me,' It took me a moment to recognize the voice and locate where it had come from only to find my mother stumbling forward to take over the old ladies role with the piece of cloth.

 'Mother, I....' I stopped speaking, my throat grew hot and itchy. I tried swallowing which only aggravated it more. The woman who had been sitting beside me with the cloth stood up and allowed my mother to take her place.

 'Can... I have a.... drink' I choked out. The crowd around me began to shuffle around awkwardly, now not sure what to do as I was awake. Their react surprised me, it was if I was someone of outmost importance, though that could not be the case. Only someone of the royal family would be treat with such annoying caution.

 I wanted to scream out in annoyance at all of the staring people but I couldn't find the strength to do it, so instead allowed my eyes to close again. It felt good to block out the unknown faces that seemed to be constantly monitoring my every breath. However, from the few people that were lurking around the bed it had only been my mother I had managed to identify. It made me wonder as to where my brother and sister were.