VIII
A fit of coughing forced Munak awake. She sat up, finding herself in her bed at home. She felt cold where the air touched her skin, but under the blankets was hot. Shivering, she curled up on her side and stared out the door of her bedroom.
She heard metal clinking against ceramic, and soft singing. Her mother seemed to be cooking breakfast, from the smell of hot rice and seasoned Peco eggs wafting in. She could see her grandmother and great-grandmother sitting together, each petting one of the kitties and talking together quietly. She heard the front door open and close, and voices rose in the other room, followed by the sound of stomping feet. Her father was home, but someone else was stomping too..
A sharp pain shot through her head, and she winced, curling up more and closing her eyes. A few seconds later, a cold hand rested on her forehead, and she squeaked, recoiling from the cold. A familiar voice shushed her, and someone sat on her bed. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Bongun, holding a handkerchief full of ice to his head and looking very worried.
"Bon.." she whispered, frowning. Her voice sounded rough and hoarse, and her throat hurt when she tried to speak.
"Shh, shh Munak. How are you feeling?" He murmured, touching her hot cheek with his cold hand.
Her mother came in and held a small tin cup to her lips, and Munak drank the honeyed tea. Swallowing, she tried again. "Bongun, where were you yesterday? You didn't come back, and I was scared.."
He glanced away, biting his lip and looking angry. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, everything will be fine. Your father said he found you asleep in the gazebo early this morning, why did you sleep there?"
"I didn't mean to.." she said, her voice swallowed by coughing.
There was a great commotion in the main room, then Sungmi and an apprentice came in, carrying incense and bottles. Bongun stood and backed away, standing against the wall and watching. Munak sat up, coughing again and shivering violently. "Back away, this room is quarantined, back off. She's very ill", Sungmi said, setting down the incense burner and opening a bottle. She thrust it to Munak's lips, urging the girl to drink it.
Munak drank as much as she could, the bitter syrup gagging her, then pushed Sungmi's arm away and coughed several times. When she finished, she licked her lips, tasting blood. "mh.. Bongun.."
Bongun sighed and closed his eyes tightly, pressing the handkerchief harder against his head. "I'll be in the main room helping your mother finish breakfast, Munak. I'm only a nuisance in here."
Munak looked up sharply, then fell into another coughing fit. "No, please, don't go, Bongun, come back.." she said through her coughs, as Sungmi tried to make her finish the bottle of medicine.
He stepped out of the room and shut the door, taking a leaf from the yellow herb plant growing near the stove and eating it. His head pounded and his stomach kept feeling weird. The Chief had given him a small scroll, to give to Munak's parents and sever their ties, but he couldn't bring himself to deliver it, especially not now. Sitting down, he picked up one of Munak's cats and placed it in his lap, scratching the kitty behind it's ears. He couldn't understand it. Why had she slept outside and put herself in such grave danger?
Sochi and Kanmei, Munak's grandmother and great-grandmother, smiled at him. "You've come to visit the little Lady, have you?" Sochi said teasingly, her soft brown eyes sparkling in the firelight.
Kanmei sat up straight, taking a bowl of fast-boiled Peco egg from her granddaughter. "She was so anxious for you to come see her, I do hope this is nothing but a Winter Chill, and not the plague. She always gets Winter Chills, she shouldn't play outside when it's so cold. But then, she takes after her mother, so what can you do."
Bongun smiled weakly. The two old women were always a great pleasure to talk to, and possibly the wisest women in the village. "She's quite resiliant, I'm sure she'll be fine."
Kanmei smiled, spooning up the egg and nodding. "But enough about her, where did you go yesterday? I'm sure I saw you going to the palace on my way back from visiting friends. And you don't seem well at all."
Sochi nodded sagely. "Drink-sickness, I'd say. You haven't fully opened your eyes since you arrived."
Bongun glanced away, making sure Munak's parents weren't listening. "Some palace aides dragged me to the palace yesterday, and proceeded to fill me with wine and food. They had some presentation, but I'm certain I didn't understand it. Something about the princess. In any case, I'm not leaving Munak's side until she's better. I'll even sleep here if I can."
Sochi clapped her hands together and sat back, looking at him. "That's right! The princess's suitor died of plague! I'd about forgotten, it wasn't really huge news, she's lost what, five? Six?"
Kanmei squealed and leaned closer to him. "So who's the new future Chief? Come on, you can tell us, we won't tell a soul."
Bongun blushed and looked away, remembering what had been said the night before..
~"Lord Kuman.."
Bongun sat up. He was in an opulently decorated room, on a pile of the fluffiest blankets he'd ever seen. Rabbit feather, he'd guess. "Where.."
A small hand grabbed his arm and he glanced over, jumping from surprise. Princess Sohee smiled at him, blushing deeply. Her dress was slightly different, and her ribbons had come slightly undone, but she was still breathtakingly beautiful. "Lord Kuman, are you well?"
He blushed and looked away, scratching the back of his head and looking longingly at his hat. He had to leave, and fast. Things were getting out of hand. "Um.. yes, Princess, I'm fine, thank you.. I guess I had too much to drink, but I feel fine now, I really need to get going, I have to get home.."
Her hand squeezed his arm tightly and he looked at her. The Princess's face was set in angry determination, and she glared at him. "You aren't leaving, no way. It's too late for you to leave anyway. Stay with me."
He blinked, then blushed deeper and threw the blankets off. His shoes were gone, he had to find them. "Princess, I'm sure I don't know what's going on, but I really must be going, I have to meet someone."
The Princess grabbed him, and he fell on his back, Sohee on top of him. She stared at him, her face no longer placid, but almost angry. He opened his mouth to protest, and she kissed him, silencing anything he could say. After an eternity, she pulled away, sitting back and still holding his wrist. "You're my husband. I won't let you leave, ever. I love you. Don't you love me?"~
"I have news."
Bongun looked up, the memory broken. Sungmi stood at the door, her apprentice at her side. The bag was full of empty bottles, and a handkerchief sticking out that had once been white was red. Munak's father spoke first, voicing Bongun's worries. "Is she going to be okay?"
Sungmi bit her lip. "It's the plague. It's the first day, though. There have been two other patients that were treated on the first day, and lived; both were adults, though, so I'm not sure it can work with her. If she does live, she'll be crippled for life. It seems to have settled in her lungs worst, so she may have a hard time breathing or doing any physical activity if she survives. I need to get more potions and send a message to some friends in Prontera to come here and help."
Bongun stood. "But she could live?" He asked, his voice hoarse, and Sungmi nodded.
Munak's mother leaned against the low table, her hand on her heart. "Oh thank the Gods.."
Sungmi glanced around. "I want everyone to bathe tonight and move out of the house. Stay in a friend's house, do whatever. This building is condemned. When spring comes, burn it down and build a new home. Fire is the only way to eradicate the plague, it seems."
Sochi and Kanmei glanced at each other. The house had been in the family since Kanmei's birth, and she didn't want to let it go. "Is there any other way?"
Sungmi shook her head. "The fever comes because the body is trying to burn itself clean of the plague. Likewise, the house must be burned to be cleansed of the plague, otherwise everyone will be stricken. I'm sorry."
Bongun turned, touching Munak's mother's shoulder. "Your family can stay in my house for the rest of the winter, I'll stay here with Munak."
Sungmi raised an eyebrow. "Everyone includes you, my lord. You can't expect to stay here, you'll get sick too."
Bongun stared at the ground. "I'd rather be sick with her than be healthy without her. Not even the demon can move me from this house."
Sungmi sighed and nodded. "So be it.. I'll return with medicine soon." she said, and with that, she left.
Bongun slipped into Munak's room and took her hand. A bit of blood had dried at the corner of her mouth, and he wiped it away with a corner of her blanket. She opened her eyes, staring at him through a cloud of delirium. "Bongun.. I don't want to die.."
He hugged her tightly, clutching her to his chest and burying his face in her hair. To Hell with Sohee and the Chief, he thought. He would never leave his dear little girl. Sohee could marry no one and be a spinster for all he cared. It didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was Munak surviving. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the scroll from the palace and threw it in the small stove in her room, hearing it go up in flames as he hugged his beloved.
IX
The church was a mess.
Father Aden wandered through the corridors of the Glast Heim church. Nuns ran about, giving people medicine. A woman in a sterile suit came through every now and then with a cart, to take the dead to the church for prayers and the graveyard for burial. He could hear the cries of the damned, the moans of the sickly, the sobbing of the fevered as they begged for a little respite.
He came into a room in a tower and shut the door, looking at the woman leaning against the wall. Advisor An Chi of Payon looked exhausted, and she too was coughing. She glanced up as Aden came in. "Well?"
Aden looked away. "It's worse than we feared. The disease perfectly matches the one from Payon. Containment has been broken."
An Chi swore under her breath, slumping to the floor and burying her face in her hands. "I tried to tell His Majesty that we couldn't bring the corpses here. I tried to warn him that it spread quickly. He would have none of it, though. He said it would be fine. Serves me right for believing him."
Aden nodded and sat down at his desk, tracing his fingers over the highly carved wood. "We can confine the outbreak to the Church, but it'll take everyone down with it. Everyone will perish. I don't know how your priests in Payon do it, but we simply have no idea how to deal with this."
An Chi glanced up. "I got a scroll from Sungmi in Payon. The Lady of a tribe there has come down with the plague as well, and she was petitioning Glast Heim and Prontera for help. What can I possibly tell her? We have our own outbreak, we can't spare a soul to Payon!"
Aden sighed heavily. "The Church is doomed without their knowledge. I'll send some priestesses there right away to help and to learn. We have no say over what Prontera does. Send all the medicine we can spare, too. We'll do the best we can, and if it works, the priestesses can come back and use the skills learned there to heal people here."
An Chi blinked. "And while they're gone? We don't know how long it'll take before they return! Payon is all the way across the continent!"
Aden closed his eyes. "God save us all. Send them anyway, we'll do what we can until they return" he murmured, then stood and left to send off some priestesses.
An Chi curled up against the wall, coughing and shivering. "Please hurry.. we're all dying.."
X
True to his word, Bongun had not left Munak's side, not even to eat. He had been feverish for a couple nights, but on the third night, his fever broke, and when he woke up, Munak was breathing a little easier. He sat up the rest of the night watching her sleep.
Women from Glast Heim and Prontera flooded the building. The smell of medicine and wood smoke filled the air night and day. They'd completely taken over; the stove was constantly burning and medicine was always made, there were linens being washed constantly in scalding water, snow was scooped away from the door to make icy baths for Munak, and often they took Munak outside and scrubbed the walls and floor and furniture with boiling water, in an effort to protect themselves and their patient from being stricken again. Bongun hated the icy baths; for the three days that he'd been sick, the priestesses had insisted that he bathe in barely-melted snow, while they stood just outside the room behind a thin curtain. It was supposed to bring his fever down, but he was convinced that they simply wanted to make him suffer enough to pack his bags and leave. The second night, he'd had delusional nightmares, and attacked one nurse, screaming that Sohee had sent her. Munak had awoken, unfortunately, asking who Sohee was. Luckily, no one had told her, and she'd given up and gone back to sleep.
The morning of the fourth day that Munak had been sick, Bongun stepped outside for a bit to practice his martial arts and get some air. The plague had settled in his heart, and his chest still ached from it. Nevertheless, he felt he had to practice; the bloodflow and fresh air might help him get better.
He stood just outside the town gates, kicking and punching trees and waiting for a tree fairy to come around. He'd been training a while when the ground suddenly heaved upward. He stumbled, falling on his back and watched as the tree swayed, then fell to the side heavily. The ground lurched and waved under him, and he clung to the rocks under him, praying for it to stop. After what seemed like an eternity, the ground stopped moving, and he lay in the snow, trying to stop his pounding heart.
After several minutes he stood shakily, and slowly walked back to the village. The people were in chaos; women and children flooded the streets, most of them bloody from falling roofs or dishes. Men ran around frantically, bows at the ready, wanting to shoot anything they perceived to be the cause. The Chief stood outside the palace, surrounded by servants, shouting at a guard. Other guards ran out the gates with their spears and bows, searching for enemies. Bongun weaved through the crowd and stumbled into Munak's house, coughing. The stove hadn't fallen, thank Gods, but dishes had tumbled from the shelves, and one side of the ceiling was sagging. He could hear Munak screaming in her room, and women rushed about, some with jagged cuts from breaking glass, trying to clean it up. He strode through the house into Munak's room, pushing some of the nurses away and pulling her up in her bed. "Shh, it's okay, it's over, it's done shaking.."
"What happened?! I was asleep, and I woke up and the bed was rocking and stuff was falling and I heard screaming, I'm scared!" She cried, clutching his shirt and sobbing.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it, it scared me too, but I think it's over, we should be okay." He murmured, kissing her hair. He looked up at a priestess from Glast Heim, who held a wet rag to her forehead. "What happened?"
"It's called an earthquake, my lord. It happens when layers in the ground break or move against eachother. There may or may not be more, I can't say for sure. Does it happen often here? I know it does on Mt. Mjolnir, that's where I grew up.." She said, wincing and leaning back against the wall.
He shook his head. "Never happened here, not even when the demon woke. I don't understand it."
The priestess shrugged. "Well, maybe it was just building up, I don't know. We'll have to reinforce the house, though. Can you find someone to get a tree trunk to put against the ceiling?"
Bongun nodded, laying Munak down and kissing her cheek before standing. "yeah, there should be someone in town with an axe who can help, let's go. Munak, I'll be back soon, just rest now." And with that, he left the room with the priestess.
Munak blinked and curled up, but she wasn't sleepy anymore. Glancing down, she noticed a burned ember that must've rolled to her bed during the earthquake. Picking it up, though, revealed it to be a small wooden scroll-case. She picked open the case, pulling out the elaborately painted scroll and reading it. "What.."
Sungmi entered the room, carrying a tray of tea and more medicine. "My lady, is there something wrong?"
Munak lowered the scroll from her face. The kind gentleness from before had completely vanished, and was replaced by sheer anger, only restrained by her illness. "Bongun..."
A fit of coughing forced Munak awake. She sat up, finding herself in her bed at home. She felt cold where the air touched her skin, but under the blankets was hot. Shivering, she curled up on her side and stared out the door of her bedroom.
She heard metal clinking against ceramic, and soft singing. Her mother seemed to be cooking breakfast, from the smell of hot rice and seasoned Peco eggs wafting in. She could see her grandmother and great-grandmother sitting together, each petting one of the kitties and talking together quietly. She heard the front door open and close, and voices rose in the other room, followed by the sound of stomping feet. Her father was home, but someone else was stomping too..
A sharp pain shot through her head, and she winced, curling up more and closing her eyes. A few seconds later, a cold hand rested on her forehead, and she squeaked, recoiling from the cold. A familiar voice shushed her, and someone sat on her bed. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Bongun, holding a handkerchief full of ice to his head and looking very worried.
"Bon.." she whispered, frowning. Her voice sounded rough and hoarse, and her throat hurt when she tried to speak.
"Shh, shh Munak. How are you feeling?" He murmured, touching her hot cheek with his cold hand.
Her mother came in and held a small tin cup to her lips, and Munak drank the honeyed tea. Swallowing, she tried again. "Bongun, where were you yesterday? You didn't come back, and I was scared.."
He glanced away, biting his lip and looking angry. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, everything will be fine. Your father said he found you asleep in the gazebo early this morning, why did you sleep there?"
"I didn't mean to.." she said, her voice swallowed by coughing.
There was a great commotion in the main room, then Sungmi and an apprentice came in, carrying incense and bottles. Bongun stood and backed away, standing against the wall and watching. Munak sat up, coughing again and shivering violently. "Back away, this room is quarantined, back off. She's very ill", Sungmi said, setting down the incense burner and opening a bottle. She thrust it to Munak's lips, urging the girl to drink it.
Munak drank as much as she could, the bitter syrup gagging her, then pushed Sungmi's arm away and coughed several times. When she finished, she licked her lips, tasting blood. "mh.. Bongun.."
Bongun sighed and closed his eyes tightly, pressing the handkerchief harder against his head. "I'll be in the main room helping your mother finish breakfast, Munak. I'm only a nuisance in here."
Munak looked up sharply, then fell into another coughing fit. "No, please, don't go, Bongun, come back.." she said through her coughs, as Sungmi tried to make her finish the bottle of medicine.
He stepped out of the room and shut the door, taking a leaf from the yellow herb plant growing near the stove and eating it. His head pounded and his stomach kept feeling weird. The Chief had given him a small scroll, to give to Munak's parents and sever their ties, but he couldn't bring himself to deliver it, especially not now. Sitting down, he picked up one of Munak's cats and placed it in his lap, scratching the kitty behind it's ears. He couldn't understand it. Why had she slept outside and put herself in such grave danger?
Sochi and Kanmei, Munak's grandmother and great-grandmother, smiled at him. "You've come to visit the little Lady, have you?" Sochi said teasingly, her soft brown eyes sparkling in the firelight.
Kanmei sat up straight, taking a bowl of fast-boiled Peco egg from her granddaughter. "She was so anxious for you to come see her, I do hope this is nothing but a Winter Chill, and not the plague. She always gets Winter Chills, she shouldn't play outside when it's so cold. But then, she takes after her mother, so what can you do."
Bongun smiled weakly. The two old women were always a great pleasure to talk to, and possibly the wisest women in the village. "She's quite resiliant, I'm sure she'll be fine."
Kanmei smiled, spooning up the egg and nodding. "But enough about her, where did you go yesterday? I'm sure I saw you going to the palace on my way back from visiting friends. And you don't seem well at all."
Sochi nodded sagely. "Drink-sickness, I'd say. You haven't fully opened your eyes since you arrived."
Bongun glanced away, making sure Munak's parents weren't listening. "Some palace aides dragged me to the palace yesterday, and proceeded to fill me with wine and food. They had some presentation, but I'm certain I didn't understand it. Something about the princess. In any case, I'm not leaving Munak's side until she's better. I'll even sleep here if I can."
Sochi clapped her hands together and sat back, looking at him. "That's right! The princess's suitor died of plague! I'd about forgotten, it wasn't really huge news, she's lost what, five? Six?"
Kanmei squealed and leaned closer to him. "So who's the new future Chief? Come on, you can tell us, we won't tell a soul."
Bongun blushed and looked away, remembering what had been said the night before..
~"Lord Kuman.."
Bongun sat up. He was in an opulently decorated room, on a pile of the fluffiest blankets he'd ever seen. Rabbit feather, he'd guess. "Where.."
A small hand grabbed his arm and he glanced over, jumping from surprise. Princess Sohee smiled at him, blushing deeply. Her dress was slightly different, and her ribbons had come slightly undone, but she was still breathtakingly beautiful. "Lord Kuman, are you well?"
He blushed and looked away, scratching the back of his head and looking longingly at his hat. He had to leave, and fast. Things were getting out of hand. "Um.. yes, Princess, I'm fine, thank you.. I guess I had too much to drink, but I feel fine now, I really need to get going, I have to get home.."
Her hand squeezed his arm tightly and he looked at her. The Princess's face was set in angry determination, and she glared at him. "You aren't leaving, no way. It's too late for you to leave anyway. Stay with me."
He blinked, then blushed deeper and threw the blankets off. His shoes were gone, he had to find them. "Princess, I'm sure I don't know what's going on, but I really must be going, I have to meet someone."
The Princess grabbed him, and he fell on his back, Sohee on top of him. She stared at him, her face no longer placid, but almost angry. He opened his mouth to protest, and she kissed him, silencing anything he could say. After an eternity, she pulled away, sitting back and still holding his wrist. "You're my husband. I won't let you leave, ever. I love you. Don't you love me?"~
"I have news."
Bongun looked up, the memory broken. Sungmi stood at the door, her apprentice at her side. The bag was full of empty bottles, and a handkerchief sticking out that had once been white was red. Munak's father spoke first, voicing Bongun's worries. "Is she going to be okay?"
Sungmi bit her lip. "It's the plague. It's the first day, though. There have been two other patients that were treated on the first day, and lived; both were adults, though, so I'm not sure it can work with her. If she does live, she'll be crippled for life. It seems to have settled in her lungs worst, so she may have a hard time breathing or doing any physical activity if she survives. I need to get more potions and send a message to some friends in Prontera to come here and help."
Bongun stood. "But she could live?" He asked, his voice hoarse, and Sungmi nodded.
Munak's mother leaned against the low table, her hand on her heart. "Oh thank the Gods.."
Sungmi glanced around. "I want everyone to bathe tonight and move out of the house. Stay in a friend's house, do whatever. This building is condemned. When spring comes, burn it down and build a new home. Fire is the only way to eradicate the plague, it seems."
Sochi and Kanmei glanced at each other. The house had been in the family since Kanmei's birth, and she didn't want to let it go. "Is there any other way?"
Sungmi shook her head. "The fever comes because the body is trying to burn itself clean of the plague. Likewise, the house must be burned to be cleansed of the plague, otherwise everyone will be stricken. I'm sorry."
Bongun turned, touching Munak's mother's shoulder. "Your family can stay in my house for the rest of the winter, I'll stay here with Munak."
Sungmi raised an eyebrow. "Everyone includes you, my lord. You can't expect to stay here, you'll get sick too."
Bongun stared at the ground. "I'd rather be sick with her than be healthy without her. Not even the demon can move me from this house."
Sungmi sighed and nodded. "So be it.. I'll return with medicine soon." she said, and with that, she left.
Bongun slipped into Munak's room and took her hand. A bit of blood had dried at the corner of her mouth, and he wiped it away with a corner of her blanket. She opened her eyes, staring at him through a cloud of delirium. "Bongun.. I don't want to die.."
He hugged her tightly, clutching her to his chest and burying his face in her hair. To Hell with Sohee and the Chief, he thought. He would never leave his dear little girl. Sohee could marry no one and be a spinster for all he cared. It didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was Munak surviving. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the scroll from the palace and threw it in the small stove in her room, hearing it go up in flames as he hugged his beloved.
IX
The church was a mess.
Father Aden wandered through the corridors of the Glast Heim church. Nuns ran about, giving people medicine. A woman in a sterile suit came through every now and then with a cart, to take the dead to the church for prayers and the graveyard for burial. He could hear the cries of the damned, the moans of the sickly, the sobbing of the fevered as they begged for a little respite.
He came into a room in a tower and shut the door, looking at the woman leaning against the wall. Advisor An Chi of Payon looked exhausted, and she too was coughing. She glanced up as Aden came in. "Well?"
Aden looked away. "It's worse than we feared. The disease perfectly matches the one from Payon. Containment has been broken."
An Chi swore under her breath, slumping to the floor and burying her face in her hands. "I tried to tell His Majesty that we couldn't bring the corpses here. I tried to warn him that it spread quickly. He would have none of it, though. He said it would be fine. Serves me right for believing him."
Aden nodded and sat down at his desk, tracing his fingers over the highly carved wood. "We can confine the outbreak to the Church, but it'll take everyone down with it. Everyone will perish. I don't know how your priests in Payon do it, but we simply have no idea how to deal with this."
An Chi glanced up. "I got a scroll from Sungmi in Payon. The Lady of a tribe there has come down with the plague as well, and she was petitioning Glast Heim and Prontera for help. What can I possibly tell her? We have our own outbreak, we can't spare a soul to Payon!"
Aden sighed heavily. "The Church is doomed without their knowledge. I'll send some priestesses there right away to help and to learn. We have no say over what Prontera does. Send all the medicine we can spare, too. We'll do the best we can, and if it works, the priestesses can come back and use the skills learned there to heal people here."
An Chi blinked. "And while they're gone? We don't know how long it'll take before they return! Payon is all the way across the continent!"
Aden closed his eyes. "God save us all. Send them anyway, we'll do what we can until they return" he murmured, then stood and left to send off some priestesses.
An Chi curled up against the wall, coughing and shivering. "Please hurry.. we're all dying.."
X
True to his word, Bongun had not left Munak's side, not even to eat. He had been feverish for a couple nights, but on the third night, his fever broke, and when he woke up, Munak was breathing a little easier. He sat up the rest of the night watching her sleep.
Women from Glast Heim and Prontera flooded the building. The smell of medicine and wood smoke filled the air night and day. They'd completely taken over; the stove was constantly burning and medicine was always made, there were linens being washed constantly in scalding water, snow was scooped away from the door to make icy baths for Munak, and often they took Munak outside and scrubbed the walls and floor and furniture with boiling water, in an effort to protect themselves and their patient from being stricken again. Bongun hated the icy baths; for the three days that he'd been sick, the priestesses had insisted that he bathe in barely-melted snow, while they stood just outside the room behind a thin curtain. It was supposed to bring his fever down, but he was convinced that they simply wanted to make him suffer enough to pack his bags and leave. The second night, he'd had delusional nightmares, and attacked one nurse, screaming that Sohee had sent her. Munak had awoken, unfortunately, asking who Sohee was. Luckily, no one had told her, and she'd given up and gone back to sleep.
The morning of the fourth day that Munak had been sick, Bongun stepped outside for a bit to practice his martial arts and get some air. The plague had settled in his heart, and his chest still ached from it. Nevertheless, he felt he had to practice; the bloodflow and fresh air might help him get better.
He stood just outside the town gates, kicking and punching trees and waiting for a tree fairy to come around. He'd been training a while when the ground suddenly heaved upward. He stumbled, falling on his back and watched as the tree swayed, then fell to the side heavily. The ground lurched and waved under him, and he clung to the rocks under him, praying for it to stop. After what seemed like an eternity, the ground stopped moving, and he lay in the snow, trying to stop his pounding heart.
After several minutes he stood shakily, and slowly walked back to the village. The people were in chaos; women and children flooded the streets, most of them bloody from falling roofs or dishes. Men ran around frantically, bows at the ready, wanting to shoot anything they perceived to be the cause. The Chief stood outside the palace, surrounded by servants, shouting at a guard. Other guards ran out the gates with their spears and bows, searching for enemies. Bongun weaved through the crowd and stumbled into Munak's house, coughing. The stove hadn't fallen, thank Gods, but dishes had tumbled from the shelves, and one side of the ceiling was sagging. He could hear Munak screaming in her room, and women rushed about, some with jagged cuts from breaking glass, trying to clean it up. He strode through the house into Munak's room, pushing some of the nurses away and pulling her up in her bed. "Shh, it's okay, it's over, it's done shaking.."
"What happened?! I was asleep, and I woke up and the bed was rocking and stuff was falling and I heard screaming, I'm scared!" She cried, clutching his shirt and sobbing.
"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it, it scared me too, but I think it's over, we should be okay." He murmured, kissing her hair. He looked up at a priestess from Glast Heim, who held a wet rag to her forehead. "What happened?"
"It's called an earthquake, my lord. It happens when layers in the ground break or move against eachother. There may or may not be more, I can't say for sure. Does it happen often here? I know it does on Mt. Mjolnir, that's where I grew up.." She said, wincing and leaning back against the wall.
He shook his head. "Never happened here, not even when the demon woke. I don't understand it."
The priestess shrugged. "Well, maybe it was just building up, I don't know. We'll have to reinforce the house, though. Can you find someone to get a tree trunk to put against the ceiling?"
Bongun nodded, laying Munak down and kissing her cheek before standing. "yeah, there should be someone in town with an axe who can help, let's go. Munak, I'll be back soon, just rest now." And with that, he left the room with the priestess.
Munak blinked and curled up, but she wasn't sleepy anymore. Glancing down, she noticed a burned ember that must've rolled to her bed during the earthquake. Picking it up, though, revealed it to be a small wooden scroll-case. She picked open the case, pulling out the elaborately painted scroll and reading it. "What.."
Sungmi entered the room, carrying a tray of tea and more medicine. "My lady, is there something wrong?"
Munak lowered the scroll from her face. The kind gentleness from before had completely vanished, and was replaced by sheer anger, only restrained by her illness. "Bongun..."