2nd of Sun's Dawn, 4E 206

Lying in bed, I downed yet another cup of heated water, hoping that the warmth would somehow soothe my sore throat and bring my voice back. As far as I could tell, all it did was burn my tongue.

I had to try to speak, though. It was the only way to find out if it worked this time. "My name is..." I rasped, words breaking the moment they left my tongue. I coughed and pounded a fist to my chest.

The door to the bedroom swung open, and Vilkas stepped inside. He gave me a weak smile as he shut the door behind him and crossed the room to the bedside. "Still having trouble, love?"

I nodded. "I don't know what happened."

His expression turned pitiful. "Bless your heart, you sound awful." He cupped a hand to my face. "I mean no offense, of course."

A flicker of a grin quirked at the corner of my mouth. "None taken."

"I stopped by Arcadia's, to see if she had anything to help you. She said that brewing some mountain flower tea should help."

I raised an eyebrow. "What, no healing potion?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, dear. Tilma's upstairs brewing the tea right now."

I nodded and sank deeper into my pillows. "Warm tea would probably do better than warm water." I glanced at the empty cup on the nightstand. "I'm willing to try anything right about now."

"Perhaps it would do you good to stop talking altogether. At least until you recover."

I nodded again. "Maybe. But not yet." I sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard. "How are you healing?"

He shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "Fine, but I've been wondering if I'm getting too old for this. Gods know I don't heal like I used to."

I smiled. "You're not old. Stop saying that. We were outnumbered. Fourteen on two is hardly a fair fight."

He dropped his gaze, a thoughtful look on his face. He appeared to be reliving our last adventure; perhaps he was trying to find flaws or find out what we did wrong.

"Vilkas, you know exactly what happened," I said after we had been silent for a time. "We walked right into a trap. We didn't do anything wrong."

"We could've been killed." He locked gazes with me again and pressed his palm to my cheek. "We would've been killed, if you hadn't Shouted when you did."

"And look where I am now: voiceless. Even if I could talk normally, I don't think I could Shout."

"Don't fret about it. You'll recover soon enough." He leaned forward and planted a kiss to my forehead. "Now, please stop talking."

I glared at him, opening my mouth to retort, but he placed a finger on my lips to shush me.

"Do you want to get better or not?"

I opened my mouth again, and this time, Vilkas put his whole hand over it. "Don't answer verbally."

I continued to glare daggers at him. Gods, I hate you sometimes.

He grinned, and it was an awfully smug grin. "I'll take your silence as a 'yes.'"

I shook my head, shoving his hand away from my mouth.

"If I'm honest, your voice sounds better than it did yesterday," he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "This time tomorrow, you'll be back to nagging my ears off."

Gasping, I sat up straighter and swatted his shoulder. "I don't nag!"

He winced. "You're not supposed to be speaking, and don't slap my wounded shoulder. I was only joking. I said it because I knew you'd yell at me."

I crossed my arms, glare back on my face. "Insufferable," I whispered. "You are absolutely insufferable."

"Yet you're the one who won't stop talking, even though it would most certainly help you recover faster."

"If I could Shout right now—"

"You'd Shout me through a wall?"

I pursed my lips, scowling at him. "No. I would call Odahviing and ask him if dragons lose their Voices when they Shout too quickly."

"Hmm. Perhaps you could ask him later, when your Voice comes back."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Ylva, don't be so frightened. You once told me you have the ability to Shout because you have a dragon's soul trapped within a your human body. You didn't lose that soul, so you didn't lose your ability to Shout. Besides," He leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss on the lips, "it wouldn't be the end of the world if you couldn't Shout anymore. You'd still be you."

"I don't know, Vilkas." I still spoke at a whisper; it was not as harsh as on my voice, and I was able to speak without my words breaking. "It might just be the end of the world. My Voice saved the world twice, after all."

"Now who's insufferable?" He shook his head and pulled back. "I promise your Voice is fine. It'll come back soon."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, then it was broken by a soft knock at the door. Vilkas answered it, letting Tilma inside. She carried the teapot and small cups on a tray, which she set down on the nightstand beside me.

"Since Ylva can't speak, I will thank you for the both of us," said Vilkas, smiling at the old maid.

"It's my job, Vilkas. If you need anything else, just holler for me."

"Thank you again."

She left the room, letting the door click shut behind her. Vilkas poured a cup of the tea, then handed it to me.

I got a whiff of the steam curling from the cup, and my nose wrinkled. "It smells... like a meadow. Is it really safe to drink?"

"People make potions from mountain flowers. I don't see how this is much different."

I held the cup to my lips, taking a cautious sip. The heat from the tea burned my lips and tongue, and the taste nearly made me spit it back out. I never thought I would find something worse than a healing potion.

"Gods, Vilkas, this is awful." I coughed as the first mouthful slid down my throat. "Do I have to drink all of it?"

"Not all at once, but yes. Do you want to get better or not?"

I pouted, fingers still laced around the warm ceramic of the mug.

"That's what I thought. Drink up."

I took another drink, shuddering at the taste. "I hate you right now."

Vilkas smirked at me, laughing slightly. "I can live with that, as long as this helps you."

-------

I got the idea for this short story after I lost my own voice last Thursday, and had to give a speech the very next night. It went better than expected, but I still can't speak properly. At any rate, I thought it would be interesting to see what Ylva would do if she lost her voice. Cuteness ensued, and this is the result.

To those who requested stories all those weeks ago, do not fret! I'm going to work on them as soon as I get past this writer's block and back in the groove of writing. I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get them written!
To those who don't have requests waiting to be written, don't be afraid to make a request! I can't promise it'll be up soon, but I will promise that I will do my absolute best to get it published in a timely fashion.

That's all for now. Until next time! Love and sweetrolls!
~WG 💙