Chapter 11

                                    

                                              
Nuwa woke up in her own room at Zifangyun Palace. She moved her head slightly to look around, taking stock of her surroundings. Based on the light coming through her windows it must be mid-morning. She tried to get up, but then fell back with a groan. Based on how stiff her muscles were, she must have slept for days.
                          
A light tap on the door preceded the voice of her grandmother.
                          
"Nuwa, Dear, are you awake?" asked Zhou Loa-Nu.
                          
"Come in, Grandmother" Nuwa replied.
                          
The door opened, and in walked the familiar figure of her grandmother, carrying a tray, accompanied by her grandfather who held the door for her.
                          
"It's good to have you back, Nuwa" her grandfather, Huang Yong, said in a gentle voice. His golden eyes crinkled in a smile.
                          
Grandmother set the tray down, and then helped Nuwa to sit up, fluffing pillows and shoving them behind her back to give her more support. She brought the tray over to the bed, and poured out a cup of tea for Nuwa.
                          
"Thank you, Grandmother!" Nuwa said after drinking the tea. It was very refreshing. She nibbled at a rice cracker from the tray. Her stomach was empty, but she ate slowly. She had gone too long without food, if she ate quickly now she might throw up.
                          
"How long was I asleep?" Nuwa asked her grandparents.
                          
Grandmother tried not to look worried, but failed. "Three days" she replied quietly.
                          
Nuwa felt her brows lift in surprise.
                          
"I asked Lord Lao to check on you, but he said you just needed rest after your Mortal Trial. Evidently it's quite an ordeal" Grandmother explained.
                          
Grandmother looked at Grandfather questioningly. He shrugged back at her. Both of them had been born as mortals and were reincarnated to the Heavenly Realm after death. They were not required to participate in a Mortal Trial.
                          
Nuww looked down at her hands, her fingers picking at a loose thread on top of her blanket. She was feeling guilty. She knew that the real reason she had been so tired was not due to the Mortal Trial.
                          
Tangyue had pushed her body to the limit, and she had let him. She didn't know how to tell anyone what had happened. She wasn't entirely sure herself. She couldn't really remember how it had all started, but once she was in it, there was no going back. She had surrendered complete control of her body to Tangyue, and enjoyed every second of it. The way he made her body feel was incredible. But she knew it was wrong.
                          
Her bottom lip trembled as she contemplated how disappointed her grandparents would be with her if they knew what she had done. A tear leaked out of her eye and dropped onto her blanket. She hurriedly wiped her eyes, hoping that her grandparents wouldn't notice.
                          
"Nuwa, Dear, I think you need some more rest" said Grandmother kindly.
                          
She took away the tea things, and leaned in for a hug, Grandfather following. They quietly backed out of the room, giving each other worried looks when they thought she wouldn't notice. She rolled over in her bed, her back to the door, and stared at the wall.
                          
She thought about Tangyue. He had said that he loved her, and demanded that she marry him. She had agreed. She had thought that when he said he had to take her back to the Heavenly Realm, it was in order to arrange their marriage.
                          
She was surprised by the reception that she got from her family. All of them seemed to be under the impression that she had only just returned from her Mortal Trial. They didn't even know that her Trial had ended a week before. They hadn't missed her at all.
                          
When she had spied Tangyue on the staircase ahead of her, a long way off in the distance, she had gotten very confused. She couldn't believe that he had just left.
                          
"Where is he going?" she had asked herself anxiously. She had been under the impression that he was going to ask Father for her hand in marriage right then and there.
                          
Uncle Yanyou had popped up in front of her then, distracting her.
                          
"Welcome back, my Beauty!" Uncle Yanyou had exclaimed. He grabbed her into a big hug, whirling her around in a circle, while Mother laughed behind them. The whirling had made her so dizzy, she couldn't stand up again. She thought she remembered being carried up the stairs in her father's strong arms, but that memory was fuzzy.
                          
"Why had Tangyue left?" she asked herself, agonizing over the question. Had she done something wrong? Said something wrong? Had he changed his mind?
                          
Her stomach hurt. It felt like a stone sinking to the bottom of a pond. She hugged herself, her knees curled up to her chest. It was harder to breathe this way, but it was the only thing helping her stomach pain.
                          
"What should I do?" she whispered to herself.