Autumn passed.
Lu Yan woke up early. Reading, writing and memorizing the scrolls assigned by master, and brought to her by Afei, took up the mornings. After lunch, she sat in a side room in Lu Feng's courtyard copying literature scrolls. It was alright- a good chance to improve her calligraphy. Evenings, Lu Yan walked back slowly to her own courtyard, and read more.
Luizhu grew increasingly distant. Lu Feng was always busy.
Echo kept rising up to look out of Lu Yan's eyes startling whoever was in the room with her.
Lu Yan rarely talked to Echo. Even so, the person she talked to most became this chilling voice in her head.
A heavy blanket of grey-ness descended on Lu Yan. She felt exhausted even though all she was doing was sitting and writing all day.
Lu Feng watched her day after day. That night of terror slowly faded, and he saw just an obedient, lonely little girl entering and leaving his courtyard day after day.
She was nothing like Lu Lin or Lu An who were mischievous, playful and spent all day running around, making any room they were in lively.
Lu Yan lived silently, doing as she was told, and rarely spoke.
He remembered that night in the ancestral hall, how she'd looked up at him with relief and trust in her big eyes. Increasingly, he felt like his unease was unjustified.
This little girl was quiet as a shadow.
---
One day, as he watched her diligently copy the scrolls, Lu Feng said, "I'll take you out to play. Do you want to come along?"
Lu Yan looked up. The greyness receded a bit. With interest, she asked, "Out where?"
Lu Feng looked at her eager eyes and felt guilty for keeping her at a distance. She was only a child. "To Ning city," he said.
Lu Yan felt a sudden tectonic shift in her mind as Echo rose with all her might, screaming and trying to take up all the space.
Hurriedly, she looked down, hiding her eyes from Lu Feng's gaze, and continued copying.
'No. No. Noooo! Don't go!'
Lu Yan felt dizzy. She pushed down the voice in her head.
Without looking at Lu Feng, she said lightly, "Alright. Let's go to Ning city."
Lu Feng smiled, watching her write for a moment longer, before saying, "Alright. I'll make preparations."
He turned around and walked away.
Lu Yan dropped the brush and clutched her head with both hands. Vicious stabbing bursts of pain made her eyes water.
'I won't go. I won't go.' Echo was chanting shrilly.
'Why are you so deranged?' Lu Yan asked. 'Can't you give me some peace and quiet?'
Echo ignored her and continued screaming, 'I won't go. You can't make me. No. No. No. I won't go.'
Lu Yan heard footsteps outside, and immediately straightened and picked up her brush, trying to hide her eyes and her abnormality.
The footsteps passed by, thankfully not entering. Lu Yan kept her head bowed, her eyes watering, her head being stabbed. If she could just get through this moment, this stupid thing inside her would shut up and she could continue her work.
Echo didn't shut up. No matter how Lu Yan pushed, pulled, cajoled, the voice seemed to not hear her at all.
Soon, Lu Yan couldn't stand it. She rose to her feet, clutching her head, and stumbled over the table. Scrolls scattered everywhere. Ink splashed.
Vision twisting, Lu Yan hurriedly kneeled again, wiping the ink with her sleeve, gathering the scrolls.
She staggered out of her brother's courtyard, stumbled over the deserted path to her courtyard, somehow made it to her room, and collapsed into bed.
Closing her eyes tightly, clutching her aching temples with both hands, she found a small measure of relief.
Her head really hurt. She whimpered from the pain, pressing her face into the bedding, trying not to let sound escape.
Thankfully, she soon fell into unconsciousness.
---
When Lu Yan woke up, it was already next morning. She'd slept half-a-day and all night.
Lu Yan washed her face. Her eyes were swollen. Her head ached dully. Her body weighed more than it should.
Last night's dinner, now cold, was still on the room. Lu Yan ate dispassionately, then stumbled back to bed, crawling into the sheets and curling up like a wounded animal.
Late in the afternoon, Lu Feng looked into the room where Lu Yan worked. Inside, he didn't see the girl but found disorganized scrolls and dry ink stains covering half the scrolls.
Frowning, he asked the servants, and found she hadn't appeared at all.
He asked someone to clean up the scrolls and went to find her.
Her courtyard was deserted, not a single maid was keeping watch or bustling around. He knocked on her door, but no one answered.
Pushing the door open, he found a tray containing uneaten breakfast. Unlike his breakfast of pancakes and soup, hers was plain porridge.
"Lu Yan?" he called out.
Walking deeper into the room, he found the little girl curled up in bed. Her face was scrunched up in a deep frown. He poked her forehead, trying to wake her up. She was radiating heat, and wouldn't wake up.
He shook her shoulder. She groaned and opened her eyes a silver. He caught a glimpse of one dark and one light pupil before her eyelids dropped again.
Startled, he took two steps back and stopped trying to wake her up. Instead, he walked out of the room and sent his personal servant to call for the family doctor.
He waited outside the door for the doctor to arrive/ Looking at the deserted courtyard, his mind kept ruminating over her strange eyes.
When the old doctor arrived, he exclaimed that Lu Yan had high fever. Pinching the bridge of her nose tightly for a minute, he managed to wake the little girl up and forced her to drink medicine.
Seeing her two colored eyes, the doctor was also startled.
As soon as the bowl of medicine was empty, Lu Yan fell back into bed and closed her eyes again.
The doctor glanced at Lu Feng, asking hesitantly, "What's wrong with her eyes?"
Lu Feng shook his head.
Seeing his lips tightly pressed together, the doctor didn't ask again.