Realm of Noah

Chapter 4

7th November 2019

NOAH

The minute she stepped into the room, every rational thought evaporated from my mind.

Her honey-coloured eyes peered around the room, before landing onto my blue irises, fluttering away at the contact and making my heart skip a beat. I swallowed nervously, before averting my gaze from her presence, wondering why I felt so uncomfortable all of a sudden.

I could feel Augustus's beady eyes watching me carefully for any reaction. I cleared my throat, before throwing him off with my look of nonchalance.

Augustus smiled back as if he knew exactly what was going on in my head.

"Lord Augustus?"

It was her once again, her smooth voice gliding over my ears like music. I stole another discrete glance at Miss Honey Eyes here, noticing that her face was the deepest shade of ebony, glistening in the white light of Lord Augustus.

Beautiful.

"Welcome, Melody Davies," Augustus told her warmly, a stark contrast to the cruel tone he'd used on me earlier. "This is Noah Stark."

I could feel her gaze upon my face, my cheeks heating up at the thought that someone so ethereal was looking at me. I was embarrassed by my appearance, from my worn-out clothes to my barely glistening form.

Blame the Pit for that.

"Well, I'll leave the soulmates to talk," Augustus cleared his throat as he got up, offering his chair to Melody, who nearly collapsed into it as if she couldn't bear to stand anymore, like the delicate flower she was.

I cringed at my words. Why did they sound so poetic when they described her?

"Hi, Noah," She spoke my name, making my heart rate shoot up so high, it was medically impossible to measure me.

"Erm... Hi, M-Melody," I told her, hoping I didn't sound like a stuttering idiot. She giggled, confirming the fact that I did sound like a stuttering idiot.

I gave her a sheepish grin, pretending to be confident and not as insecure as I felt. My simple action made her pupils dilate considerably, and she turned her head away, almost shyly.

I swallowed. Every single thing she did affect me, I wondered if it was even normal.

Was this normal?

Is this what love felt like?

I sat up, narrowing my eyes at my choice of words.

Love?

I'd barely met Melody! How could I love her already?

This was bad. Dangerous, even.

"So, Uhm," I cleared my throat, putting a stop to my love-struck actions for a while. "You do know that I'm a criminal, right?"

"Of course," Miss Honey Eyes replied swiftly, her voice strangely titillating.

It took me a moment to shake away my poetic thoughts. And once I did, I narrowed my gaze, trying to focus on what was important.

"And, you're okay with that?" I raised an eyebrow. "I mean, Mel..." My eyes widened at the instant nickname I'd conjured up for her, which I'd thankfully turned into a cough.

She sat patiently, waiting for me to continue.

"I mean, Melody," I emphasized on all the syllables in her name. "I'm going to be stuck in the Pit for five years. Are you sure you're okay with that?"