Summer Beyond the Frontier

3 The encounter

Abigail had made a beautiful dress for her mother. A silky fine dress with stealthy pink shade as its undertone. She had single-handedly embroidered the flowery pattern and as a proud seamstress that she had become, she was eager to show her mother.

She has pondered on what path she would rather walk in and though she loved to wield her sword, and craft her martial art till she was capable enough to fight on the battlefield, she still did not desire to defy her mother since her matters had been the reason her mother had solely confided in the maiden's quarters without interfering in the affairs of the main Pavillion with her father.

Her father, Westward on the other hand had planned all his life to individualize his children to not just be fit for society as a saviour but to also fight against their enemies and he wasn't willing to allow gender to come against his plans.

But now, Abigail was ripe to choose what path she truly desired if it was to be a warrior or a woman and as she stared at the dress in her hands, her happiness seemed to grow beyond the horizon.

As she joyfully trotted to the maiden quarter, she saw a figure peeping through the broken part of the fence. The maidens quarter was a place not to be entered by any man. The punishment of which was so severe that you would walk the town's market, naked for three days and get stoned by all the maidens of Northwave for those days. A few men who were caught doing this had not been able to survive the stonings which automatically means death.

However, there was an exception to this general rule which means only the leader of Northwave and his sons could go into the maiden's quarter without facing the wrath of its punishment.

But the man who was peeping was neither Abigail's father, nor her brothers.

Abigail sneaked behind him and with all cautiousness and being unnoticed, she withdrew her dagger, placing it directly by his nape.

He felt the coldness of the metal and immediately knew he had been caught. He raised his hands in defence without turning around.

"Reveal yourself!" Abigail's voice came out rasped but stern.

While her other hand held her mother's dress tightly to her side, her other hand which was holding the dagger never loosened its grip.

As the man was going to turn around, she increased the intensity of her grip on the dagger, piercing through his skin.

"Remain still while you answer me! A little scream from me would cost you your life."

"You asked me to reveal myself. How will I do that without turning around?"

Abigail reasoned with him and when she lost her guard a little bit, the man flipped around hurriedly, grabbing Abigail's wrist and hitting her to weaken her grasp on the dagger but Abigail was faster than he was as she held his shoulder and flipped him around, landing him on the ground.

He groaned with his eyes shut, relieving in the pain for a swift second only to be met by the coldness of the metal again but this time, tightly by his throat.

A flash of fear masked his face as he looked down at the closeness of the dagger to his throat.

"Who are you?" she asked and only then did he look at her face.

As their gaze met, a struck of emotions hit them like a tidal wave but Abigail was caught in the beauty of his eyes.

He had fox-like eyes that articulated the beauty of the lost fairy tale in one of the fairytale books she had read. He has a surreal face that portrays his lush white skin as a work of art.

Abigail's grip had loosened but they both wouldn't move. While Abigail was lost in this man's beauty, so was the man. He had almost in his entire life, never seen anyone as beautiful as she was.

The way her braided ponytail fell to her shoulder and strands of stray hairs flowed across her face with the sunlight shining brightly behind her, casting a graceful glow to her enormous beauty.

He was speechless but still needed to reply her.

"I am Gordon Lus." he replied and only his voice brought her back to her senses.

She coughed, clearing her throat but still hadn't gotten up. Their faces neared each other and with every passing second, it drew closer and closer and their lips were almost at reach when they heard a voice coming in the distance from the maiden's quarters.

"Oh no!" Abigail said as she hurried up.

Gordon still had his eyes fixed on her and not for a second did he take his eyes off her.

Truly, her ethereal beauty was one he had never witnessed in his lifetime.

"We need to leave! No, we need to run, hide!"

"We?" Gordon managed to speak without breaking his gaze from her.

Abigail, grabbed the silk dress from the ground and grabbed Gordon by his wrist with her hand that was holding her dagger, and began to run towards the eastern courtyard.

****
The eastern courtyard was far away from the Maiden's quarter but closer to Abigail's wing. It was the only courtyard that had a secret passway which many does not use. It was one of the quiet places in Northwave and the best place Abigail could think of to drag Gordon to.

While in the courtyard, still breathing heavily, Abigail placed the dress on the table, dusting her dress and adjusting it without looking up at Gordon's face.

They remained quiet for a few seconds while Gordon's eyes were still fixed on her, making Abigail feel uncomfortable —a feeling she never remembered feeling.

"Why do you stare at me?" she grabbed a seat, settling in it without meeting Gordon's gaze.

"Why did you do that?" he asked instead.

Abigail finally raised her face to look at him and the intimidating eyes were boldly staring back at her, causing her legs to weaken.

"I asked you first." she tried to maintain her composure, slowly raising her eyes to meet his.

"You are the most beautiful being, amongst humans and animals and even everything that has a life that I had ever laid my eyes on."

"What?"

"I'm saying, that is why I stare at you. You do not seem real. Your beauty seems so unreal, I can't believe it."