Kissed by Chaos

Kissed by Chaos (16) - Desert

Kissed by Chaos

Chapter 16 - Desert

Raafi could not fathom how at peace he felt as he stared out at the endless expanse of rich, dark sand, and the sun beating relentlessly down on it. He stood for a moment, his eyes closed, breathing in the rich scents of unpolluted air and salt. He had only been away for a short time, but it was still the longest time he had been away from Arabia.

“I know how you feel,” murmured Sami, who was standing beside him with an equally blissful expression on his face. At the sound of very unladylike cursing, he turned around and wearily ran a hand through his hair. Raafi turned just in time to see Elisabeth stumble over the edge of the boat and land ungracefully on the sand. The expression on her face was murderous, and turned even darker as she looked up to see Claire’s barely repressed laughter. Raafi could not restrain his smile as he watched Claire crack up into a fit of laughter, her face turning as red as a tomato and her hand clapped against her mouth. If he needed any proof that she was not a Jinni, then this was it.

Claire looked up suddenly and their eyes met for an instance. In that instance, the smile was wiped clean from her face. Instead, she soberly pulled Elisabeth to her feet and quietly walked over the wet sand toward them. Raafi could not blame her for her sudden change in attitude. He had been anything but welcoming and kind – a tiny inkling of his fear for the creature that she may be haunted his words and actions, preventing him from being his usual self around her.

Raafi turned to his tired horse who had been waiting for him for days. “What a good girl you are,” he murmured into her ear, which flicked up at the sound of his voice. He rested his forehead against hers, staring absently into the dark pits of her eyes.

“Hey, you alright Raafi?” Sami said, pushing gently against his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Raafi mumbled in reply, and straightened up. “Shall we go back home now?”

--

 The sound of irritated muttering carried through the wind toward Sami and Raafi. Sami chuckled with a shake of his head and whispered, “That Claire girl is definitely not the monster of their family. I suspect Elisabeth.”

Raafi choked down laughter and glanced back at the two of them. Claire walked with her eyes focused intently in front of her, avoiding her sister’s gaze. Elisabeth was shooting laser beams into Claire’s back as she raced to catch up to her brisk pace. As they walked, Elisabeth yelled threats and angry remarks to Claire, probably under the assumption that neither he nor Sami would be able to understand them. Unfortunately, they did.

“I cannot believe you have willingly put us in the hands of these two... creatures! Have you any idea of what they could possibly do to us? Why, they could simply throttle us to death in those humongous hands of theirs and bury us in this godforsaken sand. Who would find us then, Claire? Hmm?”

Raafi was surprised that she still had enough energy to yell at her sister so fiercely. Raafi himself was drenched in sweat. His dry tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and his legs felt as though they had been weighted down with lead. This endless walking had taken a toll on his body and all he wanted to do now was drop down onto the rough bed of sand and sleep.

Claire continued walking, her eyes darkening with every word her sister uttered. Raafi turned back to Sami, and muttered, “I know what you mean. I guess I can’t blame her though... we must seem like aliens to them.”

“Don’t worry,” Sami said, elbowing Raafi in the ribs playfully. “Perhaps Claire likes aliens.”

Raafi glared at him and kept walking. “Then she’ll like you.”