Kissed by Chaos

Kissed by Chaos (27) - Revelations

Kissed by Chaos

Chapter 27 - Revelations

The courtyard was blissfully silent. Diligent guards stood stiffly at their posts but aside from them, Raafi was alone. But I am never really alone, he thought regretfully. 

He was at the furthest end of the courtyard where its architectural magnificence panned out before him. Raafi sat on the hard earth which had only recently warmed by the setting sun. He leaned his head against the cool, stone bench which he and Claire had sat on what seemed like an age ago. He smiled to himself as he recalled her alarmed expression when he had asked her if a life together would have been so terrible. She did not know it, but he had not been fully joking.

Eyes closed, Raafi inhaled deeply and breathed in the smell of the night racing toward Mirzan. It smelt of humidity, of the teasing saltiness of a rare breeze. He took in the almost sickeningly sweet scent of fresh dates still clinging to trees, mingling with the calming coolness of rose water. Somewhere in the still air was the gloriously warm smell of honey, laced ever so slightly with the soothing scent of peppermint. Raafi buried his head in his hands. The night smelt of Claire. Or had he already lost his mind?

That afternoon, Raafi had obediently joined the king and queen of Mirzan as well as Amira and her family for lunch. King Hamza had slapped him happily on the back, overjoyed that the date of the wedding was so close to being set.

Amidst all the planning, Raafi caught himself studying Amira to try and understand why his heart was no longer curious about her. But no – nothing about Amira had changed. Her eyes still brimmed with curiosity and wonder every time she looked at him. She still had that air of quiet confidence. And there was no denying that Amira was beautiful – in fact, her beauty could rival that of any woman’s.

Yet she no longer intrigued him the way she had the first time they had met. Raafi knew her story from beginning to end. She was a princess, a daughter of a very rich man. None of her heart’s desires had remained unfulfilled. Like Raafi, Amira’s future had been planned out for her the moment she was born. Raafi was not curious about her because he already had all the answers. Claire, however, did not know the answers to her own mystery herself. Her mystery still waited to be solved and Raafi wanted nothing more than to solve it with her.

Raafi wished he could keep his eyes closed like this for eternity. The shroud of darkness protected him from the horrors of the world and its devastating schemes and ploys.

Why was it that out there in the light his own family, his own heart betrayed him? Why couldn’t he decide anything in life for himself? Every piece of the puzzle of his life was meticulously put in place for him. There were no spaces in between those pieces for trial and error, for making mistakes. 

Frustration ebbed in every pore of his body. It was frightening to him that such an enormous amount of emotion could be contained in one human body. No, he could not possibly face the world without exploding.

Raafi winced at the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. As he inched open his eyes to see who dared disturb him, a groan of annoyance escaped him. He pulled his eyes shut once again as a gigantically tall frame crashed down next to him.

“I am not in the mood for your wise cracks, Sami,” Raafi warned as Sami nudged him with his shoulder.

“I do not have wise cracks, my friend, only wise words,” he replied cheerfully. His words then took on a more serious tone. “You know, I never would have thought it possible for Prince Raafi to bend to his father’s will without putting up a fight.” There was a note of nostalgia in Sami’s voice, a yearning for times gone by when things were much closer to simple.