Kissed by Chaos

Kissed by Chaos (28) - Lost

Kissed by Chaos

Chapter 28 - Lost

The sun had admitted defeat and left the sky in the hands of the moon by the time I had finally relented and admitted I was tired. Mother had been pushing me to go home for hours, but I kept reminding her that I had only days to practice. It was wise to make the most of every moment. 

A light breeze pleasantly chilled my sweaty arms as we walked. It was a welcome change to the intense heat of the sun that had been beating down mercilessly on my back all day. My whole body begged me for a bath, followed straight after by hours of rest.

In truth I had performed no energy taxing physical task. Even so, the sheer willpower and concentration it took to perform and repeat that one spell over and over was unimaginable. My brain throbbed angrily in my skull and the rest of my body ached in harmony with it.

Though I felt like letting my knees give way underneath me and succumbing to sleep in the bed of weeds beneath my feet, I was still able to relish the sweetness of success.

I could hardly believe it but somehow I had gained control of the counter curse that was so pivotal in fighting and possibly defeating Dunya. I glanced over at my mother’s lean figure walking a few steps ahead of me. It was her own strength that had brought out the same kind of strength in me. I had few companions by my side in this battle but my mother alone was worth a hundred. 

As the thought of companions floated through my mind, it brought in tow behind it the thought of Raafi.

I silently cursed myself. I had finally gone for two whole minutes without thinking of him. Anyway, what right did I have thinking of him so often? That right now belonged to Princess Amira. Raafi’s future had been planned out for him even before he was born. If not Princess Amira, he would have ended up with some other exotic princess of impressive lineage. He would have grown old with whichever princess he chose who would give birth to children to lead his empire after his death. A man like Raafi did not have the time to waste on a girl like me – a girl with no wealth to her name, nor a single drop of noble blood in her scrawny little body.

 I shook my head furiously and once again began a mental timer to see how long I could go without thinking of Raafi. After all, why would I waste my time thinking about Raafi when he certainly was not thinking about me? God damn it, he had somehow crept into my thoughts all over again.

 Would I ever gain any peace?

 “Are you still there? You haven’t lost your way, have you?” asked Mother. I glanced up to see her watching me inquisitively.

 “Sorry?”

“Well, you are so silent it is almost as if you are not walking with me,” she replied with a bemused smile.

 “O-oh. I was just, uh, thinking,” I said, hoping my reply was dull enough for mother to turn around and keep walking. Unfortunately, it was not.

 “About?” she pushed, her eyebrows arched.

 “I was just thinking that the news of Prince’s Raafi’s engagement is… a bit sudden,” I said, choosing my words very carefully.

 Mother crinkled her forehead in thought. “You know Claire, I was thinking the same thing. But if I think about it, it is not really that sudden. If I remember correctly, Princess Amira and Raafi were matched at a very young age.” 

 “Who is Princess Amira?” I braved, not quite wanting to hear the reply.

 “She is the daughter of King Hamza, the only princess of the Kingdom of Ramadi. You can understand why King Hamza fawns over her so much,” Mother explained.