The Lamp

Chapter 4

Azad's POV:

Warmth enveloped my trembling body as I fought to keep tears out of my eyes. Giving in, I sank into the arms of the scrawny street thief. Shifting around, I found myself embracing the other as I dug my face into the crook of his neck. What was I doing, I was the prince for goodness sake. Why was I trusting a stranger?

"Hey, Jamal?"

"Mhm..."

"Um, you're kinda crushing me." Blushing, I pulled back.

"Sorry." He looked away from me, the tips of his ears turning crimson. We sat there awkwardly, both not knowing what to do next before I finally decided to break the silence.

"Since there's nothing we can do now, how about you show me around the town? My friend was supposed to do that before you dragged me off." Raguul stayed silent for a moment before replying.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry about everything, for dragging you off and taking your coin. I shouldn't have done either of those things, so I'm sorry." I didn't want to keep thinking about sad things, so I just shrugged it off and gave him another brief hug.

"Like I said, how about you compensate me by showing me around." Raguul gave a curt nod before standing up and holding a hand out to me.

"Let's go then. There's still a lot to see in the city." Giving a small smile, I took his hand and followed him to the window. I raised an eyebrow.

"The window?"

Fighting black a blush, Raguul pulled me with him through the frame and jumped onto the roof of the building below.

--

Raguul's POV:

After a few hours, we found ourselves strewn out on the beach, both our tops off to the side, enjoying the last bit of sunshine as the sun set below the horizon.

"So, how was it?" I turned my head to look over at the man next to me. He was laying beside me with his eyes closed and hands under his head. I couldn't help but notice his perfectly sculpted body; suave bronze skin and perfectly sculpted muscles lined his torso as well his clearly defined abs. The one thing I noticed most was how everything in his anatomy seemed to flow together seamlessly, each limb easing into the next, giving the image of perfect smoothness and strength without the impression of having too much muscle. Before I knew it, my hand traced the chest of the godly figure beside me. I snatched it back before looking up to meet his now open eyes.

"Like what you see?" I blushed furiously before averting my eyes. He smirked but made no other comment.

"You didn't answer my question," I coughed out. He looked out towards the ocean again before replying.

"It was nice," he mused.

"Hm." Not wanting to make the situation more awkward than it already was, I accepted his answer, no matter how much I wanted to hear his velvety voice again. Wow what's wrong with me, why am I acting like this? Suddenly, Jamal shot up.

"Oh shoot, I totally forgot!"

"What happened?"

"I need to be back at the palace before dinner." Palace? Wait so he came from the palace?

"So you come from the palace?" I asked.

"I do, but that's not important," he insisted, "I have something important to do." I gave him a blank stare, waiting for him to elaborate. "I have to meet... I mean the prince has to meet a princess tonight for dinner, and I uh... have to help out. Yup help out the prince, cause that's what I do?" I gave him a skeptical look, but I didn't want him to be late, so I just nodded and went along with it.

"So you're a palace servant?" He nodded. "Okay then." I glanced at the ocean once more before grasping his hand, leading him back towards the palace.

--

As the palace gates grew nearer, Jamal steered us towards a back entrance. Suddenly, the resemblance of the servant gates to the gates my mother used to walk me through had my body started trembling. In a flash, I wasn't in front of the Inaam palace anymore, I was back to twelve years ago, on the night of the raid. Fire burst from nothing and circled me. Stomping and other loud crashes rang through my ears. The smoke was clogging my senses, and this time, I couldn't escape. Tears streaked down my face as I cried out desperately for help. My hands grasped at the air trying to find something to hold on to, something to keep me sane.

"Raguul, Raguul!" Someone is calling my name, but who? Who is it! "Raguul, wake up!" A firm shaking of my shoulders broke me from my momentary trance. "Are you okay?" the voice asked, panicked. Blinking my eyes, the world in front of me focused.

"Jamal? What happened?" Looking around, I noticed I was being propped against the outside wall of the palace.

"You passed out you moron, scared me half to death." Pouting, he scratched the back of his neck and looked away as I stood up. The silence in the air slowly transformed into a thick, awkward tension that could almost be cut by a knife.

"Sorry about that," I mumbled. He didn't reply for a while, so I continued. "Well, I guess this is the end of our journey, maybe I'll see you around? You seem like you really like the world outside the palace walls," I joked. Sensing the lift in the mood, he chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess. Until next time you fainting moron." I smiled before giving a small wave. Turning away from the palace, I took a few steps before looking back, but Jamal had already gone in. Shaking off the slight disappointment, I took off into the streets.