The strong winds hustled the leaves of the freshly blossom maple trees that sprung in the common garden . After a long day of work in the sun, the trees basked joyfully in the shade of the night. As the beautiful flowers sprung into full bloom , the common garden turned into a concoction of the most heavenly smells ever.
It was a full moon night that meant all the wild animals and insects were out of their hiding.
Admist all this sat a grim looking Norah alone on a wooden bench of the common garden. quietly inhaling the scented fresh air . The breeze tickled her hair and strands came out loose blowing all over her face.
But Norah couldn't care less for she was lost in a far more deep thought. The history session with Erik had been more exhausting than she had anticipated and had plunged herself down a difficult road. All that information had started churning through her mind, turning it into a mess for it was beyond her comprehension .
"Sitting her all by yourself what happened to your boyfriend!", said a husky voice from behind which Norah knew by heart .
She looked up to see the handsome face of Rafael Raffique dressed smartly in a black shirt with grey pants and a brown belt wrapped around his waist, hanging from which was a three feet long formidable looking sword.
"Why the hell is he carrying that?" thought Norah to herself before pondering over the question he had just asked her. "Her Boyfriend?, Who?".
Norah opened her mouth to ask him that but surprisingly words didn't came out.
A shiver went down her spine as all of a sudden an immense attack of deja vu hit her. She remembered the last time she had seen Rafael alone at night in this very garden was the night of the murder . He looked so dangerous and powerful that night but right now when Norah looked at him, ironically she didn't feel scared. This was surprising for she was an eyewitness of Rafael's capabilities . But a strange feeling of protection overwhelmed her feeling him standing so close to her.
Rafael snapped his fingers infront of her eyes, "You will say something or you will just stare at me?", said he cockily.
"I.. Uh... I.. No", stammered Norah as she snapped out of her thoughts. She felt her cheeks burn red and desperately hoped that Rafael won't notice the red tinge in the dark
"You look cute when you blush like that!", smirked Rafael.
Norah squeezed her eyes shut and cursed her stars again for she was ashamed of herself for the hundredth time . She then opened them up slowly and attempted to formulate her next sentence.
She looked at Rafael who was now staring at her with raised eyebrows, apparently enjoying her embarrassment. Norah felt a warm feeling sweep through her whole body as her legs went weak.
Nevertheless she mustered her courage and finally spoke, "Firstly if you were talking about Erik, then he isn't my boyfriend. Also I wasn't staring at you.. I.. I.. I was thinking about something else.", said Norah stammering.
"Great! This was all for being confident!" said she and cursed herself.
Rafael raised her eyebrows and looked at her silently. Norah felt her cheeks burn again under his quiet gaze.
"Maybe i got the wrong expression from you hugging him that other day!", said he softly and started walking away from there.
Norah was taken aback at his words. His accusing tone made her feel uneasy as an obvious question slipped into her mind, of she couldn't find a plausible answer to .
She hurriedly got up from her seat. She was about to set foot in dangerous territories but she couldn't help herself , "You saw me that day right? In the field hugging Erik after i had witnessed the murder!", she called after Rafael.
Rafael stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. He gave her a piercing look "I caught you barely after a few footsteps", said he sharply.
Norah walked towards him slowly. She looked straight into his beautiful golden brown eyes although it took a hell lot of a courage to do so. She needed to ask that question, "Why did you let me go?", she said softly.
Rafael looked at her with a quizzical expression.
"I was an eyewitness to your crime. Why did you let me go?" she asked again, stepping closer to him. She could sense the heat and power radiating out of his body.
Rafael snorted lightly , "So are you saying that I should have murdered you?" he asked mockingly.
Norah stared at him unfazed. She wasn't in the mood to joke and he realised that for she noticed his eyes had started turning golden from brown . He may have spoken to her in a mocking tone but she did caught the hitch in his voice and that puzzled her further.
She nodded her head, "Yes! Logically you should have!", said she softly.
The smirk on Rafael's face got wiped away as his mocking look turned suddenly into a grim expression when he heard those words leave her mouth. His eyes that had held amusement a second before, now, for some reason held hurt in them.
"Because", he replied after a few seconds , "I am no murderer. I cannot just murder anyone as and when i like . Least of all you!", said Rafael softly.
Those last words rolled of his tongue as slowly as ever and contained so much of a warmth in it that Norah could literally feel her stomach burn through. She looked at him and was taken aback. His eyes instead of holding the usual arrogance or pride held a deep intense emotion in them.
She had never seen something enchanting before and she just continued to stare at them while the warmth radiating out of him engulfed her completely. It was at that moment she felt something move deep within her chest, something extremely powerful , something both scary and pleasurable at the same time, something that she had never felt before.
After a couple of seconds of silence when none had spoken, Rafael finally broke the eye contact and stepped back . This made Norah snap out of her trance as all her thoughts came crashing down. She hurriedly took a step back as she rubbed her red face with her hands trying to slow down her breath for she had unconsciously started to hyperventilate .
"I.. uh.. I should be going! I have practice to do!", stammered Rafael as he tugged on his sword that hung from his belt .
Norah looked at him, her face was still red, "okay!", said she nodding her head.
Rafael looked up and smiled at her . He was about to turn around when a thought stuck Norah , "Rafael!", she called out.
"What?", asked he nonchalantly as his calm causal demeanour returned.
Norah took a step towards him, "Teach me how to fight!", she declared.
Rafael looked at her with eyebrows raised, "WHAT ?".
Norah nodded her head, "Yes! You are the best warrior I know of! I don't want you to protect me. I want to to be capable enough to take care of myself! I need to learn how to fight, and you can teach me that!", said Norah explaining herself.
Rafael stood there silently taking in all that she said. He was impressed by her determination and courage. Norah might not have any reasonable skills but she certainly did not lack boldness and that has always intrigued him.
"Why don't you ask Zoya to do that?" he asked .
Norah shook her head, "Zoya is an amazing mage. But i have seen you fight. No doubt! You are a better warrior. Please help me!", said Norah literally begging infront him. She so desperately wanted him to say yes. She had seen him in a combat, he was unmatched and it was high time she also learned how to use her powers .
Rafael stood there silently for a few seconds pondering over what Norah said,
Finally he opened his mouth to speak " It won't be easy!", said he grimly .
Norah nodded her head, "I don't expect it to be and I am read to do anything. Please just help me out!", said she again.
Rafael sighed, "Fine meet me here tomorrow at 8 o'clock!", said he .
The smile that spread on Norah's face as soon as she heard those words, filled Rafael's heart with warmth and love for it was the most genuine thing he had ever seen. It almost made him reciprocate it.
"I will be there!" Thank you!", said Norah softly.
——————
"She has stopped crying now, Sir. And has calmed down.", said the nurse .
Frabal nodded his head, "Thanks Heaven!", said he . "I will come along in a few minutes and check on her".
The nurse nodded her head, bowed respectfully and then left Frabal's private office shutting the door carefully behind her.
Frabal sighed as he looked down. The large mahogany desk in his private chambers had completely disappeared under a huge pile of letters, mails, parchments, books and ink-pots.
Normally he was a disciplinarian who liked to keep things tidy, but of lately so much has happened that he just couldn't organise everything and keep track of all the events at the same time. Also a lot of it was confidential that made it impossible for him to allow a cleaning maid inside his private chambers .
Frabal picked up a brown coloured envelope from the top of the lot. It was addressed as his trade name "Fredrick Noran" and it said that it came from a trader name Jefferson of Bromdigon.
"Ellusiona!",said Frabal softly and blue magic flowed out of his hands and went and infused in the letter. Within seconds the writings on the envelope disappeared and in bold black letters the following word resurfaced.
"VERTIS!"
The code word for all their rendezvous meetings.
Frabal already knew that it was a code for the letter was actually from Duke Jacob of Bromdigon who had signed himself as Jefferson trading company .
He also knew that the entire letter was written in codes to hide it from Duke Albastor. For the duke ran a pretty tight ship around the Draken City and he had ears all over the place, if he found out that Duke Jacob was communicating with them the latter would be dead before they knew it. This was also the reason why the core letter was actually coded and not just magically protected for anyone could break through the simple illusion spells.
Frabal opened the letter and read it again for the hundredth time,
"FOUND A NEW FISH IN THE ETERNAL SEA! I AM SURE IT WILL MAKE A GREAT ITEM FOR TRADING. BUT THE FISH GETS BAD QUICKLY. SO WE HAVE TO MAKE THE NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS. IF YOU CAN COLLABORATE WITH US IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL
YOUR SINCERELY,
JEFFERSON TRADING UNIT"
Frabal sighed as he folded the letter back. It was not good news!
The fish meant that Duke had yet again found a disturbing piece of news about Duke Albastor which would warn them of the upcoming situations. But the news have to be conveyed as early as possible for any delay would mean the situation going out of hand before they can stop it. And hence he wanted to meet in person.
Frabal massaged his headache as a throbbing headache ailed him. In the past few weeks, Duke Jacob has given them disastrous news about all the mischievous plannings of Duke Albastor. There had been rumours of heavy armoury being stocked up in the palace, felonious criminals coming to meet the duke and laws being broken every now & then. It was obvious he was building an army and helping him was that obnoxious Lieutenant Lucifer of Kratar.
But that was not all for Frabal , there was an increasing unrest among his people too. All of them were on the verge of declaring a war against the dukes . George had mailed him every single day asking his permission to unleash the army, he did not know how long he can hold of.
But Frabal had refused him every single time for before anything happens he wanted Norah to be taken off the boundaries of Draxal Makuto. Despite the constant reassurance of King Raheen that said Gregor would not touch the children , Frabal wanted Norah away from the wicked headmaster as much as possible.
He sighed again! He hadn't had a wink of sleep last night. Taking care of everything plus maintaining his trading business had really taken a toll on him. Right now he was due to meet with the king and together they were going off to meet someone important. A lot of stake dependent on today's meet and that hasn't allowed Frabal a moment of peace since yesterday.
Not to mention his niece had been crying continuously, apparently that four year old kid missed her elder sister.
He dropped the letter back on the pile and decided he would answer to Duke Jacob later . Right now, he should get going if he didn't want to be late.
He stepped away from the desk and went and grabbed his coat & hat from behind the door. He put on his long coat, his large hat and also his travel boots. He had no idea how long would he have to travel and he didn't want to be recognised.
He stretched out his palm and whispered a few incantations. A beautiful wooden framed portrait unhooked itself from the wall and flew straight into his palm.
It was a portrait of him, his sister and his brother in law linking arms with each other grinning straight ahead at the painter. The very same portrait which Norah had seen on her first visit here.
"Huh!", sighed Frabal as the memory of the day when this portrait was made reflected in his mind crystal clear.
No worries, no stress and no responsibilities! He was guiltlessly happy for he had just heard the good news that he was gonna be an uncle! He didn't even look twice at his steps in those days for Selene always had his back. After all he was the spoiled younger brother.
Frabal kept the portrait back on the wall before tears threatened to spilled in his eyes. He cannot let 19 year old memories come gushing back in and mess up his mind. He had tasks to accomplish today .
Frabal made his way solemnly towards the nursery located on the top floor. He wanted to meet someone before he went away. He opened the door slowly and saw Gomez sitting on the bed sorrunded by all her toys, holding a red coloured book in her hands.
She looked adorable wearing a pink frock matched with a black waist belt and hair neatly pulled up in a bun. She was deep into reading the book as her tiny mouth tried to pronounce the words.
"Hey Gomez!", said Frabal softly as he closed the door behind .
Gomez looked up and saw Frabal, "Uncle Frabal!", she yelled and rushed down towards him almost falling off the bed.
Frabal opened up his arms and Gomez quickly climbed into them.
"How are you sweetheart!", he asked gently.
"I am fine!", she said softly clutching onto Frabal's jacket, while not meeting his eyes.
"I would be gone for a couple of days dear. The nurses will be there to take care of you. Now I don't want you giving them a hard time, okay? You are such an obedient girl , I know you won't ", he said softly patting her back.
Gomez looked up at him silently and Frabal's heart broke into millions of pieces when he saw the sad expression in her eyes. She was really having a very hard time adjusting to life here and the reason was obvious to anyone. She was a four year old girl who had just lost her father, her mother was already dead and her only sister was miles away from her. She spent her entire days in a long empty mansion with strange nurses & maids to accompany her.
Gomez nodded her head, "Okay Uncle!", said she.
Frabal smiled at her and then put her down. "You are a very well behaved girl!" he praised.
Gomez gave him a very warm smile that filled Frabal's heart with joy.
He then turned around and started to leave the room when Gomez called from behind, "Uncle!", she said.
Frabal turned back, "Yes?"
"When will Norah come back?", she asked softly in her shrill soft voice that held so much of an emotion in them, that it was enough to melt the heart of the most cruelest monsters
Frabal sighed and gave her a smile, "Very soon darling!", said he and this time he meant it.