Kingdoms of Arrevia : The Beginning (Book1)

THE ENCODED LETTER

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.