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Lief awoke in the middle of the night to the
loud sound of rain pounding outside his bedchamber. He sat up and rubbed
his eyes, and blinked when a brief flash of lightning illuminated the
world around him.
The room was very bare looking besides from his
bed and a small bedside table where a sparkling silver belt lay, its seven
gems in their medallions glittering in the flash of light before
disappearing when the lightning subsided.
Lief swung his legs over
the side of the bed and groped around for his shirt, found it and slipped
it over his head. Then he stood up and opened the door to his bedchamber.
He could not sleep, the storm raging outside the castle was too loud.
He walked down the corridors of the interior of the castle,
flinching at the cold marble floor. The place was lit dimly with a few
flaming torches here and there, being replaced when they went out by a
palace servant. They smiled and acknowledged him when he passed and Lief
nodded in reply and made his way down the stairs towards the entrance to
the castle.
Once there, he made sure nobody was looking, and pushed
open the great doors and shivered at the rush of cold air that swept over
him. He should have remembered his cloak, yet he could not be bothered to
go back and get it. He only needed a bit of air, the rain would clear his
head and then he would come back inside.
He shivered again, not
out of cold but thinking this time of what his mother, Sharn would say if
she knew he was outside in a storm with nothing on but some breeches and a
light cotton shirt. He shrugged and made his way down the stairs and out
into the rain.
It fell on him, hard and fast and stinging with cold
yet he just wrapped his arms around himself and let it come down on him.
How many times could he come out here on his own accord to watch the
storm? Hardly ever, yet Sharn was away on business and he felt like he
needed a break from the castle.
As he looked up, another flash of
lightning illuminated a small, thin figure in front of him, a bird like
shape on its shoulder. The figure could only be, Lief’s companion, one of
the two who had helped him on his quest to restore the Belt of Deltora. If
it had not been for her, his and Barda’s journey would have been over
before it had even started. It could only be -
“Jasmine! What are
you doing out here?” asked Lief, moving up behind her. She turned abruptly
and the next lightning flash seemed to last for ever, showing Lief his
friend’s beauty which he had not realised on his two previous journeys
with her. Her raven black hair clung wetly to her neck and elven face. She
smiled at him, her eyes sparkling.
“I was just about to ask you the
same thing Lief!” she replied. He smiled back, lost for words. She
shivered, still smiling. Lief caught on straight away. “You are cold,
Jasmine! Here,” he pulled her closer to him, yet he did not know why as he
was as cold as she was. But, Jasmine still accepted and rested her head on
his chest as the rain fell down around them. It seemed strange, but Lief’s
body seemed to grow considerably warmer beside Jasmine’s. She was thinking
the same thing.
“Perhaps we should go inside,” said Jasmine
finally. She was feeling things she had never felt before. She looked up
and caught Lief’s eyes. She was about to say something, but they locked
their gaze, unable to move or speak.
In a few seconds, with
realising it, their faces were so close that they could feel each other’s
warm breath on their faces. Jasmine tried to pull away, yet Lief merely
tightened his grip on her. He did not know what he was doing, but it just
came.
Neither of them knowing what to do next, standing there in
the middle of a storm that was slowly subsiding, time seemed to stop. Lief
knew nothing but Jasmine’s beautiful face, Jasmine seeing nothing but
Lief’s eyes, staring deep into her.
Suddenly, Lief could stand it
no longer. Slowly, he moved his face towards hers and Jasmine did not
flinch or hesitate, not even when their lips softly touched. It was the
softest, briefest kiss yet full of love and subtle happiness. Then,
without a word they drew apart, entwined their fingers together and walked
slowly back towards the castle.
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