Hi there! Here I am again with the second chapter. Please read and review, and make a tired AC-fan happy!:D
Simusch - Well, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter then. :)
She slowly woke up at the sound of a solemn humming nearby. Maiid opened her eyes, but closed them again immediately when a strong headache came over her. She decided to lay still until it had faded. The humming came from her right side and it did sound human, so she guessed she wasn't alone. It sounded like a mix between a lullaby and a story full of adventures. It was a deep and rhythmic melody. Maiid listened and thought about her life. Now when her father had died, no one in her family was left except for her. The mother had died short after the girl's birth, and her father had not wished for another woman in her place. He raised Maiid together with his friends among the guards, and that's how Adin had become someone very close to a brother of Maiid.
She was eighteen now, and soon to be grown up. Her father had promised that at the age of twenty, he would allow her to travel wherever she wanted. For Maiid, who had never been outside the city limits, this was one of her greatest wishes. But how about now? The head guard was dead, and if they couldn't find a replacement for him, she might be the new head guard. But what about her travelling then? Would she be stuck here instead? Maiid groaned and become suddenly aware of that the humming had stopped.
"Are you awake, dear?"
The voice sounded cheerfully and warm. Maiid opened her eyes and turned her head to the right. She lay in a small room on a bed made out of pillows and a small blanket wrapped around her. Next to her feet there was a worn chess game, and along the walls in the room she saw shelves filled with pots in patters and warm colors. Behind the biggest shelf she saw the door out. Next to the exit there was a wooden desk, and behind that, a man stood. He was dressed in a white cloak with a black jacket over. He wore no hood so Maiid saw that his hair and beard were dark, and probably his eyes too. Suddenly he smirked which made Maiid twitch.
"Are you pleased or do you wish to see more of me?"
He winked at her and the girl blushed slightly, not sure if he joked with her, or if he just had asked a honest question. She watched him for a while when he continued to decorate pots, but out of nowhere a growl rose from her stomach. The man looked up and grinned.
"I hear that your body is in need of food. Don't worry, I will take care of it soon."
Maiid nodded and slowly moved out of bed. A stinging pain spread from her left side and she groaned again. She put away the blanket and lifted her tunic. Her stomach were all wrapped in bandages, and she remembered that the man in black had sliced her.
"Did you bring me here?" Maiid asked the man behind the desk. She could only remember that she had fought with her enemy, but after that it was all black. The man in cloak spoke without stop painting.
"No, I did not. A friend of mine came with you, but I took care of your wound." He grinned again and Maiid got unsure of his intention once again.
"And who are this friend of yours?" she asked. What if it was the black dressed man? Perhaps she was kidnapped?
Hmm…I think I'll have to be more careful from now on…
"That my dear, I cannot tell you. Neither who I am." he continued when he saw the curious expression on her face. Maiid tilted her head and eyed the man in front of her.
"Not even the smallest of hints?" she plead jokingly. He smiled back.
"If you truly want one, you can call me Rafiq."
"Is that your name?"
"No, that is what I am, but you can call me that." The man continued to smile cheerfully and Maiid frowned. She slowly got up from the floor and walked to the desk.
"So, Rafiq," she said and leaned against the wood. "Where am I?"
Rafiq watched her out of the corner of his eye, and finished his pot.
"Would you care to take a guess?"
Maiid shrugged.
"We are still in Damascus, but this house…. No, I do not know. Is it your home?"
"Well…, " Rafiq said slowly. "We can call it my working place."
Is this some kind of headquartering perhaps?
"What do you work with then, except for painting pots?" Maiid didn't care to try to sound innocent. Instead she smirked back at the odd man. He reached out a hand and poked her in the forehead.
"That is another piece of information that you shall not know about, dear." Rafiq blow on the decoration to dry it, before he placed the pot in the shelf behind him.
"And now, I think it is my turn." He turned to the girl again.
"What is your name?"
…what? Is not the kidnapper supposed to know about that?
"You do not know who I am?"
"No, why should I?" Rafiq replied and smiled at the confused Maiid.
"But the friend of yours, did not he know at least?"
"No," the man said and watched her carefully.
"All that he said was that he had found you bleeding on the roof while a dark dressed man were about to finish you off. So he saved you, and brought you here." Rafiq eyed her and now the smile was nowhere to be found.
"But that has indeed nothing to do with my question."
Maiid thought for a moment of what she would say. If this "Rafiq" spoke the truth, both he and his friend had saved her life. To be honest, she owed them her name at least. But…
It was wrong to tell your name to strangers that you didn't know anything about. She wasn't even sure what would become of her.
"No, I do not want to tell you."
"Why not?"
Maiid didn't need to answer, because they both heard a silent thump outside, which was followed by definite steps. Then a man went visible in the doorway. Maiid's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, because the man who stood not more than two meters from her wore a white cloak with a hood on and a thick leather belt wrapped around his waist. The man had his eyes fixed on Rafiq, but without a warning they went burning into hers. Well, that's at least what she felt, because the hood covered more than half of his face, and drowned the rest in darkness. The young woman went for a second into an impressed mode when the man had entered, but now she snapped out of it. Her eyes got smaller and she took a step closer towards the man, whom she were more than a head shorter to.
"You…" she growled in a furious voice that shocked even herself. The man in the white cloak, laid his eyes on Rafiq again, but he only frowned and watched Maiid tensely. The girl suddenly looked at Rafiq.
"Is this your friend?!" she shouted in his face, and her eye's were on fire. She turned to the man in white, who still hadn't talked or moved at all.
"This BASTARD killed my father!!"
A moment of deep silence went by, but got broke thanks to the inquisitive Rafiq.
"Wait now. First of all, your father is dead?"
Maiid's eyes shot knives at the man behind the desk, so he decided to continue.
"And you say that this friend of mine have killed him? How do you know that?"
The woman eyed the stranger carefully.
"Because a friend of mine told me how my father's killer had looked like. And he wore a white cloak, weapons and a leather belt JUST LIKE THIS MAN!"
It was then the most unexpected happened. The man in the white cloak laughed.
It was a deep and rough laugh, the kind that shows up not when something is fun, but instead when there is something that is so enormously stupid, that you cannot bear with it unless you laugh. Maiid went shocked again for a moment, and noticed that this laugh was one that you'd really never become weary of, as it seemed like it didn't could be heard all that often. Her anger started to rise again as the man's laugh went to a low chuckle.
"What is so damn amusing?!"
The man finally cleared is throat and leaned closer to the furious woman. Now she could catch a glimpse of his face, and got completely stunned. He was so handsome.
The chin line was strong, and formed the face well. His nose was a bit rough, but matched abnormal good. And the lips was rounded and yet carrying on a shade of vulnerability.
Maiid wasn't brought back from the state until the man spoke, and with such a voice then.
"Well, you truly believe that I am the only one of my sort. And that, is amusing." he stated with a smirk slowly showing up. The young woman couldn't take her eyes away from the man. He both frightened and impressed on her. She got a feeling that he wasn't one to mess with.
"B-but…" she began but Rafiq's raised hand interrupted her.
"I think that will be it then. If one of us killed your father, I will apologize for them instead. But still…" He turned to the girl and still wore the frown.
"Who was your father then?"
"Why? He was the head guard of Damascus, and he only did what was required of him. Why KILL him?!"
Rafiq turned to the man in white, who nodded once.
"I am deeply sorry for your lost, dear. But sometimes life isn't going the way we want it to. And for now, I would like you to go back and rest for a bit. I have a lot to discuss with the friend of mine here."
The man had already walked out of the room, and Rafiq was soon to follow. When he had closed the door behind him, Maiid stood like frozen for a moment.
Her father was murdered by one of them. But who were they? And what was this place? When would she be able to return home? Would she be able to return? And how about Adin, was he okay? Maybe they were looking for her right now. But would they found her?
With a whole lot of too much questions at the same time in her head, Maiid stumbled back to her bed, and fell asleep almost immediately.
