Lord Shadow

Outside the tent, the leaves flutters as the wind from below the hill breezes by. A bird flies in the air and sings a song

The sunlight is shining bright illuminating the world, the clouds is white and the sky is blue. Everything seems beautiful.

Inside the tent, in such a beautiful day, Azief brought out the case and propose to the woman he loved, to show his determination 

‘Marry me, Soph’

That word echoes in her ears. She never thought that she would hear those words coming out from his mouth

Life is uncertain in these magical era of beast, monsters, demons and gods, aliens and all manner of horrors and mystical thing that is in the wide universe

She never thought about marriage. 

Not because she did not want to. 

But because, the world is vast and talk and the man he loved always seems to want to travel this vast world and wanted to stand on the highest peak the world could offer.

She never thought that he had such a thought. 

And like before, like the moment she saw him entering the tent, her mind once again went blank for a second

It was so unexpected that she did not know how to respond. It was so out of place that she thought for a second that she dreams all of this things.

They were about to argue, they were about to say things to each other, to understand and to try to close this matter as good as possible.

In that moment, why would anyone think that in the midst of this, a ring would be pulled out and a proposal would be given?

Certainly not her

She had more to say. She had many more to explain. She had prepared her heart and her mind. But she was not prepared for this. 

Azief is in front of her, a case on top of his palm. He slowly opens the case and inside it is a ring. Carved in the inside is Azief & Soph

It is not in the nature of the Malays to propose like this. 

But she once told him that it looks very romantic in movies. And he once promised her, if that is what she wants, then that is what she is going to get

Today, he fulfils his promise.

But…but……the timing is not right. Azief was never good at timing and even Sofia knows this. But this is the worst timing to bring out a ring into it

This is the worst time to try to propose to her. Azief is always like this. He likes to brush things away. Only this time, what she did not know is that Azief is not trying to brush away

That ring is his determination

Still, she did not know how to respond.

She just doesn’t understand Azief thinking. 

He clearly knows why she is here. He clearly knows what she is intending to do. They had talked about this before. But now suddenly, he ambushed her like this.

What should she say to it?

Said yes? When the initial intention of coming here is to end it. 

It is not because she does not love her. It is because she fears that she is not enough. She fears that one day, he would look at her and wish it was someone else.

That feeling, that fear consumes her as much as her love for him. So, no. She could not have said yes.

Still she looks at that ring and by god, she is tempted. For one moment, she thought to herself, maybe all of this could be solved.

But then a moment later, she shook her head out of that delusion. A person in love could hardly think rationally especially when it is about the person they love.

She glances at the ring and then look a Azief.

She is trying to see any trace of expression that she could use to explain this. But, she doubts she could understand his thought at this moment

‘What do you mean by this?’ she asked

‘What do I mean by this? I’m proposing’

Sofia did not smile. The feeling in her heart is a jumbled mess right now. And then tears falls down from her eyes

She did not say a word but one drop of tears seems to answer Azief question. The sunlight from the outside shines even its light toward the area of this tent

And the shadows of these two people seems lonely and sad. In that one tear, it is filled with meaning and emotions that she could not express in words.

Azief laughs bitterly and then he slowly closes the ring case and put it back in his personal space storage.

He sighed

‘I guess you are saying no’ There is silence between them now. 

Only the sound of the wind could be heard around them. He did not cry. He does not seem sad. But with him, his appearance always belies his feeling

Who knows what he is really feeling. But it is clearly not something that is like unfeeling. He felt all mixed bag of emotions.

There is anger. There is disappointment. But most of all, in this confusing emotions that he is feeling right now, dominating all of it is his sadness.

She is so close to him, yet he felt her to be so far. And he doesn’t like that. But he did not have the words to say. 

So, he too, stands there, looking at her, trying to find the right words again. 

At the same time, the operative on the shores did not notice anything wrong. 

Even though there is a lot of surveillance device around the island they did not aim their devices toward Sofia.

Nobody likes being in surveillance and Sofia is not the object of research for the two powers. There is no need to offend such a big figure.

They would only aim it if there is a fluctuation of energy which there isn’t. 

It seems that Azief could even mask his fluctuation of energy that not even the most advanced technological device of the world government and the Republic could sense him

Around the tent, the wind blows gently, the grass sways and the leaves on the tree near the tent falls down naturally.

Inside the tent, Azief look at her, his eyes trying to see her emotion in her eyes other than sadness. 

There is only the sound of the wind flapping the tent outstretched parts. 

He did not like seeing Sofia cry.

Her eyes are moist with tears, dripping down her eyes, looking at him full of accusation. But he did not know what he is accused of.

He felt pain. Pain seeing her in pain.

The silence lasted only for five second but it felt longer than that for him. Then she asks

‘Why?’

‘Why what?’

‘Why now?’ she asks

Azief suddenly become silent again. It is hard to explain what he is feeling and the reason why he chose to this.

He became sure. If there is an answer he could give, that is the answer he should give

That this is the woman he wanted to be beside him. As for his feelings for Katarina….it is hard to erase something like that in a day. 

He could not just turn on and turn off his heart like that. He could pretend to and lie to his heart but that is not something he wanted to do.

Lying to his heart would also means lying to Sofia. And that is the last thing he ever wanted to do.

But he hopes time would solve that. 

As for Sofia, he wanted her to know that she has always been the one. 

But that is not what it looks like to her. 

The reason why Sofia could not accept the ring is because she fears that when Azief does realize his true feelings, the one who is going to be hurt is her.

She fears that when he found out that she is not the one for him, he would leave her. Or worse, stays with her because of some sort of feeling of guilt and responsibility

Knowing him, Sofia knows, if there ever comes a day, he would stay with her because to him, that would be the right thing to do

But that is not what she wanted. She did not want to be second place in this. In anything else, she wouldn’t have mind.

But this…. this is not it.

Azief took some time to think about the question and how best to answer it. He closes his eyes for a second and then opening his eyes, he said

‘It’s you. When I think about it, in the end, it’s you’ Sofia listen to his words and it would be a lie if she said she was not touched by those words.

But for some reason, she could not believe it. Azief would never lie to her. She knows this. But maybe he is lying to himself. And he might not even know it. 

That is the thing when one is lying to oneself. You do not realize it until sometime passes. That is the strongest lie. 

The lies your told yourself. Another silence come between them. Azief was waiting for her response. 

For her to say something. Anything.

>>>