After several months, Ghost came downstairs to find Dalamar searching for something. She watched him curiously.
" What are you doing, Senpai?"
"Desperately seeking Shalafi. He disappears!" Dalamar explained, complaining.
Ghost looked at him, confused.
"But he's just in the Garden." She told him.
"Garden? What garden?" Dalamar had never seen a garden at the tower.
" The one in the back. You've never seen it?" She asked, surprised.
"I...suppose I didn't look. Why didn't I notice it sooner?" Dalamar smacked himself in the head.
Ghost shrugged. " Wanna go see it?"
" DUH! Lead the way!" Dalamar answered.
Ghost led him down a long flight of stairs and out an antique looking wooden door. Before them lay an expansive garden, all contained within a glass dome. Green grass, blooming fruit trees and roses far as the eye could see. A stream cut a path through the dome and trickled out the far end.
Ghost breathed in. " I just love roses."
She went over to examine a rosebush. Dalamar wandered behind her, trying to look everywhere at once. Suddenly he saw something white dart under a bush. He leap several inches into the air in surprise and let out a yelp.
Ghost looked up.
"Don't let the rabbits scare you." She told him.
"Rabbits?!? Why in the god's name would Raistlin have rabbits? He has always refused to eat rabbits...and Shalafi is hardly one to keep pets!"
Ghost shrugged. " You know him better than I do." She wandered on along a path.
"Hardly…" he murmured.
Ghost looked up.
" What?"
"Nothing. Just mumbling."Dalamar said quickly.
"If you say so." She kept walking. Suddenly she crouched down behind a rosebush, giggling madly. Dalamar could only watch in amazement. This girl, who's seriousness almost matched Shalafi's, was giggling?!? Ghost waved him over. Dalamar crouched down to see what had caught her attention. She pointed. Raistlin lay napping, AGAIN! Only now, he was swarmed with bunnies, one of which sat on his chest sticking it's twitching little nose in his face. Ghost was overcome with giggles, and could not stifle them. Dalamar was also reduced to a fit of giggles very uncharacteristic to a dark elf. But he giggled none the less.
Ghost tried to shush Dalamar, causing both of them to giggle more.
Raistlin then rolled over with a groan, and the bunny slipped off his chest with a little squeak. The bunny then righted himself and resumed his post, only this time on Raistlin's shoulder. He stuck his little nose in his ear.
When the tiny little nose shoved into his ear, Raistlin's eyes fluttered open. He glanced at the fearless rabbit who had awoken him and reached out to pat him on the head gently. Ghost suddenly let out a fierce giggle that she had been unable to hold in. Raistlin glanced over at them and sighed. The two giggling voices gave away their position.
"Dalamar, Ghost, come out here please." He requested.
Ghost stood and walked over without the faintest trace of blush. She just grinned at him. Again her smile struck the mages as familiar. Dalamar followed behind, a little embarrassed and fearing what Shalafi would do to him. Ghost sat down next to Raistlin. A bunny climbed into her lap, sniffing curiously. Dalamar sat down across from them, looking at the ground. Ghost patted the bunny.
"Is something the matter, Dalamar?" Raistlin asked.
The sound of his name snapped him out of his trance.
"Pardon?" Dalamar was confused for a moment, unsure what he was being asked about.
Ghost looked up.
"Are you alright?" Raistlin asked again.
"F-fine. I-I..um.…" Dalamar stuttered.
Ghost looked at him, concerned for her new friend.
"It's just...I thought you would be angry that we had snuck into your garden, and…"
Raistlin shook his head. "This place was never a secret. I merely choose not to mention it. And though you saw me in one of my rather...undignified moments, it doesn't matter. If I can't trust my apprentices, who can I trust?"
Ghost nodded. "It's very beautiful." She told her Master. "It must have taken years."
"Oh yes. This structure was here from the days when it was one of the Conclave towers, but after the curse, it too died. It took years of patience to get it back to even a shadow of it's former glory. It took...let me think. Somewhere near 6 years."
" It must have been amazing." She told him. Something about the Garden felt sacred and made her open up a bit.
"I wish I had been able to see it...but that's back far too long ago. Even before the time of the KingPriest. But it's rather nice now. Even if it isn't fully restored."
"It's very beautiful, Shalafi. I would not have thought you had such a way with plants."
Raistlin smiled. "Why do you think I never run out of spell components?"
Ghost smiled. "There are so many roses. I absolutely love roses."
"Hmm. I'm glad you like them. They're my pride and joy...The rose is actually my families crest...and my mother was named for them as well."
" My mother always smelled like roses. I guess that's why I have such a fondness for them. My father hates them."
"Your mother did like roses, didn't she…" Raistlin murmured absently.
Ghost grinned at him.
" How exactly do you know my mother, Master Raistlin?" Ghost asked, although she thought she already knew the answer.
"Hmm? We met when we were both going to take our test." Raistlin answered.
"Mother spoke of you sometimes. It made my father throw things." Her father was a violent man, drunk or sober.
Raistlin blushed a little and managed to say, "Well, your father and I met, and we didn't exactly see eye to eye.…"
Ghost nodded. Then her expression turned dark. " If she talked about you too much, he would hit her."
Raistlin suddenly got a very fierce look in his eye. "Did he now?"
" I tried to stop him once. . . . He threw me through a table."
Dalamar heard a very small growl emit from Raistlin. It caused him to be very alarmed. Ghost wasn't looking at either of them now. Instead she stared at the ground.
"I was too little." She said quietly.
"Too little?" Dalamar inquired.
"I was only six at the time." She explained.
Raistlin took a deep breath.
"How long has this been going on?" He demanded.
Ghost still didn't look up.
" As long as I can remember." Suddenly she stood up.
"Excuse me." She walked over to the river and sat down, not wanting them to see her cry.
When Ghost had left, Raistlin's shoulders slumped and he held his head in his hands.
"Dammit" He swore under his breath.
"Shalafi?" Dalamar asked, concerned.
"I need to help Amara and Ghost...but what can I do?" Raistlin wondered.
"Shalafi. It's hardly your fault…" Dalamar told him.
"Yes, yes it is, Dalamar...Amara's a dear friend of mine, and I should be able to protect her. And her child." Raistlin replied.
"Shalafi…" Dalamar tentatively put his hand on Raistlin's shoulder, hoping to somehow comfort him. Raistlin slumped against Dalamar in defeat.
Dalamar sat stock still for a moment and then, very carefully, put one arm around him.
"Don't worry, Shalafi, we'll think of something." Dalamar said reassuringly.
Raistlin smiled weakly, then stood up.
"Well then, the first step is to go and see if my NEW apprentice is alright." Dalamar glared.
"Must you be a bitch?" He demanded.
Raistlin looked Dalamar square in the eye. Then, without warning, Raistlin blew a raspberry in Dalamar's direction, turned and walked away toward Ghost.
Ghost sat on the riverbank, her face buried in her arms, her knees drawn up. She suddenly looked very small. Raistlin quietly sat down beside his young apprentice. Dalamar sat down on her other side. She didn't look up. Gently muffled sobbing sounds came from her.
"Ghost…" Raistlin spoke softly.
" Yes?" She looked at him, her face tear streaked.
"I'm so sorry." He murmured as he put an arm around her.
" It's not your fault. My father just . . . ." She looked down.
"I shouldn't have let her go back to him…" he whispered.
"What do you mean, go back to him?" She asked, just wanting him to keep talking so she didn't have to.
"When we met, your mother and I talked a lot. And your father was one of the topics of conversation. She told me how she was betrothed to a bone-headed knight, and how he had nearly stopped her from taking the test. She didn't want to go back.."
" She had to. She said she made a vow and wouldn't disgrace her family by breaking it." Ghost explained.
"I know...but…" Raistlin sighed. "I should have...tried. But you and I both know how your mother is. She wouldn't listen to a word I said. She never does." Raistlin smiled weakly. She nodded.
"I wish I could have helped her." Ghost told him.
"There was nothing you could have done...You were so small…" Raistlin told her kindly.
"Still . . ."
"I know. Trust me...I know." He said, and hugged her tightly. This simple action seemed to break a wall in her, and she sobbed into his shoulder. Raistlin did nothing save continue to hold her. The three sat in the garden for several hours before going inside. Ghost decided to take a nap and Dalamar walked her to her room. Then he decided to have a little talk with his Shalafi.