A/N Ok, longest chapter yet! Wow, that took a while. Anyways, you'll find out part of the reason her hair is always covering half her face! Yay!

Murtagh's POV

This was impossible. For one, her clothes blended in with the forest. That would be a problem if I ever got close enough to see her. Her clues were beyond confusing. Every time I found a foot print and followed its direction, it led straight to a tree. Then I'd turn around and see another foot print leading towards the first. How the hell does she sneak up behind me to leave that print? And Thorn is being useless, saying that it's a game and have fun. Yeah, fun, if you count being made a fool of fun. When I got back to the first foot print, I'd see yet another going in a different direction. Sometimes it led to a tree, sometimes it led to a path I had to run on. I knew she wouldn't let me just walk; she'd be too far ahead that way.

I glanced up through the foliage to see the sun was directly above me. Guess I'll need to learn how to survive without a noon-time meal.

"You need to eat, yes?" I jumped at least two feet at the sound of her voice behind me. But when I turned around she wasn't there. Oh wait, she was in the tree.

"Must you do that?" She was already on my bad side.

She smirked. "Yes, it's highly amusing to watch your reactions." She then jumped off, put her hands on my shoulder while still in the air, and flipped to land in front of me.

"And I assume you must show off as well," I tried to shake of the sparks of energy I felt where she had touched me.

"Yes, I must," she said as she turned around, holding up my last two full wineskins. "Just like I must make you work for your meal." My anger did nothing to hide the growling of my stomach. "I'll give you some of my food, but you have to run first." And she took off.

How could someone be so light on their feet when they have a pack and two full wineskins? Not to mention that large 'instrument' she had strapped to her back. I grudgingly followed, knowing this was a battle I couldn't win. I couldn't win any battle with her! And to must utter misery, Thorn sent me an image of the lake he was looking at, making my thirst grow. He just chuckled and withdrew it, considering I was in no mood for that kind of teasing.

She was going considerably slow, compared to how fast she could probably go. How nice of her to take into account my fatigue. Of course I was still panting for breath when she stopped. It was at the edge of a cliff overlooking a small forest to the left and to the right the vast plains of Alagaësia. A few feet in front of the cliff was the Ramr River, stretching as far as I could see. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I looked over at Jiaqui, completely forgetting she was there for a minute. For the first time I could see a hint of emotion in her eyes other than anger. I couldn't quite place what it was though.

It took me a minute to respond. "Yeah, but it's hard to enjoy with the palace so nearby. I can still feel a sort of dark cloud over the place."

"No, this place has not been tainted with the king's ways. You feel that because he has access to your mind. You will feel that until you are free of him."

So basically I'll feel this forever. Great, just great.

"No, not forever. Just until he is dead," she still stared at the view.

"Did you just read my mind? You have no right to be in there!" Now she had crossed the line!

"No," she smirked. "It was written all over your face. Besides I couldn't read your mind even if I tried."

"Really, a high and mighty elf is blocked by a mere human barrier? Will miracles never cease?" I thought my sarcasm might hurt her; make her show some emotion!

"You do not block me. Thorn does." My face must have shown confusion, so she continued, "he makes your magic strong. I cannot read it freely. It would take quite a bit of work, and knowledge."

"Knowledge? There's a mind-reading book?"

"No. Well not that I know of. But I would need to know your greatest weaknesses to distract you. Which I could get, mind you, but it would disgrace me."

"I would never tell you," I spat at her, "and I doubt the king would either."

"Oh no, you would tell me." I hated her arrogance. But she said it as a statement. This only angered me more.

"Well prove it."

She sighed. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do."

"Fine." She agreed…to something I told her to do? Miracles do never cease. She put her stuff down and took one of the wineskins. She undid its cork and poured it on her head. What the…? The top of her shirt and her hair was now wet and shone in the sun. She started walking towards me with her hips swaying too much for it to be natural. Instantly I knew what she was doing, so I shut my eyes just in case. Thorn was holding his breath to see how I would react. Great, take advantage of something I cannot help. I could feel her hand on my cheeks, forcing me to look at her. What I saw was her face just an inch from mine. For some reason my heart wouldn't stop pounding and I knew she could hear it. I could feel her internal smirk. "Mmm Murtagh?" she said seductively.

I couldn't help but respond, "Yes?" I was proud of how smooth my voice was, as though I wasn't affected at all. But I knew it showed I was. Suddenly I could feel a probe in my mind, and tried shutting it out. My block faltered though when I felt her hands on my stomach. I quickly chose the closest acceptable thought to the barrier and let her get it. Immediately she backed up and turned back to an emotionless doll.

"You like black roses?"

"Uh, yeah…?" That's what I let her get? I could hear Thorn's laugh. "I never knew that. Correction: I never wanted to know that!" Oh shut up! "But it is hilarious! My rider's safest thought is he likes roses!" Not any roses, black roses! "Yes, because that's so much manlier." Just forget it. "Gladly."

"Disappointing. You are much stronger than I thought," she said as she went to retrieve her stuff.

"What about my water?" I just noticed she used my wineskin. Wait, she didn't have any herself.

She sighed. "We'll go down and get some from the river." She strapped on her stuff and headed towards the cliff. I did the same and looked down. There seemed to be plenty to get a hold of, so I followed after her. A few minute we made it to the bottom and walked over to river. I held out my hand for the skins and she handed them over. Once filled, I set the down with my pack and leaned against a log.

"You said you had food," I suggested. She just handed me her pack. I glanced back as she set to unpacking her instrument. The pack had various fruits and vegetables, but no dried meats. "You don't eat meat?"

"And you do. Now that the obvious is out, what is the problem? Those provide all the nutrients you need."

I grunted and started eating. I'd never admit this, but it was the best fruit I'd ever tasted! It was the perfect balance between sweet and juicy. The grapes were the best, though. Thorn's carnivorous mouth even started watering.

In the middle of my feast, Jiaqui stated, "I've changed my mind. We will stop the hunt at midday, seeing as the few hours from them to dusk will do you no good."

I was grateful, but also came to a conclusion. "You think I'm doing that well?"

"No, worse than I expected. Even the extra time will not help you."

Outraged, I stood and yelled, "Would it kill you to give a compliment every once in a while? Did you ever think a nice word would encourage me?"

"Words are meaningless; too easy to manipulate and too difficult to see past."

"Then why say anything?"

"You work harder when you are angry."

I stormed off towards the river. "I'm going to catch some real food." It didn't surprise me she came along. I got to the banks and found a rather large stick. Once it was sharpened, I removed my shoes and sat on the edge of the water.

"There are no fish here."

"How do you know," I muttered.

She smirked, "your yelling scared them off."

I was so angry I could have stabbed her! Instead, I thought of a better way to get out my anger.

She made less of a splash than I would have expected. When her head broke surface, she glared at me. "What the hell was that for?"

"Now, now. A lady should not curse," I couldn't hide the smile that tugged my lips.

She grunted and started lifting herself up. Once she was standing beside me, she crouched low and swung her right leg under my legs, making me fall in. I spit out water as I neared the edge of the river, seeing her smirk. "Payba-" I didn't let her finish because I muttered a spell to make the rock she was standing on fall in. Out of nowhere a splash hit me in the face.

"Hey, no fair using magic!"

"But you did," she said behind me.

"Well, then no more magic," I held out my hand to shake hers in agreement. As soon as she took it, I used it to push her under. She came back up and tackled me. When we were underwater, I opened my eyes to make sure I wouldn't hit a rock. Luckily the current wasn't very strong here. What I did see was her hair floating all around her. For the first time I saw her left eye. At the very edge of it was an eight-sided star with a crescent moon surrounding most of it. She has a tattoo? But then I noticed it was just a lighter shade of her skin that made up the mark. No, it's a scar. But it looks intentional. Thorn was just as confused. I came out of my trance and noticed she was already out of the water. When I got back on the embankment as well, she was ringing out her hair, making sure it covered her left eye. Looks like she doesn't know I noticed.

"You were right; there were no fish."

"Exactly. Now eat and we will spar after." She started walking towards the trees.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll be back," she used to avoid the question.

And there were plenty of more questions I had for her, but that was only if she would ever answer any.