Hello and happy new year all together. (I know I'm late.)

Sorry it took so long, but I'm busy with school lately. I had several tests the week after the holidays. And I have a lot of things to learn. It is my last year at school and I might be too busy to update regularly. I will try my best to update at least once a week, but don't be angry when I need more time.

Okay, how did you get the idea that Nat could become bad? Is if I would be THAT cruel. Me? Cruel? Never! He, he …. but …. well …. hm …. good idea. I will think about it. He, he. Let's see … ^_^

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Chapter 30:                             Caught

Damian could have laughed. Of course it had to be Nathan of Malven, his everlasting problem. He had thought it would be easy to get Sam by using that Silversea girl. Just like he had tried it with Mo the year before. A nice little fight, that was all he wanted. Well, maybe not so little and sure as hell not nice. He had trained hard and he wanted to show her where she belonged. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at his opponent. She looked calmly back at him. Not a single sign of worry, fear or hate. She was prepared for an attack, that was clear, but she didn't seem to be afraid of him. 'I will make you hate me. I swear it. You will soon hate me, Samira of Pinehollow.'

Suddenly the boys noticed the noises of footsteps. There were people coming. Fast. Kajus moved towards Damian and whispered. "We have to go or we will be in trouble."
Damian growled lightly. "Fine! We're going now. But .…" He stepped closer towards Sam, so close that their noses nearly touched. "…. this is not the end. I will get you and your pitiful friends."

Sam didn't even blink. She kept her face even and unreadable.

The attackers turned around and ran away. A moment later Danny, Milan, Feli and Lachran arrived, gasping for air.

Danny looked around in worry. "Ria is searching for the rest. What happened?"

Aaron growled. "We had a little meeting with our beloved three 'friends' and somebody I didn't recognise."

Nat stepped closer to the group. "The blonde boy was Dylan of Tioran. Damian's father is his knightmaster."

Danny stared at him in surprise. "Look what the cat has dragged in. Welcome home Malven. How are you?"

Nat glared at her warily. "Peaceful, lately. I guess you are planning to change this."

 "Me? How did you get THAT idea?" Danny looked much too innocent for Nat's taste.

Now the rest of the group started to greet Nat. All except for …

"Well, it seems that we're out of trouble, for now." Lachran felt relieved, at least no fights today. But when his eyes halted at Sam, he changed his opinion. He gulped. 'Nat won't survive this day. Okay, now I have to find a way to get out of this without getting involved.'

Nat noticed Lachran's distraction and searched for the source. He gulped.

Sam was glaring at him, her head lowered with a deep frown on her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her right foot was tapping on the floor. Behind her Lee stared at the scene with widened eyes. 'I guess I know now why she's so feared. Poor boy.'
Gor felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Mo whisper: "Follow me, as inconspicuous as possible."

Gor frowned, confused and whispered back. "Why?"
"Trust me. If you love your life, run boy."

Suddenly Danny was shouting. "Oh, how could I forget this. We have a …. uhm .… meeting .…yeah .… with .… the others. Come on, guys, we have to go."

"Meeting?" Lachran questioned, only to be elbowed by Feli. "Ah .… that meeting. Yeah, let's go."

The others nodded relieved to have an excuse and followed her quickly.

Sam was walking slowly towards Nat, glaring intently at him.

Nat started to stammer. "Sam, please, let me explain.…"

"Explain WHAT? One letter. One single, pitiful letter, since we've separated. Oh and what a letter. Do you know how much I worried about you? God knows what could have happened to you, not being able to write. Damn you, Nat, you …" Sam started cursing him in the most colourful words she could imagine, setting free all the strain and worry she had hidden in her heart. "If you ever dare doing this again to me .… you will regret it, I swear. I will make you regret it more than you can ever imagine, every single day of your life."

Nat nodded repentant and lowered his head, looking like a little boy. Then he eyed her carefully and started to grin. "Missed me?"

Sam shot another death glare at him, murmuring silent curses. Then she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and whispered: "Like hell."

Smiling Nat returned the hug, feeling relieved to be together with her again. "I have a lot of things to tell you."

"I hope that for your sake."

The man in the shadows sighed disappointed. 'What a pity. I thought I would see her fighting abilities today. No such luck. Well, at least I've finally found her. My master was becoming impatient.' He smirked. 'And now I know how to get hold of her.'

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A week went by. Nat's return seemed to lighten not only Sam's mood immensely, but the whole group seemed to be happier. It hadn't been the same without both of them, Sam and Nat, brooding in a corner of the room. Bery said it had something to do with contrasts. Everything seems lighter when you have darkness to compare it to.

At the beginning, Lee had been a bit unsure about her position when the famous Nathan of Malven reappeared, but after some time she got used to his presence. She found out that he was kind and caring, just in his own way. And Sam's attitude didn't seem to change towards her, so everything turned out just fine.

Surprisingly for the other pages, it happened that Sam, Nat and Lee had been seen discussing with the triplets quite often. More often than usually. Even Cori didn't know the reasons. Everybody stayed attentive, expecting the big trick from the triplets at every minute.

There were hardly any fights with Damian and his friends anymore. They kept quiet. But Sam knew that Damian was only waiting …. for her.

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Sam was entering the dark hall without making any noise. She looked around and tried to scan the area around her as well as possible. She heard somebody breathing, moving.

Damian came towards her, smirking nastily. "I knew you would come here."

"And I knew you would await me here. Do you want to make this a tradition?" She was staring intently at him, prepared for an attack at every second.

He chuckled darkly. "No. This will be the last time."

Sam shook her head. "If you wanted me to beat you up, you only had to tell me. It was not necessary to beat up Lee."

He simply shrugged. "Why change when it still works the good old way. You got the message, didn't you? Get ready for the beating of your life."

Suddenly Sam felt very uncomfortable. Not because of Damian's empty treats. She was used to them. No, there was something else. She felt eyes on her. Many foreign eyes. 'The shadows are moving. Are we really alone?' She stepped closer towards Damian, glaring angrily at him. "Who have you brought with you?"

A startled expression appeared on Damian's face. "I don't need any help. I'm not afraid of a fight with you. We are alone."

Sam knew he wasn't lying. Inside his twisted head there was still some kind of honour when it came to her. Somehow she knew that he wanted to beat her himself. It was their fight, nobody else had to know about their meetings. He might use other people to get to her, but when it came, he faced her alone.

Damian frowned at her. She acted strange. She seemed worried. She was never worried when they fought. He noticed that she scanned the hall repeatedly. 'She isn't worried because of me. Why else?'

Sam felt fear coming up her spine, alarming her senses and filling her whole body with excitement. She slowly backed away from Damian towards the door, always scanning her surroundings.

"Damian!" Her voice was nothing but a mere whisper.

"What?" Damian didn't know why, but he whispered as well, becoming worried by her strange behaviour. He followed her slowly, looking around in order to find the source of her worry.

"We are not alone." Sam froze when she heard a nearly inaudible noise. Her eyes widened in realisation. "RUN!" She run ran towards the door until she heard a noise behind her. She turned around and saw Damian lying on the floor, dark figures surrounding him. Suddenly she felt an impact at her neck and everything went dark.

One of the dark figures kneeled next to her and looked intently at her face, touching her cheek  with his finger. "We have to get her out of here without any audience."

"What shall we do with him?"

"He doesn't matter. Leave him where he is." He smiled lightly. "She is younger than I thought."

One of the men stepped closer. "Is it really her? She seems so …. vulnerable. She is just a child."

The other man nodded seriously. "That's what everybody is thinking. But she's more. Much more. Come on, we have to hurry. Our master is waiting."

The men gasped. "He's here?"

Their leader nodded. "I contacted him as soon as I found her. He was on a trip near Tortall. He was able to arrive this morning. He told me to bring her to him immediately. Luckily her conflict with that boy gave us the opportunity we needed."

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I will write more about Nat's knightmaster and the triplet's plans in later chapters. Don't worry.