A/N: Thanks everyone again for the reviews they make me smile I luv them hehe. Seriously, a lot of the time I think what I'm writing is really crap and yea if u think anything sounds wrong or the characters don't sound believable please tell… but be gentle lol. On with the story…

Chapter 8

I walked, hands tucked deep in my coat pocket, staring fixedly at the long, empty road ahead of me. Shivering as I watched the sun slip behind the horizon, I felt, not for the first time, completely alone.

Kicking a lone pebble angrily, I listened as the sound of my bare feet hitting the ground punctured the eerie silence that was surrounding me. Not even a bird could be heard in the distance and the almost still silence gave me time to think, time that I didn't want.

What have I done? I thought, my mind swirling with the vivid memory of Dameon kissing me. He had kissed me, not the other way around. I rubbed my eyes, as if trying to erase the memory but it only became clearer. Why did Rushton have to walk in at that moment? Every time I had tried to speak to him something had come up. It had been him avoiding me not me avoiding him and now, when it suits him he has to choose the most inopportune time to come speak to me. I felt like screaming but I was so empty of emotion I could hardly breathe. I had always found love to be such a difficult, complex thing that never went the way you wanted it to. Why on earth would you pain someone by loving them? It didn't make sense to me. I had let myself go when I realised I was in love with Rushton, believing our love was different, but again I was naive. Where had love taken me? Now I was walking alone on a road to find Matthew, Dragon and Jik, with no plan at all on how to find them. Love had made me cold and alone.

"Not alone." A voice interrupted my thoughts.

I whirled around, believing myself to be hallucinating again, when I came face to face with Ceirwan. He was leading a strikingly beautiful horse I had never seen before. I could see that Ceirwan was dressed in gypsy attire, obviously for disguise and was carrying a bag of what could only be food and water.

"Ceirwan! What are you doing here?" I yelled heatedly.

"Nice to see ye to." He grinned famously.

My anger evaporated almost immediately when I realised I had nothing left in me to argue.

Ceirwan seeing me defeated so easily, looked concerned. He looked me up and down, laughing when he saw my bare feet.

"Ye are really serious about running away aren't ye? Haven't even got proper shoes or a horse. Lucky Galtha hadn't heard you'd gone otherwise he would of bolted after ye"

"I did not run away." I said indignant.

"Course not… Just thought you'd want some company is all." He smiled cheerfully.

I sighed, wondering if this was Dameon's doing.

"That's a good theory," Ceirwan said catching my thought. He scratched his head, pretending to look thoughtful.

"And yes you'd be right, he sent me. But for your own good Elspeth, look at the state your in. Yes, you definitely need me." He was laughing again now.

"I'm glad you see the humour in this Ceir."

I eyed the horse he had brought and gratefully accepted a ride.

"In all seriousness," Ceirwan begun,

"Are ye ok?"

I looked down at where he was walking beside the horse.

"Oh Ceir, I don't even know." I said truthfully.

Ceirwan looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke again.

"He's going to be alright."

For a minute I was confused, not knowing whom he was referring to.

"Oh Matthew… yes."

Ceirwan smiled slightly, knowing my mind was not on Matthew.

"And Rushton, he'll be alright too."

I thought of Rushton's last words, "Just thought I'd let you know…Jik and Dragon have gone missing." Then I winced as I saw a vision of him slamming the door behind him in anger and frustration.

"Have you spoken to him?" I asked casually, trying not to sound desperately hopeful.

"Rushton? I spoke to him a bit yes."

"And…?"

Ceirwan looked uncomfortable. He folded his arms in front of him, tightly, trying to give off the impression he was cold but I knew he didn't know how to answer me.

I opened my mouth to tell him not to worry but before I could speak he said,

"He loves you Elspeth. When two people are in love, little things, stupid things, never truly get in the way of that love in the long run."

I smiled, slightly surprised at his words of wisdom. Then I caught his under thought of his love for Freya.

"Do you love her?" I asked softly.

Ceirwan's head snapped up and guessing I had read his thoughts of Freya he replied without a moment's hesitation, "More than anything."

I grinned, happy for him.

"She is truly a lucky person."

He smiled up at me, blushing.

I slipped off the horse to walk side by side with Ceirwan, pausing before asking him what was truly troubling me.

"If you caught Freya kissing someone else, what would you do?" I grimaced at how immature my question sounded. My eyes never left the ground, as I was too embarrassed to look Ceirwan in the eye.

"I guess I would talk to her about it, hear what she has to say. But I know she'd never do that."

We walked side by side in silence for what seemed like hours after that. I would never of admitted it but I was truly glad Ceirwan was with me.