We reached the king's castle later that day. I must admit I don't have any idea what happened during the trip because I think I lost consciousness as soon as he took me on the back of a dragon! Maybe it's better I don't know what happened.

I looked around the castle. There was something strange in the air; it was making me shiver. The sky was covered with heavy clouds and grass and trees looked weird. Like they haven't seen the sun for a long, long time.

"Come!" Murtagh grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me with him inside the castle. It was huge and strangely cold and dark. I could swear that stone floor hasn't been cleaned for years! It was disgusting. And the smell…oh, well, how can anyone live like that?

Murtagh was taking me somewhere and I was confused because people, who apparently lived in the castle, looked at us with fear in their eyes. Suddenly, it occurred to me that something might happen to me. I panicked. Will the king hurt me? What will happen to me? There were tons of questions in my head. Murtagh probably heard my thoughts but he didn't say a thing to me.

"Hurry!" he suddenly turned around and yelled at me; tightening his grip on my arm. Why I had to think about it? I prefer when he's not talking to me actually. But I didn't understand why I had to hurry. Are we going to miss something? Impossible.

He took me to the biggest room of the whole castle, throne room. He let go of my arm. Finally. I was sure I'll have a bruise there in the next few hours. For a moment I was just standing in the middle of the room and looking at the shiny expensive things the king had there. I've never seen something like that before. But maybe people who lived in town had things like that. I wouldn't know.

It took me a moment to realize someone was staring at me. I turned to look at the person…I froze; the king was staring at me. Oh, great! I didn't know what to say or what to do. My mind was almost blank. I just panicked. I could feel warmth coming into my cheeks; this was officially the most horrible moment of my life.

"My lord." I blurted and bowed awkwardly. I so didn't know what to do. No one ever told me how to act in these situations. I wasn't supposed to meet the king.

"Amarantha." he said; his voice sounded strangely sweet and nice. But he for sure didn't look like that. His eyes were very dark and his appearance was scaring me. Oh, did he just say my name? I was shocked for a moment but then I remembered he probably read my mind…oh, no! Now he knows how he looks to me! I'm dead.

"I'm glad you are here." he smiled. I stared at him. Yes, it is impolite to stare, especially to stare at the king! But I didn't know what I was doing. I was too confused and shocked to control what I was doing. Wait, did he say glad?

"Don't be afraid of me." he said "I won't hurt you."

Was I supposed to say something? I wanted to say something but the words didn't come out. My mind was a mess; I wonder what he saw from all of that.

"Do you know why you are here?" he asked, getting closer to me. I didn't move.

"No, my lord." I answered quietly, looking at the floor. That was a stupid question; he probably knew I didn't know a thing. I guess he wanted to hear me say something.

"You're here because I think you could be helpful here." he said. I bit my lip not to laugh or cry. Me? Helpful? He's got a wrong person then. What could I do? People usually tell me to stay away from whatever they are doing. Just to make sure I don't mess something up.

"I don't know how I could help, my lord." I said. I didn't have a reason to lie.

"You're wrong." he smiled "Your visions…are quite interesting."

My visions? Oh, my curse is interesting to the king? I was sure it was my end; he would find out my visions are evil and kill me.

"You have to do it now." he suddenly said and his eyes shined dangerously.

"What?" I stared at him in disbelief and then it came to me who I was talking to "I…I can't, my lord."

"Oh, that's too bad. But you'll have to." he laughed. This time he didn't sound so nice. Anyway, I had to stop thinking about him because it could just anger him. Oh, how I hated people who can steal your thoughts!

"I…it's just…" I didn't know what to say. Was it possible to control these things? Great, then I probably failed in that too. Tears appeared in my eyes. It was hard to breathe or to say anything; it felt like someone was choking me. But it was just pure fear.

"You're not the only one who managed to predict correctly future events…but you're one of the rare who lets me see everything." the king said "You're just what I need."

There were others like me? I was shocked. Well, not really shocked by the fact there were others but that he wanted me here just because I'm defenseless in front of him. I couldn't hide anything from him. It would be so easy for him to find out everything.

"She can't do it!" suddenly yelled Murtagh who was quietly standing in the shadow most of the time "Let her go!"

"How dare you?" the king looked furious and said something I couldn't understand. Murtagh was suddenly drawn closer to the king and he fell down to his knees. I didn't know how that happened, but I assumed the king was using magic.

"Look at me!" the king yelled at Murtagh who was staring at the floor. Murtagh didn't move and the king got even more furious. I gasped when the king took his sword and pointed it at Murtagh's neck, forcing him to look up.

"Oh, so you decided to spend a night with her instead of coming immediately like I ordered you? And now you even dare to disrespect me!" the king said. Murtagh just smiled.

I was surprised by what was going on. So how did the king know I was there? How did he actually find out about me?

"He saw you, so I saw you too." the king suddenly turned to look at me. I bit my lip nervously. I seriously had to stop thinking! But how to do that? It was impossible…like trying to stop breathing.

"My lord!" I heard myself saying it and immediately regretted it. I just wanted to stop the king from doing something to Murtagh so at least I caught his attention.

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to say something.

"My lord, I…I really can't control my visions. They just happen…" my voice sounded so small and shaky.

"Oh, you can! You just have to try!" the king said and I saw his arm move a bit in rage.

"No!" I whispered nervously when I realized the sword cut Murtagh's neck a bit. I really didn't want anything to happen to him. I wasn't sure why, but…I guess I liked him.

"Ah!" the king smiled like he just discovered something exciting. He looked at me, then at Murtagh and then back at me. That was not good.

"Maybe you need a bit of stimulation to start using your brain!" the king laughed and threw away his sword. The sound of steel hitting the floor made me flinch. Then he looked at Murtagh and said something in some weird language. In that moment Murtagh closed his eyes and looked like he was in pain. I didn't know what was going on; I didn't know what to do. I took a deep breath but it just made me more nervous.

"My lord, please! I can't…" I cried. I was desperate. The king stopped and looked at me. I could say he enjoyed this.

"I can see this is not enough scenic for you." the king said coldly "Oh, well, then I'll have to make it better!"

I closed my eyes for a second and opened them again, but the horrible scene didn't go away. The king was whispering something and I screamed when Murtagh was thrown across the room and hit the wall.

"Please, please stop!" I couldn't stop crying. Tears were falling down my cheeks like a river; I could barely see what was going on. I didn't want to see anything but the king just smiled again. It was just surprising to me that so cruel person existed…and that he was the king!

"Oh, I can't stop until you get a vision." the king smiled cruelly. He walked closer to Murtagh who was lying on the floor and used magic again. Murtagh closed his eyes as the blood came out of his mouth.

"No…" it was all I managed to say. Blood. Too much blood. I felt dizzy; I couldn't take it anymore. Darkness overwhelmed me.


I opened my eyes in panic. What happened? Where was I? Once again I hoped it was just a dream and that I'll see my husband next to me. But I was wrong again. I was in a room I've never seen before.

It was very dark here; there was just one torch lightening the stone walls. I was lying on the bed and I tried to get up but that turned out to be harder than I expected. My whole body ached. Then I saw someone standing next to the bed. I gasped.

"Hey, you're finally awake." Murtagh got closer to me. I stared at him, looking for any kind of proof that what happened was real. But there wasn't anything. No bruises, no blood. I took a deep breath. It was better that there wasn't any blood because I didn't feel like loosing consciousness again.

"What…?" I wasn't even sure what to ask. I was sitting up in the bed and realized the air was so cold that I shivered.

"It happened." it was easier for him to answer my question that it was for me to actually ask it.

"Oh. Are you…?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said and his face darkened. I wasn't the only one who preferred not to remember what happened.

"Where is the king?" I asked nervously. I didn't want him close to me again.

"He's in the throne room. As always." Murtagh sighed.

"Oh, good." I said "Did he realize I can't control my visions? Will he let me go?"

"Well, he won't let you go." he actually smiled. I looked at him in shock. Was he mad at me because of what happened?

"Why?" I felt like crying again. My husband, my love…my daughter! Will I ever see them again? What are they thinking about me? Do they think I left them?

"You are free to go, actually. But if you go, your family will die." he said.

"What? Don't you dare to do something to them! I'll kill you!" I yelled furiously. I would never let anyone hurt them. Never.

"Yeah, right." he laughed "You're lucky your daughter didn't inherit your gift."

"How…how do you know?" I was shocked.

"We checked." he said and I froze "Don't worry. They're both fine…Galbatorix needs them to control you. They don't know a thing."

"No." I whispered and tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn't believe the king sent someone to check my family. Someone touched my daughter! They were in danger! They still are and it's all because of me! Especially when I don't do what king wants me to...

"However, you husband thinks you were kidnapped so he won't stop looking for you…" he said "The rest of your village thinks you ran away with your lover."

I could see him smiling as he said that. I glared at him angrily. This wasn't even a bit funny.

"He'll never find you." he suddenly said, answering my hopes that my love will find me and save me.

"How do you know?" I yelled in frustration. If anyone could find me now, it would be him. I was sure of it. He loved me. He's going to save me. I wanted to see him again, kiss him again…before I tell him…

"Do you know how far we are from your village? He doesn't have a clue where you left. Even if he goes to look for you, he'll need years." Murtagh said bitterly "Accept it. No one is going to save you! Not even the ones you trust."

From the way he said it, I could tell he was thinking on something else. I was sure he didn't want to be here either. So who failed to save him from here? I stared at him for a second, thinking.

Dorian, if you are looking for me…I hope you don't find me. You would never forgive me for what I've done. There's nothing I would like more than to see you and Elisabeth, but that can't happen. You would hate me forever…but I will still hope. Forgive me, my love.