He put his hand around my waist and I pressed Elisabeth tighter to me. I turned around slowly.

"Murtagh." I whispered. He was smiling at me. There was something different about him…but I wasn't sure what. His clothes were a bit ripped, dirty and bloody.

My heart was telling me to hug him, kiss him, run to him. On the other hand, my mind was telling me to stay away, to start running.

I knew running wouldn't help. I was too tired for that and he would stop me before I made my move. He knew this too. I took a deep breath.

No thoughts, just Elisabeth. I wanted to concentrate on her so Murtagh wouldn't know what I was thinking. But it was too late. I couldn't do it. I wish I knew how people could hide their thoughts from others, because it seemed impossible. How could you even do something without thinking about it?

"Your daughter is just beautiful." he said.

"Don't touch her!" I said nervously.

"Hey, why are you so tense?" he laughed "Relax! Everything is fine."

"What happened?" I wanted to know had something really happened near here…dragon fight.

"Yes." he said "There was a fight…big one, and guess who won!"

He grinned and I stared at him, not moving. I didn't know what he meant…if he won, did that mean the king won too? Or there was something else I couldn't guess.

"You did." I said quietly. I realized my heart was beating like crazy. So if he wouldn't kill me, then my heart would…

"The king is dead." he smiled. I was shocked. Galbatorix was dead? I couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true.

"It's true. I'm the new king now." he said.

"What?" I gasped "Impossible."

"No, it's not." he said "We destroyed his source of power and killed his dragon…after that it was easy."

I tried hard not to roll my eyes. This sounded like a story for villagers…something like Dorian's story of how he saved me. Was he trying to impress me? However, I didn't miss a really important word.

"We?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Eragon helped us…and the Varden…and everyone who was against Galbatorix. We managed to destroy him with all our forces…using magic. And saying words in ancient language that hadn't been spoken before." he said with excitement.

So, a big thing happened…and I wouldn't even know if I hadn't run into him. I wasn't sure what exactly happened but I didn't want to know. Magic, dragons and language I didn't understand weren't really on my list of favorite things to talk about.

"Why are you the king?" I didn't find a reason why someone would make him a king when he was on Galbatorix's side and people thought he was evil.

"Eragon refused to be the king. And someone powerful has to lead the Empire, but why would you care about that? We have our plans." he said "We'll bring peace…and happiness."

He obviously had some plans he didn't want me to find out about. I promised to myself I would try to learn the truth. Maybe he wasn't lying, maybe he was just hiding something from me…but what?

"Amarantha…" he whispered, getting closer to me and trying to kiss me. I wanted that more than ever. He was my hero. He was everything I ever wanted. I loved him. I truly loved him. That's why I didn't stop him when he kissed me…maybe I should tell him I'm…

In that moment Elisabeth started to cry loudly and he moved away from me. I almost told him…

He looked at me curiously; his eyes on my stomach. I concentrated on Elisabeth, trying to calm her down. She was just reacting strangely these days.

"Are you pregnant?" he asked. I took a deep breath. He seemed to be so surprised he asked instead of searching my mind.

"Yes." I said.

"Well, congratulations." he said "You didn't waste time…"

Oh. I felt a bit offended. He didn't even consider the fact it could be…nothing! I focused on Elisabeth again and I was so glad she was in my arms.

"She's definitely your daughter." he suddenly said.

"Of course, she is!" I didn't get it…why was he saying that?

"She inherited your gift…" he smiled.

I gasped. No! Not her. Why was this happening to me? Why did I have to ruin my daughter's life too? Why she had to be cursed too? And so young…my poor baby!

"Don't worry." he said "She's too young to understand these dreams…and they are not specific yet. She can't be having them for a long time since we check before and she didn't have them then. She can just feel…feel what is going to happen. Nothing special."

I felt like crying. I felt broken. When I thought my life couldn't get any worse, it happened. I was lost again. Murtagh was looking at me, still smiling. If he was the king, then should I be speaking to him just like this? Was the danger really over? I didn't know what to do.

"Come with me to the castle." he said.

"Umm…" I thought for a second. Was that a good idea? There was nothing I would like more than going with him, but my questions were still unanswered. Was he just using me like Lily told me? Did he want me in the castle just because he discovered Elisabeth has my curse too?

How could I possibly know what were his intentions? Would he kill me? I didn't know any of it. But maybe I was just accusing him without reason. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the man I loved was really in front of me.

"Well, you can't stay in the woods alone." he said "That's not safe for such a precious baby like her!"

Precious? Why was he saying that? No, it couldn't be. I was probably imagining all that danger. If it wasn't for Lily, I would be the happiest woman ever at that moment.

"Why don't you take me home?" I asked suspiciously.

"It will take time until everyone finds out what happened today. It's safer for you to go with me." he said "Your husband, if he's alive, probably won't come back soon…you have time to go back home. Just wait until everything calms down. Oh, and could you say no to the king?"

"Alright." I was angry on him because he was probably right; it wasn't safe to go back to the village yet. Especially not if Lily is mad at me. I was wondering could Murtagh read her name in my thoughts or she put a spell on me…

But Murtagh reminded me again that something could have happened to Dorian. I bit my lip. I hoped he was still alive.

I was wondering why Murtagh didn't say anything to make me feel better and less scared, if he was listening to my thoughts. Maybe he didn't care what I thought or there was definitely something behind that all.


When we came to the castle, I realized we were alone. Everyone probably left the castle in fear when Galbatorix went out with his scary dragon. The place was still dark and ugly as I remembered it.

"When did you have time to talk to Eragon and the Varden and make all agreements?" I suddenly looked at Murtagh. I still didn't understand how that all happened. Maybe I was just stupid.

"We made all our agreements before…when he escaped. It was well planned." he said "I told you we used most powerful magic. You can't understand it because you don't know what magic really is."

"Oh." I said. I was really paranoid lately.

"Your old room is still how you left it." he smiled.

"Really?" I wondered what he was thinking.

"Some people should be here tomorrow." he said "I have a lot of things to do. I'm telling you so you won't get surprised if you find unknown people here."

"Oh." I managed to annoy myself with saying that all the time. But I really didn't know what else to say. This was a very strange situation and I didn't know how to act. Murtagh wasn't helping me either. Maybe it was time to ask him was he just playing with me or I was imagining things.

"I suggest you to stay in your room." he said "I'm not feeling like having to explain why you are here."

"Okay." I said. That was strange. Really strange. He was hiding something, but not just from me.

"Do you need anything else? Something for you daughter?" he asked.

"Umm, we're fine." I said "Thank you."

"See you later then." he smiled and left.


I was sitting on the bed. Elisabeth was sleeping next to me. I took a deep breath. What had happened? I wasn't really sure.

I wasn't sure should I trust Murtagh or not. He gave me so many reasons not to believe him but my heart kept telling me it was all part of my imagination. Was this all normal or not? Was I exaggerating? I closed my eyes for a moment.

I heard steps outside and then voices. It was early in the morning but it seemed that people already came. I sighed. This would be a boring day if I had to stay whole day in this room.

After some time I checked on Elisabeth who was still asleep and decided to see what was going on. I opened the door quietly and realized there was no one in the hall. I walked slowly to the throne room.

Of course they were there. The door was open a bit but I didn't dare to look inside immediately. What if they knew I was here? You never know with those magicians, mind readers or whatever.

"…the final act will be held in a week or two." I heard a woman say "We can't do it immediately. It would be wrong."

"I agree." I recognized Murtagh's voice "This is the best we can do. There's no hurry."

"So, the wedding…" another man said and I gasped in shock. What wedding? What were they planning to do?

"Nasuada, are you sure about this?" the man asked. I got very nervous; I just had to look inside. It didn't matter if they would see me or not. I held my breath and peered inside.

I couldn't see much but I was too afraid to push the door. Murtagh was standing in the middle of the room. I bit my lip; he looked amazing. His clothes weren't dirty and ripped like I used to see on him. His dark hair was actually longer than I remembered and his face was so beautiful.

A woman was standing next to him. I assumed it was Nasuada. Her hair was black and her skin was really dark. She was beautiful. Then I noticed she was looking at Murtagh. The way she looked at him…I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from saying whatever I was about to say.

"We'll bring peace to Alagaësia." she said and smiled. Murtagh smiled at her. I thought I was going to faint. So that was their idea! I felt like I was going to choke; I couldn't breathe and my mind was spinning. I wanted to run to my room, but I tripped and hit something in the hall.

It made a big noise and I realized everyone in the throne room heard it. However, I didn't care. I just ran down the hall, tears running down my face. I heard Murtagh yelling something after me but I didn't stop.

When I got to my room, I sat on the bed and whipped away my tears. No, I didn't want to cry. Maybe I overheard something or saw things wrong. It was possible I went mad. Oh, please.

Someone knocked on my door. I was surprised; I knew Murtagh wouldn't do that.

"It's open." I said, trying to calm down. It was that woman.

"Hello." she smiled at me "My name is Nasuada. I came to ask you are you feeling alright. We were worried…"

"I'm fine." I said "Nice to meet you. I'm Amarantha."

"Oh, are you Murtagh's friend?" she asked. No! I wasn't his damn friend or anything! Not anymore.

"Yes." I tried to smile, but failed.

"Is that your daughter? She's beautiful!" she saw Elisabeth who was still sleeping.

"Umm, yes." I said. I really wanted to hate that woman. But I just couldn't; she seemed to be a nice lady. Then it occurred to me. Maybe Murtagh was lying to her too.

"Murtagh wanted me to check on you…he thought something had happened…" she said. Oh, he didn't dare to come to see me so he sent her! How sweet. Something had happened? No, nothing. Except so many things I didn't understand, but whatever!

"I have to ask you something." I didn't really know how I should speak to that woman. Was she royalty or not? She didn't seem to mind, so I continued.

"Could you, please, tell me what is going on?" I asked "I heard so many things so I'm not sure anymore. What will happen with the Empire?"

"Didn't Murtagh tell you?" she was surprised. Would I be asking if he did? Did she think I was stupid? Oh, I was definitely overreacting. My mind just doesn't work right when I'm really angry. And I was furious.

"Are you two getting married?" I asked nervously.

"Yes." she smiled "Probably. It's the only way to make peace. We need to unite the Varden and the Empire…but since one part wouldn't trust him, and the other wouldn't trust me…we have to do this."

"Oh." I was speechless. What a stupid idea! Couldn't they just find another person to rule? And she was someone important actually. Oops. I had to be more careful. Could she read my thoughts? I hoped she couldn't.

"But to change things to better…leaders have to be powerful and charismatic." she said.

"What about Eragon?" I said "I heard he refused to be the king…and I believe he's the only person everyone likes."

"Yes, he refused…he found his peace with…someone…and he already did too much for everyone. We can't ask him to do this too." she said.

"Good for him." I said. I really needed to know the whole story about this…and she would tell me, I was sure of it.