"So, Gerald…" I hesitated because I still didn't believe that man "How come you're Murtagh's friend?"

"What?" he smiled at me "He's not supposed to have friends?"

He was making fun of me. I realized I was probably just a stupid village woman for him, who knew nothing about things. Oh, wait. I was exactly that.

"I didn't mean it like that." I said uneasily. For some reason he was making me really, really scared and nervous.

"I'm sorry." he said "I know you didn't mean it like that…you just had a hard day."

"Umm, yeah." I said. He tried to sound nice but I still couldn't relax around him. But there was nothing I could do even if he was a bad guy.

"You don't trust me." he said. I shrugged. Well, hello! He wasn't my friend so there was actually no reason for me to trust him.

"I'm here to help you." he said "But maybe you just need more time to meet me."

"Right." I said more to myself than to him.

"Well, since you asked…" he said "I've known Murtagh for a long time now."

"You have?" I was surprised. Now if he could just define long…

"Oh, yes." he said thoughtfully, like he was trying to remember something that had happened ages ago. Oh, come on. Murtagh wasn't that old.

"Of course not." he laughed and I jumped. He was reading my thoughts! I panicked. Well, that was really nice thing to do if you wanted to gain someone's trust. Huh.

"I'm sorry." he said "It wasn't my intention to read your mind…I just got so used to do it around people so I forget I'm even doing it."

"Uh, could you try not to do it again?" I asked, even I knew he was probably just going to be more careful about me noticing it.

"Sure." he smiled "So…I began to tell you how I'd met Murtagh before he ran away from Galbatorix and before he became a Dragon Rider."

"Are you a Dragon Rider?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Ah, no!" he said "I'm a magician…and oh, well, I've been doing some other things…"

Oh, like murderer? Thief? Rapist? I looked at him curiously, waiting for his reaction. But his face remained calm. Or he really stopped reading my mind or he was really good at controlling his expression.

"I hid Murtagh from Galbatorix." he said proudly "And we made some other important plans."

"Oh." I said. That wasn't exactly the part I wanted to hear. Always some kind of plans that include my favorite topic of all: magic. I didn't really get what he had to do because I actually didn't know much of Murtagh's history and maybe it was better like that.

"Do you have a wife?" I asked. It was just a question to stop him from talking about magic or something similar that included things I wouldn't understand. But his face darkened and I regretted asking it.

"I had." he said quietly "She was killed."

"Oh, I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…" I said. So much about asking the usual questions I used to ask people in my village.

"It's okay." he said, trying hard to smile "Galbatorix killed her…and now he's dead too. I guess he got what he deserved. Maybe that's partly a reason why I helped Murtagh in the first place…"

You see! There is a reason! You could have told that earlier. I sighed. For once my stupid question was useful.

"Why did Galbatorix do that?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't really get it why would Galbatorix kill someone's wife without a reason. Or maybe there was one?

"She worked as a maid in the king's castle…" he said "One night he wanted too much from her…she fought him…"

"Do you have kids?" I wanted to change the topic a bit because I started to feel sorry for the guy. Maybe he was lying and Murtagh wasn't around to help me make a decision about Gerald. If that was his real name, anyway.

"Yes, I have a daughter." he said. I raised an eyebrow before I could stop myself. He had a daughter? I immediately had another question in my mind.

"How old is she?" I wondered, considering that Gerald's wife was killed some time ago.

"Ah, she's your age." he said. Oh, great. I tensed. If Gerald was Murtagh's friend then that girl was probably near him! I wasn't supposed to be jealous, but I couldn't help myself.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"She lives in one village with her husband and kids." he said. I hoped her kids were all her husband's kids too. It just made me more nervous, but not every family could be like mine, right? Maybe I should stop asking family related questions.

"Where did you take Murtagh actually?" I said "I mean, before I left with Thorn you said you had to take him somewhere first. Where?"

"To a healer. She's been my friend for a long time now." he said.

"Oh." I was surprised "And you trust her she won't tell anyone Murtagh is here?"

"Yes, I do." he said "She swore it to me in ancient language."

"Good." I didn't know what else to say.

"Oh, and I have something for you." he suddenly went through his bag to get something.

"Get that away from me!" I yelled as I realized what he was holding. It was the green dragon egg. I completely forgot it was in the castle and I guess Murtagh told Gerald to get the egg before they went out.

"Shh." he said "You'll wake up the kids."

"I don't want that thing near my son." I said, looking at the egg like it was some kind of monster. Well, the monster was inside actually. I didn't want my son to be a Rider. I didn't want any of my children to be involved with magic and those creatures.

"But your son will probably be a Rider." he said.

"Why?" I didn't know what else to say.

"His father is a Rider. I think that will be enough." he smiled at me, putting the egg back to his bag. I relaxed a bit, but it was still freaking me out there was that stupid egg in this house. Could those eggs be broken somehow? Would the dragon jump out then? Huh, stupid mysterious dragon eggs!

"You won't give the egg to my son, will you?" I was worried "Please, don't do that…"

"Don't worry." he said "I won't give the egg to your son now. He's too young to be a Rider already and it would put him in lot of danger."

You see, there it was! Danger! And lot of it. Suddenly I got to a weird conclusion in my head and tears appeared in my eyes.

"What's wrong?" Gerald got closer to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"We will never have peace." I whispered through tears "Many dangerous people will try to find my son and kill him…and if Murtagh doesn't…oh, no…I don't know what to…what to do."

"Don't worry." he said "Murtagh will be fine. You'll see. He won't let anything happen to you or your son."


"Murtagh, please wake up!" I was sitting next to Murtagh's bed, hoping my voice could make him open his eyes. But his condition remained the same. His face was so pale he looked like he was…no! I wished I could stop my brain from thinking.

"Mommy?" Elisabeth came into the room and sat on the floor next to me.

"Hey, Eli." I said quietly, trying not to cry.

"Mommy, do you love him?" she looked at Murtagh.

"Yes." I said. She frowned a bit.

"I thought you love Daddy." she said.

"I did." I said, not really knowing how to explain it "But now I love Murtagh."

"Why?" she looked at me. Huh. That was a good question.

"It's something that can't be explained." I said. I didn't think anyone ever explained what love really was. She kept looking at me and shrugged.

"Mommy, will all my dreams come true?" she suddenly asked.

"Honey, did you dream something again?" I panicked. I wasn't ready to face another catastrophe.

"Umm, yeah." she said uneasily.

"What did you dream?" I looked deep into her eyes.

"I dreamed Daddy was back." she said. I let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, she didn't realize yet the difference between dreams and visions. But there wasn't exactly a way to explain it to her.

"Ow, honey." I hugged her "I know you miss him. I miss him too."

I wasn't lying. I missed Dorian a bit. He was my husband for years and I really loved him, until I met Murtagh who turned my world upside down.

Suddenly I had a strange feeling someone was watching us. I looked up at the window and shrieked. There was a huge eye at the window and Gerald ran into the room in alert.

"It's just Thorn." he said while I tried to stop shivering from pure fear.

"What is he doing…?" I managed to say after some time.

"He's just worried about Murtagh." Gerald said it like it was the most normal thing ever.

"He's a dragon!" I said before I realized it didn't mean a thing. That dragon was maybe closer to Murtagh than I was…just perfect.

"I thought you got used to dragons since you're in love with a Dragon Rider." Gerald smiled.

"Umm, not really." I said "I don't…I can't see the dragon as a…friend or something."

I was actually more than sure my opinion wouldn't change. Dragons were still dangerous creatures because they were huge and powerful. Plus, they could burn you with the fire. If they thought like humans, then it made them even more dangerous. And if they used magic too…I shuddered at the thought.

"Well, you'll get used to it when you'll have two dragons in the family." he grinned at me.

"Don't!" I said. I didn't want to imagine that, but my brain didn't listen. Me between the two dragons…oh, dear. Then I noticed Gerald got closer to check on Murtagh and he didn't look pleased by what he was seeing.

"Is something wrong?" I forgot about anything else, but Murtagh. I ran my hand through my hair; something I've been doing every time I was nervous. And I was way beyond nervous and worried.

"This is not good." Gerald placed his hand on Murtagh's forehead "If he doesn't wake up soon, I'm afraid…we'll loose him."

"No!" I gasped.

"He's not recovering like we've expected." he said "Find a way how to wake him up. Thorn didn't."

"Oh." I didn't know what that was supposed to mean. But before I could ask anything, Gerald was out of the room with Elisabeth. Find a way how to wake him up? Huh. It really didn't make any sense. Gerald was the one using magic and he was out of the room! Thorn was probably the closest one to Murtagh and he didn't succeed.

What was I supposed to do? Was this some weird way Gerald wanted to tell me to say goodbye to Murtagh? I was desperate.


"Murtagh, my love…please, wake up!" I kissed him, hoping a miracle would happen. His lips were dry, almost cold. I started to cry uncontrollably.

"No, you can't leave me!" I yelled at him, but he didn't even move on that. Of course, his chest was moving but his breathing wasn't really strong. I noticed someone was standing in the room and I looked up to see Max at the door.

"Mommy?" Max said quietly.

"Max, come here." I said and he slowly got closer. I hugged him, but tears were coming down my face in a river.

"Daddy?" Max touched Murtagh's hand. I closed my eyes. This was making me feel dizzy. I heard a loud roar from outside. I opened my eyes in panic and ran out of the room. Gerald stared at me equally surprised.

After few seconds of silence, I ran back to the room. Max was sitting on the bed and…Murtagh's eyes were opened. I blinked in disbelief. I got closer to the bed, still staring at Murtagh who actually tried to smile weakly at me.

I started to cry again, but this time because I was too happy. I actually stopped crying while I was shocked, but I hadn't realized it before the tears came again.

"Murtagh!" I kissed him gently "I thought…"

I stopped in the middle of the sentence. No, I couldn't say that. I was almost sure he was too weak to read my mind, so I relaxed.

"Love…" it was all he managed to say, but I smiled at him. I looked through the door to see where Gerald went. I realized he was outside, trying to calm down Thorn who was so happy he almost crashed into the house to get to see Murtagh.

I finally managed to stop crying. I was happy, but deep inside me there were mixed feelings. What now? Murtagh would recover, of course, but there are still people who wanted us dead and they were really dangerous. What we were supposed to do? Where should we go?

There was another thing that bothered me. Maybe I imagined it, but Murtagh woke up when Max came to the room. He didn't wake up when I was there. Did that mean he didn't really love me? Oh, I was being silly. Like I would prefer Murtagh dead rather than him loving Max more than me. I bit my lip; enough with stupid conclusions! It was better to enjoy the moment and that was exactly what I did.