Murtagh was recovering pretty well and I was glad it was like that. We didn't have time to waste and Gerald knew that. We had some kind of a meeting at night in Murtagh's room while the kids were sleeping.
I wasn't really sure why I was there since I didn't really participate in making decisions, but I guess they didn't feel like answering my questions later.
"They are looking for you…all of you." said Gerald.
"Tell me something I don't know already." Murtagh sighed "I don't see the way out of this. Maybe I should go talk to them."
"No!" Gerald and I yelled at the same. Suddenly everyone was staring at me and I just smiled stupidly. It was a moment to say something smart, a good reason, but I wasn't really sure I had one. I just didn't want to be alone. Not a good reason, right?
"If you go talk to them, they'll kill you." said Gerald. Oh, why I couldn't come up with that one? Never mind, it was a good reason.
"Then where can we go?" Murtagh said "They'll find us no matter where we go."
"You have to be smart." Gerald said and I bit my lip not to laugh at the expression on Murtagh's face. I expected Murtagh to do or say something but surprisingly he didn't. If I said something like that, there would be a whole drama.
"I don't know." Murtagh said after some time of silence, looking at the floor. I frowned a bit. Murtagh was supposed to protect me and the kids and he didn't know how? That didn't sound good, and it didn't even sound like him. He always had a solution for everything, at least when it came to something he wanted.
"Amarantha?" Gerald called my name before I could start panicking again how Murtagh didn't care a bit about me.
"Yes?" I said, unsure why he was asking me something. I didn't really count on it. But today everything seemed weird.
"Will you stay with Murtagh no matter where he goes or what he does?" Gerald asked. I blinked. What? It seemed like an eternity passed while my brain processed the question. Was this like a marriage question? I realized Murtagh was staring at me and I just didn't know what to say.
"You don't trust me." said Murtagh. He sounded really upset and I wasn't sure was it because of love or because he had some plans that included me. I was conflicted again; I wasn't sure could I really love someone without trusting him.
"Is that true?" Gerald suddenly took my hand and looked deep into my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something but I was so nervous that I started to cry.
"Damn it, Amarantha!" Murtagh was frustrated, startling me even more "I know what you're thinking, just say it!"
"Murtagh! You're upsetting her!" Gerald said angrily "Leave us."
I wasn't sure what was going on or what was Gerald trying to do. But Murtagh rolled his eyes and went out. I calmed down a bit and stared at Gerald in alert, because he was still touching my arm.
"There you go." Gerald smiled "You got what you wanted!"
"What?" I said. I didn't have any idea what he was talking about.
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about." he said "You wanted to know does Murtagh really care for you like you want him to. So, here it is. He got upset because you didn't trust him, which means he cares about you."
"No." I whispered. He was reading my mind all the time. I tried hard to concentrate on something, because I heard that's the best way to keep your thoughts for yourself. But the more I tried, it was harder not to think and everything I tried to hide was visible even better.
"Oh, I'm sorry if I shocked you." he said. No, not at all! I wanted to run out of the room and yell at someone. Actually I wasn't shocked anymore, I was angry.
"Are you trying to say you asked me a stupid question just to see Murtagh's reaction because you knew I didn't know the answer?" I said, forgetting how to breathe for a second.
"Yes, exactly." he smiled like it was an ordinary thing.
"But why?" I couldn't remember a good reason, so I just had to ask.
"Because you need to be sure in your feelings for him." Gerald said. Oh, and Murtagh didn't need that at all! I would be sure in my feelings, if he was in his. I guess.
"Why?" I raised an eyebrow. I had to clear this up.
"Well…you two can't do anything right if you don't trust each other completely." he said "You won't come alive out of this."
"But now he doesn't trust me!" I still didn't think his idea was a good one.
"I'll explain it to him." Gerald said "He'll understand. The only thing that matters is that you two have better relationship."
"And why do you care?" I looked at him coldly, finally moving away from him.
"Can't you just thank me?" he said "I'm trying to do you a favor."
"Yes. And I want to know why." I said "What do you want?"
"What do I want?" he laughed a bit. I thought it wasn't funny.
"What will you gain with all this?" I said. Oh, come on. People who used magic usually had a reason, personal reason, for everything they were doing. It didn't matter if it was revenge for something, getting more power or some other reason…but there was always a reason.
"Well…there is something I want…" he said hesitantly. He hadn't planned on telling the truth, I suppose. I closed my eyes for a moment, wondering what he could ask for.
"Money?" it was the first thing that got on my mind. I mean, he was a magician so he could already get whatever he wanted and this house was pretty small…could magicians make money? I didn't really know much about that.
"No." he seemed a little bit hurt by my assumption. But that wasn't my problem, anyway.
"Then what do you want?" I wanted to know without having to guess because I knew that would take too long.
"I want to stay with you." he said.
"What?" I stared at him with wide eyes.
"After the danger passes, I want to stay with your family." he said. Oh. I blinked. Wait, what?
"I don't…I don't understand." I said.
"Let me explain it." he said, trying to touch me again. What was his problem? I waved my hands in front of my face, trying to tell him to stay away from me. He got the message and kept his distance. I sighed. What did I get myself into?
"Why don't you tell this to Murtagh?…I don't really…" I said.
"Well, I wanted to ask you after you're safe, but since you realized there is something…" he said.
"Why are you asking me?" I said "I don't have anything to do with it."
"Yes, you do." he said "I would like to be your son's teacher."
"What?" I managed to annoy myself with all that shocked expressions on my face, but I guess it was that kind of a day "You want to be my son's teacher?"
"Yes." he said "Your son will be the best prepared Rider ever."
"No." I said after I realized what he wanted "I've already told you I don't want any of my children involved with magic."
"I can also teach him some other things, not only magic." he said.
"Even if I let that happen, which I won't…but still, wouldn't Murtagh do that?" I said.
"It would be better that I do that, since I have more experience." he said.
"But you're not a Rider." I said.
"That's true." he said "But I know about magic."
Well, that meant a lot to me. I almost laughed.
"I'm not sure Murtagh would approve that." I said.
"That's why I'm asking you." he said. Oh. Great. Just great. I was so honored.
"And why do you think I have a word in that decision?" I asked.
"He loves you and obviously cares what you think about him." he said "If you insist…he'll have to listen to you."
"So you know he would refuse, right?" I sighed.
"Yes." he said.
"I thought you were friends…great friends." I said. But then again, Murtagh probably wanted to be with Max all the time.
"This is the only thing he wouldn't do for me." he said.
"Well, I would love to help…but that's really not my problem." I forced myself to smile.
"I would also be your daughter's teacher." he said "You don't want that your daughter gets less attention than your son, right?"
I thought about it for a moment. He was right. Maybe there was something good about this after all.
"It's true Murtagh can take care of your son, but then he will be spending most of his time with him and not you or your daughter." he said.
I had to admit the man found my biggest weakness; my daughter. She had to have everything like Max because Murtagh killed her father, so it was at least something…even nothing could make it up for her.
Plus, Murtagh would get closer to Max and away from me, and that would make me unhappy. Maybe it was just because of me, but that wouldn't hurt anyone, right? It would just help my daughter. Besides, Murtagh would probably never give up the idea of our son as a Rider. I just had to deal with it. Somehow.
"I'll see what I can do." I said. It was the time to leave the room. I didn't want more problems.
"Think about him." Gerald said just as I was about to open the door.
"What?" I was seriously getting sick of having to ask everything. I wasn't a damn mind reader! Why people just couldn't remember that?
"When you talk to him about this idea…think about him." Gerald said "It will help you concentrate better on what you're saying so you don't think about our deal. And there is a chance he'll stop reading your mind."
"Umm, thanks." I said and left the room. Oh yeah, thinking on Murtagh would definitely help…but not really if I wanted to say something.
I was wondering had Murtagh overheard my conversation with Gerald but I guess Gerald would have known that. I went to the room where kids were. Like I expected, Murtagh was there. He was lying on the bed and Max was sleeping with his head on Murtagh's chest.
I smiled to myself. It was such a lovely sight. Murtagh's eyes were closed but I wasn't sure was he sleeping or not so I got closer to the bed. He opened his eyes.
"Hey." I smiled at him "We need to talk."
"Not now." he whispered, kissing the top of Max's head. I glanced over Elisabeth's bed and I really hoped she was asleep. I couldn't even imagine how she felt. I knew she was missing her father a lot, especially when Murtagh was with Max. But there was nothing I could do about it.
Suddenly the door opened and Gerald entered the room. Gerald and Murtagh looked at each other for a moment in silence. Were they talking? Reading each other's mind? I sighed. Stupid magic and stupid mind readers!
I really wondered why Murtagh always read wrong things in my mind. Or maybe my mind was a mess, so reading it was easy but getting the real idea complicated. Oh, wait a second. What idea? I never really had an idea.
I got back to reality when I realized Murtagh and Gerald were looking at me. I smiled, like I always did in this kind of situation. I just didn't know what I was getting with that. Trying to make them look at my face and not in my mind? Stupid, stupid, stupid!
I decided to get busy. I walked over to Elisabeth's bed, fixing the covers. I looked at my daughter's face and tears appeared in my eyes.
"Amarantha." Murtagh put his hands around my waist and I jumped a bit because I hadn't heard him getting up. He kissed my neck gently and I moved away from him.
"What's wrong?" he whispered. I was sure he knew damn well what was wrong, but he probably thought it was better to ask. Like that would make me feel more comfortable.
"Come with me." I took his hand and led him out of the room. I couldn't risk my kids hearing what I was about to say. When we were standing outside the house, I wiped away my tears. The air was cold but nicely fresh. I took a deep breath while Murtagh looked at me expectantly.
"Murtagh, I…" I said, and he smiled.
"It's alright. Gerald explained everything." he said.
"Oh, right." I said "But there is something else I wanted to tell you."
"What?" he said.
"It's Elisabeth." I said "It's just not fair…I looked at her face and she looked…she looked so sad."
"She can't forget her father." he said indifferently "It's a normal thing."
"Normal?" I said "No, it's not a normal thing! Not in this case! You were there with Max…like her father used to be with her…and that made her even sadder."
"And what do you want me to do?" he said "Max is my son."
"Actually, I don't know." I said "But after this is all over…I want to be your wife. Legally. And I want our children to have a teacher. Both of them."
"A teacher?" he raised an eyebrow "What for?"
"Because I say so." I crossed my arms. Why would he always get what he wanted without explanation or questions? I could do that too. At least once.
"Really?" he seemed amused.
"I'm not joking." I said, but he kept smiling "You owe me and you know it."
"Huh." he finally stopped smiling.
"It's the only way you can try to make it up a bit for Eli." I said "And me."
"Alright." he said "But who could be the teacher? We can't trust anyone."
"Gerald." I said "You obviously trust him."
"But he…" Murtagh frowned a bit.
"He what?" I smiled "Why don't we go to ask him?"
"Wait, why don't we solve this on another way." he said "I can take care of Max, and Gerald of Elisabeth…if he wants to, of course."
"No." I said "That wouldn't be fair. If we want to have a family, I want you to be Elisabeth's father too. I know she doesn't want it and you can't substitute her real father but you can try…at least to be friends. And I don't want to remind you every moment about it. I've told you all this before and you hadn't done anything."
"Alright." he said "Whatever."
"Great." I smiled. He got closer to me, looking at me curiously.
"Umm, about what you're thinking now…" he smiled, kissing me gently "I thought we could…"
"Here?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Come." he took my hand and we ran to the woods.
