"You know, this won't last forever." I said to Murtagh as we were walking back to the house.
"What are you saying?" he looked at me carefully.
"This moment of…happiness, calmness…" I said "It will go away."
"Yes." he said thoughtfully "But we will…"
"Don't." I smiled sadly "They are coming."
"What?" he suddenly stopped, putting his hands on my shoulders and looking deep into my eyes "Have you seen something?"
"Not yet." I whispered, tears forming in my eyes already "But I know they are coming. And you know it too."
"I will stop them." he said "Our enemies won't have an easy job."
"Do we even have a plan how to do it?" I looked at him.
"Yeah…" he hesitated "We're going to talk to them."
"Talk?" I raised an eyebrow "Do you really think they want to talk to us?"
"We'll make them listen to us." he said confidently "Besides, Nasuada is not evil."
"Huh." I frowned a bit. I didn't like it when he mentioned that woman because she was still his wife. And her soldiers came to kill us!
"Amarantha." he said "I know you don't like her, but she knows she can't just come here without us seeing her coming. She will want to talk. It's the only way."
"Well, that's…comforting." I smiled dryly.
"Amarantha!" he said "Don't be so pessimistic!"
Oh, yeah. Sure. Let's dance and have a party until they come to kill us! I didn't want to listen to him anymore. I simply walked away.
Gerald was waiting for us in the house. He looked surprised when he saw me coming without Murtagh.
"Where is Murtagh?" he asked. He almost looked worried. I wondered what he thought that had happened.
"I don't know." I shrugged. Gerald gave me a weird look. I thought he was reading my mind. Oh, well. I didn't look back to see where Murtagh went so he couldn't find anything. I wasn't lying.
"Amarantha!" Gerald called my name and I flinched.
"What?" I looked at him in surprise. Why did he have to yell my name if we were already talking and I was standing next to him? Something was wrong. Just I couldn't figure it out what.
Suddenly a huge wave of pain passed through my head. Of course, it was followed by images of things…the future. I don't know how long it was happening, and the darkness came so suddenly.
I tried to open my eyes. My eyelids felt heavy. I blinked. The first thing I could see was Murtagh's worried face above me. I looked around. Gerald was standing in the corner of the room and smiled at me. I was confused.
"What…?" my voice came out weird and my throat felt dry and sore. Seriously, what the hell happened?
"Shh." Murtagh smiled at me "It's alright. You don't have to say anything. Just think anything you want to say to me."
Oh, how nice. Mind readers love to use their ability on me. But, hey, I couldn't complain. This time talking felt too hard. I looked at Murtagh carefully. What happened?
"You had a vision." Murtagh said "Do you remember what it was?"
No? I didn't really remember anything. That was strange. I got worried. I just had to remember it! There is no way I could forget a vision!
"You don't remember anything?" Murtagh looked at me and then at Gerald. Gerald just shrugged. I thought about it for a moment. Wait. Hadn't Gerald called my name before it happened? I looked at him suspiciously.
"I realized you were going to have a vision." Gerald said casually "Your mind felt different few moments before the vision."
Oh. I tried to sit up in the bed but it wasn't so easy because everything was spinning in front of my eyes. I took a deep breath. Did Gerald see the vision in my mind?
"No." Murtagh said "It seems like your mind changes a bit during the vision, so no one else can see it."
Well, whatever. That wasn't strange. Of course my mind changed if something different was going on. But couldn't they see it after?
"Usually we can." Murtagh said "But you don't remember and we can't find anything."
They've been reading my mind and searching…oh, how awesome. But why was my throat hurting so much?
"You were screaming. A lot." Murtagh smiled at me.
So, I had seen something that made me scream. But why couldn't I remember what it was? I frowned. Did I see my own death in the vision and that was why I couldn't remember it? Was it so horrible that I didn't want to remember it?
"Don't worry." Murtagh said "I'm sure you will remember it."
And what if I wouldn't? What if it was all work of our enemies? I tried to get up when I saw Elisabeth and Max running into the room. I wondered did everyone hear me screaming. Maybe they heard me miles away. No, probably not. But close.
"Mommy!" Elisabeth brought me a glass of water. I smiled at her. My daughter knew what I needed better than my supposed protectors. I looked at Murtagh and smiled and he moved away from the bed a bit.
"Eli…" my throat actually felt better after taking a few sips of cold, refreshing water.
"Mommy, why were you screaming?" Eli sat on the bed next to me.
"Elisabeth, let your mother recover first." Murtagh said. I glared at him. Would he ever change?
"It's ok." I managed to say somehow, but Eli looked like she was about to cry. I wanted to hug her but she moved away and went to stand next to Max who was just looking at us.
"I'll take care of the kids." Gerald said and led them out of the room.
When we were alone I looked away from Murtagh. I hate you!
"I'm sorry." he said.
"Not enough." I said, hoping he would understand what I meant. I didn't feel like saying the whole sentence out loud. And it probably didn't look nice in my mind. Damn, I couldn't edit my thoughts before he heard them.
"I'll be more careful." he finally said. I really hoped he meant it. But was that really important? Something was about to happen and I didn't know what! It annoyed me so much that it could be any minute and we would be helpless. Ok, I would be helpless.
Two days had passed by and nothing had happened. No one tried to kill us or reach us. Not that I minded, but still…my vision stayed a mystery. I couldn't remember anything. Not even a bit. It made me crazy. I couldn't think about anything else.
"Amarantha, you can't keep thinking only about what happened." Murtagh said. Oh, really?
"Why not?" I said "It might be important!"
"We will know if someone comes." he said "Stop worrying. You're making the kids nervous."
"Um, I'm making you nervous?" I said.
"Yeah…you're making everyone nervous!" he said and smiled.
"Sorry, can't help it." I said and he rolled his eyes "What? I can't!"
"Right." he said, kissing me gently. He put his hands around my waist.
"Are you trying to distract me from my thoughts?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe." he smiled "Did I succeed?"
"I don't know." I said "What was I thinking about, anyway?"
"Ah, my love." he said "I don't know what I would do without you."
"Umm…you would have fewer things to worry about. Maybe you would be happy with your wife…." I was really hoping he would stop me.
"Great, Amarantha." he said "I wanted to make you feel better and you ruined it."
"Yeah, well…I tend to do that." I said "But if I can't remember my vision…"
"There you go again." he moved away from me.
"I was thinking…if I can't see my vision, maybe you can't see our enemy." I said.
"I'm not that….stupid!" he said. I guess I offended him. You just can't say anything to a Dragon Rider.
"I know…" I said "I just want you to be careful."
"Why don't you just get out of this room and go play with the kids or something…?" he asked.
"Why don't you play with them?" I said.
"Like you said, I have to be careful." he grinned at me.
"Right." I frowned "I'll stop thinking and go play with the kids."
"Good." he said.
"Mommy, I dreamed something." Elisabeth told me. I smiled. I didn't really expect she had a vision. I haven't really explained her the difference. Maybe because I wasn't even sure how to do that.
"What did you dream?" I smiled at her.
"I dreamed too." Max was obviously trying to get my attention. I smiled at both of them.
"Hey! I said it first!" Elisabeth was upset.
"Eli, it's ok." I said "I'm listening."
"I dreamed you, mommy." Elisabeth smiled.
"Me?" I said.
"Yes." she said "I dreamed I had a sister!"
Oh. I tried really hard to smile at that and I hoped this wasn't a vision. We didn't have time for another baby! It was probably just Elisabeth's desire to have someone to play with…another girl and not Max. She wasn't really close to Max as I wanted.
"That's…nice, honey." I said and looked at Max "What did you dream?"
"I don't know, mommy." he stared at the floor.
"Max?" I said. I wanted to know did he invent that he had a dream or something else had happened.
"I don't know." he looked at me. I frowned.
"Amarantha?" Murtagh came behind my back, starling me. I moved away from the kids and took Murtagh's hand, taking him out of the room.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know." I said "But do you read Max's mind like you read mine?"
"No." he said "He's my son!"
"And I'm what?" I frowned. That really wasn't nice.
"Ok, ok. Just tell me why you are asking that." he said.
"Can Max have visions?" I asked. Was it possible that my curse passed on all my kids? It was like a damn disease!
"Yes." Murtagh said. I glared at him.
"Since when do you know?" I was angry "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to upset you." he said "Besides, Max is too young. He doesn't really understand it."
"Oh, great!" I didn't know what else to say.
"Besides, I thought you won't find out." he smiled. I wanted to hit him. But try to do that to a Dragon Rider. He would just move away. At least he knew I wanted to do it.
"Max told me he had a dream and that he doesn't know what it was." I said "Could it be the same thing I…"
"Probably not." he said "But I can check."
"Ok. Do it." I said.
"But, you know, I won't be able to read our son's mind whenever we want soon." he said.
"What?" I was surprised.
"I'll teach him how to block people from doing that." he said "I think it's important."
"Oh." I said "Are you going to teach him how to read other people's minds?"
"A Rider needs to know that." he said.
"So, my son will be able to read my mind?" I gasped. So not a good idea.
"Don't worry." Murtagh came closer to kiss me "I'll find a way how to protect your mind too. You'll be just mine."
"Huh, nice." I rolled my eyes "What is so exciting about reading my mind?"
"Well, if you could protect your mind by yourself, you wouldn't be in this situation." he smiled.
"Awesome." I smiled bitterly "Why did I have to fall in love with a Dragon Rider?"
"That's a mystery." he said.
"Yeah, right." I said "I'm just afraid…that I missed something important. And Max maybe…"
"If anyone is coming, I'll know." he said "I told you that already too many times. Why can't you believe me?"
"Because…you know." I said "And where will we go if you see they are coming and it's too late?"
"Thorn will take you away." he said "But only if they mean harm to us."
"You'll stay." tears appeared in my eyes.
"Yes." he said "I can take care of myself."
"But how will you know what they want?" I asked.
"When I see them coming…I'll go to meet with Nasuada." he said "I'll try to talk to her."
"What if she kills you?" I said.
"No, she wouldn't do that." he said.
"Really?" I said "How are you so sure?"
"She loved me." he said "Maybe she still does."
"You ran away from her…to be with me." I said "You have a son with another woman."
"So?" he looked at me.
"So?" I raised an eyebrow "You hurt her feelings! She wants me dead…her soldiers came to kill me. And my children…Maybe she wouldn't kill you. But she almost did last time..."
"They can't get here unnoticed." he said "We will be prepared."
"Right." I smiled bitterly.
"Amarantha…" he hugged me.
"Alright. I believe you." I sighed "Just don't disappoint me, please."
