We were sitting in the throne room. It felt awkward. I wasn't sure how exactly Murtagh managed to convince me to do this. I sighed. There were various people coming to see us. I didn't listen to any of them.

Only two days passed by after we had come to this town and this huge castle. I didn't even know how to pronounce the name of the town right! Gerald was actually right when he said people were afraid of us. No one tried to stop us from taking over the castle.

In fact, everyone seemed to be happy there was someone in charge. Even it was Murtagh. I guess some things are harder to do without a king. But Murtagh enjoyed this more than me. Normal house would never be enough for him.

I couldn't say the castle was ugly. It was very pretty actually. There were huge rooms everywhere, marble floor and nice furniture. It definitely didn't look like that when Galbatorix was the king. I wondered which things Nasuada had chosen. But I preferred not to know. Thinking of her was giving me creeps.

The throne room was the biggest room in the castle and really hard to find, especially if you were me. Murtagh had to come for me to our room to take me there. The floor was actually made of some weird dark stone; I didn't know what it was. It could have also been magic.

Actually, this room was a bit pointless. It had only two huge chairs in the middle, made of gold and decorated with rubies. I bet that was Murtagh's idea. There was also a small table in the corner of the room with all kinds of weapons and things. Gerald told me it was just another sign of power for our guests to see.

There were four more chairs, but they were just plain wooden chairs, hidden a bit in the dark. I wanted to make something in there for kids, but Murtagh just frowned at me. How was I supposed to stay sitting all the time in that dark room and listen to people talk to Murtagh? Highly amusing. Yeah, right.

Murtagh finally told me I wouldn't have to sit with him all the time, but only when important guests came. I was wondering when I agreed to do all this. Wasn't I against this idea? Well, I could try. But even though Murtagh said we were supposed to be well-protected, I wanted to make more windows in the throne room.

Murtagh's and mine room was actually the best room in the whole castle. It was nice and full of light. There was also a huge balcony. The floor was made of perfectly white marble and Murtagh made sure everything in the room was new. The bed was huge and painted black, but the covers were white. There was a huge wooden closet in one corner and a desk with chairs in the other. A bookshelf full of some strange books was behind the door, but I didn't mind.

The kids had their own rooms and I was against the idea, but Murtagh didn't want to listen. I just didn't like it because I wanted them to spend more time together. And like this it was harder to keep an eye on both of them. I was also wondering in whose room would they play or talk. It just didn't seem right.

Max's room was closer to ours and Elisabeth's to Gerald's. All rooms were in the same hall, so I couldn't really complain but Murtagh still preferred Max. I wasn't sure how to deal with it anymore; he would never change. Gerald kept saying I shouldn't worry, because soon he would be teaching the kids and they would be staying together.

"Amarantha!" Murtagh almost yelled into my ear.

"What?" I blinked at him.

"Where are you?" he smiled at me "I've been calling your name for a while."

"Umm, sorry." I said "I was just thinking…you know this whole thing bores me to death."

"I know. But now everyone will know you as a queen." he said "My queen."

"Don't you think Nasuada's supporters will want to kill me?" I said "You were her husband just few weeks ago and now you have another queen. It's just not right."

"Well, they all knew I wasn't in love with her at the end." he said "Besides, you're a mother of my son. You can't be here just as a lover."

"Right. Bad image." I sighed "But we aren't even married!"

"Oh, we will be." he said "I'm preparing a huge party."

"Excuse me, do I know you?" I stared at him "Because you don't seem to be the man I used to know."

"Oh, please, my love. You're going to love it." he laughed. Well, I'm glad it was at least funny for someone. I had something more romantic in mind. And definitely not big. But then again, I had my normal wedding once before and look how it ended.

"Whatever." I said "But I don't like you when you act like a king. The power affects you too much."

"Don't worry. I just want to show off my power for a week or two. I'll stop when my enemies realize they can't get rid of me." he said.

"Right." I said. Why couldn't I just believe him? Sometimes it just seemed like I knew him and sometimes like I had no idea who he was. I guess he'd never leave the past behind. Maybe he didn't even realize he was trying to run away from it.

"Gerald wants to see you." he suddenly said.

"What?" I stared at him in shock. How the hell did he know?

"Look, Gerald said to Thorn. Thorn told me. Happy?" he smiled. Ugh, mind reading. Irritating as always. I would never get used to it.

"No." I rolled my eyes "I'm going to see what he wants."

"Sure." Murtagh smiled. I wanted to leave, but he caught my arm and pulled me to him, kissing me gently.

"Never ever think again I'm trying to run away from something." he whispered, still holding my arm. I moved away from him.

"Is that a threat?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no. Why would you think something like that?" he smiled "I love you."

"Then I'll think about whatever I want and you stay out of my thoughts." I stared into his eyes. He frowned. I left the room before he could say something else. He was really sensitive about a particular topic.


"You wanted to see me?" I asked Gerald when I finally found him. He was in another room with Max and Elisabeth. It was probably a special room for studying. I thought they would be in one of their rooms. But we had too many rooms anyway, so why not use them?

"Ah, yes." Gerald smiled at me "I need to talk to you."

"Mommy!" Elisabeth yelled "I learned a magic word!"

"What?" I frowned at Gerald "You're teaching my daughter ancient language?"

"Yes, why not?" he said calmly.

"We really do need to talk." I said and he followed me out. When we were standing in the hall, I closed the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm doing what you wanted." he said "Teaching your kids."

"No." I said "I didn't want my daughter to know ancient language. What will she do with it if she can't use magic?"

"Well, she'll be able to recognize the words or a spell if someone tries to use it on her." he said "And she will be able to read ancient books one day."

I blinked. This was so stupid.

"And what can she do even if she recognizes the words?" my voice sounded strange, almost desperate "She will be affected by it no matter what. Knowing the spell won't help her."

"It can help." he said "Maybe she won't be attacked. Maybe someone else will be…and she will be able to help."

"Help? Help?" I was yelling and I didn't even realize it "I don't want my daughter near magic! How do you think she will feel when Max really uses magic and she can't?"

"I'll explain it to her." he said "She's a smart girl."

"She's a child! My child!" I said "I…"

"You don't know what you want." he said "I promised you to teach your daughter everything I teach Max. I thought about it and now it seems reasonable actually."

"Did you tell this to Murtagh?" I said.

"Yes." he said "He agrees with me."

At the moment he said it, I knew there was something behind it. Murtagh and Gerald had a plan they didn't want me to find out about. Again. Damn magicians and Dragon Riders! It's always about battles or magic. I thought about it for a moment.

I had no idea what my daughter really wanted. She said she wanted to fight and things like that, but she didn't know that she couldn't do it. I sighed. This was a hard decision. One way could make my daughter sad and feeling bad because she couldn't learn what Max could. The other way could make her sad and feeling bad because she would know all but couldn't use it like Max could.

"At least she will knew what she's getting into if someone wants her to promise something in ancient language." he said.

Damn. Gerald was right and he was looking at me with a big grin on his face. I didn't want my little girl to get involved with some bad oaths.

"Fine." I said "Teach her magic. Teach her whatever you teach Max. But don't let my daughter become someone she isn't supposed to be."

"Good." he said "I knew you would understand."

"But what did you want to talk about in the first place?" I asked "Was it about this?"

"No." he said "I wanted to talk to you about Max."

"About Max?" I was surprised.

"Yes." he said "I need you to talk to Murtagh."

"Me?" I actually laughed.

"I don't think Max is ready to become a Rider." he said.

"Umm, I agree on that one." I said. If you asked me, I wouldn't want my son to be a Rider. Ever.

"Murtagh wants it to happen tomorrow." he said.

"What?" I gasped "No, he can't do that!"

"He thinks it's better for the boy to grow up with his dragon." even Gerald didn't seem happy about it "There is a chance that the dragon won't hatch because Max is too young. But we don't know that for sure. You need to talk to Murtagh about it."

"Why can't you do that?" I said "He doesn't listen to me anyway. I know nothing about these things."

"But you are Max's mother." he said.

"Ok. I'll tell him Max is too young and that I don't want it…is there anything else to say? If not, why can't you tell him? I understand I'm Max's mother, but you're his teacher." I looked at Gerald's worried face.

"It's just…" he hesitated.

"Just what?" I asked suspiciously.

"I would do it if I could." he said.

"Huh?" I was confused.

"I made some oaths…" he said, looking a bit sad "Somehow one of these affects this problem."

I didn't understand a thing. What kind of oath did he make if he couldn't even make a suggestion? That was weird. But why would he lie to me? Was that even possible? Stupid ancient language! Did Gerald know what he was promising? Ok, that was a stupid thought.

"Wait a second." I said "When did you promise that?"

"Few days ago." he said.

"Why?" I frowned.

"I had no other choice." he said.

"Really? But you're a magician! And Murtagh's friend!" I said. This was way too weird. Maybe Gerald was doing something he wasn't supposed to and Murtagh got mad. But would he really made Gerald promise something in ancient language? Maybe it was just another lie to make me talk to Murtagh. But he could talk with me any time he wanted without sending me around. I hate it when I know nothing!

"I know. But it's a private thing between me and Murtagh. I can't tell you why or what did I say." he said.

"Can't or won't?" I said.

"Won't." he smiled a bit actually.

"Well, it's none of my business." I said "I'll go talk to Murtagh."

"Do that." he said.


Author's note: Just in case I didn't mention this before; Amarantha's point of view on some things reflects her world and her ideas. Just wanted to say that I don't share my opinion with her, especially not the one about girls not being able to do the same things as boys.