"Murtagh..." I repeated, struggling to think where I had heard the name before, for I was certain that I had. "I beg your pardon, but the name is painfully familiar to me, and yet I cannot place it in my memory...is there another name by which you are known? A family name?"
"No," He replied, much too quickly, Obsidian thought, suspiciously. I ignored his silent warnings as the young man continued, "I am afraid I have no family, and so whatever name I may have had is lost to me...but enough of me. What is a maiden such as yourself doing so deep in the woods, unescorted? Most everybody from a family of high standing and wealth stick to the very outskirts of the forest to hunt, never venturing further than a mile from the edge, and even then it is only for game."
"What makes you think I come from such a background?" I asked, a little insulted that he would make such an assumption, but also curious as to how he made the right one. A small smile crept across his features as he answered,
"You have a solid gold, jewel-encrusted dagger tied to a suede belt around your waist and you are dressed in the finest travelling clothes that gold can acquire...and although your words are kind, you speak them much too well, and with a subtle air of superiority that I doubt you, yourself, even notice."
His reply both impressed and insulted me further, and I stumbled in my rebut.
"I...but you...I do NOT speak with an air of superiority!" I fumed...superiorly.
"I apologise, I did not mean to offend...but you asked why I said what I did and I answered, truthfully...and I did not mean any of it in a bad way, even if you received it as an insult." He replied, choosing his words carefully and deliberately. "But I was right, was I not? About you, and about your background?"
I opened my mouth to argue, but instead, sighed and nodded in defeat.
"Yes, I was born to a privileged existence, but I have rejected it."
"Why? Most people-"
"I am not most people," I cut across him, "And I refuse to relinquish my own free will for anything, least of all the gift of an easy life. Hard work will not destroy me, but being imprisoned would extinguish all of the life I have left in me. Regardless of how comfortable a cage may be, it remains a cage, nothing more. Rather my back break from heavy labour than my spirit break under the discipline of rich, controlling men."
He scoffed at my last statement,
"You know not of what you speak. Hard work and heavy labour? Such things you cannot possibly comprehend. How long have you been out here? A week? Two?"
I frowned at his new attitude, but answered truthfully,
"One night and one day."
He chuckled quietly to himself.
"I predict that you will not see ten more sunsets in these woods before you run back home, begging your husband to forgive you."
"You are wrong on both counts, sir, for I know now the path I must take and I cannot turn back, and neither do I have a husband."
He did not reply straight away, but instead eyed me with renewed interest.
"If you say so...Selena." He said, eventually. Again, I noticed a strange look in his eyes when he said 'Selena', but I decided not to address this, and he continued, "Where do you plan to go?"
"It would be foolish to impart such information to a man I have just met." I replied, testily, and he smiled as though he had expected this answer.
"I see...will you at least tell me which way you are headed?"
"South." I said, shortly, still slightly vexed from his earlier comments. At this, a wide grin spread across his features.
"It seems we are going in the same direction, Miss Arnavel, and as we are both unaccompanied, might I suggest that we travel together...for safety?"
Before I could reply to this offer, Obsidian made his aversion to this plan very clear, with a few choice swear words, for which I scolded him accordingly. I thrust him from the inner recesses of my mind, unable to think over his roars, and considered this proposal. I supposed that it did make sense, and if we were both walking the same road in the same direction at the same time, it would be more than likely that we would constantly get in one another's way, as Murtagh had done earlier when I was hunting.
It did seem like a reasonable course of action...if it was not for Obsidian. I re-opened my mental connection with the circling dragon and explained my side of things. After all, if I refused, it would arouse suspicion...and if Murtagh was going to be close-by, it would be best if we could keep an eye on him, otherwise he might spot Obsidian by chance.
And what of me? He asked, disgruntled.
It will only be for a few days, you can follow us on the wing and rest nearby our camp each night...as long as you remain out of sight.
He did not reply for a time, before finally agreeing, although I could tell that he was thoroughly unhappy with this new turn of events.
Very well...but on one condition.
Name it.
We must keep our thoughts open to one another...if this Murtagh character turns sour, I will be by your side immediately...but I have to know if I am to help you. I still do not trust him.
Okay, it's a deal...but I might have to shut you out from time to time...not for long, it's just...you cloud my thoughts with your own, sometimes. But I will speak with you as often as I possibly can.
As you wish.
"I suppose that would make a lot of sense..." I replied, eventually. "Where are you tracking your thieves to?"
"Why, to impart such information to a girl I have just met would be foolish." He replied with a grin, and I ignored his mockery, simply nodding in acceptance, even though I knew that if I had pressed him, he would probably have offered an answer.
"Fine. Where is your camp?"
"On the northern bank of this river."
"Mine is on the southern bank, and I have already built a good fire. If you like, I shall show you where it is and you can then return to your own base and collect what belongings you have left."
He agreed to this, and thirty minutes later I was sitting on a rock by the fire, waiting for him to return with his effects. I gazed into the crackling flames and sighed, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Not only was I on the run, with a dragon, from my father's guards and, most likely, whatever men my intended suitor had donated to the search, but now I had acquired a dark, mysterious and inconveniently attractive stranger as an escort.
How could I have let this happen? I wondered.
I was just thinking the very same thing.
Hush up, Puff! I grumbled, using the nickname that I knew he detested. I felt him sneer, inwardly, and he replied,
I am not the one who went hunting and snared a man instead of a deer, Selena!
AN: I think I shall leave it there for this chapter...so, Murtagh and Katharean are travelling-buddies now...but is Murtagh all that he appears? Of course not! Next chapter will be up soonish, please review! xxx