Author's note: I'm really sorry for not updating this earlier, but I've been busy and I haven't even realized so much time passed since last chapter. Sorry.

Matteo looked around the cave once again, hoping to see Gia or Murtagh but they didn't come.

“Where are Mommy and Daddy?” Matteo touched Emerald’s nose.

“I don’t know. They were supposed to be back by now.” the dragon was getting worried.

“Can you tell Thorn to come back?” the boy looked up at his dragon “Please?”

“I’m trying. But he’s too far away.” Emerald said.

“But I miss him! I miss them all.” Matteo said “Did they leave us?”

“No! They’ll come back.” Emerald said.

“You promise?” he asked.

“I promise.” the dragon said and Matteo smiled at him. Emerald was truly hoping Gia or Murtagh would come back soon, because he just didn’t know what to do.

“Eragon, really. I have to go back to Gia and my son.” Murtagh said “I can’t stay here with you and make plans or whatever. It’s your job to keep the country safe, not mine.”

“I need your help.” Eragon said.

“Alright. But that can wait. I need to go now.” Murtagh said, walking over to Thorn who was waiting for him.

“Fine. But get back here soon. I’ll be waiting for you.” Eragon said as Murtagh got onto Thorn’s back. Murtagh just nodded and Thorn rose in the air.

“Did you tell him the truth?” Thorn asked “Are we really coming back here?”

“Why do you ask?” Murtagh said.

“I thought you said it just because you knew he’d believe it.” Thorn said “But if we’ll be back here, fine. Gia will be thrilled.”

“She’ll understand.” Murtagh said.

“Yeah, right.” Thorn laughed “And fish can fly.”

“She’ll have to understand. It’s not just about Eragon, but it’s also about us.” Murtagh said.

“Well, as you say. But it will be fun to watch you trying to explain it to her.” Thorn said.

“Stop it, Thorn.” Murtagh sighed.

“Alright, alright.” Thorn said as they were flying above vast plains and green woods.

“I’ll send a message to your beloved Murtagh.” Nolan smiled at Gia.

“You can’t do that.” she said.

“Oh, yes I can.” he said confidently.

“You don’t know where he is.” she said, hoping that was true.

“Maybe. But I know where your hiding place is.” he smiled “I saw it in your mind.”

Gia just glared at him. She was so angry on herself because he managed to read her mind and she was also scared that something could happen to Matteo. But she was confident Emerald would save her son before anyone reached him.

“Now I only need to send something from you so I could prove I can do to you anything I want.” he said, getting closer to Gia, who took a step back.

“Don’t touch me!” she yelled in panic.

“There’s no way for you to escape me, sweetie.” he said “I can simply call you to come to me.”

Gia shuddered at the thought. She knew well how Nolan’s power affected her when he used it. It was the worst thing in the world.

“I just want…” he said, pulling out a knife and reaching for Gia.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, her heart beating frantically. If he was about to cut some part of her…she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to put that thought away.

“Oh, don’t be scared. It won’t hurt.” he gave her the smile she hated so much “I just want a lock of your hair. Nothing more.”

Gia didn’t know what to do, she just decided not to move at all. Nolan got close to her, too close for her liking. He pressed the knife against her throat, making her shiver. Then he slowly moved the knife across her skin, touching her hair with his free hand.

“What are you doing?” she closed her eyes, afraid to even breathe.

“Stop…asking…that.” he whispered, putting the knife away and kissing her neck. She opened her eyes in shock and glared at him.

“What?” he smiled at her, taking a lock of her hair and cutting it off. Gia let out a sigh of relief when Nolan moved away from her. She hoped he would stay away and never touch her again. But somehow that seemed just impossible, because Nolan obviously liked to touch people. It was his way to show his power because it danced all over his skin.

“So, you’re just going to send a message to my people or what?” Gia said after a minute of silence. She just didn’t feel safe around Nolan when he wasn’t talking. And this way she might even find something out and not have a nervous breakdown.

“First I’m going to send one to your lover, then another one to your king.” he said, writing something on a piece of paper.

“I’m not sure have I mentioned, but I don’t have a king. Period.” she smiled wryly “Now, what do you think you’ll achieve with that?”

“I’ll send a message to your…ah, not yours, but your people’s king…” he said “I changed my mind about what to write, since it will be much easier to reach your lover than the king.”

“Oh, so you’ll announce war to the king or what?” she crossed her arms.

“No, that was the old idea.” he smiled “I thought of something better, smarter.”

“Yeah, like you could do that.” she mumbled under her breath.

“What did you say?” he looked at her. She felt his power rise off his skin like some wild animal.

“Nothing.” she said and the power was gone, back to wherever it came from.

“Good.” he said “And if you want to know what I’m going to write…well, I’ll tell the king I want his permission to pass across his land.”

“What?” Gia’s eyes went wide. Nolan not only had an evil plan, but also had a plan that could work. Gia clenched her fists in frustration; she needed a drink and soon.

“You heard me. No one expects me to do such a thing. Everyone knows I was supposed to attack, but not anymore.” he smiled “When we get permission to enter the land, we’ll take over the throne.”

“And what makes you think you’ll get the permission?” she asked.

“Well, I know something things about the king. He won’t be able to refuse it if I write it nicely.” Nolan said.

“Then why do you have to send message to Murtagh?” she said.

“Because I want your dragons.” he said.

“Why? You can’t use their power. They belong to us, not you. They’ll never let you use them.” she said.

“Oh, but they are dragons. I rule all dragons.” he smiled.

“Your dragons are different from our dragons.” she said.

“Oh, really?” he said “Just because you threat them different doesn’t mean they are different.”

“Huh?” she looked at him in confusion. Could that be true? She thought maybe it was good that Nolan didn’t know everything or thought wrong about things. That could certainly help her and Murtagh to beat the guy.

“Even if I don’t get full control of your dragons, you’ll work for me and you’ll help me get what I want.” he said.

“Don’t be so sure about it.” she said.

“Ah, no? Well, then say goodbye to your life.” he said. Gia frowned. This wasn’t leading to anything good.

“Ok, ok.” she said “How about a deal?”

“I’m listening.” he said.

“We help you do whatever you want, take over the land or get rid of Eragon, and you let us go with our dragons after that.” she said “Of course, you’d have to let us do things on our own way. And you’re not using our dragons.”

“Hmm, maybe.” he said “But we’ll see. First I want to talk to you lover.”

“I don’t think that will happen. He won’t walk into a trap.” she said.

“Then you die.” Nolan smiled again.

“And if I do whatever you want and you leave my family out of it?” she looked at him, hoping he would accept at least that offer. She really didn’t know could Nolan use his magic against Murtagh or who would win in case of a fight. But it seemed better not to risk that happening.

“You don’t have a dragon.” he said.

“But there are things I could do.” she said.

“Nah, you’re not powerful enough.” he said “We’re doing it my way.”

“Huh, that’s what I thought.” she rolled her eyes “I need a drink. Do you have something good around here?”

“No, I don’t need you drunk.” he said.

“Why not?” she said “Please, I really need a drink or I’m going to freak out.”

He watched her for a moment, thinking it wasn’t such a bad idea to get her drunk. People usually say too much when drunk. Maybe she would tell him something he couldn’t see in her mind.

“Fine. I’ll tell my servants to bring us some wine.” he said.

“Oh, goodie.” she smiled. She half hoped Nolan would get out and leave her alone for a moment so she could try something, but he just went still and blinked few times.

“It’s coming.” he smiled at her.

“Wait, you communicate with your servants through your mind?” she was surprised.

“Yeah, why is that so strange?” he asked.

“Umm, it isn’t. It’s just…ah, never mind.” she said. She actually had an idea. If Nolan was speaking to everyone just with his mind then it meant it was easier to break into that connection and maybe enter his mind. Besides, talking like that took away lots of energy and concentration. But he didn’t have to know about it.

“No, tell me what were you thinking.” he said. Gia bit her lip because there was probably more to that sentence, which couldn’t bring anything good once again.

“Well, I thought you’d never get what you want that way.” she said without really thinking about it, hoping he wouldn’t sense a lie. She was hoping he would let it go.

“What do you mean?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, you tell people what you want but they might be in the middle of doing something.” she said “So they might forget what you asked for.”

“My wishes come first no matter what they’re doing.” he said “That’s why I have them.”

“Oh, right.” she said.

“Something is wrong! Gia’s gone!” Thorn said as they were getting closer to their hiding place.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Murtagh said.

“I don’t know. Emerald said that.” Thorn said “She was pissed and she just left.”

“She left Matteo alone?” Murtagh was getting really angry. He knew Gia could be irresponsible sometimes, but this was too much. She couldn’t just leave their son alone so near to danger.

“Seems so. Emerald thinks something happened to her.” Thorn said.

“Is it possible that those people got her?” Murtagh wasn’t sure what to think. Sure Gia could get so mad to just disappear, but she would never abandon their son. Something was really wrong here. Or Gia maybe got drunk and got hurt somewhere…There were just too many possibilities.

“I don’t know.” Thorn said “She wouldn’t be so stupid to go near them alone, would she?”

“Umm.” Murtagh said “Actually, she most probably would.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Thorn had to agree.

“I just hope she didn’t get herself killed.” Murtagh said.

“Daddy!” Matteo ran to Murtagh as soon as he and Thorn appeared at the entrance of the cave. Emerald was so happy that he almost broke the stone wall of the cave with his tail.

“Hey, careful!” Murtagh frowned at Emerald as he hugged Matteo.

“Where is Mommy?” Matteo asked.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be here soon.” said Murtagh and looked at Emerald “Don’t you dare to tell my son anything. There’s no need to panic yet. I need to see by myself first where Gia could be.”

“When did you last time talk to her?” Thorn asked.

“I don’t remember.” Emerald said “I just know she was mad…”

“Yeah, you told us. But that’s not what we want to know.” Thorn said.

“I’m just a dragon! I don’t understand human time.” Emerald said.

“You stupid baby dragon!” Thorn snorted.

“I’m not stupid!” Emerald roared “And I’m not a baby!”

“Ok! Shut up! Both of you!” Murtagh said.

“What’s going on?” Matteo frowned “Are you hiding something from me?”

“No. Why do you think that?” Murtagh smiled.

“Because you’re frowning and Emerald is blocking me.” Matteo crossed his arms “Not fair!”

“Matteo…” Murtagh didn’t know what to do “Not now, I need to find…”

“Find what?” Matteo said.

“Emm, nothing.” Murtagh said “Thorn and Emerald, out of here now! Go hunting or whatever.”

“Are you sending us away? Why?” Emerald felt a bit offended.

“No, silly!” Thorn said.

“I’m confused.” said Emerald as he was getting out of the cave.

“Sure you are.” Thorn almost laughed.

“You two, listen.” Murtagh said “I can’t go look for Gia now because Matteo needs me. But you two can try to get closer to the area where those people are. But don’t get too close because they might try to attack you or catch you.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m not crazy to go too close.” Thorn said “Except…if they have some cute…umm, females?”

“Shut up, Thorn.” Murtagh said “Try to find Gia. You can usually hear her even at a distance.”

“Well, yeah. But only if she’s trying to contact me.” Thorn said.

“If they got her, she is trying. Believe me.” Murtagh said.

“Sure.” Thorn said.

“Emerald?” Murtagh said.

“Yeah?” Emerald said.

“Don’t try anything silly.” Murtagh sighed.

“Hey!” Emerald growled “I won’t.”

“Good. Then you two can go.” said Murtagh as the two dragons were flying away.