24

Christian and I left to go find Mom the next day. We had to walk through the forest to get to other side, where the other kingdom was. Christian could do a lot with magic, since he’d spent so many years practicing, but teleporting people was not one of the spells he had mastered. The dwarves all shook hands with me and took turns hugging Christian They seemed worried, especially Angus.

    “Call me every night to tell me how things are going,” Angus told Christian.

    Just like I called Dad every night to tell him the same thing. This gave us both comfort. I knew Christian and Angus would get comfort too.

    We talked for a while as we walked through the forest.

    “I’m sorry about everything that has happened to your family,” Christian said. “I’m sure justice will be served when we find your Mom and deal with Eileen and the wizards working with her.”

    I thought that would be the case too, but I felt better when I heard that someone else wanted that and thought it could happen.

    My heart lifted a little like it did every time I saw his optimism.

    “It’s been a while since you’ve seen your Mom, so it can’t be easy,” Christian pointed out.

    “It’s not.”

    “How do you get through it?”

    “I have hope and I keep looking for ways to find her. And now I have you.”

    I smiled at him.

    He smiled back.

    His smile made me feel better.

    It made my heart skip a beat.

    “You said you wanted to live up to your Mom’s legacy,” Christian said. “That’s why you learned martial arts. Was it your idea or hers?”

    “When I was ten Mom discussed learning martial arts."“What did she say?”

    “She asked me if I would like to learn martial arts. I had already known for years that Mom taught martial arts. She has been teaching since before she got married. I didn’t know what to say at first. Mom told me I didn’t have to, if I didn’t want to. It wouldn’t hurt her feelings or disappoint her. But a lot of kids liked to learn martial arts and Mom thought I could be one of them.”

    “So there was no pressure?”

    “There wasn’t.”

    “So what made you decide to learn?”

    “Mom suggested I attend one of the lessons with her students before I decide. I really liked it and Mom said I was good, but it wasn’t because she’s my Mom. She tells a lot of other kids they’re good when they are. The ones who aren’t as good she helps them more because they need it more until they get just as good as the others. She encourages everyone. I never got special treatment.”

    “No, of course, not. You shouldn’t.”

    “I agree.”

    “It wouldn’t be fair to the other students. And you wouldn’t have earned any of your belts honestly.”

    “It’s true. Besides, I wanted to earn everything just like everyone else did. Still, Mom joked about how I was the only student she ever had who didn’t have to pay her.”

    We sat down to rest. I was happy talking about Mom. Now, I missed her. I was quiet while I thought of her.  Christian sat next to me.

    I scooted over closer to him and rested my head on his shoulders.

    He put an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.

    For a minute, I was overwhelmed from missing Mom and Christian’s affection that I almost started crying, but I controlled it.

    I sat next to Christian for a minute and I felt better.

    We ate and talked about a lot of things, then we continued walking. It would take us a few more days to reach the city where Mom was. Christian couldn’t cast a spell to send us there. He could teleport objects, but not people.