Lilly stumbled into her small pink wallpapered bedroom with a heavy yawn. Her eyelids were about ready to close after a day full of stress, drama, and caffeine—lots of caffeine. The previous night she only slept for four hours, tossing and turning the entire time. Being awake for almost two days straight was no easy task and she wanted nothing else but to put on her pajama's and snuggle under her blue and green floral comforter, resting her head on three pillows encased in matching pillowcases.

Digging through a large stack of clothes on her floor, she found her pink pajama bottoms tattooed with little dogs and a shirt that looked and smelled clean enough to wear. Normally she kept up with her laundry, but the past couple of weeks had kept her unusually busy and she found herself too tired and lazy to toss them into the wash. Plus, she was almost out of detergent and wouldn't have the money to buy more until her next paycheck, which would not be for another two days.

Once changed into her pajama's, she greedily crawled into bed, turned off the light on her night stand, shifted around until she was comfortable, and closed her eyes. For several minutes she calmly breathed in and out until she felt herself become detached from reality as the realm of dreams beckoned her. Before she was fully submerged, a loud male voice boomed in her ear.

Lilly yelped and sat up, her heart racing from the sudden excitement. A man around her age with sandy blonde hair, blue almond shaped eyes, and an exotically angled face stared at her with a shiny blue sword pointed at her nose. The first thing that crossed her mind was that she was having a very realistic dream.

When the woman continued to stare at him in complete shock, Eragon withdrew his sword and asked his initial question again. "Who are you?" The authority in his voice made him sound more menacing than he would have liked, but he needed to know who the strange girl was that had fallen asleep upon his cot. Although he could clearly see that the woman was tired, she still had no right to trespass, especially into his tent. He didn't bother to question her attire either for her entire act could be some cover up to gain information about him; everyday spies from the Empire slipped past their security and he was not about to become soft over a girl he just met.

"Do you have to be so loud," Lilly moaned, clutching her head.

Eragon did not apologize, rather, he repeated himself one more time, becoming quite irritated. Outside, his dragon snorted and told him to drag the girl off the bed if she refused to comply. A little more sympathetic than Saphira, even in his distressing state, he put his sword away and crossed his arms.

"My name is Lilly," she barked. "Now, who are you? What gives you the right to wake me up—in the middle of the night, mind you- in my own home? Are you some stupid burglar or something?" The lack of sleep rendered her unable to identify her current location as she only focused on the man in front of her. Besides, even if she were more awake, the ridiculous scene would have only been classified as a dream, just as she classified it in that very moment.

"My identity is not relevant," he said matter-of-factly.

"Whatever." She laid back down and closed her eyes hoping that her imagination would make the rude man disappear. Pain ignited from her shoulder as a rough hand grabbed her and pulled her off the bed. "What the hell?" she screamed.

"I don't know who you are and what you want, but I will not have you talk back to me like that again, do you understand?" Eragon asked, his patience snapping like a twig.

Infuriated as well, Lilly somehow managed to weasel out of his firm grip and raise her arm to slap him. Eragon caught her wrist and twisted it slightly making her cry out. "Let me go! This is my room and I want you to leave me alone!"

"Look around, does this look like your room to you?"

For the first time, Lilly allowed her gaze to leave the youth's face to examine her surroundings. She was standing in a large triangular brown tent that was lit up by several candles. A few pieces of furniture-namely a small desk, a chair, and a cot—filled up most of the space inside. Scrolls littered the small desk and clothes and other random objects littered the rest.

The feeling of nausea overwhelmed her and she asked to sit down. "Finally piecing things together, aren't we?" He said, letting go of her wrist. "Now tell me, who are you?"

"I already told you, my name is Lilly." She heavily breathed in and out to keep herself from throwing up. She had enough to worry about as it is, but now she had to add kidnapping to her list. That's what happened—right? The sharp pain she experienced was too real to be a dream and deep down inside she knew everything around her was real.

Running his fingers through his hair, Eragon sighed. "That's not what I meant. I want to know why you are in my tent. Do you work for anyone—the King perhaps?"

What? Lilly clearly thought the man to be insane. "There is no King, stupid. We live in America for chrissake."

"America?" The strange word rolled off his tongue while his brain tried to analyze its origin. Even Saphira had no idea and that concerned him; the woman was either very clever, or—the conclusion that was even more startling—ignorant.

"Look, if you're going to interrogate me, can you at least wait until I am well rested? You might get better answers that way," she said, yawning.

"Are you always this stubborn, or is this your way of getting what you want? Having just met you, I am uncertain."

"What part of you-just-woke-me-up-and-I-am-tired-and-cranky don't you understand? I am obviously no longer in the comfort of my room and I am still dressed in my pajama's! All I ask is that you allow me time to sleep so I can think properly, or is this how you operate? Snatching young girls from their room, make it look like we are the ones that trespassed, and then interrogate them."

Put like that, he had no argument. With her bloodshot grey blue eyes, disheveled dark brown hair, and make-up smeared face, he finally convinced himself that perhaps she was telling the truth. Begging her pardon, he took his leave and sat with his dragon outside. He was tired himself, but he kept himself alert in case the girl was a very good actress.

In the morning, after the sun had risen, Eragon roused himself. He ignored the whispering people who stared at him as he sat next to his dragon; they only wondered why he was no asleep in his own bed. If only they knew the ordeal he had last night with the strange woman. The woman! He jumped off the ground and ran inside the rent making the people even more curious.

He mentally slapped himself for forgetting about and was glad to actually see her still asleep upon the bed. Careful not to wake her, he examined his room to make sure nothing was out of place. Satisfied that she did not wake up to snoop around, he thought about waking the girl. She needed to be taken to Nasuada and tested before she could be set free, provided that she passes the test.

Taking a step towards her, Eragon placed his hand upon her shoulder and gently shook her. "Hey, it's time to wake up."

Lilly heard a voice whisper in her ear and groaned, rolling over to ignore him. At a second attempt, he whispered into her ear again. By the third time, Lilly began to get annoyed, but she did not give him much of a response until the fifth time.

She quickly sat up and began to yell, "Seriously, what the hell is your problem? Can't you tell that I am trying to sleep, or are you blind? Leave me alone! God, I swear you are worse than a leech!"

Eragon sprang back, alarmed by her outburst. His hand was on the pommel of his sword ready to be used if she decided to become violent. Taking a deep breath to steady his emotions he said, "You need to come with me. I was kind enough to let you sleep last night, but now it is morning and I cannot just leave you in here to sleep all day."

Lilly crossed her arms. "I am not going anywhere."

"Don't make me drag you because I will if I have to. Now, just come with me quietly and everything will be all right."

"Do you honestly think me to be a fool? I am not going with you, and if you drag me, I most certainly will not be going quietly. I have seen plenty of horror movies—thank you very much—and I am not about to become your next victim."

Rubbing his temples, Eragon sighed. "Look, I have no idea what you just said, but I swear that I will not hurt you."

Lilly scoffed. "For the time being, perhaps; I noticed that you never mentioned a time limit, therefore, your promise is already void."

Her peculiar way of speaking intrigued Eragon as much as it annoyed him and he had to admit, she was actually clever. Taking another approach, he chanted his promise in the Ancient Language. After, he received the oddest look from Lilly as her face contorted into absolute confusion.

"What the hell did you just say?" If she wasn't sitting on a bed, she would be in one of those backing-away-slowly situations.

"I repeated my promise, except in the Ancient Language. I was hoping that you would understand that I was telling the truth," Eragon explained.

Lilly raised an eyebrow. "Right, well the only thing you helped me understand is the fact that you are irrevocably insane. Dude, you need help, seriously."

Tired of her attitude, Eragon had to restrain himself from snapping. He took deep breaths until he was feeling calm once more. "Listen," he pointed at her, "I need you to stop your fussing and come with me. This is your last chance before I drag you, and I mean that—I am tired of being nice. I don't know what it is, but you make me so aggravated."

"And somehow it's my fault," she sneered. Unwilling to be bruised again by his firm grip, she sauntered off the bed. When her bare feet touched the dirt she stood as tall as she could and addressed the man, "Fine, I will go with you, but trust me when I say that I will press charges once I am released—and I had better be released."

Ignoring her strange taunt, Eragon led her out of the tent where he was met with Lilly's loud scream. "I knew it—I knew I couldn't trust you! You're going to feed me to that beast!" She pointed at the blue dragon with a shaky finger.

Offended, Saphira growled, exposing her sharp teeth. Eragon shot her an angry look and ran after Lilly, who fled as soon as the dragon opened her jaw to let out the horrific sound. A gathering of people began to stare, but left once Saphira growled at them as well.

"Lilly!" Eragon was faster than the girl and caught up to her in no time. "Lilly, stop!" He past her to step in front of her, blocking her way out. Black moist streaks ran down her cheeks and it took him a second to realize that is was her eye make-up.

"What do you want from me?" she yelled as more tears fell from her eyes. She was so scared and she wished that she was back in her own room, safe.

"I told you that you need to some with me, and I am sorry that my dragon frightened you, but you should have known that I was a Rider." He raised his right hand to show her his mark.

Baffled, Lilly shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Utterly insane," she mumbled under her breath.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed her by the arm. "I am tired of your games."

"Ouch! Let go of me!" This time, she was unable to escape his grip. "That hurts!"

She complained during the entire walk making Eragon wish he had permission to make her be quiet. At Nasuada's tent, he explained to the guards that he had caught the girl in his tent and needed her to be tried and tested. With a nod of their heads, they granted him access.

"Thank you." Eragon tugged on Lilly's arm to make her move again. Her attention was caught on the large muscled men, making her gulp. Inside, she noted how vast the tent was and how ornate the furniture. Whoever resided inside held great authority.

"Eragon, what a pleasure!" A cheerful and warm female voice rang through the air. Lilly followed the sound and watched as a young colored woman rushed towards them. She was adorned in a full-length red dress that had gold intricate swirly designs woven into the fabric. Returning her gaze back to the woman's face, Lilly examined her dark brown eyes.

In respect, Eragon inclined his head, urging Lilly to follow suit. When she did nothing, Nasuada addressed her. "And who might you be?" her tone was not harsh, but it was commanding.

"I am Lilly, and you are?"

"Why, I am Lady Nasuada, leader of the Varden."

"The Varden? What kind of name is that?"'

"Excuse me?" Nasuada took a step back, appalled by Lilly's indiscretion.

Unwilling to allow the woman to offend his leader further, Eragon said, "Let me apologize on her behalf. I did not bring her here to have you insulted; I brought her because I found her asleep on my bed last night. I have yet to learn why she was in my tent in the first place."

"Hey!" Lilly exclaimed, crossing her arms. "Why must you make it sound as if it was intentional when I have no idea how I got there?"

"Miss, I suggest that you hold your tongue until we formally address you, else your punishment will be more severe." Nasuada was no longer in a good mood, put out by Eragon news.

"Punished for sleeping in a bed?" Lilly really had no idea when to keep her mouth shut.

"Well, you can't say I didn't warn you." After, Nasuada resumed talking to Eragon. "Do you think she might be one of Galbatorix's agents?" Lilly sighed, tired of the spy crap, but kept quiet that time.

Eragon shook his head with uncertainty. "I'm not sure, but if you permit me, I can probe her mind. I fear it is the only way we will get any answers from her; pardon my language, but she's pretty damn stubborn if you ask me."

"Indeed," she said, looking at Lilly. When Lilly gave her the why-are-you-staring-at-me-face, Nasauda added, "She is also very spirited."

"Aye." He paused for a moment to allow Nasauda time to ponder his request. After about a minute, she gave him her approval. "As you wish." He turned and grabbed Lilly by her shoulders, making her look at him.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Probing you mind, now hush up."

"What?" She wanted to say more, but her words were cut off by searing pain in her head followed by the strangest sensation. It was like her brain was tingling all over. Suddenly, a flood of memories were brought forward and browsed as if rummaging through a photo album. No matter how hard she tried, she could not keep the man from accessing her private thoughts, causing her to become frightened even more.

Sensing her pain and anger, Eragon withdrew. He was only inside her mind for less than a minute, but it was long enough for him to know that Lilly was not from Alagaesia at all—everything she had said was true.

"Found what you were looking for?" Lilly hissed, undeniably ticked off. Eragon remained silent as he tried to analyze what he had just discovered.

"What is it Eragon?" Nasauda asked, her curiosity overpowering all other emotion.

Doing his best, he said, "I am not sure how to explain, but Lilly is no threat and we actually owe her a huge apology. Everything she said is true!"

"No duh! I've been trying to tell you that from the beginning!" Lilly exclaimed, finally glad that they got it through their thick skulls.

"I see, though, why must we owe her an apology? We were only performing our duties."

Lilly kept her mouth shut as the word bitch ran through her mind. "I know, but we were quite harsh to her."

"Very well." Nasuada cleared her throat and started to issue out an apology only to be cut off by Lilly.

"Save your breath. I don't need an apology, especially a fake one." She sneered. "All I want is to go home."

"I'm afraid we can't do that." Eragon replied.

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, we still have no idea how you got here."

The revelation was heavy upon her and she cursed under her breath. "Where exactly is she from, Eragon? You never did explain that part." Nasuada asked, stepping forward.

"A place called America."

"That's a country, genius. Anyways, if I am not there, then where the hell am I?" Lilly was losing her patience again.

"You are in Alagaesia," Eragon said.

"And where exactly is that?"

He shrugged, unable to answer her honest question.

"I might be able to explain a few things," replied an unfamiliar voice. Turing their heads, they gazed upon a tall skinny man with short brown hair that spiked out at the front. His eyes were brown as well and they seemed to match the clothes he was wearing—a brown jacket and trousers. Underneath the jacket was a white shirt and a dark red tie.

Lilly's jaw dropped as she recognized the man. "Hey, I know you! You're the doctor!"