A Worthy Heir

Chapter One- United and Broken

Disclaimer: I do not own this series.

[Beta: Artemis Fortuna]

King Galbatorix was in his thrown room contemplating the downfall of the new rider, Eragon the mighty Shadeslayer. Recently, the mere child, a farm boy, had defeated his most powerful shade and his entire army. The Varden was more influential on the people of the empire than it had ever been before thanks to their Dragon Rider. They now had an unfair advantage over their King, Galbatorix had worked hard for his title and was not going to give it up easily. However, little did the Varden know that he had gained an advantage himself, much like theirs. It would be by the hand of his own Rider, that Eragon would fall. Or, so the King thought.

. . .

"Kaleb, where are you going?" In another part of the castle the laughter of a small child could be heard echoing through the dark hallways. His mother, a woman no older than eighteen, laughed with him as she chased the child through the halls. Her strawberry blond hair was straight but thick, and flowed smoothly past her shoulder's half way down her back. "We have to get ready now. You don't want me to be late do you?" The girl gently tackled her son, burying her face in his dark brown curls. His eye's were her's, a bright green and almond shaped, but everything else about him belonged to his father.

"No!" Kaleb laughed in protest as his mother took him to the ground, tickling him the whole way. A little over a year ago, she had been blessed with this child, a light in her otherwise dark world. His father, however, had left just before he was born. He had been smart to run away, and had tried to get her to come with him, but to no avail. She could not leave the only home she had ever known, especially while many months pregnant. Up until a month ago she had believed he would never return, even if he couldn't help it he would have died first. She liked to believe he had come back for her and Kaleb, but she knew better, he had only come back because he was forced.

"You're mother is right, little one." Looking up behind his mother, Kaleb reached for the man standing over them. The man took the child from his mother's arms as she smiled up at him. His tanned skin stretched over his muscles as they flexed to support Kaleb's weight, his fierce dark eye's softened as he looked upon his child. Then he turned his attention to the toddler's mother, who was still sitting on the ground where she was wrestling with her son moments before. "You should be getting ready, Maia. I will watch Kaleb for you."

"Is it not bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, Murtagh?" Maia laughed as she stood up from the floor and wiped the dirt from her hands. Murtagh's mouth tightened when he looked back at her, a grim excuse for a smile.

"I am sure it will not hurt, seeing as you have not done a thing to prepare for it yet. Now, go, Kaleb will be fine with me." Murtagh turned to walk down the hall with out another word to Maia, whispering incoherently to his son as they left Maia alone in the dark hallway. Watching Murtagh walk away with her whole life in his arms left an empty longing in her heart to follow him. However, biting her bottom lip in frustration, she turned away to her bed chamber's where her maid awaited her. Maia curtsied to a few passing soldier's serving as the castle guard before she slipped through the doors of her bedroom. A small bed rested by the closet, a single off-white pillow lay over the tan hide blanket. The closet was covered by a sliding screen, battered and worn with age. Across the room from the bed, was a bureau on which an ornate mirror lied propped against the wall, the frame of ivory with gold inlaid in a carved floral design.

"There you are Madam!" Maia's maid, was standing by a full white bridal gown, with light blue satin trimmings that was hanging from the highest point on the bookshelf on the far wall. Her dark skin contrasted with the folds in the fabric as she made some last minute touches to the dress, and turned to greet Maia. "Arida has been out looking all over for you." Maia simply smiled at her in apology for the maid's worry and walked over to her dress. In just a few hours, her hopes for the last few years would be realized. Murtagh would be absolutely and unequivocally her's, something no one else would be able to claim.

Aside from Galbatorix. Maia frowned at the thought as her hand caressed the soft fabrics of the veil and dress.

"We best be getting you dressed Madam." The maid, Arida, almost startled Maia as she lifted the bridal gown from it's resting place. Maia had not heard her come in, still lost in her thoughts she allowed Arida and the other maid to unlace the back of her corsets. The bodice of her dress fell from her shape and to the ground around her feet bringing the skirt down with it. A shiver ran up her spine as she stood there in her underwear waiting for her maids to loosen the bridal gown. Maia lifted her arms as Arida pulled the dress over her head, the strapless bodice fell into place, the waist becoming snug as the maids began to lace up the back of the gown. Maia turned to the mirror to examine the dress and how it fit to her figure. The gown was not ornate, and Maia admired the simplicity, no beads were sewn into a fancy design, only smooth fabric lined with blue satin ribbon, fanning out into a full skirt at the waist. Arida began to pull at her hair, tying it back into a loose bun leaving locks of strawberry blonde strands down to frame Maia's pale face.

"Kana, the veil." Arida reached out her arm towards the other maid without looking away from Maia's reflection in the mirror. The veil fell over Maia's face as Arida placed it in her hair, much like the dress, the veil was plain but not overly so. A small, silver tiara held the layer's together at the front base of her bun. There was a knock at the door, just as Arida finished with her adjustments. "It is time. You look beautiful, Maia."

The next thing she knew she was in the temple, walking down the isle towards Murtagh and a priest who resided in the castle. The temple got very little attention from the residents of the castle, no one was very religious and the temple was quite small anyways. The dust and cobwebs had been cleaned recently, but not well. Maia noticed traces of the poor house keeping as she walked towards the alter. The stained glass window's were murky and smudged with dirt and grime in the attempt to wipe them clean, and the cobwebs in the high arched ceiling were still present as well. Murtagh speaking to the priest turned around to face his fiancée, his armor shining, and reflecting the candle light as he moved. Aside from the priest and the maid's who sat in as witnesses, only Maia, Murtagh, and their son were present, given the few in attendance. However, they still lacked only one guest, Maia's father.

"He will not be showing, even late. You should know him better than that, Maia." Murtagh comforted her as she approached the alter. It was not as if she were expecting him to be there, he never was. He could not care less about her life and what went on in it, unless it severely affected him or if it risked her discovery by anyone in the empire. "We are lucky that we are even standing here."

"We are lucky Kaleb and you are not dead." Maia whispered back to him before facing the priest before them. "If I knew Galbatorix as well as I thought I did, you would have died the moment the Urgals brought you back to Urû'baen, and Kaleb the moment Thorn hatched." When Murtagh had returned to the capital, one of the King's three Dragon egg's had hatched for Murtagh, making him a Rider. Upon the happening, The King had forced an oath of loyalty out of both Murtagh and his new dragon.

"He has reason for me to be alive. Being a talented fighter on my own gave him an advantage in battle, even before I became a rider. Even so, he does not know Kaleb is my son, why would he kill him?" Murtagh continued to look forward, not at the priest but beyond, through the stain glass window at the front of the room. Two Dragon's fought outside in the distance, but their silhouette's could be seen through the window. Shruikan, Galbatorix's dragon, was training Thorn in battle techniques again, the shrieks and roars of the two dragon's could be heard through the walls.

"You have never fought without Thorn. You ran away after your first order's, he was furious about it. Besides, if he did know, he would have seen Kaleb as a threat. Have you already forgotten the prophecy?" Maia felt a tugging at her dress as Kaleb tried to grabbed hold of her leg. Reaching down, Maia ran her finger's through her son's hair who was, no doubt, frightened by the great lizard battle outside. The priest cleared his throat and drew the attention of both Murtagh and Maia to him, and the ceremony continued without another word, off topic, from either of them.

"You may now kiss the bride." The priest had pronounced them as married. Just when Murtagh's lips met her's, a great roar came from outside as Shruikan took Thorn to the ground, making the building tremble severely. The tug from Kaleb's hand left the skirt of Maia's gown and the child fled from the alter to get a way form the terrible shaking.

"Kaleb!" Maia pulled away and chased after the child, lifting the skirt of her gown as she went back up the isle. Kaleb had made it out the doors already, and turned the corner through the halls. Maia's dress slowed her down as she kept tripping over the multiple yards of fabric that created the skirt. A crash sounded from outside and shook the building again, and Maia heard the child break down, his cry's echoing through the hall. He ran straight into an open door on the left side of the hall, almost hidden by a tapestry. Maia turned after her son and caught up with him, taking Kaleb in her arms she attempted to calm the crying child down. Murtagh ran in not to far behind Maia and stopped soon after entering the room, a slight fear filling his eyes as Maia looked back at him.

"What is it, Murtagh?" Maia put her son down after his crying had stopped, Maia and Kaleb were almost in the center of the room as Murtagh stood in the door way. Turning around to see the contents of the room, she accidentally backed into something, the long cabinet table behind her shook as Maia reached out her hands to steady it. A single large green stone balanced in the center of the table threatened to topple over the edge before Meg caught it, the stone may have been saved but the glass stand it was laying on fell to the ground and shattered. Nothing else was in the room, but the tapestries lining the walls every few feet or so. This was a room of the castle that, despite living here her whole life, Maia had never seen before.

"You shouldn't be in here." Murtagh cautiously advanced towards his wife and son, picking the child up, his muscles tense.

"Is it jade, or emerald?" Maia, not having anywhere to put the stone down with the stand shattered at her feet, turned it over in her arms examining the beauty of the dark green surface. "This stone is beautiful."

"Put it back, Maia. We need to get you and Kaleb out of here." Murtagh was staring nervously at the only exit as he edged towards the door, making sure no one who might come in would catch him off guard. Maia placed the stone down on the table, letting her hands hover a few inches away as it balanced in the center. When the stone stopped wobbling she turned to join Murtagh to head to the door.

Then from behind her came a subtle clicking, like the tapping of a spoon on the inside of a porcelain bowl. Maia and Murtagh turned simultaneously to face the sound behind their backs. Slowly, the stone began to rock back and forth, the clicking growing louder and closer together.

"No..." Murtagh's voice came from behind Maia as she drew closer to the stone to get a closer view of what was happening. Maia felt her husbands hand closing around the top of her arm, not tightly, but firm. The stone on the table began to rock violently when it gave a loud crack as the green surface split and pieces of the stone when flying. Murtagh pulled away to shield Kaleb from the flying debris and Maia covered her face, peaking out from behind her hands she saw what had replaced the stone. A large lizard tripped over the shard's of the stone, or rather egg, fell tumbling to the floor. Upon closer inspection, Maia realized it was not a large lizard, but a small dragon hatchling. Maia bent her knee's to kneel before the hatchling if front of her, reaching out to pet the creature. Before she could touch it, the force of one of Murtagh's arms pulled her back, the other of his arms still holding back Kaleb. "Don't touch it!"

The hatchling sniffed around her feet scurrying about the folds in Maia's gown. Her hair had fallen out of the bun that had held it out of her face earlier that evening, for the wedding. The dragon jumped up onto Maia's lap, still sniffing about and looked up at her. Instinctively, after Murtagh's warning, she pushed the hatchling away almost throwing it across the room. The dragon screeched in protest as her hand made contact with its head and upper body, Maia crying out as well. Her skin was burning where the hatchling had made contact with her palm. Maia doubled over and held her hand, trying to make the sting fade.

"Damn it!" Murtagh grabbed her hand, there running from the base of her pinky, across the line of her palm curling just before it reached her thumb, was a burn mark. It glowed for just a moment, and then dulled to show the silver scar like skin on her palm. "I told you not to touch it!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." A few yards away the hatchling shook like a wet dog, its wings stretched out to reveal a single spike on the fold of each one, then closed tight to its lean body. The green scales rippled across its body as the dragon calmed its shaking form. Footsteps echoed through the room and the hatchling curled into a ball, cowering away from the direction of the noise.

"It seems, I have a new Rider." Galbatorix stood behind Murtagh and his wife looking down at Maia's upturned palm with a sinister grin on his face.