AU: So, this is my first story so please review, and I hope it isn't too bad. Sorry it's so short, if anyone likes it I'll try to make subsequent chapters longer. So enjoy, and hope you like it!

The house was large and expensive looking, both on the outside and the inside. At the moment, only servants; and one lonely boy lived inside it. The boy's father was gone, out on one of his many trips. The boy rarely saw his mother, and he had no friends of his age to play with. Added to that, his father was Morzan, first and foremost of Galbatorix's thirteen dragon riders.

Morzan, meanwhile, was doing a favor for an old friend who had recently passed away. His friend had had a daughter whom the friend wanted Morzan to take. If Morzan hadn't been doing this as a favor, he never would have taken the child. He didn't need another child, Murtagh was quite enough on his own, and he hadn't even wanted Murtagh to begin with. However, this friend had performed a great service to Morzan and to the king, so Galbatorix was making him take the child. She was very quiet, and seemed scared. She had black hair and green eyes, and if Morzan remembered correctly, her name was Alli. He pulled her into the carriage, and soon they were back at Morzan's spacious house. He opened the door, calling, "Murtagh!" Murtagh ran into the room. Morzan shoved Alli towards him and said, "This is the daughter of one of my old friends. Make her feel welcome." Morzan walked out the door again, already leaving on the king's business. Alli stood there shyly. She was only three, and it was a strange house where she knew no one. Murtagh looked at her and said. "Hello." "Hello." She said back. "I'm Murtagh." He said. "Alli." She said. "Nice to meet you." He said. "You too." She said. Then they stood there in silence. One of the servants came into the room. "Dinner." She said, seemingly already knowing that Alli would be there.

The first day was a bit awkward, but after that, Murtagh and Alli became good friends. A few months later, Morzan died, and about a day after that, Selena, Murtagh's mother, died as well. Murtagh and Alli were both sent to Galbatorix's court. The years passed pretty much without incident. Alli and Murtagh grew closer and closer as they got older, until one day, when Alli was fifteen and Murtagh was sixteen.

Alli sprawled on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed, and started to get up to clean the books she had thrown at the wall the other day in a fit of anger, when Murtagh walked in the door. He looked at the books tossed all over the floor, and the broken vase she had swept off the table next to her bed. "What happened in here?" He asked. "I got angry." Alli said. "Yeah." Murtagh said, scanning the room again. "Anyways, I have something to show you." "Really?" Alli asked. "What is it?" "You'll see." Murtagh said, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside of the room. He ran down the stairs and outside, pulling her behind him. He dodged between some trees into a clearing in the garden, with a bench and a fine covering of grass on the ground. He sat on the bench, but Alli stood in the middle of the clearing, looking up at the sky. Then she sat down on the grass, leaning back on her hands. "This is nice." She said, grinning. "How'd you find it?" "Remember that time we were playing tag and you couldn't find me?" "Yeah." She said. "Well, I ran in here." Murtagh said. "I meant to come out again, but it was so pretty I stayed. "And you waited until now to show me?" Murtagh shrugged. "It's prettier in the spring." He said, "And it was just about autumn when I found it, so I waited till now." "Oh." Alli said. "I like it." He grinned. "Good." She looked up at the sky again, until Murtagh said. "Um, Alli, I wanted to tell you something." She looked at him. "Okay, tell me." She said. "Well," Murtagh started, "we've known each other for a long time, right?" Alli nodded. "And recently I've been feeling-." Murtagh stopped awkwardly. Alli looked at him expectantly. "I think-." He stopped again. "I think I might like you." He got out finally, all in a rush.

Alli slowly smiled. "Is that it? I've liked you for about four years now. I mean, I never thought you'd like me back because you're you and you could have pretty much anyone but yeah." "I don't want anyone, I want you. And besides, that isn't really true, because of my father. Not many people see past the fact that Morzan was my father, but you don't really seem to care about that." Alli snorted. "Those people are stupid. It doesn't make any sense to judge you by the deeds of your father, and anyways if they got to know you they'd see your pretty much the opposite of your father." "You really think that?" Murtagh asked. "Yeah. I always have." She said. "Thank you. You're one of the few who see more than my father when you look at me." "I'm sure you'll find others who don't see you like that." Alli said. Murtagh shrugged. "Mostly the whole of Alagaesia hates my father, even now that he's dead, so that's not very likely." "Whatever happens, you'll still have me." Alli promised. Murtagh smiled and got up from the bench. He held out a hand to Alli and pulled her up. She slipped her hand into his, and they walked back inside, for once having a moment of peace in the hustle and bustle of living in the king's household. However this peace was not to last. Not for Alli and Murtagh, not for Galbatorix, and certainly not for Alagaesia. But nobody could tell that far in the future, and for now the sun still shone on the world, showing nothing of the dark and dangerous times soon to come. Times that would threaten the happiness of many, and maybe, just maybe, fix a few things along the way.

AU: I'm planning this to be multi chaptered, but if it's super horrible I probably won't continue it. Anyways again, PLEASE REVIEW! I really want feedback so don't worry about offending me, I want to make this better.