"Arya we are about to arrive" said the green dragon to its rider.
Taken out of her stupor Arya collected herself and answered her companion "Thanks Firnen"
Arya raised her hand to make some shade over her eyes and squinted them. On the edge of the horizon she saw their destination. A small island made of a vast forest on the west, a short chain of mountains on the north, and a plain on the south and east.
Taking the scenery for a while longer she tipped Firnen to dive and go back to the ships that were directing toward the island. A team of three dragon riders was tasked to escort the elven emissary. As Arya closed in to the largest ship jumped off of from the saddle and landed on the deck without much effort. Turning her eyes high on the sky she linked with Firnen and saluted him.
An elf with black hair walked towards her, stopped and saluted his leader. Arya returned the salute.
"Was the flight pleasant? My queen" asked Vanir with deference.
"Yes, it was." Answered Arya and quickly added, "We are close, we should be in Creetia shortly"
Vanir bent and said, "I will relay the message to the captain and we shall start the preparation for disembark". He then turned and walked away.
Arya walked in her chamber that was allocated to her and started to change into her formal dress. The dress was heavy and constricting. Arya did not like the dress; she very much preferred her leather pants, boots and the familiar weight of her sword on the side. But this time she chose to wear the dress, in the end appearances is important. She is the queen of the elves, the alpha-kin. She made her choice. A choice that she keeps contemplating everyday.
A moment later a light knocking came from the door. While moving her inexperienced hands on the dress she asked with firm voice:
"Who is it?"
"It is Ismira, queen Arya" answered a strong voice.
"Please, come in" answered Arya after twisting her middle and index finger. A light click was heard, the door opened and a woman walked in.
The person was a human female with long brown hair; she was taller than Arya of a good pair of inches, smooth skin like porcelain and big gray eyes. Her appearance was that of a woman in her mid twenties, which was not her age. She was dressed in a dark red armor that covered every inch of her body, except her head since the helmet was tucked between her left arm and her hip.
The female put two fingers on her lips and with a smile saluted Arya, which she returned with a smile of her own. Arya liked the rider. She was very direct in her dealings, like her father, which was a good change of pace from the subtleties of the elves. After her time as an ambassador of the elves during the war against Galbatorix, she didn't feel completely comfortable with her people. "Arya, you seem eager to arrive" said Ismira
"Is it so obvious?" asked Arya while trying to better fix her dress, which was starting to prove her patience. Ismira smiled at the queen's work and reached out to help her.
"You have kept smiling the whole travel" said Ismira.
Looking outside the small window Arya answered, "I guess I was, it is just nice to get out once in a while"
"You should allow some time for yourself, more often Arya"
"You are starting to sound like Vanir, Ismira" said Arya with a small tone of annoyance in her words
"Because he's right… sometimes" answered Ismira with another smile. She then asked Arya to turn and gave her work a last inspection.
Nodding she said "Done"
"Thank you, It has been a long time since I wore one of these" said Arya while looking herself in the mirror and smiling at the job well done.
"So, we didn't have time to catch up before. How have you been this last five years Arya, are the elder still giving you a hard time?"
"Didn't I wrote you just two months ago?" answered Arya, while taking a seat and inviting Ismira to do the same.
"Yes, but I believe that you would feel better if you talked about it rather then just putting ink on paper" said Ismira while accepting Arya's offer.
This time Arya laughed. Yes she liked the rider, she understood her better then most, sometimes even better then herself.
"Yes, the elders are still… how should I put gently, oh yeah. They are still pissed off that I was expelled from the order"
"What about you? What do you think of it?" asked Ismira.
Arya looked down on her left hand and started to rub the ring on her index finger with her thumb. The ring had a rectangular sapphire and in it an image of a flower was trapped inside the gemstone.
"Arya, have you made your decision?" asked Eragon, Grand Master of the dragon riders' order. His voice was gentle and his eyes never left the figure in front of him that had her eyes down. He was in the meeting hall, but it was deep in the night and no one except him was in the room. The only sound breaking the silence of the night was the fire crackling at the center of the hall. Eragon was close to the fire, feeling unexpectedly colder than usual. Silence followed in the royal council room. After moments that felt like years Arya looked into the mirror at Eragon's face and saw him gaze deep into her eyes. She walked towards the mirror, closed her eyes and slowly put a hand on the surface of the mirror and repeated what she said thirty-five years before with weak voice "I… cannot".
A smile that did not reach Eragon's eyes marred his face and lifted his hand like to touch hers.
"Then the path is cleared… Arya" answered Eragon after a moment of hesitation.
Arya opened her eyes. She was still in the royal council room, but it was late into the day and the room was filled with the elven elders from the governing families. The elders were quiet and no detail in their actions betrayed their masterfully crafted mask of impassiveness. They were not happy. In the mirror, Eragon was suited with his complete armor, his hair was freshly cut and his chin clean shaven. She thought that he was indeed very handsome. His chocolate eyes were on her but unlike the previous night he wasn't looking at her, his gaze was absent. His voice was strong, and firm but distant.
"… from this moment forth, Arya Drottning Shadeslayer you have been striped of your duty of dragon rider. Firnen will stay with you... " At this sentence most of the elders nodded their heads.
Eragon continued "… since it is not up to the order whom the dragon chooses as his or her rider. You may retain your armor and blade. But you will not be able to freely move among the nations of Alagesia without the consent of the nations that you are going to visit. This includes Theana and Creetia…" at this point Arya griped her hands but quickly settled down her uneasiness. "You will have no judicial power in other nations and you will have no position in the Varden. Do you accept these limitations?" Eragon focused, and as coming back from a trance he saw her.
"I do" answered Arya, queen of the elves.
I hope you enjoyed this first part, I am currently writing this story in order to try to give an happy ending to a series that I liked for a long time. This story came to me after I gave some though on how things may play after the last book.
As always please let me know what you think about it, even if it is criticism, they might be helpful for future chapters :)