Hello everyone, I have returned and bring with me a new fic. Here is the first chapter of Black King's Daughter, the sequel to Selena's Daughter. Yes, it continues with Florina and Kuldra as well as her brothers. Enjoy!
Same as before: Bold Italic is Florina/Kuldra thought and conversation; bold is Eragon/Saphira thought and conversation and italics are regular thought speech for everyone else.
As before, I only own my OC's which are the new Riders, Florina's son (not the namesake), her daugher and of course FLorina and Kuldra and any OC's that show up or are from the previous fic.
She looked up at the sound of steel clashing and chuckled to herself. "Those two are always fighting." She told the large gold creature next to her and whom she was leaning against.
"What do you expect? They're your children."
"I never fought like this."
"Oh yes you did." She blushed and closed her book with a snap. The dragon chuckled and stood as her Rider did. She had fought with her brother on her decision to ferry the eggs and they had ended up in a fist fight. That had been ten years before the twins had been born. She and Lifaen had a son and a daughter. They had named her after his mother, Delinnëa (Nëa). Their son they had named after her master, Oromis. In fact, they were getting ready to go and see her brother.
"Children! Hurry or I will leave without you." She called to them. She had been unsure that she and Lifaen would have been able to have children. She was pleasantly surprised when they had discovered she was pregnant. That had been twenty years ago. At twenty, the children looked like a pleasant mix of their parents. Nëa and Oromis had their mother's black hair and darkish skin but had their father's facial structure, though a little rougher, and his eyes. She was glad that they had his eyes. Her eyes reminded everyone, including her, of the man who had truly sired her and who had caused great war and strife in Alagaësia. It had ended with him being killed by her and her half-brother, Eragon and Nasuada becoming queen.
Delinnëa and Oromis tumbled into the bowl where their mother and her dragon waited for them. They both had their packs and swords. She sighed and chuckled some more. Being now two hundred years old, Kuldra was able to carry three full grown adults with little trouble. Florina bounded up a leg and settled first. The twins followed with Nëa settling in the middle. She wrapped an arm securely around her mother's waist and Kuldra jumped into the air. Below, younger dragons roared in farewell, their Riders waving the family off.
In the two hundred years that had passed, the Riders had grown, coming in batches of four. And each was from a different race as each of the four races had an egg that was passed between them, waiting for the dragon to hatch. She and Eragon had amended the spell to include the Urgals and dwarves who had been left out in the first and second versions. Which is why she had to go. Arya had contacted her and told her that three more eggs had hatched: a human, a dwarf, and an Urgal. They were now ready to go to Eragon who would complete their training and she would return for them to take them to Vroengard which she had cleansed of the poison air and the burrow grubs. She had made sure that each of those grubs was destroyed, never forgetting the torment she had witnessed Nasuada go through with only one.
The trip across the ocean took the trio half a day since Kuldra was so grown. By the end of the other half, they were at the edge of Du Weldenvaraden. Kuldra landed and they walked into the forest to get through the shields that were still in place. They spent the night under the trees and in the morning arrived at the Crags of Tel'naeír where they dropped off their bags. She would meet the new Riders the next day. First, she wanted to introduce Arya to her children. Kuldra leapt into the air again and was joined by a green dragon. It attacked her, but Kuldra was a natural flyer and the stunt didn't bother her. Her counter move had the twins sick and Florina shouting with joy. They had never understood her excitement.
"Greetings, Fírnen. How are you today?" Florina asked as they glided to the city.
"I am well. Arya is busy again."
"Well, tell her that I come and I bring people who want to meet her."
"Are you sure they are yours? They look more like Arya than you." Florina laughed.
"Just go." An hour later, Kuldra was landing in the practice fields and found her closest friend waiting for her. They greeted each other and then hugged. "It has been too long." Florina said in the ancient language.
"Yes it has." Arya agreed. "The last time I had seen you, it was concerning the eggs. That was what, thirty years ago."
"You know it was." Florina laughed.
"So what has kept you away from us?" Florina gestured to her children and they stepped forward.
"Delinnëa, Oromis, Queen Arya of the Elves. Arya, these are mine and Lifaen's children. They were born twenty years ago."
Arya's nearly bulged. "You and Lifaen?" Florina nodded. "I didn't think it was possible."
"Neither did I, until they were conceived. They wanted to come and see why I always left every year so I let them come. Be patient with them. This is the first they have left Vroengard. And you are the first besides other Riders to see them."
"Out of my way." A gruff voiced huffed as she pushed her way through the crowd. Florina smiled. "Well, it's about time you show up. I've been waiting to see you." Rhunön grabbed Nëa by the arm and pulled her around to face her.
"Mother?" The girl questioned and Rhunön looked at her.
"She looks more like her father." Her eyes darted to Oromis. "So does he."
"Queen Arya!" Everyone turned and saw an elf carrying a silver egg towards them. Everyone could see that he was nervous. Florina could see the cracks.
"When did this happen?" The queen demanded.
"Just now." Florina recognized the elf now. It was Vanir. He put the egg on the ground. "I think it heard her voice." He pointed to Delinnëa. Florina turned to her daughter. She was pale with fright. Florina placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and guided her to the egg which started shaking again. Florina nodded and forced her daughter to kneel. Oromis looked on, joy in his eyes for his sister.
"Pick it up, Nëa. It'll be alright."
"But I didn't want this." The girl breathed. "I never dreamed I would be a Rider." Florina knelt next to her daughter. "I'm afraid, Mamma." Florina hugged her daughter's shoulders, remembering her fear as the stone her father had found in the cove revealed itself to be an egg.
"Nëa, being a Rider is not something you choose. It chooses you. Are you going to let this little dragon be alone when it has found who it has chosen to be its Rider? This egg chose you, out of all that had touched it, it chose you to be its partner. And I will tell you one thing, my girl. Being a Rider is the best thing in the world." Florina looked at her own dragon, her partner-of-life. They had done and seen so much in the first few years of their bond.
"Young One, I chose your mother because of what I saw in her." Kuldra told the twenty year old elf. Nëa looked at her mother's dragon. She had played on her tail when she was only a toddler. Listened to her father joke about them being Riders like their mother. She never thought I was possible. That no dragon would want a child who was technically a half-breed, a child of human and elf blood. The egg broke more in front of her. "You have something inside you that this dragon has been looking for. That makes you special. Will you deny her your friendship?" Nëa bit her lip and then Oromis was next to her.
"I'm not jealous," he whispered. "I hoped to be one, but you have been chosen. Maybe one day my chance will come. But for now, Little Sister, it is your time. Don't pass this up. You've seen Mom and Kuldra when they are in the sky together. She shouted with joy just hours ago. I know that's something you've dreamed of having. Plus, this will get you off Vroengard. Don't you want that?" Then he was gone and it was only Florina sitting next to her. Nëa looked at her mother and saw the pride and joy in her eyes. Her dark eyes made the girl wonder who her grandfather was and why her mother never spoke of him. This was her chance.
"I'll do this on one condition." She told her mother. "You tell me about your birth father, the man who sired you." Florina looked at her. Nëa thought she suddenly saw a darkness in her already dark eyes, but then it passed.
"Agreed." Nëa breathed and reached for the egg. It broke more and a dragon flopped out. She gasped in awe. The hatchling was beautiful and looked around in longing. Florina nudged her arm and Nëa extended her hand to the creature. The resulting feeling was an icy blast of energy running up her arm, burning like molten lead in her veins. She fell to the side, into her mother's arms, as an iron clang filled her ears. Florina stroked her hair until she was able to move again in a few minutes. Arya arrived with scraps of meat from Fírnen's earlier hunt.
"Feed it. It's bound to be hungry." The queen smiled and the elves cheered.
"I thought it was only three. That's what Arya told me. Now you say there are four new Riders for me to train." They walked down the hall of the castle he had built to be his school and home. Above it were the dragon caves for Saphira and her pupils and guests.
"No, there are only three for you to train. I will be training the fourth."
"And why will you be training the fourth? Who is it? And who are we going to meet? You've kept me in the dark long enough, Sister. It's grating on the nerves, especially for not having talked in the last thirty years. I don't even know what you've been up to except what the Riders I've sent to you have told me."
"All your questions will be answered. Just wait a few more minutes." Florina sighed. She had left her children and the hatchling in the entrance hall with the other Riders who had followed her to Eragon and Saphira. Arya had not gone with them having duties of her own to complete. Florina had her responsibilities as well, and this was one of them. The siblings walked into the entrance hall. The three Riders whose dragons were grown enough to fill half of the room looked in their direction. Eragon looked at his new students appraisingly. He nodded, determining that they were ready. An elf stepped from a doorway to lead them to their rooms and also ushered in four Riders whose training was complete. Though, it was Florina who ultimately determined that outcome.
"So, those are the three I expected to see. Where is this fourth?"
"Is Saphira about?"
"I am here." The sapphire dragon walked in from a large archway and settle behind Eragon. She was just slightly younger than Kuldra, but only by a few months.
"Good. Delinnëa, Oromis. You can come out now." Eragon's eyes widened in disbelief as the two young adults stepped from behind Kuldra and stood next to Florina. "Eragon, Saphira, these are my children." Florina beamed with pride. A small creel broke the silence and a silver dragon landed on Delinnëa's shoulder. "Delinnëa, Oromis, meet your uncle."
"Hello, Uncle," Oromis greeted. "Mother has told us much about you and how you helped take down the old Empire.
"Eragon!" Umaroth called immediately after Oromis had stopped speaking. The four of them rushed to the egg room where the Eldunarí and the eggs were kept. A bronze egg was rocking violently on the shelf. Eragon retrieved it and found a small crack. He looked at his nephew a moment before handing him the egg. Oromis knelt without being told and they waited. Moments later, the egg broke and a bronze dragon toppled out. Oromis touched it without hesitation and Florina had to rush to catch him before he fell into the heat source of the room. Eragon had been too stunned to react.
"Two in the matter of a week. And they're siblings of our family." Florina said. "The dragon's like something about Selena's line." She joked. Eragon only scowled.
I hope it didn't seem rushed, but there it is. Two new Riders from Selena and Galbatorix's line. If you are wondering, now, Eragon and Arya have not gotten together yet. Not sure if it'll happen. Looking forward to hearing what you think. Thanks for reading!