This is a story about a seven-year-old, so it's written in a sort of rambling style, as if written by a six or seven-year-old. I own nothing.
She was just a scrawny little seven-year-old girl. None of the other servants knew her name. She didn't either. They just called her Girl. "Girl, come here." "Girl, clean up that mess!" "His majesty wants some water, Girl." "Girl!" "Girl!" "Girl!" She was so tired of hearing that word.
At least the master was nice to her sometimes, even if the others said he was a very bad man who took people's money and made little boys and old men fight in wars. Tillan told her he was only nice to her because she couldn't take the throne from him, but Girl thought she was just jealous that he like her more. Besides, she didn't care. He was the only kind one anymore.
Sometimes he wasn't kind, though. Sometimes when Girl went into his big room with the big chair he would be yelling at the big boy with dark hair. He was scary when he was like that. But most of the time he was nice. Once he even put her on his knee and petted her hair and called her pretty. No one ever called her pretty. She had plain brown hair and brown eyes and freckles and Tillan said she was too thin.
And once, when he looked very sad, she went and started dusting the little table that had the papers with pictures and words on them, and she smiled at him. Then he looked at her like he was thinking very hard, and then he said he wanted to show her something. She followed him into another room and waved his hand and made a door appear out of the wall. He said some more words and walked in the door. She followed him. He showed her a pretty shiny green rock in the room. She told him she liked it and that it was very pretty. He told her she could touch it if she was very careful and gentle. She shyly put out a hand and brushed it.
Pretty soon she was feeling it all over, because it was so big and smooth and warm. She tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the little table. Over the next few days he took her to that room a lot and told her she could play with it if she was careful. He called it an egg, but Girl thought it didn't look like the eggs that they got from the market. Those eggs were small and white or brown. This egg was green and big.
But after a week he told her she couldn't go to the room anymore. He made her say funny words, and then when she tried to tell Tillan about the big green egg she couldn't. Tillan worked in the kitchen, and she could be very grumpy sometimes. One of the cooks said it was because her brother had to fight in the war. Girl wasn't sure what a war was, but she thought it must be something very bad from the way everyone talked about it.
Tillan was very pretty. She had long hair that she called blond, but Girl just called it "light yellow". She had pretty green eyes, like the egg. But she couldn't talk about that any more. And Tillan was tall and thin, but not as thin as Girl. One of the manservants stared at her all the time and licked his lips like he was nervous when he was around her. Girl didn't know why they were called manservants, because most of them were just boys a few years older than her. The one that licked his lips was only fourteen. Tillan said he would go to the war in two years. Girl though two years must be a very long time.
One day she was scrubbing the floor where one of the "grand ladies," as Tillan called them, had spilled something sticky. Girl didn't know what it was, but Tillan told her to clean it up.
Then the big boy with dark hair came by right as she started coughing. She had been coughing for a long time now, but no one cared and she tried not to do it around the master and the big boy and the "grand ladies" and "grand gentlemen". She wouldn't have coughed then, but the big boy had come up from behind her and she hadn't known he was there. She was coughing so hard that she had to stop cleaning, even though she knew that they others would get mad at her if they knew. She leaned against the wall for a minute while she coughed, and then when she stopped she couldn't breathe very well and her chest and throat felt all scratchy. She itched at it but it didn't help. Then the big boy stepped in front of her and she stopped scratching.
"I-I'm sorry, sir," she whispered, and got down on her knees to clean up the mess. He didn't look mad, though. He looked sad.
"Do you feel alright?" he asked. He had a big purple mark over his eye, like he had run into a door. Girl did that once. It hurt.
She nodded, even though she wasn't. Tillan said that when someone asked you if you were okay you were supposed to nod or say yes, even if you were feeling bad. He looked even sadder, and then he looked... concerned? Girl wasn't sure exactly what the word was, but concerned sounded right.
She wanted to cough again, but she held it in because the big boy was important and she didn't want him to get angry. He just stood and watched her and didn't say anything, so she started cleaning again.
When she finished the floor he was still there and he still hadn't said anything. She put her rag into the bucket and stood up. She still wanted to cough. She curtsied to the big boy and started walking away when he said, "Wait a moment!"
She turned and walked back. "Yes, sir?"
"What is your name?" He said it kindly, not like the mean men and ladies who wanted to know her name so they could yell at her.
"My name is Girl." He seemed confused when she said that.
"Well, alright then... Girl. Would you like to see something interesting?" Once a very mean man asked her if she wanted to see something interesting. He took her to a dark closet and told her to wait in there, and then he closed the door and wouldn't open it. He didn't have any hair and wore a purple dress. Tillan said he and his brother were dead. Girl didn't know what "dead" was. But this man seemed nice...
"Yes, sir," she said, picking up the bucket again. He smiled.
"Then here, walk next to me. Or would you like to..." And, before Girl could do anything, he'd bent down and picked her up and put her on his shoulders. She yelped in surprise and he laughed. Girl didn't know what to hold onto, but he was holding onto her feet and she already had the bucket and it was heavy so she just held that. She felt very tall up on his shoulders like this. "My name is Murtagh," the big boy said.
"O-oh..." Girl said. She had heard his name somewhere, but she couldn't remember where.
"Who named you Girl?" he asked.
"Tillan did, sir."
"Ad who is Tillan?"
Girl knew that Tillan liked big boys and this was a big boy and he was very pretty, so she said, "She's a servant like me, sir, only she is pretty. Very pretty." Murtagh giggled, but Girl thought it was called chuckling when boys did it. She couldn't tell the difference.
"If you don't mind my asking, sir, what happened to your eye, sir? Did you run into a wall, sir?" Girl closed her eyes. He might be mad at her for asking.
"My eye...?" he asked. He let go of one of her feet to touch it, but Girl didn't fall off. It felt like his hand was still there. "Er... yes. I wasn't watching where I was going and... ran into a wall." He sounded angry at first, but then he sounded like he was telling a funny story. What was the word? Amused, that was it.
"I did that once, sir," Girl said sadly. "It hurt a very great much, sir."
"I'm sorry to hear that. When did you hurt your eye?"
"I was four, sir, and cleaning the floor in the kitchen when someone opened the door, sir, but they didn't see me, sir, so when they opened the door it hit me in the face, sir, only mine was so much bigger than yours, sir."
Murtagh slowed down and then said quietly, "You were doing servant jobs when you were but four years old?"
"Even before then, sir," Girl said proudly. "When I was very little, sir, the grand ladies liked to play with me. They would tickle me and tell me stories, sir, but now that I am a big girl, sir, I must clean with the rest of the servants, sir. Where are we going, sir?"
"We're going to go see a good friend of mine."
"What is their name, sir?"
"His name is Thorn."
"What does he look like, sir?"
"Well..." Murtagh thought for a minute and then said, "He has very red skin."
"Was he out in the sun too long, sir?"
"No, that's just the way he is. He also has very large teeth."
"Like Cook, sir?"
"Even larger, Girl. He also likes to sleep outside."
"I did that once," Girl said. "I went outside to get some water, sir, and the big bald man in the purple dress wouldn't let me back in, sir, until morning, sir."
"That's too bad," Murtagh said. "But Thorn likes to sleep outside. He can also let you sit on his back, and he hatched from an egg."
"What did the egg look like, sir?"
"It was big and red and warm and heavy. Now I have a question for you, Girl."
"Yes, sir?"
"How long have you had that cough?"
Girl thought. "Ever since... since their was the big party and all the grand ladies and grand gentlemen, sir, and there was the master sitting at his big chair, sir, and he told everyone something about something called 'Varden' and 'Surda', sir, and everyone clapped. I started coughing... two days after that, sir." Murtagh tightened his grip on her legs. That had been eight months ago.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Girl."
"It's alright, sir. It only hurts a little at night when it gets very hot and I can't breathe good, sir, and sometimes Tillan will give me some honey if I cough very much, sir. Once she even gave sugar, sir."
"Was it very good sugar?"
"Oh, yes, sir. It was brown and nice and soft, sir, not thick and clumpy like it is sometimes, sir."
"Really. Well, we're almost there. See those doors up ahead? Outside my friend will be waiting for us. I'm going to put you down now, but I want you to hold my hand, alright?"
"Yes, sir." Murtagh opened the two big doors and Girl saw a very big red thing sitting there. It looked at her very hard for a minute, then looked at Murtagh.
"Where's your friend, sir?" Girl had decided to ignore the big red thing.
"This is my friend. Girl, say hello to Thorn."
"Hello, master Thorn, sir." Murtagh chuckled again.
"He says 'Hello' back to you."
"How do you know, sir? Begging your pardon, sir, but I didn't hear him, sir."
And then she heard a voice say right in her own head, I talk to Murtagh like this.
"Ahh!" Girl dropped her bucket and dashed behind Murtagh. "Sir," she whispered. "I could hear him in my head, sir."
Murtagh was laughing. "It's okay, Girl," he gasped. "That's... normal!" Even Thorn seemed to be laughing.
"Sir," Girl said nervously. "If you don't mind my asking, master Thorn, sir, what are you? I mean, sir, you don't look like a human, sir."
"He's not a human, Girl. He's a dragon."
"But, sir, Tillan said that dragons are mean, sir. Begging your pardon, sir, because I'm sure he's a very nice dragon, sir."
"He- he is... a very... nice... dragon!" Murtagh started laughing but he calmed down after a minute. "Would you... like to pet him?" He was still chuckling a little bit and Girl thought that was rude but she didn't say so.
"But sir... will he... hurt me, sir?"
"No, Girl, it's alright. Like I said, Thorn is a very nice dragon. He won't eat you."
"Okay, sir." Girl walked forward and softly patted Thorn's nose and he looked like he liked it so she did it some more. Then she remembered something else Tillan said. "Sir?" she asked, turning to Murtagh. "If this is a dragon, sir, can he fly, sir? And breathe fire, sir?"
"Yes, Girl, he can fly, but he can't breathe fire yet. He's not quite big enough."
"But, sir, he looks very big to me, sir."
"That's because you are very small, Girl."
"But, sir, I am seven years old, sir! And I am very big, sir."
Murtagh was laughing again. "Yes, you are," he said finally. "But compared to Thorn and me, you are still very small. Would you like to see Thorn's wings?"
"Are they very big, too, sir?"
"Yes, Girl. They are very big. Even bigger than Thorn. You might want to back away now so you don't get hurt when he opens them." Girl went to stand beside Murtagh and then Thorn opened his wings and they were very big. The light was shining through them and they were very pretty so Girl told him so.
"Master Thorn, sir, your wings are very pretty, sir." Before she could say anything else one of the smaller doors that were for the servants opened and Tillan came out.
"Girl! There you are! Why did you-" Then she saw Murtagh. She curtsied very quickly. "Oh, ah, master Murtagh, sir, this child is needed in the kitchens, sir. I am sorry, sir." She didn't sound sorry at all, Girl thought.
"Master Murtaugh, sir, this is Tillan, sir! Isn't she pretty, sir?"
"Yes, Girl, she is pretty. Here is your bucket. I suppose I will see you later."
Girl picked up the bucket. "Good bye, master Murtagh, sir! Good bye, master Thorn, sir!"
"Come, Girl," Tillan said.
"Good bye, Girl."
Girl's cough got worse after that. One day she couldn't stand up anymore and they had to put her in bed. She told Tillan than she was her best friend and Tillan cried. When Murtagh found Tillan crying later he went to see Girl and Girl told him to tell Thorn good bye.
Three days later she was dead.
They didn't know what to put on her gravestone, and "Girl" didn't sound right, so they just put, "Here lies a faithful servant and loyal friend". It was said that even Galbatorix shed a tear for the little girl.
She would not be there to turn eight. She would not be there when the green egg hatched and decided the fate of their world. She would not be there when Galbatorix was overthrown and peace restored to Alagaesia. She would not be there when Saphira Bjartskular became the mother of the dragon race.
"Wait a moment!"
She turned and walked back. "Yes, sir?"
"What is your name?"
"My name is Girl."