Author's Note:

Next! =)

Okay, firstly I have to say, that I am terribly sorry that it took me so long to update. I promise the next chapter will be up sooner. I'll try to publish a chapter every month like I do with my other multichaptered story.

I'm very happy that so many people read the first chapter and liked it. When I published it I had not expected that. So I am very thankful for all the nice reviews and of course I will continue this story. I promise.

But I think I have to warn you, because if you expect something fluffy in this chapter you will be disappointed. Honestly, I didn't label this fic a „Drama" for nothing. So I won't go easy on the characters for a while. The fluffy bits will have to wait for a while. I hope that is not a problem.

Oh and to DreamWriter89: I totally understand what you mean and it's not like I'm doing this only for reviews or such, but since it takes me quiet a while to write a chapter and I have to spell check them over and over again (as I've said, I'm not a native speaker, but I don't want to let the story suffer because of it) it's nice and encouraging to get some feedback. =)

And now on with the story. I guess you have waited long enough ;)

The next day started in a very unpleasant way for Eragon. He had spent the whole night pacing through his rooms, unable to calm himself down, unable to understand what had happened that evening. It was like his mind was racing at high speed, but did not know where to go. The boy was aware that Islanzadi had left right after the kiss, giving Eragon no time to react. He had not noticed it, but the queen had been as shocked as the boy himself. She had left in great hurry, leaving the doors wide open on her way out.

Hours later he had finally managed to close them, although it had required more than a bit of Saphira's help. Eragon had spent about an hour after the queen had left just standing at the same spot, not moving, just staring after Islanzadi, even though the elf was already out of sight.

Saphira had tried to talk to her Rider, but the boy was too caught in his own thoughts to recognize many of the things she said. One of the first things still lingered in his mind, though. The dragon had advised him to go after the queen, but Eragon had pretended not to hear her. He wanted to know what all that had been about, but he knew that he couldn't stand facing Islanzadi again. He would probably never be able to look her in the eyes again - ever. The thought of it already made his face burn with embarrassment.

Upon sunrise Eragon and Saphira made their way to Oromis' house, flying over the emerald forest, momentarily bathed in a warm golden light. Eragon could not appreciate the beauty of his surrounding, though. He was tired, his body ached with weariness, but that was nothing compared to the fog of sleepiness in his mind. It wasn't so much caused by the lack of sleep, as by the constant work it had to do. His brain could only take a certain amount of stress before it would take a leave. So he spent the flight staring ahead, without actually seeing anything; only enjoying being able to leave his worries behind on the ground.

Eragon spent the morning in the woods listening to the minds of the animals surrounding him. Or at least he was trying to do so. In reality he was far too distracted to concentrate on the nature all around him. So he spent several hours sitting on a piece of wood, starring into the landscape, listening to his own thoughts. It was slowly driving him insane, especially because they were arguing with themselves.

She kissed you, that means she likes you!

Oh, but she ran from you!

Why do you care anyway? It's not like you are interested in her!

Then why are you still thinking of her?

In the end Eragon had had enough. "Shut up!", he shouted and jumped to his feet. At the sudden noise several birds fled from the trees, flying away into the sky. Embarrassed by his own actions Eragon looked around to check whether someone was around who might have heard him. Fortunately nobody was to be seen.

Frustrated the Rider returned to Oromis' house, knowing that it would be of no use if he tried to meditate any longer. Normally listening to natures melody helped to cheer Eragon up, this time it only drove him into a darker mood. Oromis must have noticed that, but did not mention it. Instead the elf handed him a bunch of scrolls, as Eragon entered the little house.

So Eragon sat down and tried to read, although he knew that his chances of success were next to non-existent. His suspicion was proven right, as he noticed that it had taken him more than an hour to read a single page. Currently he read the same sentence for the fifth time, without being able to recall what it was saying, at all. His thoughts were permanently drifting from one end of his possibilities to the other. Just moments ago he had been ready to stand up, walk all the way back to Ellesmera and talk to Islanzadi, to ask her what all that had been about.

Now Eragon was more on the "let's hide and hope everything will solve itself before someone discovers me"-side. He was slowly getting very sick and tired of the constant changes of mind, but every time he thought he knew what he had to do, doubts were beginning to rise again. The fact that he couldn't talk to Saphira, because she was off with Gleadr, learning things her Rider should not know about; only made things worse. She usually was the voice of reason in his world, so without her he was left with his uncoordinated thoughts. He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and sighed. He was exhausted. Nevertheless Eragon once again tried to concentrate on the text in front of him.

"Eragon.", he heard faintly, but chose to ignore it. Eragon wasn't even sure if his ears weren't playing tricks on him.

"Eragon!"

The Rider looked up, surprised. He hadn't really noticed Oromis, but suddenly the elf was sitting right in front of him. "Yes, master?", Eragon asked bewildered.

"You were not paying attention.", Oromis stated.

"I'm sorry, master.", Eragon said and blinked, like he had been asleep.

Oromis studied Eragon for a while, without saying a word. Then, after what seemed like several minutes, the elf began to speak. "What is wrong, boy? You have been distracted all morning."

Eragon noticed that they were using the Ancient Language, which brought him into an unfortunate situation, because he could not lie in that language. It took the boy several moments to form an answer, that was no lie, but not really the truth either.

"It's nothing of importance, I'm just... tired, I guess."
Oromis gave Eragon a doubtful look, as if he had noticed that his student wasn't telling the whole truth. The human Rider felt very uncomfortable under his masters gaze, but managed not to fidget.

"Eragon, if something is wrong you have to tell me. It won't do you any good if you keep it all to yourself. Especially now, after the change the dragons have brought upon you.", Oromis said. The elf seemed to be worried.

In a way the old elf was like a father for Eragon and he really would have liked to talk to him about this, but he knew he could not. Even if his master would believe him, what advice could he give? There really was next to nothing Eragon could do and involving someone else into this mess would only cause more trouble.

"It's... it's something I can't talk to you about. I'm sorry, master, but I have to deal with this on my own.", Eragon tried to convince the elf. He didn't believe that it would be a successful try, though.

Oromis gave him a doubtful look again, but this time he refrained to argue. All the elf said was: "All right, I will not question you about this again, if you promise that whatever it is won't affect your studies again. Otherwise you will have to tell me."

Eragon looked up, grateful. He hadn't expected this, but it was a fortunate turn of events. All he had to do to keep the elf from asking was to hide how confused he was... well, maybe it wasn't so easy after all. He had to try, though, there was nothing else he could do. Eragon didn't want to tell Oromis, because he did not know how the older Rider would react.

"I promise, Ebrithil.", the boy said honestly. That was the trick one had to use if he wanted to lie in the Ancient Language: believe what you say and it will be the truth, at least for the moment.

"Good.", Oromis answered slowly. He stood up and turned to leave. As he walked away he said: "Now get back to your studies, Glaedr and Saphira will return soon."

The rest of the day passed painfully slow for Eragon. Every moment he had to watch his own thoughts, trying hard not to let them drift, keeping them at the tasks at hand. As he finally flew home with Saphira the boy was quiet proud, because he seemed to have managed well enough to not have caught Oromis attention. The Rider was quiet exhausted upon his arrival at his treehouse. Still there was something on his mind and he had a feeling he should deal with it, to lift at least a bit of pressure from his bothered mind.

So later that evening Eragon decided to settle things with Arya. He had to apologize to her, again. The fact that he had brought himself in a situation where he had to beg her forgiveness once more brought a foul taste to his mouth. Why do I always screw up?, he wondered.

You are young, no wonder you make mistakes. As long as you learn from them, there is nothing wrong with that. Saphira said, softly nudging his shoulder with her nose.

Shaking his head slightly, Eragon rested his hand at her scaly shoulder. I'm glad that I have you. he told her and pushed a warm feeling of companionship through their mental bond.

Without further hesitation Eragon left the treehouse to search for Arya. He would start his search at the Tialdari Hall, the most likely place to get informations about her whereabouts. Unfortunately it also raised the possibility of meeting Islanzadi... a thought Eragon pushed aside as soon as he noticed it.

About two hours later Eragon was back at the treehouse. He sat silently on his bed, sorting his once again tangled thoughts. At the Tialdari Hall the Rider had learned, that Arya had left, not just left the hall or Ellesmera, no, she had left Du Weldenvarden. Eragon had known all along that it would eventually come to this. After all Arya had duties to fulfill, in Ellesmera, but also, or even more so, at the Varden. Still it bothered him that she had left without a single word of goodbye. Maybe a personal meeting was to much to ask, after the incident shortly after the Bloodoath Ceremony, but a letter, or just a short note would certainly have been possible...

Eragon had really wished to talk to her, the time had seemed to be right, he had felt it. But now that she was gone he could not settle things with her. It made the Rider feel sad in a way, because this would have been the perfect chance to lift a bit of the pressure of his mind, to set at least a few things straight.

You will see her again. One day we have to return to the Varden and that's when you'll meet her again, if she does not return to Du Weldenvarden earlier, that is. Saphira tried to comfort him. She had curled up on her own sleeping place, watching Eragon from one, halfway opened eye. Her Rider smiled a bit, although it wasn't a very convincing smile.

Yeah, maybe. But that is all so far from now and I had hoped to settle things with her now, so that I could go on without worrying if she will ever talk to me again. Eragon answered quietly.

Saphira blew a cloud of grey smoke into his direction, while growling at him. Of course she will talk to you again! She likes you, even if she doesn't love you, you matter to her. She needs time. I guess, that's why she left: to have time.

You think so? Eragon asked hopeful. Saphira nodded slowly, barely lifting her head off the pillows. A wave of reassurance was sent through their mental bond and left Eragon smiling. Exhausted he sank down onto his bed and rested his head on the pillows. His eyes were already closing, as he heard Saphira ask: What about Islanzadi?

Later. I'll deal with that later. Eragon mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.

Three days passed and for Eragon things had improved. He was still thinking about his incident with Islanzadi, but he managed to push those thoughts aside, while he was training with Oromis. Sometimes he caught himself considering his options, but since he never found a sufficient one it became easier each time he did so.

This morning, though, things were different. Shortly after he had taken a bath, Eragon went to meet Vanir. It was their second meeting since the dragons had changed Eragon. Their first training after that had been a complete success for the Rider. He had finally managed to win once or twice. Since previously the boy had been the one to loose their match, he enjoyed finally being able to fight without having to fear the pain, even more. Now that the Rider could show his whole capabilities he had managed to gain some of Vanir's respect.

Eragon was quiet excited to have another chance to prove his abilities. Moving without the shadow of pain lingering above him was like an addiction, he didn't want to stop. Vanir as well showed more ambition now that he finally had been able to see how good Eragon actually was.

They fought for about two hours, before Eragon had to return to Oromis' house. Saphira had already kept reminding him of that for half an hour, but the Rider didn't really want to stop. At last he thanked Vanir and walked over to Saphira, who spread her wings demonstratively.

The moment Eragon climbed onto the dragon's back, something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye he saw a small group of elves walk through the forest near the training area. He recognized most of the elves, they were Islanzadi's advisers and in the middle of the little group the boy could see the queen. She walked between the other elves like they were supposed to protect her, what from Eragon wasn't sure. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw her. The boy could see that the queen wore the dress made completely of swan feathers, she looked like she had an angel's wings wrapped around her. Eragon had never really noticed before, but she really was beautiful, not just in the "all elves are beautiful"-way, this was different. The Rider couldn't describe it, but something about her amazed him, something that he had failed to notice earlier, or that simply had not been there.

Eragon. You are starring. Saphira reminded him. The Rider ignored her, though. He was far too distracted by the view to listen. Mesmerized he watched as Islanzadi and her group stopped and the queen turned her head. Had she noticed him watching her, Eragon wondered. Involuntarily he lowered his head, as if to hide.

His suspicion was confirmed, as the queen looked him right in the eye. Although many meter's put distance between them, Eragon felt like she was standing right in front of him. Her dark green eyes seemed to hypnotize him. A kind of warm ice ran through his veins and he wished he could go over to her and... well, he wasn't so sure what he was supposed to do if he could actually reach her.

Then, suddenly the queen turned away again and it was as if their little moment had never happened at all. But Eragon knew that she had seen him. She must have, since she had looked him right in the eye.

The fact that she had just walked away left Eragon with a strange feeling of disappointment. Did he actually mean anything to her or was she just playing games with him?

The incident followed Eragon for the rest of the day. Even as he returned to Oromis' house, where he usually pushed all thoughts of Islanzadi aside, he couldn't silence the voices in his mind that kept going through the events of the morning.

"Last time we talked about this you promised that this mysterious problem of yours won't affect your studies anymore.". Oromis interrupted Eragons thoughts. The boy jumped slightly, as he heard his masters voice. As he turned his head he noticed, that his master was standing right behind him. "But as it turns out you couldn't keep your promise."

"Master, I...", Eragon tried to apologize, but Oromis won't let him finish the sentence. "No, Eragon, you had your chance, now I want to know what is up!"

The Rider had never seen the elf so stern before. He knew that this time his master won't let the topic go until Eragon had explained himself.

"Please, I... I shouldn't...", Eragon tried again, but it was of no use. Even before Oromis interrupted him, the boy had been able to see in the elf's gaze that he would not let go.

"Eragon!"

"It will only cause trouble if I tell you!", the boy nearly begged, but Oromis didn't listen to the Rider's excuses.

"That's for me to decide, I am the teacher and you are my student.", he said.

Eragon struggled with himself. He wanted to tell Oromis, but he feared that it would cause more trouble than he already was in. He sent a hopeful thought towards Saphira, but the dragon just shrugged. Tell him, little one. Maybe he knows what to do.

That was all Eragon needed and so, finally, he told someone his story. The words passed his lips easily, like they were happy to be released at last.

As Eragon had finished his report, Oromis' face had turned blank. The elf's expression didn't give away any of his thoughts, but Eragon feared that he would be angry. He considered whether he still could find a way out of this. Maybe if he told Oromis that it had all been some kind of joke... But he knew that it would be of little use.

Don' be afraid, little one. Telling him the truth was the right thing to do. Don't give up now. Saphira encouraged him.

"Master?", Eragon asked carefully.

"You can not be serious, Eragon.", Oromis suddenly said, sounding more than a bit disbelieving. His voice was slightly raised and his gaze was fixed on Eragon as if he wanted to peer right into the boy's soul.

This sudden outburst startled the Rider a bit.

"I am! I swear it happened exactly the way I told you!", Eragon exclaimed. The last thing he wanted was to be accused of lying by the old elf. How could Oromis think he was lying when it had taken Eragon so much effort to tell him at all?

"I don't know why you would lie, but I can't believe you, not without evidence. I am sorry, Eragon Finiarel."

So Eragon switched to the Ancient Language: "I swear, Islanzadi, queen of the elves, kissed me."

Oromis said nothing. For endless minutes the elf stayed silent, all he did was look at Eragon, like the boy had just grown another head.

After several minutes Oromis nodded, then he turned away and they continued Eragon's training like the conversation had never happened.

That evening Eragon and Saphira made their way home, without having raised the topic again. Oromis had not uttered a single word about it and so the younger Rider had stayed silent too. Internally he wondered, though, what his master thought. Something was clearly on the elf's mind, but Eragon couldn't quiet understand what it was.

Oromis watched as Eragon and Saphira flew away with a look of determination on his face. He knew exactly what he had to do.

So this was the second chapter. I hope you liked it and if you want please review.