A/N:
The second chapter, as promised!
I'd like to take a moment to the three people who favorited and the six people who are now following this story :)
Favorited: dancer4813, NhojOgrav, and ReadingForHours
Followed (my favorite kind of stalkers ^.^): adamln, AyameRose, bad-larry, dancer4813, NhojOgrav, and ReadingForHours
Thanks so much for the support!
I don't own Inheritance. At all. It's a sad life -.-
When the door finally opened again, everyone turned expectantly. Nasuada entered first, chin held high and eyes steady. She wore an embroidered black gown that was darker even than her skin and broken only by a royal purple sash stretching from her shoulder to her hip. Arya was just behind her, her stride lithe and smooth like a cat's. Finally came Jarsha, openly awestruck. He was soon dismissed.
Jörmundur helped Nasuada into a chair and Arya stood a distance from the table, watching the Council Elders guardedly.
"Arya," Jörmundur acknowledged with a nod. "Nasuada, daughter of Ajihad, the Council of Elders wishes to formally extend its deepest condolences for the loss you, more than anyone else, have suffered..." As Yuna fumed that the council hadn't sent their condolences sooner, Jörmundur lowered his voice. "You have our personal sympathies as well. We all know what it is like to have a family member killed by the Empire."
"Thank you," Nasuada murmured, her eyes lowering. She sat, shy and demure, with an air of vulnerability. She was nothing like the girl Eragon remembered from their meeting in the dragonhold but Yuna was only saddened to see that the girl's grief had not abated even slightly.
"Although this is your time of mourning, a quandary exists that you must resolve. This council cannot lead the Varden. And someone must replace your father after the funeral. We ask that you receive the position. As his heir, it is rightfully yours. The Varden expect it of you."
Nasuada bowed her head, her eyes watering. When she spoke, her voice was heavy with grief.
"I never thought I would be called upon to take my father's place so young. Yet... if you insist it is my duty... I will embrace the office."
Yuna could not help but notice the triumphant pleasure that was evident on the Council's face.
"We do insist," said Jörmundur, "for your own good and the good of the Varden." The other four council members added in various expressions of support, which Nasuada accepted with sad smiles. Sabrae threw angry glances to both Eragon and Yuna when they did not join in, though Yuna was proud to see that, when she returned the glare, Sabrae shrunk back. Arya gave no reaction to the council's announcement.
"Will the elves find this agreeable?" Falberd asked, turning to Arya. She stared at him silently until he fidgeted under her piercing gaze. She raised an eyebrow before speaking.
"I cannot speak for my queen, but I find nothing objectionable to it. Nasuada has my blessing."
Her remark clearly pleased the council. Nasuada thanked her and turned to Jörmundur.
"Is there anything else that must be discussed? For I am weary." The man shook his head sympathetically.
"We will make all the arrangements. I promise you won't be troubled until after the funeral," he vowed. Nasuada thanked him before dismissing the council, much to Umérth's silent protests.
"Eragon, Yuna, will you please stay?" she asked as the council began to file out. Falberd lingered by the door until it was clear that she would not speak until she was left alone with the riders. Arya shot the riders a worried and apprehensive glance before departing, closing the door behind her.
Nasuada paused, sitting so that she was partially turned away from the riders and dragons. She was silent for a moment.
"So, we meet again. Neither of you have greeted me. Have I offended you, Eragon, Yuna?" she asked.
"No, Nasuada; I was reluctant to speak for fear of being rude or foolish. Current circumstances are unkind to hasty statements," Eragon said carefully.
"I didn't want to give the Council the privilege of dragging a pleasant remark out of me," Yuna said, her voice playful.
"Atra nosu waíse vardo fra eld hórnya... There, now we may speak without being overheard by man, dwarf, or elf," Eragon said confidently. Yuna smiled.
"I'm glad I spoke before you used that."
You should be careful to avoid enemies, Saphira said, brushing her mind against Yuna's. Yuna shrugged as Nasuada's posture softened.
"Thank you, Eragon. You don't know what a gift that is." Her voice was stronger, her words more confident than before.
Little one, tell her that I grieve for her. And tell her that she must stay strong, as the Varden will only be as strong as its leader in these times of battle.
Yuna repeated the words as Eragon repeated Saphira's. They were similar and Nasuada smiled gladly.
"Ajihad was a great man- his name will always be remembered... There is something I must tell you. Before Ajihad died, he charged me, commanded us," he said, gesturing between he and Yuna, "to keep the Varden from falling into chaos. Those were his last words."
"We have agreed to keep his words a secret due to the implications, but you have a right to know," Yuna cut in. "I'll support you in your leadership. I have no want for your burden."
"Nor do I," Eragon assured her. Nasuada only laughed.
"I know why you were here before me and what the council is trying to do. Do you think that in the years I served my father, we never planned for this eventuality? I expected the council to do exactly what it did. And now everything is in place for me to take command of the Varden."
"I thought they'd have a harder time than they thought in controlling you," Yuna beamed. Nasuada smiled, but it did not quite reach her eyes.
"I should hope so. Continue to keep Ajihad's instruction secret. It would be unwise to bandy it about, as people might take it to mean that he wanted you to succeed him, and that would undermine my authority and destabilize the Varden. He said what he thought he had to in order to protect the Varden. I would have done the same. My father..." Her voice faltered briefly. "My father's work will not go unfinished, even if it takes me to the grave. That is what I want you, as riders, to understand. All of Ajihad's plans, all his strategies and goals, they are mine now. I will not fail him by being weak. The Empire will be brought down, Galbatorix will be dethroned, and the rightful government will be raised."
"And what of me, Nasuada? What shall I do in the Varden?"
"I've already made it abundantly clear that I won't let them control me," Yuna shrugged. "Arya will probably be annoyed with how I said it, but they needed to hear it."
"And you are right to be beyond their control. Eragon, you are a hero to the Varden and the dwarves. Even the elves will hail your victory over Durza when they hear of it. If you go against the council or me, we will be forced to yield, for the people will support you wholeheartedly. Yuna, Eragon owes you a life-debt in the eyes of the people. You are the savior of their hero. That makes both of you the most powerful people in the Varden. Though if you accept my leadership, you will go with Arya to the elves, be instructed there, then return to the Varden."
She speaks sense. The old two-legs would be fools to attempt to control us. It is good that you agreed to nothing.
Even so, they didn't ask you to swear allegiance, Yuna reminded him. He snorted.
Humans are not the brightest of creatures. Many regard me as a mere animal, he said, his voice lilted with humor.
We shall have to see to it that they think otherwise the next time we see them.
Both paused when Eragon drew Saoirse and walked to Nasuada. Her eyes flickered with fear, darting toward the door, and she slipped a hand into a fold in her dress and grasped something, most likely a dagger. Eragon stopped before her and knelt, his blade flat in his hands.
"Nasuada, Saphira and I have been here for only a short while. But in that time we came to respect Ajihad, and now, in turn, you. You fought under Farthen Dûr when others fled, including the two women of the council, and have treated us openly instead of with deception. Therefore, I offer you my blade... and my fealty as a rider."
He spoke with a sense of finality and surprise flitted across Nasuada's face. She grasped Saoirse's hilt and lifted it, staring at its silver blade before placing the tip on Eragon's head.
"I do accept your fealty with honor, Rider, as you accept all the responsibilities accompanying the station. Rise as my vassal and take your sword."
Eragon stood, accepting his sword back. He sheathed it and smiled broadly.
"Now I can tell you openly as my master, the council made me agree to swear to the Varden once you were appointed. This was the only way Saphira and I could circumvent them."
Nasuada laughed with true delight as Yuna grinned proudly.
"Ah, I see you have already learned how to play our game. Very well, as my newest and only vassal, will you agree to give your fealty to me again- in public, when the council expects your vow?"
"Of course."
"Good, that will take care of the council..."
"Don't expect my blade yet, Lady Nasuada," I grinned as her eyes flickered perhaps subconsciously towards the female rider. "I'm trying to stay the neutral party in as many species as I can."
Her eyes lit with humor as she shook her head.
"I would not ruin your goals, then," she said earnestly. "But now, I must ask you both to leave me. I have much planning to do, and I must prepare for the funeral... Remember, Eragon, the bond we have just created is equally binding. I am as responsible for your actions as you are required to serve me. Do not dishonor me."
"Nor you I."
With that, the four were dismissed and Nasuada left alone.
This way, Saphira said, nosing Eragon. She gave no other explanation and began walking away, leaving Eragon to explain her order to Yuna and Arget.
I wonder who Eragon will let himself be sworn to next, Yuna murmured, chuckling. Arget's sides rumbled with amusement.
The dwarves. I'm sure of it.
The two watched with amusement as Saphira snorted angrily, releasing a thin tongue of fire from her nostrils. One of the tendrils licked Eragon's shoulder, making him jump back with a yelp.
"You okay, Shadeslayer?" Yuna said, stifling a laugh as best she could. Eragon spun to glare at her.
"It's not funny!" he said angrily. Yuna raised an eyebrow, hugging her ribs.
"It's pretty funny," she disagreed.
Eragon grumbled to himself before falling to a moody silence. Yuna hesitated before moving closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist comfortingly.
"I shouldn't have laughed," she admitted quietly. Eragon relaxed immediately, smiling, and the tension disappeared at once.
Saphira led them to the Tronjheim library, taking them into the shelves of books. She stopped suddenly before an alcove. In it, a table was situated. Arya sat at one end of the table. She was tense and more agitated than they had seen her. One hand rested on her sword's hilt.
Eragon and Yuna settled at the table so that they were an equal distance from Arya and each other. Arget and Saphira rested at the center of the table so none could escape their gaze.
"What have you done?" Arya asked, her voice surprisingly hostile.
"What do you mean?" Eragon asked.
"What have you promised the Varden? What. Have. You. Done?"
Yuna made the mistake of letting Eragon respond.
"We only did what we had to. I'm sorry if our actions upset you, but there is no cause to be angry."
"Fool! You know nothing about me. I have spent seven decades representing my queen here- fifteen of which I bore Saphira's egg between the Varden and the elves. In all that time, I struggled to ensure the Varden had wise, strong leaders who could resist Galbatorix and respect our wishes. Brom helped me by forging the agreement concerning the new rider- you, Eragon. Ajihad was committed to you remaining independent so that the balance of power would not be upset. Now I see you siding with the Council of Elders, willingly or not, to control Nasuada! You have overturned a lifetime of work! What have you done?"
Struck with shock, Eragon dropped all pretense and explained why he had agreed to the council's demands and how he and Saphira attempted to undermine them. When he had finished, Yuna explained her hand in the situation.
"So," Arya stated once both had finished talking.
"So," Eragon echoed.
Arya leaned back, studying both of them.
"Your position is not what I would wish, but better than I had hoped. I was impolite; Saphira... and you... understand more than I thought. Yuna, you and Arget were right to reject their offers. Your compromise will be accepted by the elves, though you must never forget your debt to us for Saphira. There would be no riders without our efforts."
"The debt is burned into my blood and my palm," Eragon said seriously. Yuna smiled at Arget.
"I owe you personally for bringing me Arget, although we have no idea how," she said, her voice quiet.
Silence fell on the group once more and Eragon cast about for a new topic.
"You have been gone for such a long time; do you miss Ellesméra? Or did you live elsewhere?"
"Ellesméra was, and always shall be, my home," Arya said, not looking at Eragon but instead looking behind him, as if she were seeing her home. "I have not lived in my family's house since I left for the Varden, when the walls and windows were draped with spring's first flowers. The times I've returned were only fleeting stays, vanishing flecks of memory by our measurement."
"It must be hard to live among all these dwarves and humans without any of your kind," Yuna noted. She felt a pang of homesick before her eyes caught Arget's shining scales in her peripheral vision and, just like that, it was vanished.
"You speak of humans as if you weren't one," Arya noted, a slight smile playing about her lips. Yuna shrugged.
"This is a very different culture than what I was grown into. Even then... I feel as if I'm something else... A mixture between two races. Arget is within me just as I am within him. Often times it is as if we are the same mind, just separated into two bodies."
"That is how it should be. A pact more ancient and powerful than you can imagine links you. You won't truly understand what it means to be a rider until your training is completed. But that must wait until after the funeral. In the meantime, may the stars watch over you."
She departed without another word, leaving without a backwards glance.
A/N:
Ooh.
Some drama.
Please review; I live off of them. Not really. I live off of peanut butter-nutella sandwiches, but when I run out of nutella, I live off of reviews!
^.^ Susie ^-^
