Katrina caught her breath again and again as large cloud formations and strips and patches of bright sky whizzed and floated past

Katrina caught her breath again and again as large cloud formations and strips and patches of bright sky whizzed and floated past. Her sickness had evaporated within the first few minutes, and now she loved the whole experience.

She could feel Thorn's muscles stretching and straining under her, the way he moved and flew. She was trying to perfect the way Murtagh leaned into Thorn's turns, rises and dives, but whereas he seemed to know which way Thorn was going to go before it even happened, she, on the other hand, was left startled by every movement.

She looked down at the landscape spread out like a patch-work quilt below her. Coming up on the horizon was a large, black dot. The closer they got, the larger it became.

As they drew closer still, the dot formed into houses and shops, the sprawl of a great city. Katrina caught her breath.

Rising above the stately houses, shops and shanty towns, was the largest building she had ever seen.

Made out of some black rock, the palace rose up straight towards the sky. It was rectangular in shape, and the top was the most curious of all. It was like a brilliant jewel, sea-green in colour. Like a giant, translucent, cloudy agate.

They swooped around the castle, then soared straight over the jewelled top and down into a hole in it's centre. Thorn landed on the cloudy glass floor with a dull thud.

Katrina looked up at the walls of jewel rising around her. "What is this?" she asked.

Murtagh looked up from where he was untying Thorn's saddle. "What?"

"These walls. Are they crystal?"

"I think so."

Katrina sighed. "You've been here how long?"

Murtagh looked curious. "Well, since I was eight."

Katrina laughed.

"What?!" asked Murtagh furiously.

"You've been here since you were eight and you don't even know what this is?!" she giggled.

"Well, it's crystal, obviously," he muttered, looking sulky.

"But you just said you didn't know what it was!" Katrina laughed even harder.

"I didn't! I said I thought it was crystal! Which it probably is!" said Murtagh hotly.

Katrina kept laughing until a loud 'A-hem!" stopped her.

A small man with watery eyes stood on the other side of the massive room, by an equally massive door. Big enough to fit Thorn through, I bet, thought Katrina.

The small man was flanked by two large, muscled soldiers, but even they looked scared at the sight of the dragon looming over them.

"A-hem. As I was about to say, the King commands that on arrival, the dragon rider and the prisoner will come before him immediately."

The man looked at them for a second. They stared back.

"Well, it says immediately. So get going!" he said irritably, before turning on his heel and marching away, the relieved soldiers following behind.

"Well, come on then," Murtagh called back to her, having already got halfway across the room. Katrina followed after him, with Thorn bringing up the rear.

As they all trooped through the large door and down the staircase beyond, Murtagh began to sing under his breath.

"We're off to see the King, the wonderful King of Alagaesia!"

In her head, she could hear Thorn's laughter.

"The wonderful King," she muttered, just loud enough for Murtagh to hear, "hardly."

"I could hardly," Murtagh suddenly swept her behind a tapestry, "agree more," he finished, as they walked through the secret door the tapestry concealed, and came out onto a platform.

Katrina looked down, and gasped.

A fully sized black dragon lounged on the floor below them, in a vast chamber hung with elaborate hangings and decorations of many kinds.

The most elaborate hanging was one that covered a whole wall, and was decorated with a large, detailed map of Alagaesia. Katrina thought she could see a mark where a rip had been fixed in the rather old tapestry.

"Where is he?" she breathed, hardly daring to speak at all.

She almost screamed as the dragon below pricked its sail-like ears, detecting the smallest of sounds. She was only stopped by Murtagh's hand over her mouth, which she felt glad of. She couldn't imagine what would happen if the dragon saw them.

Murtagh leaned close, so close his lips almost touched her ear as he murmured, "He's behind the wall map,"

The great map fluttered in a soft breeze coming from somewhere behind it, and Katrina saw floor on the other side.

She leaned close to Murtagh's ear and whispered, "What are we doing here?"

"I thought we should wait for a while before seeing the King." He answered.

"Why?"

"Because I can tell he's busy, and not something very nice."

Katrina was puzzled.

"How can you know that, just from walking through the castle?" she asked.

Murtagh looked grim. "The looks on everyone's faces. They all look scared, like, it's me next. So I think we should stay here, for the time being,"

Katrina was gripped by fear as the dragon moved again below.

"Why here, with that dragon? And, wait, where's Thorn gone?"

Murtagh looked down at the dragon. "Here, because no one comes here, for fear of being eaten by Shurikan."(AN: Spelling?)

"Right. I should've guessed."

Murtagh contained a small chuckle, and then the tense silence was broken. An almighty roar echoed from the room beyond the wall map. "Galbatorix," (AN: Spelling, again?) Murtagh breathed.

"I only ask little! Is it not enough that The Varden scum beat my army on The Burning Plains?! Is it not enough that those measly villagers from Carvahall out-smarted my Raz'ac, escaped my useless soldiers and outrun my very best ships, making it to Surda?! Why, then, do you insist on being more useless than you already are? Have I not said that the dragon rider must be captured?! And when the perfect opportunity arises, they walk into the very heart of my kingdom, they should have been lost! But no! Yet again, they escape! And I am assured they can be tracked. Yes, they will be easy to find. But again, you fail me! They have disappeared like a robin into a sea of robins! And you pathetic worms let them escape!"

Both dragon rider and prisoner were lost for words after this outburst. All did not sound well for the all-powerful king of Alagaesia. They could hear the envoys, or trackers, or whoever they were cringing and begging, most likely on their knees. But the King gave no mercy.

"I suppose I will have to find someone else to take care of that rider and his meddling cousin, and meddling bands of rebels. Guards! Seize them!"

Wails erupted from the throne room as the two men were dragged away, screaming and shouting. Katrina looked up at Murtagh with terror written all over her face.

"How can we go to see him now, when he is in such a bad mood?"

"Better to go when he asks, otherwise he will be more angry. Come on," Murtagh lead her out the door they had come through and down through the corridors swarming with slaves and servants, heads down. All seemed to shrink back as they passed.

They reached the great doors to the throne room, flanked by two guards. One looked Katrina over.

"Another prisoner to be dragged before the King," he muttered under his breath. Murtagh said nothing, and the guard nodded, pushing the door.

"My dragon will want to come through soon, too," Murtagh mumbled as the doors swung wide.

"He will be admitted," the guard grunted. Katrina and Murtagh passed beside him, and into the large chamber.

It had a high ceiling like a Cathedral, and the opposite side of the wall map hung down in the space to her left, which she knew contained that monster dragon. The rest of the darkened walls were covered in hangings and tapestries, except a section of the back wall before which rose a hideous black throne, made completely from onyx. It represented many dead bodies piled together, all making a seat on which now sat the King, squat like a toad.

He was leaned over, head in one hand, as if in deep thought or stress. He didn't seem to notice the doors open, or the two entrants walk slowly up to the base of his throne. He only came out of his reverie when Murtagh coughed, a little too loudly to be real. He looked lazily up at the doors to his hall.

"What?" he asked, staring at the doors, surprised to find no one there.

"You asked to see us," Murtagh answered quietly.

He changed his stare from the doors to them. "I did. Where is Thorn?"

"On his way."

The King smiled, more like a leer. "So this is what I had to guard so carefully, to ensure the passiveness of the rider? It seems she does not hold much value, if the Varden still move aggressively towards me…"

"I do not think all the Varden care for her as much as the rider and his cousin do," said a rasping voice from the shadows. Katrina's heart sank as the Raz'ac walked from the shadows beneath the throne.

Galbatorix's leer widened. "I thought it wise to bring your father here as quickly as possible, not tomorrow as planned. The Varden are getting too active for my comfort, and I think having all my assets at hand will keep them a little more passive, don't you? And, of course, I want all my force mustered around me, not in Dras-Leona. The rebels could attack any day, you know. Not that they'd have a chance!" He threw back his head and roared with mad laughter. Then he clicked his fingers.

Two guards walked into the room. "Take this prisoner to the room we have prepared for her," the king ordered. He leered at Katrina. "Not a dungeon, of course. I don't want you to die!" he collapsed into manic laughter again as the guards seized Katrina's arms and led her away.

She cried out, not wanting to go. As she kicked, the Raz'ac began chuckling quietly to themselves as well, and Murtagh stood where he had been standing throughout all the events, watching her go and trying to tell her silently that he did not want this.