Chapter 2 – The art of observation.

The large wooden doors which took up practically the entire east wall started to open with what sounded like much difficulty, they creaked and groaned and finally in what was probably the first time in a few hundred years they were completely open. With their help the other grand ballroom, which was just as big as the one the guests currently occupied, if not bigger, was available for entry by the guests to the great room which had temporarily been transformed into a dining hall just for the occasion.

The first thing anyone would heed upon entering was King Galbatorix, who was already seated in his throne at the head of the table with Shruikan curled up on the slightly upraised podium behind him, his presence demanded your attention and made you feel worthless, awkward and weak as his arrogance and power radiated off him in waves. All the chatter stopped and everyone fell silent, quickly fluttering to find and settle into their seats not wanting to keep their king waiting.

Then to everyone's surprise Murtagh moved slowly and took his time to find his seat, wine glass still in hand. When he actually sat down it was directly to the King's right, the seat that used to be occupied by Durza, once the king's right hand man, nervous looks started to make their way among the adults around the round, whilst the daughters were taken aback by how brave he was and thinking how they wish they could marry a man that brave, while on the contrary the sons snickered and rolled their eyes at his supposed idiocy.

Murtagh noticed all of the commotion and watched as all of these wretched people stared and laughed at him. They were all the same, all except one. While he was going over each person at the table given each of them a well-deserved death glare that would send anyone six feat under, he came upon a girl, no a woman, who appeared to be nothing like the people who she was to be dining with, she did nought but stare straight ahead, inspecting her hands or appreciate the marvellously painted sealing.

His attention was stolen away from this mysterious enigma of a woman when all the whispered chatter that had slowly started at the table abruptly stopped. Shruikan had arose from his position, shocking all of the people present even more then they had been by the apparent stunt that Murtagh had just pulled, probably because none of those present had ever even seen the ancient beast do anything but sleep.

They had always wanted to know what the great creature looked like awake and if he was even more intimidating than he was asleep, if that was even possible. They were curious as to the way he moved, would such a giant be surprisingly graceful or will he be as clumsy as most of them expected him to be, would the earth shake with every step he took. The answers to all of these questions are that yes it is possible for Shruikan to be even more intimating awake then he is when he's asleep, so intimating in fact that it's borderline urinate in ones pants scary, and his actions are the most graceful any person can ever see, he practically glides across the solid marble floors in his slow and calculated movements which were hypnotising yet with a silent purpose.

As Shruikan moved towards the table, coming down the left side of his rider, he caused panic to build up deep in the pits of everyone's stomach. He slowly passed seated individuals, making each person stiffen as he passed behind them each of them too scared to even breathe, then as soon as he would pass them they would nearly melt into their seats in relief. The only person that wasn't on the edge of their seat at that very moment was the same person Shruikan finally settled behind and the same person that had had Murtagh's attention to begin with.

You would of thought that this stunt would have caused an uproar though the way these they saw it if Shruikan was to sit and be comfortable around anyone it would be the weird woman that was always in black and had not spoken a word since she was just a young child. Though it was not expecting that the magnificent giant was not the only one who was comfortable with the situation but she was to, it seemed as if they understood each other.

No one knew how to react or more precisely how they were expected to react, which caused extreme confusion amongst everyone who was present and who certainly didn't want to upset they're king, fearing the consequences of doing so. The whole room was full of uncertainty and everyone felt it. Even Murtagh and the mysterious quiet lamb noticed, it was so thick in the air that it was almost making it hard to take in a proper breath. The only person that didn't seem to notice was the king himself, though in reality he was the first one who knew what was going to happen. As soon as Shruikan arose from his position he knew what emotions were about to be stirred and he looked forward to the state of confusion and fear, he basked in it, it allowed him all of the control.

He was also glad that Shruikan had become accustomed to Formora's daughter because if he had any say in it, and he always had a say in everything, she would most defiantly be around more often. The child named Aphra (pronounced a-fra) had always been quite beautiful, even as a babe and such young children usually annoyed him but she was always quiet, even at such an age. And as she grew she became even more beautiful all whilst keeping her quiet façade, until one day she stopped talking all together and wouldn't even speak when spoken to, the only response she would give was tilting her head to one side showing her understanding or a slight nod of yes or a no to a simple question.

The two giant sets of doors, one on each end of the rectangular room, suddenly opened and servants swarmed the room with huge trays of food balanced on each of their shoulders. They placed them in the centre of the large table and then all but left the room, only a few remained standing on the sides of the room, preparing themselves to fill newly empty glasses and taking away finished plates. However trying to do all this while having a huge dragon in the middle of one of the walkways is not the easiest thing.

When all the glasses were filled and all the food was on the table Galbatorix raised his arms in an offering why, giving his permission to the guests to help themselves. While readily filled plates magically appeared in front of the King and Murtagh, once again showing everyone in the room the importance that Murtagh now holds in the King's court and in the rest of Alagaesia, though at this point nobody understood in what way.

The meal went by quickly and without any more surprising disruptions, everyone got they're fill and filed back into the other room when allowed.

As the crowed slowly trickled back into the original room, with King Galbatorix entering first, then Murtagh right behind him and then the rest of the people present. During this exchange Murtagh lost sight of the one person that had kept him occupied throughout the night so far, and so keeping him for doing things that Galbatorix would most certainly make him regret. Everything she had done at the table would keep running in his head and it simply amazed him how with such company she could seem so pure and content with everything in this corrupt world, all she mostly did was pick away at the diminutive amount of food that she had place on her plate and stare around in wonder at the paintings on the wall and ceiling, which even he could appreciate as quite spectacular in the particular lighting.

Granted that every time someone would turn towards her Shruikan, who seemed to think highly of the girl, would growl and flash his diamond sharp teeth before what was probably an incredibly crude comment could even leave their lips. Murtagh's unusual fascination with her also went further, inspecting what she looked like, which was pretty hard to do with the huge mask covering her face, that everybody but the King had on. Her mask was shaped into what can only be compared to the contours of an eagle's face, yet it had multiple holes in the material forming a sort of lace pattern, her hair was pulled back in a tight bun on the top of her head, leaving her shoulders and neck covered only in the lace which made up the top part of her dress. Which then lead to a black bodes that rapped around her body so well that you could easily see every curve in her petite yet supple and feminine form, it continued to flow down in a flower motion to just above the knee in the same heavy material.

That was when he stopped himself and noticed just how much she was effecting him, since when had he ever been interested in the dresses women wore and how lighting effected the look of art. He straightened his back and his mind, not wanting anybody to know about his slight lapse in thought, it would be quite embarrassing.

Coming back to the real world he noticed that the setting of the room had been changed, it was amazing how he hadn't noticed once he had walked in, I wasn't as if it was a subtle change but a very prominent one.

A large podium now sat at the very end of the long room, with Galbatorix standing on it waiting for everyone to enter so that he could address them.

"An age of darkness is upon us. The Varden have tried to go up against our forces, the people of Alagaesia's forces and over turn them. They think that they are better than we are, that they are above us, just because they have that retched dragon rider on their side and because they managed to overturn my right hand man and his forces. What they don't understand is that we are too powerful to defeat. But now instead of having to only stand for keeping them at bay we have the power to get rid of the Varden and erase them from the history of Alagaesia as a constant annoyance but as a minor problem which was easily solved. Tonight is the night that the war changes. For tonight I introduce to all of you, my loyal servants, my new right hand. Murtagh Morzansson's reign begins as it always does. The gain of an ally brings about the loss of a traitor. Tomorrow at sun up a traitor hangs!"

Everyone cheered at the words of their king, while the whole hearted child's soul sobbed quietly at what was to come the next day. The loss of three beings lives.