When Amaya and Thorn returned to the castle, Murtagh was waiting for them. He seemed to be very nervous.
"Am I dead?" Amaya asked as Thorn landed next to Murtagh.
"No, but we have to go." he said urgently.
"Where?" Amaya was surprised "Won't you tell me what the hell happened while we were away?"
"Galbatorix forgot about you actually." he said and looked at Thorn "We have to go to visit Eragon and Saphira."
"That's good I guess." she shrugged and then gasped "Wait, what? The king ordered you to capture Eragon and Saphira?"
"Yes, we're attacking the Varden." he said.
"Finally!" she smiled "Do I get to fight?"
"No." he said coldly "You stay here."
"What?" she got upset "I want to go! I want to crush those rebels!"
"Oh, shut up." he rolled his eyes "Like you could to that…"
"Hey, all I want is one particular person there…nothing else." she said "I want to go."
"You're not going." he said and she crossed her arms, looking angrily at him.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Because I say so." he whispered her true name "You stay here."
"Alright." she said; there was nothing she could do to change that "But what if Galbatorix actually changes his mind about me…and decides to get rid of me?"
"That's your problem." he smiled as he got on Thorn's back.
"I hate you." she rolled her eyes and went to the castle.
Amaya felt unsafe in the castle; but if Galbatorix actually decided he doesn't need her anymore, she would be dead and that's it. There was no reason to hide because he would find her anyway.
After some time she decided to go talk to the king. Maybe there was a chance to convince him she could still be useful. She has always served him well and she was a magician, so why would he actually want to kill her? After all, it could have all been a misunderstanding.
"Oh, Amaya!" Galbatorix smiled as she entered the throne room and bowed.
"My Lord." she said.
"I know why you're here." he smiled. Of course he knew.
"Then tell me the truth, please." she stared at one point on the floor, afraid to look up at the king.
"It's true I was thinking of getting rid of you…" the king was strangely honest "I actually forgot what I intended with you…and you know too much for leaving somewhere…even if you swore to me, I think you would be too weak to stop someone else from getting inside your head."
"My Lord…you know I won't betray you…ever. Let me help you destroy the Varden." she said "You know that's what I've always wanted. And you know Murtagh is not so reliable, even with all oaths, I can still help you…."
"That's true." he said "Everything stays like it is then."
"Thank you, my Lord. You won't regret it." she smiled.
"Amaya?" a soldier approached her while she was walking down the hall one day.
"Yes?" she said.
"This is for you." he gave her a piece of paper.
"For me?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." he said and left. Amaya went to her room and sat on the bed. She stared at the paper in her hands. It was a letter; a letter from her family. She sighed and started to read:
Dear Amaya, we inform you that we are all fine. You know we're not in condition to come to visit you but we think about you all the time. We received a nice amount of money from the king few days ago and we appreciate what you are doing.
Stay well. Your grandma says you should destroy the Varden and marry the Rider. Write soon. We love you.
Amaya rolled her eyes; it's been just two weeks since she left and they already missed her.
"Brisingr." she whispered and the paper burst into flames and she threw it onto the floor.
She stared at the fire until there was nothing left of the paper. Then she got up and walked to the table. There was a ring on it and she picked it up.
"I won't fail you." she whispered as she put the silver ring with bright ruby on her finger "I will avenge your death."
One night Amaya was sitting on her bed and thinking. Suddenly the door opened and she saw Murtagh. His face was expressionless as always and she smiled.
"Let me guess." she said "You failed."
He didn't say a thing as he got to her, throwing his sword on the floor and pushing her down onto the bed. She laughed as he started to kiss her passionately.
"Wait!" she pushed him away and he lied down next to her. She sat up and got on top of him. He stared at the ceiling; his eyes like fire.
"What happened?" she touched his face and he immediately grabbed her hand and looked deep into her eyes. They stared at each for a moment. He seemed to be angry and sad in the same time. She smiled and kissed him.
In that moment someone opened the door. Amaya was so surprised that she tried to get up fast but she lost her balance and fell off the bed.
"My Lord." she smiled innocently as she realized Galbatorix was standing at the door. She got up slowly and realized Murtagh was already standing next to her.
"What are you doing?" whatever the king wanted to say, this situation was more interesting for a moment. He couldn't believe he didn't see it before, but there were more important things he had to do.
"Nothing, my Lord." Amaya laughed nervously as she realized it wasn't really a question. The king was already reading her mind. Murtagh stared at the king warily and said nothing.
"Right." the king said and then his face darkened as he looked at Murtagh "You! Why didn't you come to me first?"
Amaya looked at Murtagh in shock; she couldn't believe he didn't report to the king when he came.
"Why would I?" Murtagh said coldly "You already knew everything."
"How dare you? You know well what I've told you!" Galbatorix yelled, getting closer to Murtagh until he was an inch away from Murtagh's face. Murtagh just looked away.
"My Lord, I…" Amaya was trying to find a way to get out of the room.
"No, stay here!" Galbatorix glanced at her annoyed and then looked at Murtagh who was still avoiding looking at him "Look at me, damn it!"
Amaya stood in the corner of the room afraid of the king; she's never been around when he was so angry.
Murtagh finally looked at the king and the hate was visible in his eyes. The tension between the king and him was almost unbearable. Murtagh was concentrating hard on something and Galbatorix frowned.
Amaya stared at them for a moment in confusion. No one moved and if it wasn't for Murtagh's fast breathing, Amaya would have thought they froze in time.
Suddenly Galbatorix started to laugh like crazy and Murtagh closed his eyes for a moment; he seemed to be in pain.
"I don't know why you keep doing that. You know you can't hide your thoughts away from me!" the king looked amused "I can't say I'm not enjoying it, though."
"My Lord?" Amaya said and Galbatorix rolled his eyes; she bit her lip "May I say something?"
"Ah, what is it?" the king stared at her. She panicked; she just always had to choose wrong time to speak.
"I would like to…" she hesitated "I would like to go with Murtagh to the next battle and not stay here…"
"Why?" Galbatorix raised an eyebrow "You've been on missions before and you'll be again, but battle…?"
"Because he, obviously…" she looked at Murtagh "He can't do the job right."
"Oh, and you would do it better?" Murtagh yelled at her "Eragon had help! There was nothing we could have done! Besides, you're just a pathetic excuse for a magician!"
"I wouldn't do your job, Dragon Rider." she rolled her eyes "But maybe it's better I go with you and distract Eragon's helpers…since you can't do two jobs at once. You can't rely on someone else like you can on me…you know my damn true name!"
"I don't need you in the battle! I don't need your fucking help!" he said "It's highly possible enemy captures you and you end up telling them all…"
"I'm not so stupid as you think I am!" she was annoyed.
"You're stupid enough to fool yourself…you're not powerful at all." he said. Galbatorix was smiling all the time, realizing they both forgot he was there for a moment.
"But I can become powerful." she crossed her arms and he looked at her suspiciously.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Oh, I saw where your power comes from!" she laughed madly "I saw it."
"What do you know about that?" even the king was surprised.
"Umm, not much." she was nervous; she shouldn't have said that "My Lord, I…I'm just trying to help you."
"You know about Eldunari?" asked Murtagh.
"Eld…what the fuck?" she frowned "I've no idea what it is but I know it exists since Murtagh's been using it. I'm not blind!"
"Well, since you know about all that, you're going with Murtagh to the next battle." Galbatorix said "However, I didn't expect Eragon to be so powerful…I've underestimated him this time…I'll decide what we'll do next."
Amaya grinned victoriously at Murtagh and he rolled his eyes. Galbatorix was already thinking of another plan and he left the room.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Murtagh was next to Amaya in a second and he grabbed her by the hair roughly.
"Hey! Let go of me!" she gasped "The king made his decision! And don't call me crazy, you were the one trying to stop the king from entering your mind!"
"Listen to me, bitch!" he let go of her "There is a reason why I did that and I'm not going to tell you."
"What? Wait!" she asked "What reason?"
"I'm not going to tell you!" he said annoyed.
"If you don't tell me, I'll go tell to the king you have a secret!" she smiled.
"You won't. I know your true name." he said.
"That doesn't work with secrets…because I already made an oath to the king not to make an oath to you no matter what you say when it comes to secrets…he knows my true name too." she wasn't really sure what she just have said but it sounded right. Murtagh looked at her angrily for a moment.
"Fine. I'll tell you." he said "But Thorn, you and I will hide that part of your memory from anyone."
"Ok, I promise I won't think about it near others." she said in ancient language.
"Eragon told me something…he told me there is a way to change our true name." he said "Apparently when you change your personality, your true name changes too."
"And you believe that shit?" she said "Don't you think he lied to you just to make you lose your concentration?"
"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't." he said "I don't know. I should check first…even it sounds silly."
"Well, whatever. I don't want to change anything about who I am." she said.
"Even you could possibly free yourself from me and the king?" he asked curiously.
"Well, it bothers me sometimes…but I can't change who I am…I don't think that's really possible…because or you are, or you aren't…" she said "How would I change anyway? Should I become evil and join the Varden?"
"Evil. Huh." he laughed "Why do you hate the Varden so much?"
"Besides they are evil?" she said "One of them is responsible for my father's death."
"Your father's death?" he asked surprised.
"Yes." she sighed and sat on the bed "He was killed while he was on a mission."
"Was he a magician?" he sat next to her.
"Yes, he was." she smiled sadly "A great one…but I'll be even better."
"Why do you say that?" he looked deep into her eyes.
"He let them kill him…He knew how dangerous it was! He knew it!" tears appeared on her face "That night, before he left, he came to my room and gave me his ring…and I didn't realize it was his way of saying goodbye. But I won't let them kill me like they killed him!"
"Well, it seems to me like you're looking for it…to be killed…because you want to avenge his death." he said "That means you'll have to look for that person…and that's just too dangerous for you."
"I know, but I won't stop until I get to torture that person to death!" she said nervously and took a deep breath "I don't want to talk about it!"
"You're so moody sometimes." he laughed.
"Shut up!" she said annoyed.
"How do you mean they got killed?" Amaya yelled at the soldier who came to give the report about some of Empire's troops.
"There was this guy who killed like two hundred soldiers!" the man tried to explain it, knowing that she won't be pleased to hear it.
"Wow, wait! Did you say one guy?" she laughed bitterly "You must be kidding!"
"No, no! It's true." another soldier said.
"Is he a magician?" she asked.
"No." he said.
"No?" she yelled angrily and looked at Murtagh who just stood there, not really caring what was going on "Do you hear what they're saying?"
"Yeah, so?" Murtagh asked.
"So?" she was furious and she looked back at the small group of soldiers "That is fucking impossible! Did they line up and stand there, waiting for him to kill them? No? Then how are you going to explain it!"
"Someone said it was Eragon's cousin." the man said.
"Oh, Eragon's cousin! Oh, let's all just die because it has to do with Eragon!" she rolled her eyes "I don't want to hear anything of it!"
"Please…" the man wanted to say but Amaya didn't want to listen.
"Give me your sword." she said to Murtagh.
"No way." he said.
"Oh, come on!" she said.
"Whatever." he wanted this to finish as fast as possible so he gave her Zar'roc.
"Thank you." Amaya smiled and turning around fast, she cut off the soldier's head "I love this sword."
"Excellent!" Amaya flinched as she heard Galbatorix's voice behind her back. Everyone looked at the king who was laughing madly again.
"Umm." she returned Zar'roc to Murtagh and looked at the king "My Lord, I didn't know you're here…I…"
"Oh, don't worry." Galbatorix said "I enjoyed your show."
"What about them?" she looked at the rest of the soldiers who just stared at her almost paralyzed with fear.
"Do with them whatever you want. I don't care." the king said and he and Murtagh left the room. Amaya smiled to herself as she took dead soldier's sword in her hand.
"Please…I have a wife and kids! Please!" the soldier was crying. Amaya looked at him carefully.
