This chapter and the next do get kind of intense. Galbatorix gets pretty violent... so, just be prepared.
And I know that Murtagh's a little bit too friendly, given his character as described in Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr. But keep in mind that Murtagh is trying to get out, so he's probably gonna be a little nicer to this girl. Just for future reference.
"I didn't know what kind of books you would need, so I brought a few," Murtagh said to Alayissa, who waited for him outside of her room. "Do you need anything else?"
"No," the Elf woman answered curtly. Just because she was working with this person, it didn't mean she had to be his friend. He was helping her to regain her magic, and she was helping him to escape – she owed him nothing, and felt no inclination to treat him as if she did. Murtagh seemed surprised by her icy tone, but he quickly concealed it. She turned into her room and shut the door, ignoring the youth still standing behind it.
Alayissa sat on the bed and began searching through the books. The first one was completely in the Ancient Language. Since she couldn't remember any of the words, it was useless to her. The next book was pitifully thin, and was just an explanation of how the language itself - the actual invocation of the words – worked, which she already knew. She sat that one aside. The next book was full of stories she had heard often – but they were all in the common language. Why was this book even in that section of the library? It, too, joined the rapidly-growing pile of discarded books. She looked through every one until she came to a book that looked to be a grammar textbook. With surprise, Alayissa recognized it as the book used to teach Riders how to use the Ancient Language. She smiled, and started a separate pile. She didn't know if she could remember the finer grammatical points of the language, but she knew that if she wanted to compose a spell that she would be able to invoke, she would need to be sure that she wouldn't make mistakes.
Murtagh had only been able to smuggle the four books into her room without looking suspicious, so Alayissa placed the three rejected books under her bed and started to read the grammar book, keeping her mind open in case Galbatorix should walk in. She knew that she would have to come up with a good hiding place for the books she would keep – she thought the bottom of the wardrobe that had been moved in would suffice.
Alayissa had wondered why Galbatorix was even allowing her to live in a room instead of the dungeons. But then she realized that if a prisoner was going to be allowed access to the castle, prison bars would be pointless. And he probably provided her with garments only because he didn't want the embarrassment of having a poorly-clad stranger walking his halls so freely.
"Alayissa," Galbatorix said, his honeyed voice oozing its way into her consciousness. She had been in the trance that Elves underwent instead of sleep. Keeping her face still, Alayissa mentally panicked as she thought back to the night before. Had she put the books in her wardrobe like she had decided she would? Yes, she remembered tucking them under the clothes on the bottom and hoping that no one had the sudden urge to tidy up her room. "Alayissa, it's time to wake up." Alayissa opened her eyes and sat up.
"I've already told you, my Lord," Alayissa said, "you will not break me. I will not betray-"
"Your people, I know," the king finished. "But I will break you, dear Alayissa. Just like I broke your father. You know, he was begging for mercy by the time I was through with him. And his dragon was doing the same. They were both much more cowardly than I had ever expected." Alayissa snapped her head up.
"You have no right to speak of Vrael that way," she spat. "He was a thousand times the Rider you pretend to be!"
"Don't tell me what to do in my house, little Elf," Galbatorix said angrily. He drew his hand back and slapped Alayissa across the face. She fell with a grunt off of her bed and onto the floor. Galbatorix pulled her up by her hair. She cried out in pain, grasping Galbatorix's hand, vainly trying to make him let go. He only laughed maniacally. "Vrael was a whimpering fool. He cried like a baby when I showed him what my servant had done to his wife and son. But he failed to tell me that he had a daughter…" Galbatorix threw Alayissa across the room. She hit her head on the wall and slumped to the ground. She had already put up her walls, and Galbatorix tried once again, without success, to break them down. "You know, I was angry at Morzan for ending your mother's life when he did," the king continued. "I had hoped he would drag her death out a little longer. And I was completely disappointed when he ended your pest of a brother's life so quickly." Tears were streaming down Alayissa's face unchecked. Why was he baiting her like this? Surely he didn't expect her to bare her mind to him when he was patronizing her family like this? What did he want from her?
"I will be sure to do this the way it should have been done," Galbtorix said, excitement creeping into his sweetly sickening voice. "I will make sure that you suffer when you don't do as I command." Alayissa sat up, her face turning gray. What could he possibly do that would make her suffer more than she was at that moment? "You know, I did manage to save something for you, Alayissa. Would you like to see your family again? I can arrange that for you." Galbatorix snapped, and two servants came in, carrying a hard wooden chair and a mirror. They both sat their burdens down, then roughly shoved Alayissa into the chair, tying her hands behind her and her feet to the legs of the chair. What was going on? What was he going to do to her?
"Get off me!" she cried as the soldiers roughly forced her head straight, so that she had no choice but to look into the mirror. For a moment, she saw her own terrified expression. Then, the scene began to change.
DISCLAIMER FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: There is brutality. And, like I said before, it's gonna be pretty intense. Just so you're prepared.