Ieran mounted his horse, settling into the saddle. Súndavar followed suit. His horse nickered softly at him, tossing its mane this way and that.

Rune looked at her party on their horses sadly.

"Mount up, Rune," Eragon said quietly. His voice was loving and understanding.

Rune dragged her sleeve across her eyes, before climbing into the saddle behind Súndavar. Her arms wrapped around his waist, and her chin tucked perfectly into the place where his neck met his shoulders. He didn't respond, besides going rigid against her.

"Rune, Ric gave you your own horse," Lenori whispered from the doorway. "We don't need them all."

Rune looked at her with a tiny smile. "The only horse for me is Eridor," she said. "I'll make do until I find him."

"If," Súndavar corrected starkly. "If you find him."

"I will."

Tawnyclaw screeched from his perch in a tree outside the barn, reminding them all they were on a schedule. One by one, the party rode from the barn, into the moonlight.

Rune felt tears sliding down her cheeks, wetting Súndavar's tunic. He pretended not to notice.

"Why does it seem that everywhere we go we must leave those we love behind?" Rune asked him in his ear, voice little more than a whisper.

He shrugged slightly, giving no response. She sighed.

"So…so you've laid Eragon," he said finally. It wasn't a question, but an angry accusation.

Rune squeezed him tighter. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?"

"I don't remember what happened," she murmured. "But I vowed it wouldn't happen again."

Súndavar looked at his hands, where his fingernails had dug into his palms. He released them and gripped the reins loosely. He didn't feel so rigid anymore, his back giving in to the curves of her body.

Rune touched his cheek. "You've changed, cutter."

"You have too."

"But you changed more. What happened?"

"Slate left," he responded flatly. "I can't feel him anymore."

"Eragon can't feel Saphira either."

Súndavar shrugged again. "Ieran says I have scars from spirits."

Rune kissed his neck – the only place she could, as she was sitting behind him – and pressed her cheek to him softly. "Even the deepest scars can heal, can't they?"

"Scars are there forever."

Rune's hands worked their way under his tunic, to the scar on his chest. "Like this one?" she asked, running her fingers over it.

He stiffened up again.

"What's wrong with you?" Rune asked. "Normally that would give you shivers."

"That's why you did it, isn't it?" he asked in monotone. "You enjoy resisting me." He shook his head. "Rune, I'm sick of chasing you."

"Don't you love me anymore?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

Rune blinked, startled. No one had ever rejected her before. Even in her early years, she had usually gotten what she wanted. After pulling Durza's hair and screaming at him, he had used magic to make her a birthday cake. She had grown up a princess. No one had ever told her no.

She swung herself off the horse, not waiting for Súndavar to stop. Shay looked back, startled.

Rune mounted Ieran's horse, and the young man nodded. He looked back at his son. Súndavar felt his mind reaching out to him, but he blocked him out.

He wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to return to the white room with the warm sunlight and the beautiful girl who inhabited it. He wanted to hold her tightly and kiss her until he just died, right there in her arms. It would be so much easier.

Was loving Rune unfaithful to Lexi? Could you be unfaithful to someone who didn't exist?

No, Súndavar thought. No, I'm being unfaithful to Rune. I love Rune. Lexi is a dream. She doesn't matter.

But she did.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"What did he say to upset you so?"

Rune didn't answer right away. Ieran didn't push her.

"He doesn't love me," Rune snapped finally. "He said he's sick of chasing me." She felt her heart aching in her chest.

Súndavar didn't love her!

"He loves you, although he tries to convince himself otherwise," Ieran said. "He is going through something you cannot understand. Be patient with him, and he will return to you."

Rune sighed. "I remember you," she said, changing the subject to avoid more heartache. "You were always nicer than Durza."

"That isn't very difficult."

Rune laughed. "I suppose not," she said. "But you had different hair then. Like Súndavar's hair."

"Yes. Being a Shade changed me in many ways."

"You aren't a Shade anymore, are you?" Rune asked hesitantly.

"No," Ieran said with a shake of his head. "I am free. As Súndavar is free."

"Súndavar is changing."

"He is," Ieran agreed. "Both on the inside and the out."

"Why?"

Ieran shook his head. "I know not. He is not a Shade, but nor is he any longer what he was."

"A Rider?"

"As I said, I know not."

Rune sighed and settled in for a long ride.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"About that kiss."

Súndavar opened his eyes, relieved. It had taken him forever to fall asleep without the warmth of another body near him, but slumber had finally come. Lexi didn't look happy.

Perhaps it would have been better if he stayed awake after all.

"Kiss?"

"The one you gave me," she said.

He turned red. "Oh. That one. What about it?"

"What were you thinking?"

Súndavar stepped away from her wrath. "…That I love you and want to be with you?"

"I'm dead, Súndavar. Dead people don't kiss live people." She threw her hands over her head. "Sún, that was a total idiot move."

"Why?"

"Because! I'm a memory! You can't fall in love with a memory. It will rob you of all your joy in life. Whatever happens here isn't real, Súndavar."

"Then it shouldn't matter."

Lexi sighed and plopped down on the floor, crossing her legs. "But it does."

"…How so?" he asked.

Lexi shrugged. "I don't know. When you freed me…"

"What?"

She blinked her white eyes at him. "You freed me. From the Vault."

Súndavar frowned. "What?"

The blind girl cocked her head. "You freed me from the Vault, did you not?"

"…Not to my knowledge. What's the Vault?"

"It's where memories go," Lexi explained. "But I'm free now. Free to be with you. If you didn't free me, I wouldn't be here."

"I didn't free you. Could the Vault have…let you go?"

"No. That's not how it works."

"How does it work?"

She shrugged. "I do not know. But not like that."

"So someone must have freed you."

"Someone close to you," Lexi affirmed. "Someone whose wish is for you to see me again."

"Slate."

"Who?"

"Slate. My dragon."

Lexi blinked, then nodded. "Perhaps."

Súndavar sat down next to her. "So Slate is…Slate is at the Vault…?"

"The Vault of Souls," Lexi said with a nod. "It's the most beautiful place in the world, Sún. I won't say I was happy there, but I was close to it."

"So…so I can't kiss you anymore?"

"Kiss Rune. She deserves it, after all she's been through."

Súndavar looked away. "But…but isn't that like…I love you."

"And her."

"I'm not sure."

Lexi touched his chest with two fingers, running them across him before returning them to her lap. "You do. You love her more than you love me. I'm a memory. A half-forgotten whisper of a good thing. Be happy in the day, Súndavar, or you'll risk sleeping away your life. I'll always be here when you sleep. Enjoy your waking hours."

Súndavar nodded in understanding. "…Alright. You're right, I suppose."

"I often am," she said with a smile. "Now wake up. Rune deserves an apology. And the two of you need to have a serious talk."

"What?"

"Súndavar, she's…"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Súndavar!"

Súndavar jerked awake. Lexi's voice faded instantly.

Rune was shaking him.

"What, finally decided you want to—"

"Ra'zac!" she interrupted, hissing. It was still dark, the moon shining down at them like a warder. Súndavar was fully alert in an instant. He reached for his sword.

"No," Rune whispered, laying a hand on his. "I'll take care of them. Wake Shay and Vanir."

Súndavar bit his lip. Rune kissed his lips quickly and darted away. Súndavar moved to comply and wake the elf and his lover.

Rune stepped from the shadows where the group was hidden beneath a great tree. The Ra'zac looked up at her. One cocked it's head, vile stench rolling over Rune in waves.

"Princesssssssssssssss."

Rune stared at them, straining to keep her face stony and contemptible. "You remember me, then?"

"But of courssssssssssssse."

She smiled cruelly. "Good. Take me to my father."

They looked at one another. Rune couldn't tell if the request surprised them. Could Ra'zac even be surprised?

One fished in the folds of its cloak for a moment, before sliding something across the ground to her. A tiny mirror reflected the moonbeams.

"Ssssssssssay hissssssss name," the one hissed at her, "and he will ssssssssee."

Rune picked up the mirror. She looked at the Ra'zac, then back at its shiny surface. Could she do it? The only person who she'd told about her plan was Vanir. The others wouldn't go along with it without a fight, she knew. She closed her eyes.

"Galbatorix," she said. Her voice didn't waver.

Rune felt the energy leave her in a rush. She gasped for air.

"It tends to do that, the first time. You'll get used to it, I am sure."

Rune's eyes opened. An all-too-familiar pair of eyes stared back at her from the depths of the mirror.

"I don't like you," she said out of sheer habit.

Galbatorix's eyes didn't give anything away. "Keeping up this connection long will kill you, dearest. Suppose I take the burdon?"

Rune wanted to say she could handle it, but already she could feel the energy draining from her. "Yes. Thank you."

She breathed a sigh of relief as the energy stopped sifting from her body.

"Now," Galbatorix continued, "I am most sure this connection is causing you a great deal of internal turmoil. I do not mind in the least if you do not waste time on small talk and convey to me your point. The simple fact that you are speaking to me from this mirror means that the Ra'zac have found you."

"They have."

"And, pray I ask, what is the reason you are gracing my night with this conversation, rather than my deadly pet?"

Rune cleared her throat. "You know I want you dead."

"Yes. Of what consequence is this?"

"I believe it would be of mutual benefit for myself, Eragon, and those with us to…to join you in Uru'baen."

Surprise flickered in Galbatorix's eyes for a moment. "Oh? How so?"

"Because you want Eragon and Súndavar. And I want you dethroned."

"And if that is what you want, how do you expect me to willingly allow you back into my – your – home? Would that not be foolish on my part?"

"I'm not strong enough to kill you. You know that. Eragon and Súndavar need training – which you can provide. If you want them to join you, you're going to have to give them training at some point in time."

"And what assurance do you have that I wouldn't simply kill you and keep your Rider friends captive?"

"Because they won't swear to you. We'll be entirely free to come and go as we please. If I die, they leave. And that leaves you without a female dragon."

Galbatorix smiled. It was not a happy smile. "Quite the little negotiator, aren't you? Say I agree to your terms, Rune. Then what?"

"When I become strong enough, I kill you. Or you manage to sway Eragon and Súndavar to your side. One of us wins, the other loses. No excess bloodshed, no innocent people dieing because of our struggle."

"Fair enough. You're beginning to sound like myself."

"I am nothing like you," Rune said simply. "I will never be like you. I hate you, and I will kill you."

"Perhaps seeing me again will change your mind."

"Don't wager on it, father."

Galbatorix blinked, very, very, slowly. "Very well. It seems I'll be seeing you soon, little devil."

The mirror went blank. Rune tossed it back to the Ra'zac. "I'll get my friends," she said. "Stay here."

The Ra'zac glanced at one another, before nodding once.

Rune turned back to get her party.

What have I gotten us into now?