Diamonds and Daggers

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Murtagh made the slow descent from the cave. Marin, who didn't know the first thing about horses, stayed with Eragon.

"Whacha doin'?" she asked.

"Going to say my last goodbyes to Brom," he told her brusquely. "You've been asleep for two days."

Marin frowned. How could she have slept for that long? It must be that stupid mark behind her ear. Every time the prison guards gave a tattoo, it wore them out and slowed them down. She brushed it off and helped Eragon, whose side had been wounded, make the climb. He thanked her, though grudgingly. She sighed inwardly.

"Look," she said. "I know ya don' like me, but ya gotta a'leas try. I's gonna be an enen longer trip if no'."

"I'm sorry," Eragon said. She leaned over his shoulder and looked at the inscription on the tomb. It read:

HERE LIES BROM

Who was a Dragon Rider

And like a father

To me.

May his name live on in glory.

"He was a dragon rida?" she asked.

Eragon nodded.

"Sorry ya lost 'im," she said quietly.

The dragon put her snout down, and Marin jumped out of the way. The dragon snorted and lowered her snout to touch the tomb. Marin gasped as the tomb turned to diamond.

I gave him the only gift I could. Now time will not ravage him. He can rest in peace for eternity, a female voice said.

Marin looked up. Had that been the dragon? Eragon and Murtagh had said she could talk.

I thought you needed convincing that I wasn't a dumb rock lizard, the voice said.

Eragon stared at her.

"I'm sorry," she told Saphira.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"For thinkin' she was a dumb as a rock lizard," Marin replied.

Eragon laughed. They both made their way down the cave and joined Murtagh with the horses.

"So, 'ow do I ride?" she asked Murtagh.

"You don't even know how to ride?" he asked.

"Oh, I do. I was just askin' for me 'ealth," she replied sarcastically.

Murtagh ignored her sarcasm and said, "Just sit in the saddle, and don't agitate him."

"'Ow would I agitate 'im?" she asked nervously.

"If he starts rearing, you'll know you've agitated him," Murtagh continued.

Marin gulped.

"Cadoc's not dangerous," Eragon comforted.

"Thank'ee for no' bein' cruel to some poor, ignorant city girl," she said.

Murtagh started laughing. "I was joking. Eragon's right. The horse isn't dangerous."

"Well, I can 'ardly breath for laughin'," Marin mumbled.

"Marin," Eragon said, "remember what you said to me? That we might as well be nice to each other if we're going to be traveling together?"

Marin sighed. He was right.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"So am I," Murtagh said. They shook hands again, and Marin tried to pull herself into the saddle.

"You put your foot in the stirrup and pull up," Murtagh told her.

She obeyed and did as he said. She gulped as soon as she was up there. Why was the horse so big? Riding it wouldn't be fun.

"Put your hands on the reigns and use them to guide him," Eragon told her. Both boys continued by telling her exactly how to do this.

"I can remember that," she muttered. She hoped she was right.

They stopped for camp around nightfall. They had only just made it out of the foothills. This was probably because of Marin was a poor horsewoman (she'd fallen off Cadoc once) and Eragon was injured. Murtagh didn't seem thrilled about the delay, but Marin was beginning to wonder if the serious look on his face was just his usual expression.

Marin half tumbled, half climb off of Cadoc and slumped gratefully down on the ground. Her rump was sore, but she decided not to complain. It wouldn't endear either of her companions to her, and Eragon had been riding with broken ribs.

After they all dismounted, Murtagh went off to hunt and brought back three rabbits. While he was gone, Eragon changed the bandages on his wound and Marin helped him. She was a bit concerned that she might have made it worse rather than better, but his ugly bruise didn't look as though it had gotten any better. He might have looked okay without his shirt, but the wound was rather distracting. Oh well. One of her customers had given her a black eye that made Eragon's bruise look downright appealing.

Marin was just putting away the dagger she had used to cut the bandages when Murtagh came back with three rabbits. He sat down and skinned them. He then tossed one to Marin and one to Eragon and kept one for himself.

"That's a very nice weapon for guttersnipe," he remarked, turning Marin's comment about herself on her.

"I' was me ma's," she replied.

Murtagh gave her an odd look.

"I didn' know 'er, bu' me grandma said she was a strange 'un," Marin continued.

"Strange in what way?" Murtagh asked.

"Why didn't you know her?" Eragon questioned.

"I didn' know 'er cause she lef' when af'er I was born," Marin explained. It would probably be easier to answer Eragon's first. "Me grandma asked 'er why she wouldn' stay and raise her kid, and she said, 'I don' know 'ow t' be a mother, and I don' wanna.' She was in such a 'urry t' leave that she lef' her dagger. Me da said i' suprirsed 'im. Said me ma favored tha' dagger. Tha' was one o' the reasons me grandma didn' like her, see. She never married me da, and he didn' really wanna marry 'er. Me grandma didn' like tha' neither. I think she was 'appy tha' me ma didn' stay for me. She was prolly afeared I'd turn out like me ma."

Marin stopped for breath and a bite of her rabbit and thought that she probably had turned out just as her grandmother had feared she would.

"Just as long as the dagger isn't an old Foresworn weapon," Murtagh said. "I don't think it is."

"Foresworn weapon?" Marin asked. She'd heard stories about them. They were the king's riders, and they'd all died. The details about them were not known, though Marin was pretty sure none of them had been female. The most famous of them all was probably Morzan. That was the only one Marin knew by name. He also had the worst stories attached to him.

"This sword, Zar'roc, belonged to Morzan," Eragon explained. He picked up his wine-red sheath and drew a long blade of the same color. Marin stared at the sword and gulped subconsciously. She vaguely recalled the name Zar'roc. It'd probably been mentioned by one of the storytellers.

"Anyway, was your grandmother's quest to keep you from becoming like your mother successful?" Murtagh asked, changing the subject.

Marin shrugged. The answer to that was most definitely no, but Eragon and Murtagh didn't need to know about her past. "I dunno. She died when I was eigh', and she prolly though' she failed. I was a bad lil' trouble maker. I played in the streets and such. I didn' talk as nice as she'd learned to talk. Me da didn' care as much. He jus' wanted me t' have some fun. The only time 'e really tried t' keep me from playin' with the streetrats was when 'e taugh' me t' read and write. Or tried t'. I can read okay, but I can' write much more'n me name. I wasn' an eager learner, and 'e didn' 'ave much time t' teach me anyways. 'E died in a robbry when I was eleven."

"I'm sorry," Eragon said. Murtagh nodded in agreement.

"Well, since we're all bein' so nosy, why don' yous both tell me sommat abou' yourselves," she suggested. She couldn't afford them asking anymore questions. She didn't want them to know she had been a thief, and she wanted them to know she'd been a whore even less.

"I think we know all we need to know about you. We're all on the run, and we all need to get away from the Empire. I think that should be enough for now," Murtagh said. Eragon's mouth had been open as though he had been about to tell her some things. He seemed to like Murtagh's idea best, however, because he closed it.

They finished eating and went to sleep. The last words spoken were Eragon's as he handed Marin Brom's old bedroll.

That's the end of chapter three. I hoped you liked it. Who do you think Marin will be with: Murtagh or Eragon? I won't make the romance sappy, I promise. Thanks for the reviews. Keep up the good work.

CelticPuzzleStrangerRangerGrl: Thanks. I'm really happy that you like it so much.

Narnian Sprite: Thanks. Um, what do you mean exactly by not your typical sort of thing? Sorry, I don't get stuff all the time.

Ebz: That's okay. Computers can be weird. There might be a romance between them. You'll just have to wait and see. Also, I hope you liked this chapter.

Mean titan: Thanks. I tried to do that well.

Dragonflame-05: Thanks so much. I tried to make her less of a Sue by giving her a city accent and making her less than decent and perfectly moral. I also tried to make her not so pretty and not so gifted.

Tsumesgirl1: What did I misspell? If you can't remember or don't feel like listing all them, I don't care. I'm glad you like this story by the way.

Stripysockz: I hope I didn't have her meet them too fast, but I didn't think there would be much of a story if she's just running around on the plains and going to Belatona. I'm glad you like the dislike between the two. I was hoping not to over or under do it. The thing about them using each other's names before the introduction was accidental. I think it's because I knew who they were. I should've been more careful about that. Anyway, I'm glad you like it.