3 – Family revealed
The banquet hall was somewhat subdued in light of the revelation of his identity as Eragon dined with the family. Though their plates were loaded with meat of various types, Eragon had a plate dominated mostly by fruit and vegetables, though he was still comfortable with a few sausages and slices of bacon.
The silence was laid on thick as the plates were cleaned and then removed by the kitchen staff leaving an empty table and its inhabitants.
Eying the family sat opposite, Eragon broke the silence by saying, "So, you have my name. What about giving me yours?"
All four faces suddenly looked terrified as if they were a deer caught in the open by a dragon. As he suddenly guessed their fears Eragon abruptly burst out laughing for the first time in ages, causing the entire family to look like they were ready to bolt out of the room at the first provocation.
As he recovered Eragon smiled at them as he said, "magic-users don't require normal, everyday names to use it against someone, and I certainly wouldn't dream of using it against any of you. In any case I know one of your names already as you would be Mirien wouldn't you?" He finished the sentence with a pointed nod cast at the young girl next to her mother.
The mother responded with a hand on her daughters shoulder as though something terrible was going to happen to her. No names were going to be forthcoming just yet, so Eragon was forced to change tactic.
"Okay how about answering this question? Which two of you bears my cousins' Roran and Katrina's rings?"
That worked. The woman's eyes widened as she brought her hand up to her face and stared at the ring next to her wedding band as the young boy stared at him open-mouthed. Eragon responded by saying to the young boy, "I wondered how I heard your voice and where to find you. What about your name?"
Before he could be stopped, the boy blurted out "my names Geran. What do you mean you found me by my ring? Is there really an enchantment on it?"
Eragon replied before Geran could ask another question, "When my cousin Roran wed Katrina, we were at war with Galbatorix and so I tried to watch over and protect both of them in whatever way I could; so I spelled both their rings. How do you think your mother and I knew you were in trouble so quickly and came straight to you?"
This time it was the mother who spoke, "how did I know where to go? One second, I was rising from my bed and the next I heard Geran's voice and just knew he was in trouble. The ring made my hand tingle, how?"
"The wearer of one ring will be alerted whenever the other wearer is in danger; I also made it so the wearer's would also be able to find one another no matter where they are." Eragon explained.
The mother and father looked at each other slightly abashedly before the father said, "we never thought the rings were responsible for helping us find each other, we just thought it was a natural bond."
Eragon looked at them and shrugged before saying, "I never foresaw anyone other than Roran and Katrina wearing the rings, though the subtlety of the bond is such that no one would think otherwise without knowing the rings are the reason for it. The effects of magic have often had unforeseen characteristics, I'm surprised the rings would have worked for anyone other than Roran and Katrina as well."
"Why have you come yourself though and where have you been all these years? I thought you disappeared into the east after the Great War?" Geran asked eagerly.
"Hahhh, you remind me of myself when I was your age. You have as many questions as a tree has leaves my father told me once." Eragon replied wistfully, smiling at the memories the comparison invoked even as the young boy returned the smile at the comment.
"As to your questions," Eragon supplied, suddenly turning serious, "as if your relationship to my cousin wasn't enough or the oath I made to protect him and his wherever I could, there are other reasons. Of late, my dreams have been darker than usual and my companions have all shared a growing dread of something coming; something worse perhaps, than Galbatorix lurks beyond our sight and ability to fathom. For a time, I was content to oversee the return of the Riders' legacy even as my nights were plagued with these horrific visions, but no more. My family in peril, the Ra'zac reappearing after all these years and braving the sun in pursuit of prey; it would be folly to disregard these portents any longer."
He paused then as he looked at the fearful expressions of the family opposite him. In an attempt to alleviate the seriousness of his explanation, he regarded them with a small smile and said, "Do not fear the future so, to do so would be to undo all you've built in the past. I once feared the words of the witch who told me I would leave Alagaesia forever and though the wounds of departing those I loved were deep, they healed in time."
Silence met those words as they worked on the four people, though Eragon could not help but see that they instinctively reached for each other for comfort and reassurance. It was easier for him on Dyr Aurbodain to suppress such feelings as his heart would forever remain in Ellesmera with Arya. However, the bonds he had forged with those that went with him ran as deep as family after so many years together as they dedicated themselves first and foremost to the duty of their station.
Surprising them with a question of his own Eragon asked Geran, "How did you come across the Ra'zac so close to the castle?" with a wave at the massive structure they were in.
Both children instantly dropped their heads as they recoiled from the comfort of their parents at the question. Mirien's hands reached for her long curls and began twirling it in her fingers even as Geran used his fingernails to pick at a suddenly fascinating whorl in the wood of the table.
Their parents nudged them for an answer even as the father hissed, "go on, tell him!"
Reluctantly the girl Mirien answered, "they weren't when we first saw them. we found some tracks at dawn that we didn't recognise and they led us a mile or so deeper into the Spine. We've never gone further than a few hundred yards into the forest until today, but…"
"We told you never to enter the Spine at all Mirien, what were you thinking?" her mother interrupted, anger mingled with relief and shock on her face
"Peace, please save your anger for later after we have finished here," Eragon told her before saying, "tracks so close to the castle you spotted them from just within the edge of the forest?" he said questioningly as the two siblings nodded. "And you followed them back to their hideout?"
"We spotted them before we found their hideout; they were watching us even as the air grew thick and suffocating. That's when the ring burned on my finger and we saw their eyes. We ran away as fast as we could but they were right behind us all the way…." Geran said before he trailed off.
Eragon nodded as he finished, "at which part your sister fell and you broke through the edge of the forest with your sister on your back."
As the children nodded, Eragon switched his gaze alternately between the mother and father saying, "Your children did well to outrun such monsters as the Ra'zac, the hunters of men they are known as. There is no place fit for such creatures in Alagaesia," returning his gaze to the children he added, "though count yourself lucky it was in the middle of the day and not dark. That is when the Ra'zac are at their strongest. It may comfort you to know that I did not do so well the first time I saw them, rooted to the spot as I was in the dusk before they were distracted."
The children looked surprised at that admission even as Eragon rose to signal the end of the conversation. Before he departed however he asked them, "are you wishing to return to Carvahall tonight?"
The mother and father looked at each other before nodding in return.
"The children would tire quickly in light of their venture today. If you would stay here tonight both myself and Saphira would be glad to escort you home tomorrow. I would like to pay my respects to past friends before leaving for Illirea." Eragon told them.
The whole family agreed they would do as he said before departing for their sleeping quarters in the castle. Rather than take the room selected for him, Eragon returned outside to Saphira as they discussed the direction of the conversation. The resurgence of the Ra'zac had them wondering how many, if any, more of them survived the Riders' and post Galbatorix's purges. No doubt they had been protected originally by the fell priests of Helgrind who had escaped and gone into hiding.
Resigning himself to rest for the night, Eragon unrolled his well-used and worn bedroll and curled up next to Saphira even as she coiled her body round him, her wing keeping the nights chill at bay. Nightmares both old and new plagued them as they slept, though their power was lost on the comfort of each other's presence as their minds wove a fantastic web of ever-changing emotions and memories.
