Chapter 4: Reunion.

Arya smiled as the first rays of dawn bathed her face in light. Firnen had been flying through the night, and even he was glad to see the morning.

It was a week and a day since they had departed Ellesmera, heading for Du Skulblakafell. The trees beneath them had rolled past steadily, the winds had been fair, and Arya expected to arrive later that day.

Suddenly, the sunlight hit a building on a mountain a few miles ahead of them, illuminating the massive hall in the red rays of dawn. The hall was breathtaking, made with the elegance and grace of the surviving elven buildings in Ileria. The walls were of white marble, glowing with a tint of red in the light, a wide tower reached into the heavens, a road of living rock wove its way up the side of the mountain. It was an amazing sight.

That must be Du Skulblaka Breoal. Vanir said it was an impressive sight, but I never would have guessed that Eragon could build something like that...

Remember, Arya, he had the energy of the Eldunari helping him.

Aye, but he was the one to wield the energy. The dragons can`t choose to do magic how and when they like. I would hardly know where to begin with all the energy in the world!

Come now, Arya, you know that`s not true. You could probably create something just as good.

Not quite as good, I don`t think.

You put yourself down too much. Have faith in your abilities, little one.

Thank you, Firnen. Now, let's land.

Arya walked up to the large double doors, Firnen at her side. The doors were large and wooden, with an ornate gold doorknocker at head height. She raised her hand, hesitated, then knocked loudly. The sound echoed within.

I`ve been waiting for this moment for over five years... Will he have changed? Will he still be the same? More importantly, will he still feel the same?

As she waited, she looked around at the stunning scenery, amazed at the size of the forest surrounding the mountain. She hadn`t known Du Weldenvarden extended so far, and the mountains in the distance were taller than the Spine, though not so tall as the Beor Mountains.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, revealing a vast entrance hall. Pillars lined the walls, the ceiling was thirty metres high, and there was a throne at the other end. It was immaculate, with highly detailed and intricate carvings around the walls and pillars. But Arya wasn`t interested in any of that. She only had eyes for one thing.

Standing in front of her, with a smile on his face and surprise and pleasure in his eyes, was Eragon.

Her heart leapt when she saw him, her relief that she had finally seen him after all those years washing over her face in a grin.

"Arya!"

"Eragon!" She exclaimed, leaping towards him and hugging him. He grinned and hugged her back. "I missed you," she said, letting go and looking into his eyes.

"And I you. Barely a day passes without me missing you."

"It was the same for me, but I suspect you had more to occupy yourself with, such as building this. It`s magnificent. I`m impressed."

"I thought you would be. So, why are you here? To train, I presume?"

"Yes, Firnen wishes to know more about the way Dragons fight, what herbs are good for their health, and so on. I want to find out more about the Riders, their duties and their secrets. I don`t know enough."

Eragon nodded. "And that`s it? No ulterior motives, like, I don`t know, visiting an old friend?"

She laughed, saying "I told you I missed you, didn`t I? It wasn`t so much an ulterior motive as much as it was a main reason. The others were just to convince Dathedr to let me go."

"And did they convince him?"

"I`m not sure they did, but he has no authority over me anyway, so I just left."

Eragon grinned. "I bet he wasn`t happy with that!"

"No, he told me that the Lords and Ladies weren`t going to be happy that I left against their will, and might make it hard for me to keep the Throne."

Eragon raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What did you say?"

"I told him that I was still the queen, I still made the decisions, and I had decided to visit you."

"That put him in his place!"

Arya grinned at his amusement. "And what would his place be?"

Eragon gazed into her eyes as he replied "Beneath you, the same as everyone else`s." Arya could tell that he was serious.

She smiled at him sweetly, before saying "Eragon, are you going to invite me in, or will I have to stay out here until the end of time?"

Putting on a posh voice, he replied "My apologies, Arya. Would you like to come in?" Then, switching back to a normal tone of voice, he said "Arya, you know you don`t have to ask to come in. You`re the best friend I have other than Saphira, you can go where you like when you like here."

She stepped into the hall. "Thank you, Eragon. However, the right to go where I like when I like is not much of a privilege if I don`t know where I`m going. Would you show me around?"

He smiled at her. "Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Arya had been treated to a grand tour of Du Skulblaka Breoal, with Firnen at first, but he left at the Dragonhold, to meet the other Dragons and rest. Before the Dragonhold, she had visited the dining hall, which, Eragon admitted, was a bit extravagant for six people, then they had visited the guest quarters and the quarters of the Riders. At that point, Firnen had excused himself, saying he was tired. They had then visited the top of the Dragonhold, and looked out at the amazing view. Eragon had led her back down to the entrance hall and through a little door on the left, down some stairs, and into a chamber of treasures, which Eragon had cast a spell on to ensure that they would only be accessible when he was there. The treasures, of course, were the Eldunari, which Arya was happy to see, and the eggs. Arya had looked at them in wonder, and then began to ask "Tell me, Eragon, did Saphira..." she had trailed off, but it was all Eragon needed to hear, and he had wordlessly pointed behind her, at a pure white egg set back in the wall.

Arya smiled as she recounted Firnen`s pleasure when she told him he was a father. He had roared with pleasure; mentally, so as not to wake the Riders.

She had then made to leave, heading for the guest quarters and the Rider quarters, which were next to each other, but Eragon had stopped her. He had said "You are not a guest, nor are you just a rider. You are a queen, and as such, you get one of the important guest rooms. Trust me, while the normal guest rooms aren`t bad, the important guest rooms are much better."

He was right too, and as a result, she was leaning back on an extremely soft bed in one of the six rooms that were part of each important guest room. There was a small yet comfortable dining room, a living room, a kitchen, a small sort of entrance hall, the bedroom, and a small room for meditation, with pieces of slate for making fairths around the side. When she had first seen that room, she had wondered what it was for and reached out her mind, searching for Eragon. She located his mind in a room just on the end of the corridor, which she guessed was his, and she said Eragon, what is the purpose of the little room in my quarters?

Let me think... what did I put in yours... Oh yes! In yours there is a small room with slates around the side, and no obvious purpose. It`s for meditating, practicing the Rimgar, and creating Fairths, which is why the slates are there. There`s also a chamber in the floor, if you say open, meaning it as a spell, the chamber will open. You can twist the knobs at the top of the chamber, and water will flow down, hot or cold or any combination in between, depending on how much you twist the knobs, like my quarters in Ellesmera.

Arya wandered over to investigate the room. I see... Wait, are all the rooms different for everyone?

Yes, and each has its own unique feature. Yours is that room, I gave Nausada an office, Murtagh has a few scrolls that I thought he`d find interesting, Those are the only rooms that have stuff like that though, the rest all have 5 rooms, and you`re the only important guest so far, I have no idea where Murtagh is. There are a few more individual touches in the rooms for the people I know as well.

Such as?

In yours, there are two mirrors; one a normal one that can be used for scrying, and another which is linked to the Dragonhold, so you can converse with Firnen. Also, there`s a general theme of the colour green around, and there are carvings of dragons and trees around the edges of the balcony.

She walked out onto the balcony, gasping at the figure of a dragon rearing up, facing away from the balcony, fire shooting out of its mouth and its wings forming the balcony rail, before turning around and seeing two carved trees forming the arched gateway that led onto the balcony. The detail was incredible. You did all that for me?

Yes.

Arya knew then that his feelings hadn`t changed, that he still cared for her as much as ever. But she didn`t say so, as she had thought that if his feelings were still the same in a few months , she would be more certain about the depths of her own feelings, and more confident of the validity of his. Yet as she looked at the Fairth he had made of her when they were by the Ramr river, one of the only things that she had brought with her from Ellesmera, she saw once again that his feelings were good and pure, and that he had changed from the person he was when he had pursued her under the Menoa tree.

But I don`t know how far my own feelings reach. If only there was some sort of way to tell...