So... Chapter four is now up and running, I really hope you guys like it!!
Unfortunately, I do not own the Inheritance cycle or anything of its characters, although I would be a very happy person if I did!! LOL.
And now, on with chapter 4.
The following days passed in a blur of flurried excitement among the Varden with preparations for the journey and the thrill it gave its people to see another dragon had joined the Vardens cause. The only ones who weren't enthusiastic about the ordeal were Murtagh and Thorn. They knew that with every minute that passed they were getting closer to the moment they would have to leave the place they now called home and off into the dank dangers of the Kings household.
Thorn was often off with Saphira hunting, training or just conversing strategies with one another, and Murtagh had wondered if it could mean there would be a new romance in the future for his dragon.
Every time his rider reproached him on the matter, Thorn puffed smoke out of his nostrils saying that Saphira was a good friend, and he was just enjoying the company of a dragon who wasn't insane.
The day had finally come when they were due to leave for Uru'bean when Eragon approached Murtagh who was just finishing adding extra supplies to Thorns saddle bags.
"Good day to you brother," he said with a smile plastered on his face. "Are you ready to find this egg?" Murtagh just shrugged and averted his eyes.
Eragon's smile was wiped away and replaced with a concerned look which focused on Murtagh intently. "I know this must be hard for you, but this is the only chance we have of actually bringing the empire down. What you are doing, what we both are doing, is giving the Varden a standing chance at defeating Galbatorix. That has to come at some price, but it will be worth it in the end."
Murtagh sighed, realising that what Eragon was saying was true. He turned and looked Eragon in the eye and gave him a very forced smile which Eragon returned by pulling him into a slightly awkward hug. They released each other and saw Nasuada and Arya striding towards them quickly. Eragon's eyes brightened when he laid eyes on Arya, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Good day Eragon, Murtagh, Thorn." Nasuada began. The three of them just nodded in response waiting for her to continue. "How are the preparations coming along?"
"Very well Nasuada. We were just finishing arranging the provisions into the dragon's saddle bags. We should be ready to leave before long." Eragon answered. Nasuada nodded. "Good to hear Eragon, but where is Saphira?"
"She has just gone hunting before we leave, she hates flying on an empty stomach." He smiled with great affection for his dragon then adopted the appearance he always got when he was talking to her. He pulled away from her mind seconds later saying she was on her way back now, and within a few moments the great blue dragon landed gracefully beside her rider. Already clad in her saddle, she was becoming impatient to get going and Eragon had to do everything in his power to stop her from picking him up off the ground, putting him in the saddle herself and taking off. Nasuada smiled and bid them a safe journey before regretfully saying she was late for an important meeting so she would not be able to see them off. She waved as she was walking away in the direction of her tent, leaving the dragon riders alone with Arya.
"Atra esterni ono thelduin/Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr/ Un du evarinya ono varda. Se onr sverdar sitja hvass." She said looking at each individually as she said each sentence. "May good fortune watch over you/ peace live in your heart/ and the stars watch over you. May your swords stay sharp." She raised two fingers to her lips as a sign of respect and both Murtagh and Eragon repeated the gesture. She smiled and walked off, but not before Murtagh heard her mutter the words "Wiol pommnuria ilian." For my happiness.
He smiled wondering if the last comment was directed at Eragon. He was brought out of his thoughts by Thorn who was letting him know he was ready to fly. Murtagh climbed into the saddle and looked at Eragon who gave the signal it was time to leave and both dragons leapt into the air and circled the Varden. Saphira roared loudly which was then followed by Thorn's own roar. The people of the Varden looked to the skies and cheered all wishing them luck and good fortune on their journey.
As they flew away from the Varden the cries became naught but a faint whisper that steadily grew into complete silence, and the camp itself was nothing but a slight blur in the distance.
Eragon was the first to break the silence. "We should probably start to talk strategy about how to rescue the egg. It's obvious that Galbatorix would hide it safely away where only he would know about it and place only the strongest security around it, but there has to be a loophole somewhere..." He trailed off.
"Indeed there is a loophole. You see, I know exactly where the egg is being kept and the security measures around it too." Eragon's expression was that of amazement and excitement.
"This is excellent Murtagh! Now it should take only a fraction of the time because we won't have to spend time searching. Where is it?"
"In the throne room. Only the Kings is allowed to enter and sometimes his most trusted nobles when there is a meeting on, but apart from that, the room is securely guarded." Eragon's face fell at this information, but Murtagh continued. "Although, there are some of the more brainless servants who are designated to clean the room who enter regularly without even so much as a raised eyebrow. We could use this to our advantage." He finished putting a smile back on his brothers face.
"Great, so all we have to do is disguise ourselves as dim-witted servants and we will have almost unlimited access to the throne room. This is going to be too easy!" Eragon yelled happily. Murtagh nodded but then added, "But only a select few get chosen to clean the throne room. We'd have to be very good actors, good enough to make all the more important nobles at the very least to believe we are the most dim servants they had ever seen."
"That shouldn't be too hard to do. In fact, it could be quite fun," said Eragon with a grin. Murtagh smiled and continued talking about the disguises they should adopt and how they would go about getting passage to the throne room.
They stopped to make camp some hours later in a secluded area where Murtagh built a fire while the dragons hunted and Eragon prepared a rabbit for Murtagh and some berries he had found for himself. After they finished eating, Murtagh and Eragon filled in time by practicing changing their appearances and deciding which ones would be easiest to maintain. When Thorn and Saphira finally returned, they went and sat beside their riders saying that it was probably time they went to bed because they still had some distance to cover the next day. Both Eragon and Murtagh agreed and curled up under their dragon's wings and fell asleep almost immedietly.
Two days later the dragons said that they saw the outskirts of the Kingdom and estimated that they would be upon it within an hour if they continued with the pace they were at. Eragon and Murtagh decided that they would walk the rest of the way because if the dragons were seen, their ploy would be up before it even started, and upon landing, reluctantly said goodbye to Thorn and Saphira who flew off grudgingly not taking their eyes off their riders as if they thought they would get hurt should they look away for just one second.
Blocking them from their minds to make the separation easier, Eragon and Murtagh changed their appearances dramatically and walked towards the castle. "Ok, so, have we got this straight? Your name will be Blayne while we're here, and I will go by the name of Tomash. I come from Melian looking for work to pay for my upcoming wedding and you are here to help support your family back in Furnost. We met up with each other on the way here. Is that clear?" Murtagh surveyed his brother's face hardly.
"Yes, Murtagh. Clear as crystal. So, what's the plan when we get there?" Eragon asked.
Murtagh frowned. "I guess we go to see one of the nobles on duty and ask if they have any openings. They should do, because the servants never stay for very long. The only ones who stay are too dim to realise they are getting treated like trash."
"Alright then. Let's do this." Eragon said without any enthusiasm as they approached the large black castle. They quickly checked that they were both disguised properly and that their swords and gedwey ignasia's were properly hidden. When they were both satisfied, they walked towards the castle gates which were heavily guarded. As they approached, they were stopped by the largest guard who looked over his large, rather ugly nose at them.
"Who are you and what is your business here?" He asked hoarsely. Murtagh was the first to step forward and smiled largely, making his expression seem even more idiotic then he thought could be possible. "I am Tomash, from Melian. I am looking for any work I can get, I have my wedding coming up you see..." He was cut off by the guard who now looked at him with complete disinterest. "And what makes you think we have any positions open for you?" Murtagh let his eyes become distant and wore a foolish expression while he pretended to think of an appropriate answer. "I... er... I don't know, I heard on the road that there was extra work going at the castle and came to... er... ask?"
Eragon was watching his brother, trying to hide his laughter but was failing miserably, drawing attention to himself.
"And you. What is your business here?" The guard glared at him. Eragon flinched slightly at being spoken to and began to speak nervously and incoherently. "M...My name is B...Blayne and I also am looking for work. My sister is ill and I need to..." "I don't need to know your life story. Where are you from?" "F...Furnost." Eragon said averting his eyes dimwittedly. The guard shook his head at the pair of them and allowed them through with a disgusted look on his face. "Once you get to the doors, tell them you are looking for work, I'm sure we can find something." The pair nodded gratefully and sped through the gates not stopping until they reached another large guard who looked at them as if they were a pair of lepers.
"What do you want?" He said asked uninterestedly. "Work." Both Murtagh and Eragon replied at the same time. Shaking his head the guard said, "Follow me then" as he began walking into the large palace doors. Eragon looked around in wonder at actually being in the palace. He knew it would be big, but what he had imagined was immediately put to shame by its complete brilliance. Murtagh saw his brother's reaction and remembered the first time he was brought here. He probably wore much the same expression.
They continued walking until they reached a pair of large double doors which could easily fit a dragon. The guard looked at them with distrust and told them to stay where they were or suffer the consequences and disappeared through them, allowing them to close with a thud behind them. Eragon and Murtagh looked at each other, not daring to utter a single word, but opened their minds to the other.
So, phase one of the plan complete. Murtagh smiled. Eragon nodded slightly and began to examine the room again.
It is so much bigger then I had imagined. It's a good thing you are here, otherwise, I would lose myself in one room and never make it out again.
Murtagh was about to reply when the doors opened again revealing the guard who sneered at them.
"You," He pointed a dirty finger at Eragon. "will go down to the stables where you will be cleaning up after the horses which should take you the rest of the day. You will start in the west wing and then make your way to the north one. Am I clear?" Eragon looked down at the floor and muttered that he understood before being led off outside.
The guards attention was almost immediately on Murtagh after seeing Eragon off. "And you, you will be cleaning the upper levels of this wing. Begin at one end and make your way to the other. Am I being clear?" he sneered.
"Yes." Was Murtagh's reply. There was a slight chuckle from behind the guard and Murtagh looked around him to see who it was. There was a girl about the same age as Murtagh with smiling bright blue eyes and raven coloured hair that fell around her face in front of her ears and fell down to the small of her back. She was wearing a blue tunic which matched her eyes perfectly under a grubby apron that had been soiled from too much work. To say she was beautiful was an understatement.
The guard turned to look at her and pushed her towards Murtagh saying that she will tell him where he was to go before stalking off to his previous station. The girl smiled shyly and bade him follow her. She led him up a few flights of stairs until they reached the first room they had to clean. After closing the door she introduced herself. "I am Zyana. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before, it just that the servants aren't really meant to mingle, and if they do, it is only meant to be about which rooms need tending to."
Murtagh smiled understanding what she was saying perfectly. He shook her hand briefly. "I'm Mur... Tomash. My name is Tomash." Zyana looked at him suspiciously for a second but smiled sweetly. "Well, Tomash. Welcome to the palace. Unfortunately, we don't have much time for pleasantries at the moment. This war has given us all extra jobs and many of them are still left undone. If you could start by cleaning the windows in this room then move onto the floors, that would help me greatly. I have to go and begin another room and when I'm done, I'll come and help finish this room if you're not done by then. Did you have any questions?" Murtagh shook his head and Zyana nodded. "Ok. I'll be back soon," she said quickly before leaving the room.
Murtagh stared after her and wondered why he had never seen her before but quickly turned his mind onto his work.
Zyana hurried from the room and began in the direction of the throne room. She averted her eyes from any passing guards as she had learned to do and sighed with content as she came to the large doors. She entered freely and once again laid eyes on the green egg.
"Well, hello again little dragon. I am glad to see that you are still here and not hatched for one of those dirty guards who fancy themselves better then the king himself." She chuckled lowly and began to scrub the windows while still watching the egg. "I swear, half of the servants that work hard for the little money they get deserve a dragon to hatch for them, not the guards who would probably mistreat it as the King does Shruikan." Her smile faltered at the thought of the black dragon, but quickly remembered the newcomers. "Oh, we've just got a couple of more pairs of hands to help out around this place. Two boys who go by the names Blayne and Tomash. It's obvious that those are not their real names though. Tomash was about to tell me who he really was when he quickly stopped himself. I wonder if those guards knew anything. They could be Varden spies for all they know!" Zyana stopped and wondered hopefully if this were true, but then thinking of the actual possibility of that happening she shook her head and continued working in silence before deciding she had better go and check on the boy.
She entered the room to find he had finished cleaning and was sitting on a chair admiring the pictures that littered the walls. Startled, he turned to face her, his light brown eyes boring into her flesh. When he realised it was Zyana he smiled and stood up. "I've finished in here, and I would have come to find you sooner, but I still don't know my way around and I was afraid I might get lost. I just can't believe how big this place is." He said smiling. "Very good, now, if you pass me that cloth over there, I will show you to the next room." Murtagh obliged but dropped it just before it reached her hand and noticed with horror that the cleaning agents had revealed his gedwey ignasia, and made it appear more prominent than ever, but what horrified him more was that Zyana was staring at it, a shocked expression plastered all over her face.
He quickly tried to hide it from view, but not before she grabbed his hand and examined it closely. "You... You're a rider." She said quietly, then realisation dawned on her face and she looked deeply into his features. "M... Murtagh?" She muttered in a small voice. "Is that you?"