Chapter 3: Getting To Know You
"Don't get that one, grab the thicker one."
"You grab it. You're the one who wanted it."
Murtagh takes a deep breath and tries not to let Alex's childish retorts to get to him. Pushing past her, Murtagh snatches the thick cut of smoked meat off its hook. Tucking it into the sack he grabbed by the counter, Murtagh turns to see Alex dancing around the meat hanging from the ceiling of the butcher's shop. She nearly trips on the cloak that hides her strange clothes. Her face wrinkles she as nudges a smoked leg out of her way. She tucks her cloak around her small frame, taking care not to let it touch anything.
A shutter covers the only window in the small shop, casting long shadows across the dirt floor. Murtagh grabs several smoked chickens, avoiding any raw meat, and places them in the sack. Alex leans against the counter and tilts her head at him, eyeing the meat distastefully. "We need to stop by a bakery because there is no way I'm eating that."
"What's wrong with it?" he asks.
"I don't even wanna think about the health violations in this room alone. Just don't" Alex shudders and Murtagh sighs at her weirdness.
"Fine, but make yourself useful and watch the front door."
He's tucking the last of the meat in his sack when the front door slams open. A man pauses in the doorframe and stares at them. Moving quickly, Murtagh jumps over the counter and throws the man into the floor with one hand, the other slamming the door shut.
Whirling around, Murtagh finds the man on the floor trying to stand. Murtagh easily kicks him down and uses his boot to keep him there. "I thought you took care of the butcher."
Alex stands there her mouth slightly open. He raises his eyebrows at her as he pushes his foot down to keep the man on the pinned.
"I did, he's in the back," she insists, her eyes shifting to the man in confusion.
"Doesn't matter now, does it? We have a witness." He glares at the girl.
The man tries getting up, but Murtagh grabs him and presses him against the door. He wraps his hand into the man's throat, cutting off his strangled yelp before he can call out. The man stares at him in terror and tries to push him off, but Murtagh is too strong.
"What now?" Alex asks anxiously wringing her hands. He almost laughs at her naivety, but just smirks and meets her gaze while squeezing.
The man starts to struggle and tries pushing Murtagh's arm off, he then kicks aimlessly at Murtagh's legs. When that seems hopeless, the man tries clawing Murtagh's hand, then his face. Murtagh's able to keep his left arm pinned down, but the man's right arm lashes out. His nails catch on Murtagh's face, drawing blood. Murtagh knees the man in the groin. Enjoying the pain and terror on his face as the man realizes he's gonna die.
Pain explodes in Murtagh's shoulder, causing his arm to go slack. The man falls to the ground, gasping and coughing. Murtagh whirls and finds Alex holding a smoked pig's leg, her arms trembling, fear in her eyes. Murtagh doesn't have to say anything, but her reaction tells him.
She's scared of me.
"You don't have to kill him," she says, voice shaky, but determined. She avoids his eyes and kneels to help the man.
The man's coughs and gasps are the only sound in the small shop. Murtagh's chest tightens as he sees Alex try to help the man. Murtagh knows what needs to be done. Stepping over the man's leg Murtagh heads behind the counter.
It takes him a minute to find what he needs. He finds the man sitting up against the counter, face still purple and Alex's fingers pressed to his throat. She pushes back his hair and scans his face. Murtagh's left-hand grips the smooth handle and without hesitation Murtagh plunges the small knife in the man's chest. It slips between his ribs and Murtagh knows it found home as blood seeps through his shirt, staining the rough grey material.
Alex turns white as a sheet and looks up at him. He doesn't meet her gaze, yanking the knife back, he wipes it on the man's shirt before tucking into his belt. It would come in handy. He stands and checks for any other useful items. He hears Alex heaving while he gathers the few coins he found under the counter and searches the man for anything useful. The sound of Alex dry heaving grates on his ears. He winces and stands to gather his sack from its spot on the ground. As he slings the sack over his shoulder, dread fills Murtagh's chest and his stomach tightens painfully. Pushing it away, Murtagh reaches down and grabs Alex, yanking her to her feet. The sight of the dead man chills him for some reason and Murtagh hurries to the back of the shop.
The butcher, true to Alex's word, sits on a chair by the fireplace. His hands and legs tied to the chair, a sack over his head. He slumps over in the chair, still unconscious from Murtagh's blow. Alex follows him, her body practically limp in his hand.
Murtagh shoves the door open, his eyes temporarily blinded by the change of light. The sun was rising quickly. It would soon be midday, which meant they had to move quickly. He shoves Alex to the side of the building and secures it behind them. Glancing around, there's no movement in the back alley to Murtagh's relief. The butcher's shop opens to the wide plains, a small fenced yard filled with equipment needed for smoking meat.
Alex trembles against the wall, the tips of her hand are coated in blood. He sighs and walks over to her, pulling out the canteen he had swiped from inside. Alex barely seems to register him though, Murtagh pops it open and taking her hands he washes the blood off.
Probably the first time she saw someone die.
He waves his hand in front of her and she barely notices.
"Alex."
She stares blankly ahead, unresponsive.
"Hey, snap out of it!" He snaps his fingers and that seems to work. Alex blinks and focuses on his face. Her blank stare turns to anger. She glares at him, her face twisting in anger and she tries to punch him. Murtagh easily dodges it, but to her credit Alex keeps trying. Her throws aren't very strong, but her aim isn't bad. Proven when she hits him in the neck, hitting a nerve.
Murtagh flinches slightly, he catches both her hands and tries to calm her down. Alex tries to free herself and kicks him in the leg. Growling, Murtagh turns her around and pins her back against his chest. She struggles, but Murtagh clamps her tight against him, "Calm down," he hisses in her ear.
Luckily the girl has enough sense not to scream, she's almost too quiet. He waits for her to calm down. She heaves against him, straining against his arms. After several moments she gives up. She goes limp, collapsing against him.
The first sound out of her is a whimper, then a sob. Murtagh tries to be empathetic. The first time he saw someone die was not a fond memory or a particularly proud moment for him.
Sighing, Murtagh puts Alex down. She manages to stand, though her face is blank. He places his hand on her back and leads her away, pulling up the hood of her cloak while heading towards the outskirts of town.
It's not until they're at the last house that sits on the edge of town that Alex decides to speak up.
"Horses, we need horses," she whispers.
"I know, I'll get them. You stay here and don't talk to anyone," he instructs, only staying long enough to see her nod. Pivoting on his heels, he pauses for a moment before turning back around and taking Alex's cloak. She doesn't acknowledge the action at all, just stares blankly into the distance. Murtagh spares her a passing thought before he hurries back into town, weaving between the houses until he's walking on the main road.
Alex's cloak is short on him, but it hides his clothes well. People tend to remember well dressed strangers. Better to seem like a poor traveler, right now anonymity is key. It's noon, so most are at home eating but a few shops are still open. Murtagh clutches the purse he took from the butcher and weighs it. Probably enough for a horse and not much more.
Pulling up his hood, Murtagh heads for the stables, wanting to be out of here before someone discovered the butcher and the body.
Murtagh drops the bag into Alex's lap. She's exactly where he left her, though she sits cross legged with some sort of string sticking out either of her ears. The shock seems to have worn off, she picks up the bag and pulls out a loaf of bread. She raises her eyebrows in question, but Murtagh ignores it and grabs her sack to strap it to the horse's back.
The brown stallion is a bit old, but strong. He cost nearly all the money Murtagh had pickpocketed, but now it would be easier to outrun Eesha. He glances at Alex while he fixes the straps. She stands up and pulls the strings out of her ears and Murtagh is intrigued by the little balls attached to each one. Alex winds the string up and shoves it into the pocket of her tight blue pants.
"What's this?" Alex holds out the bag of bread.
"Don't they have bread in your world?" He says, as he continues to ensure that the saddle is properly secured. She glares at him, but doesn't push the subject farther.
"I don't know how to ride," she informs him, her voice cracking. He turns to her and puts his hands on her waist. Alex opens her mouth, but Murtagh lifts her up and slides her to the front of the horse before she manages to speak. She holds her hands out and sits petrified in the saddle. "Murtagh, I don't know about this," she says, looking at the ground anxiously.
Ignoring her, he climbs on behind her, grabbing the reins and keeping her sandwiched between his arms. With a snap of the reins, Murtagh gets the horse moving. When they start moving, Alex grabs his arms tightly.
He keeps the horse at a brisk pace, guiding it away from the village. Despite her grip on his arms, Alex pulls into herself, keeping quiet, and Murtagh wonders if she'll still help him. The scenery rushes past, but the silence persists and after possibly the longest twenty minutes Murtagh decides to speak first.
"It had to be done."
Not an apology, but guilt was starting to eat away at him. Perhaps he could've been more tactful and he knew that seeing someone die can be shocking. Alex doesn't respond so he continues, "He saw me and you, together. If Eesha found him alive she would pull that from his mind."
He waits for her to say something, but the only indicator that she heard him was her tightening the grip on his arms. "We can't let her know about you. The element of surprise is our only advantage. Eesha could-"
"I know why you did it," she interrupts, relaxing her hands. "I understand."
Murtagh glances down at her, but can only see the top of her head.
"That doesn't mean I have to like it though," she says curtly and Murtagh can almost picture her glaring at him. His stomach twists as he sees himself kill the man.
He shakes away the thoughts, but the feeling of guilt stays with him.
What is wrong with me?
This is hardly the first time he's killed someone, so why does it feel almost like it?
They rode for the next two days, only stopping for water and food. They couldn't start a fire so he used a simple spell to heat up the food. Alex refused any meat and would only drink water from the river after transferring it to her oddly shaped canteen. She didn't say anything and Murtagh wasn't going to be the one speak first. He did what was needed and if she couldn't handle it...
Well, I guess that means the rest of the trip is gonna be real quiet.
It wasn't until sundown on the third day that Murtagh knew they had to stop and rest for the night. The stallion couldn't go much longer without rest and they had made good time. Murtagh pulls the horse to stop and Alex jerks, probably waking from a restless sleep. She looks around and grabs Murtagh's arm to steady herself.
"Are we there? Did we find Thorn?" She asks, her voice thick from sleep. Murtagh jumps down and Alex nearly follows him, sliding halfway down without even realizing it. He quickly grabs her and holds her to his chest. She didn't seem to notice, her head falls against his chest snoring.
He sets Alex down on the ground before picketing the horse. She pulls herself into a ball on the grass while Murtagh unsaddles the horse and grabs the blankets from the pack. He lays out Alex's blanket, which is an odd poofy thing that's slippery on the outside. Laying it next to her, he sets his farther away, but close enough so he can keep an eye on her. He rubs the horse down as best he can and takes a long drink from the river.
Walking over to where Alex lies on the ground he nudges her with his foot. "Hey, wake up." Alex groans and rolls over..
"No, sleeping," she mumbles.
"Fine," he mutters under his breath at the girl's stupidity.
Sitting on his roll he leans back, breathing deeply he watches the stars. It's a warm summer night with clear skies. His mind drifts to Thorn and he hopes he's not in a cave.
He hates the dark.
Just when Murtagh had started to drift off a sharp kick to his side wakes him. Cracking his eye open he sees Alex looking down at him.
"So what's for dinner?" she asks. Murtagh glares at her before rolling over, intent on ignoring her.
He hears shuffled footsteps and Alex muttering under her breath. He keeps his eyes shut and tries to fall back asleep. A few seconds later something lands near his face. Opening his eyes, he finds Alex sitting on her blanket which she had dragged right next to his. She looks at him expectantly and he stares right back.
"God you're stubborn." She sighs and pulls open the sack, revealing half a loaf of bread and a whole smoked chicken. She sets the food on a napkin, arranging it on the grass in between their blankets. "Come on, don't make me eat this cold." she gestures to the food.
Giving in, Murtagh sits up and Alex claps her delight.
"Now do your toaster oven thing."
"Toaster oven?" He asks, stretching his arms over his head.
"Yeah, that thing you do to heat up the food. Heat this up, because if I'm going to eat meat, I want it warm."
She nods encouragingly at him.
Rolling his eyes, Murtagh casts the spell. It takes a few moments, but soon steam rises from the chicken and the little bit of bread that's left is warm to the touch. He releases the spell, feeling the drain of energy. Sighing, he rubs his eyes. Alex reaches out and tears a leg off the chicken. Holding it up she sighs.
"Goodbye six years of no animal products."
She bites into it and gags. She spits the meat out and coughs.
"What was that?" He asks curiously, as he takes the other leg and bites into it.
"I'm fine, I'm cool." Alex coughs a bit but forces a smile on her face. She eyes the leg distastefully.
Murtagh glances at her, she doesn't touch the meat instead eats the bread. What little there was. Pulling out his small knife he cuts into the meat. For a minute he recalls the man he killed and his gut twists at the thought.
He cuts off some meat and bites into it, pushing the man from his thoughts. He quickly works through most of it, but leaves some for Alex. Wiping his hands on his handkerchief, Murtagh turns to Alex who still hasn't taken another bite or her chicken. He can hear her stomach rumble, demanding more food.
"You have to eat," he tells her.
"I know."
He waits, but she just stares at the meat like it's going to eat her.
"We have a long ride ahead of us," he reminds her.
"I know."
Sighing Murtagh taps her forehead. Alex looks up at him, her eyes wide.
"What is it?" He asks. If Alex doesn't eat, it will cause problems, especially since there won't be another town for quite some time. So finding more bread is out of the question.
"I don't like eating animals," she says, tossing the chicken leg onto the napkin. Murtagh grabs the leg and bites into it. Alex stares at him while Murtagh quickly devours the whole thing. He passes her back the bare bone which Alex drops like a hot poker.
"We only have so much food and a lot of ground to cover. I can't force you to eat, but if you don't, you'll starve." he shrugs, leaning back on his hands.
Alex nods slightly, gazing sadly at the half eaten chicken.
"Which defeats the whole purpose of you coming here," he continues, letting her stew in that.
After a few seconds, Alex groans and shakes her head. "Fine, I'll eat."
She takes what's left of the chicken and using Murtagh's knife, which she snatches from him, starts carving up the bird. She slices off a piece and pops it in her mouth. Murtagh watches amused as she slowly chews. Alex seems to be deliberately slow and finally decides to swallow.
"Was that so hard?" He asks, sarcasm lacing his voice. Ignoring him, she digs into the chicken and finishes the whole thing rather quickly. He watches as she practically inhales the bird. By the time she's done, the chicken is a neatly cleaned pile of bones sitting on the napkin. Alex sucks her fingers clean and shrugs at his questioning look.
"I was hungry," is all the explanation she gives, and Murtagh laughs. Alex watches him for a moment before joining in. It feels good to laugh.
"Which one's that?"
Alex's arm reaches over his face as she points out a star. Murtagh glances at said star while shoving her arm away.
"That's Flan, part of the Elphas constellation," he explains. The two of them are lying down. Somehow, Murtagh had ended up teaching Alex the different constellations—though he's not certain she's actually listening.
Alex snorts, "Flan? Like the dessert?" a moment later she hits his arm "You do have that here right?"
Slapping her hand away, Murtagh nods. "Of course."
"Sweet. Since my diet is broken anyway I'm totally eating some." She groans and Murtagh feels her kicking the ground. "I've missed flan," she moans longingly.
"Why couldn't you eat it before?" He asks absently, paying more attention to the heavens then her answer.
"It was mostly political, but I don't like the idea of an animal dying so I could eat."
"But humans need meat," he reasons, confused how she thought living off just plants was a viable diet.
"Actually, eating more vegetables is healthier," she tells him smugly and Murtagh rolls his eyes.
"Yeah right," he scoffs.
"Whatever," Alex says, her tone playful.
They watch the stars in silence until Alex asks, "So what's the deal with Eesha?"
Murtagh bristles at her name. "She's my teacher," he says roughly. He frowns, at the thought of her.
Alex pushes herself and looks at him questioningly.
"For what? You're supposed to be an amazing fighter and the second most powerful magician in Alagaesia," she says, her face scrunched up.
"Yeah, well…" he bites his cheek and ignores her inquisitive looks.
"It's magic, isn't it?" she gasps and her eyebrows nearly touch her hairline. "You're a crappy magician!"
"I am not crappy," Murtagh snaps. Pushing himself up he glares at her. Alex scoffs at him, rolling her eyes.
"Then cast a spell," she challenges him proudly. Murtagh frowns at her. He may not be as naturally gifted as Eragon, but he wasn't crappy.
Whatever that means, it can't be good.
"I don't have to listen to you," he replies. Alex laughs at him and Murtagh considers if leaving her in the plains is a viable option. He could just leave her here and rescue Thorn alone.
Alex shakes her head and Murtagh notices the fading purple marks on her neck. Reminding him of how he mistreated her when they first met. Guilt twists in his stomach and Murtagh growls at the unwanted emotion.
"Dude, you're just proving your incompetence. Come on, one spell," she urges, shaking his arm, a broad smile on her face.
"I already did a spell earlier, remember?"
He still hopes he can get out of this with his dignity intact. Alex grins, shaking her head and he has a feeling she's not allow it.
"Come on, you can do better then that. Can't you?" she challenges him.
Frowning, Murtagh crawls over and sits on her blanket. He notices that Alex tenses as he settles in front of her. Reaching out, he places his left palm against her throat. She instantly freezes under his touch and he sees the fear in her eyes. Breathing deeply and closing his eyes, he focuses entirely on casting the spell. Once he had found the well of magic that resided in him he recalled the words needed.
"Waise heill," he whispers, as he feels the small drain of energy leaving his body. His palm tingles and Murtagh opens his eyes to assure that the spell worked. The bruises have all faded, leaving Alex's skin it's normal brown tone.
Leaning back, he let's Alex touch her neck, quite content with himself. Once Alex is assured her neck is healed, she smiles at him as she tests her voice. She hums a little then starts singing some scales. Murtagh is surprised that the voice which had been whiny and grating the past few days could sound so sweet.
As she gets more confident, she smiles and starts singing a strange song. Her voice cracks a little bit, but Alex smiles as she hits the notes. She hops in place and smacks Murtagh on the shoulder.
"I knew you could do it," she teases. "Though next time, try healing it sooner. I could barely speak it hurt so bad." Her tone tells him she's in jest, but the guilt still weighs on him.
"So you're a singer?" he asks, in an effort to change the subject.
"I love singing, it's one of the things that makes life bearable." She shrugs and starts humming her song.
"What else helps you?" He asks, surprised that he actually wants to know.
Alex considers this for a minute, she tilts her head up in thought. "Reading. A good is book is my greatest weakness." She smirks. "Curling up with a book after a long day is the best."
"I can relate," he shares, shifting his legs. "One of the benefits of living in Uru'baen was its extensive libraries a shame the king burned any about the old world." Murtagh sighs absently. "Knowledge shouldn't be treated like that."
"I forgot Galbatorix was into censorship," Alex sighs. "That must suck for authors. Imagine working on a book for years only for it to be banned because someone doesn't like it."
"That is one of the downsides of his rule," Murtagh says, half joking. He rubs his neck, recalling the other, many downsides he had endured.
"So what's your favorite book?" Alex nudges him, drawing him out of his mind.
"I'm not sure," he answers honestly. Alex groans and tosses her head back.
"Lame! You must have a favorite. Spill," she urges.
Murtagh thinks for a moment, before admitting. "Fine; I do enjoy 'Phantom and Rebels'."
Alex inches closer, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
"Ohh, sounds adventurous," she grins. "What's it about?"
They spent the next hour discussing their favorite books. Murtagh found Alex liked dissecting the themes and elements of a story. He also learned her favorite book is "The Host". She talked for ten minutes straight about how the author explored the idea of what it was to be human. She even tried explaining what aliens are. Though she didn't do a very good job. Murtagh was more confused after she spoke then when she had began.
Murtagh was delighted to know she could talk about books, it was something they had in common at least. Alex told him that he could read some of her favorite books on her strange device she calls a phone. Murtagh declined, not trusting the strange device but Alex swore that he'd have to get one if he wants to live in her world.
"Okay," he says, stretching. It was far too late and they both needed their rest. "we need to sleep now. If we don't hurry—"
"Yes, I know what's at stake here. Don't worry," Alex assures him, the last part swallowed by a yawn.
"You kept us up too late," he says, stretching back on his blanket.
"Excuse me for being sociable," she murmurs as she starts to snuggle into her own blanket.
"We're leaving at first light," he warns her.
"Got it, boss man." Alex nods and tucks herself into her slippery puffy blanket, quickly disappearing inside of it.
Murtagh's about to fall asleep when he hears Alex whisper his name. Turning in his blanket her finds her staring intently at him, her eyes peeking out from her blanket. Her eyes are surprisingly stern.
"Yeah," he replies.
"Don't kill someone in front of me ever again."
Biting his cheek, Murtagh watches her for a minute. She eventually turns around in her blanket and he in turn drifts off, confused by this strange girl. The last thing that crosses his mind is what Thorn would think of Alex.
A woman enters the butcher shop, it takes her eyes a minute to adjust to the dark room. She skirts around all the dead animals hanging from the ceiling and focuses on the man behind the counter. The smell of death heavy in the air.
The butcher slams his knife repeatedly into the animal in front of him.
"What can I do you for?" He asks, his voice deep and rough.
She walks up to the counter, making sure not to touch the blood filled block of wood. "Your memories will do nicely."
With a few words, she immobilizes the butcher and makes sure that no one can interrupt her. Once she's sure the room is secure she turns to the man in front of her. Reaching out with her mind, the woman easily breaks into the man's mind. Not wasting time with pleasantries she heads for his short term memory, knowing exactly what she's looking for.
The man's memories flash past and the woman keeps an eye out for the one she's hunting. Unfortunately her prey had been careful. The moron knew nothing useful.
The woman yanks out of the man's mind, not caring enough to be gentle. The man stares blankly at her and the woman looks at him with disgust. With a huff she leaves the dark shop behind. Once she's out of the shop she releases the spell, the butcher none the wiser of what she did.
The next two days were spent riding. Murtagh was itching to reach Thorn, the sooner the better. So he pushed the horse, not allowing himself to sleep.
Alex turned out to be a rather enjoyable traveling companion. Though she could be very bossy. She pushed him to tell her more about the stars. So during the night, he would guide the horse into a slow walk so he could point out the different stars. Besides, riding the horse to death wouldn't help anyone.
Murtagh enjoyed talking to someone, and Alex ate up his knowledge, sharing some of her own. She shows him all the things her phone can do and Murtagh was quite fascinated with it. Not enough to actually use it, despite Alex offering. She would play music at night, another amazing feature of her phone. Alex would occasionally sing along and Murtagh found a song Alex called, "Shut up and Dance With Me" stuck in his head.
Alex's music was strange, but Murtagh found he didn't mind it so much. During the day she would attach it to a slightly larger device. She explained that her phone requires energy and that the larger device helps her take energy from the sun.
She did smile a lot, but she was amusing, and Murtagh didn't hate having her around.
On the dawn of the third day, the horse crests a small incline and Murtagh spots a large shimmer on the distant horizon. Pulling the horse to a stop he shakes Alex, who lies against his chest sleeping. One thing Murtagh did know about Alex was that she could sleep soundly while riding a horse.
She wakes with a jolt, her head leaning against his chest "What happened? Did we die?" She murmurs, her voice lethargic. Alex looks up at him, rubbing her eyes.
"We're almost there," he tells her, kicking the horse into a brisk walk.
I'm coming for you.
Author's Note:
Thanks for those who reviewed and read my little story. Your thoughts and favoriting really makes my week.
Chapter 4 might take a while, I'm working through the first draft. Which is always followed by rewrites, beta reads and so forth.
Big thanks to my betas AreiaCananaid and Morgan K'Treva
They are the reason my story isn't a hot mess. Love you guys!