Arya slept fitfully that night, and woke up with a splitting headache, possibly not the best combination considering she was due to tutor Eragon. She had no idea what he had learnt from Oromis and Glaedr, so the first half of the day was to be spent gauging that. Then she would have to trawl through her own days of learning in order to fill Eragon with as much knowledge as she could. She needed to reassure him of his abilities but did not know how to, considering she had had no previous need to with anyone – a minor bonus of keeping herself to herself. Well, she thought to herself, there was no time like the present; and ran down to what had once been Eragon's tree. She waited there for a few minutes, before sending her consciousness out to find him. Within a few seconds she knew he was waiting by the training field, she was already in tune with her 'student', a positive condition, as she would have less trouble helping him.

The sun rose into the sky as she tested Eragon, and had nearly passed over their heads before she had finished. There was nothing too reminiscent from the test that the Twins had set him, and for that result she was glad. He did not need reminding of their betrayal or their harsh beliefs. Both Arya and her pupil were exhausted from the effort, and she had a tentative thought that she might have been too ambitious with her plan. She shook her head to clear it of that thought. In battle, there would be no chance for a break from Galbatorix to replenish his energy, nor to have a respite and think things through. It was going to be a tough afternoon, but she quickly set her mind to it. He needed training, and while she may not be the best to do it, he was not in a state to see anyone else, and nor would they journey to him. She turned to Eragon and spoke in a manner he would not have seen before, employing a commanding tone.

'Now we fight with swords, and that's all I will say. Begin.'

She launched herself at him, thrusting her sword at his hip, before feinting to his shoulder and back to his hip. Having caught him there and thoroughly confused him as to her true intentions, she began to attack with her mind too. There was an aura of exhaustion coming from him, and as soon as she tried to enter his mind she saw it. The lack of sleep during the preceding nights had taken its toll, and yet he was still shielding his mind from her. There were a couple of close calls, but she always managed to parry his blade before it made contact with her. As she feinted again, a break appeared in his shield. Arya took advantage of this, and pushed herself into his mind, taking over his body.

Eragon, I think this is enough for today. You have done well. Go and get some food and drink, then go to you tree and sleep. I will meet you there first light tomorrow.

Yes Arya-elda. Today has been good, thank you.

They parted with the traditional elven gesture, Eragon placing two fingers on his lips first, as a sign of respect to Arya. This elicited odd feelings from her, as she was so unused to any respect other than that granted because she was a princess, and now a Shadeslayer. The day's activities had not gone too badly, especially considering the lengths to which she had pushed Eragon. However, she would only be able to tell how successful she was being after a few lessons, not just pushing him. He needed to learn the theory too. With this in mind she wandered back to Tiadalrί Hall and got some food before she too went to sleep, a plan of the next day slowly forming in her mind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In my opinion, not the best chapter I could have done, and sorry for the shortness of it, but I just thought I'd better get their 'lessons' started. I have no idea when they're going to get together though, it just doesn't seem to be going in that direction at the mo…

Thank you sooo much or the alerts you guys have put on this fic – it really does mean a lot to me :D