One Little Word
Jack: Why are you still here?
Norrington: You hired me,
remember? I can't help it if your standards are lax.
-Pirates of the Caribbean II: The Dead Man's Chest
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. Thank you.
"How is it that he is a half elf?" Murtagh asked Arya. Once again, Hathcyn took the liberty of answering the question himself.
"My father was one of those elves who went out from that forest. What's it called again? Oh, it doesn't matter. He met my mother a few times, and I got born. Not much else to say. You can see it's given me magic, agility, and a certain amount of stealth. Other than that, there's nothing left to say," Hathcyn shrugged.
Murtagh and Arya were silent.
"Is he telling the truth?" he asked Arya.
"For once, yes, I am," Hathcyn answered.
"I didn't ask you," Murtagh snapped.
"Glenwing did meet a human woman he liked very much," Arya said. "He is a half elf. Of that much, I'm sure."
"Well, now that we've cleared that up and I've returned all you stolen valuables, I really don't see why I should stay," Hathcyn said, clasping his hands together and getting up.
Murtagh and Arya didn't pay attention. They were both looking at the egg. Thin cracks were appearing on its surface.
"Why is that stone cracking?" Hathcyn asked. "You know, that really isn't my fault. I didn't touch it. Well, I did touch it, but not hard enough to break it. By the gods, why are you ignoring me?"
A wing burst out of the egg. Hathcyn's blue-gray eyes widened.
"Oh dear," he said.
An awkward green thing pulled itself out of the shell. It was encased in a thin membrane, and its wide emerald eyes stared at him. He supposed it was attractive. In its own way. He put out a hand to touch it. He pulled it away gasping in pain.
"Stupid thing burned me," he howled.
Murtagh sucked in his breath. This intruder was to be a rider?
If Galbatorix doesn't kill him out of annoyance, Thorn put in.
There's a point, Murtagh agreed.
"That's the gedwëy ignasia," Arya explained. She was hoping to keep this half elf from being too happy about being in Galbatorix's service. Perhaps being kind to him would help.
"The shining palm?" Hathcyn shrugged. "Not the most creative name, but that's neither here nor there." He stared at his palm. There was indeed a silver marking on it.
"You're the next rider?" Murtagh asked. He sounded as though he were being led to his execution.
"Hey, the thing hatched for me, remember? It's not my fault if its standards are lax," Hathcyn retorted.
"Stop calling it a thing," Murtagh ordered.
"Dragons are very rare and very powerful. They're extremely intelligent, and if they deign to take a rider, they set up a bond that can never be broken," Arya explained.
"So, it burned me to establish a bond?" Hathcyn muttered. "Not the way I would have chosen to do it, but each to his own." He reached out and stroked the dragon's head. It rumbled in contentment.
"Needs a name," he decided. "What do you want to be named?" he asked it.
He felt something touching his mind. He quickly put up his defenses and turned to Murtagh and Arya and yelled, "Hey, I know I tried to rob you two, but will you please get out of my mind?"
"It's the dragon," Arya explained. "Soon it will be able to talk to you."
"What is it? Male or female?" he asked.
"Male," Murtagh replied. "There's only one female dragon in existence, and she belongs to the Varden."
"I'll think of something when you can talk," Hathcyn decided. He patted the dragon on its head. It snapped at him.
"He doesn't like that," Arya said.
"Funnily enough, I figured that one out on my own," Hathcyn mumbled. "Not exactly sure what my first clue was, but…"
Murtagh glanced at Arya and then at Thorn. This new rider would likely drive him insane before long.
Look on the bright side, Thorn comforted. We have our rider for the king.
I'll give you that, Murtagh said.
Galbatorix walked down to the lowest dungeon. There wasn't even a guard posted there. If any prisoner tried to escape, the guards on the higher floors would catch them. Besides, this particular prisoner was in no condition to escape.
He opened the cell door and stared down at the woman lying on the cot near the side. Her rounded cheek-bones were more prominent than ever from lack of food. Her once long and lustrous black curls were dank and streaked with gray. Her skin, which had been darkened from years in the southern countries when he captured her, was now sallow from seventeen years away from the sun. Her almond-shaped gray eyes that had once been so full of life stared at him dully. She had once been beautiful. It hadn't been dazzling or cold but rather pleasant and inviting. It had faded away into nothingness.
She smiled at him. Galbatorix didn't return the look.
"You have little reason to smile at me, Andizhan," he remarked.
"It is not you at whom I smile," she said softly. Her throat was too dry to raise her voice.
"Then why do you?" he asked.
"I finished getting rid of my gift two weeks ago. It took me seventeen years to do it so that you wouldn't know what I was doing, but it's paid off," she said. Her smile widened.
"You lie!" he shouted.
Andizhan shook her head. The smile still had not faded. "I'm too weak to keep up a lie. You know that. And wouldn't that account for something? When you first saw me make my greatest mistake one hundred and fifty years ago, I didn't look a day older than twenty five. When you glimpsed me before the fall of the riders and sent you Foresworn to capture me, I didn't look a day old than twenty five. When they lost my trail and I finally arrived in a country far south, I still didn't look a day older than twenty five. Seventeen years ago, when you captured me, I still didn't look a day older than twenty five. Now, I must look at least fifty. But it's nothing compared to how old I feel. Every one of my two hundred years weighs on me. I'm dying. I'm dying, and I'll have given you nothing," she whispered.
"You will give me something," Galbatorix retorted. "You will tell to whom you gave your gift."
"No, I will not," she whispered.
"Then I will force it from you," Galbatorix roared. He strode over to her and was about to put his hand on her head when she spoke again.
"You'll kill me if you do that," Andizhan protested quietly. "I'll put up feeble barriers that will drain my strength, and you'll break through them and kill me. Maybe you'll get the name, and maybe you won't. You won't know where to look. You don't know anything about what I did those years I was gone. Your magicians have failed to access that part of me. All you ever looked for was that one little word. Now, when those years could do you good, I am too weak to endure a probing from you. Ironic, isn't it? You really are too powerful for your own."
Galbatorix slapped her. He felt her bones rattle from the blow's force. Those were the words he had heard one of the elders speak about him. He had killed that elder, and he was so close to killing Andizhan.
"You can give me one thing before you die," he said at last, regaining his calm.
"Who say I want to do anything for you?" Andizhan asked. "I had two things to live for. One of them died last year. Now the other thing I had to live for has become the thing I will die for."
"Tell me what exactly your gift entails. Speak to me of that which you cannot give. Would that make you happy, Andizhan of the Greyfolk?" he asked.
"The one who has my gift will begin to feel it stir within very soon. She will not know of that one thing which you desire for many years, and only I will know when she knows. But I will be dead before she knows," Andizhan whispered.
"Tell me of the gift," he repeated.
"There are three things it gives: immortality, a complete and thorough knowledge of the Ancient and Language, and a decent amount of magic. Of course, that magic would never amount to that of the riders if it weren't for that one little word," Andizhan explained.
"What is the word?" he asked, unintentionally entranced.
"But you cannot say that word. You heard saw me whisper it when you first saw me. You knew what I whispered. You knew what I meant. But you could not say it the way I said it. Your mind cannot grasp it, neither can your lips pronounce it," she continued.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Once I knew it well. Once it was part of me. I used it once, and that was all I could ever use it, for its power was too great for me to wield again. Do you know how much I regret that? I used it the only time I could to stop a shade and a pirate fleet. If I had waited and let the riders do what they would with it, I could have stopped the fall," Andizhan continued further.
"What is it?" he shouted, pulling her up and shaking her like a rag doll.
"Weren't you listening? I can't remember. For seventeen years, I've been unable to say it quite right or remember it exactly. Now, I can't even tell you its first letter," she answered.
Galbatorix let go of her and drew in his breath.
"Poor Galbatorix," she whispered mockingly. "You want it so badly, but you cannot get it."
He punched her in the face. She collapsed back onto her cot.
"Mock me again, and your life is forfeit," he threatened.
"Do to me what you will," she rasped. "I've been wishing I was dead for a long time now."
He was about to risk his chances of ever knowing what he wish to know and drive into Andizhan's mind when a knock resounded on the cell door. He turned and saw a small, skinny, and pale blond girl standing there. She curtsied quickly before saying, "Your majesty, the Lord Murtagh has returned. He says he brings good tidings."
Galbatorix withdrew his hand and said, "The healers will fix you. You'll be able to stand my probing."
"Losing my gift has given me an aversion to healing," Andizhan said. She almost laughed.
Galbatorix smiled back at her. She was hoping falsely. He'd breach her mind yet.
Yes, Hathcyn is the next rider, and yes, I added a new dimension to my plot. Does anyone have any guesses about who Andizhan is or what the one little word is? Just wondering. Also, does anyone have any ideas for names for Hathcyn's dragon? Here are the review responses. Oh, and Merry Christmas.
Daydreamin' Angel: Well, Murtagh and Nasuada didn't actually proclaim their love for each other, but they were both in love. I like your idea about Eragon though. That would be a good idea. I'm glad you like Hathcyn. I like him too. Yes, he is the next rider. Any name ideas for the dragon?
Ebz: That name actually came from Beowulf, an epic poem we read last year in English. I'll bet you liked this chapter because there was no romance in it.
Rock Not War: I hope he still seems interesting. I'll probably put more in about his background later.
Fredsonetrueluv: Like I said, I got the name Hathcyn from Beowulf. I hope you like him as a character. I'm glad you liked that last chapter, and I hope you like this one.
Siwenliu: Thanks. Hathcyn is pretty strong; it'll become apparent later exactly how strong he is. And he's not working for the king. Yet.
Embry: Thanks. I hope you liked this chapter.
Inyellel: Congrats. I still have to take my midterm. Anyway, I'm glad you liked this chapter. You put fan fiction on the site by going to document manager. When you get on that, go down to the bottom of the page where it says browse. Open that, find you document, and click on it. That should enter in the file for file on computer. Then name it, and click enter. I hope that was helpful. I'm not the world's best teacher.