"I can't do it!" Amaya whispered to Murtagh as they were walking down the hall.
"Why not? Had too many drinks last night?" he said.
"No." she shook her head "But he'll get it…"
"He will if you keep talking about it!" he rolled his eyes.
"Where do I go?" she asked "Right or left?"
"Amaya!" he gave her an angry look "Just go down the hall and turn left! Is that so hard to memorize?"
"No…yes?" she said nervously "I tend to forget things when I'm nervous!"
"Go now!" he actually pushed her forward before he entered the throne room. Amaya reluctantly went down the hall. She sighed before entering the secret hall. It was so dark in there that she had to use magic to make some light.
"Eww!" she cried "This place is full of spiders!"
Finally she reached the secret room which was actually shiny.
"Fuck!" she stared at the Eldunari "Where did he get all these?"
Amaya stood there for a second, undecided. She didn't know was the king watching her or was he really distracted. She wasn't sure what to do.
"Ah, whatever." she shivered "He'll kill me anyway."
She gathered all her strength and whispered the spell. The Eldunari was finally in the air and it seemed like it was glowing even more. Amaya got scared and she stopped the spell. The Eldunari fell down on the stone floor, breaking in the thousand pieces. Just two shiny stones stayed untouched.
"Shit!" Amaya panicked, lifting them in the air again and then dropping them. This time one of them broke, but the other one was still without a scratch.
"Ok, that's it!" Amaya went over to the Eldunari, picking it up and throwing it at the wall. Suddenly she felt the sharp pain in her head and fell down on the floor. Galbatorix found out what they were doing. She reached the Eldunari somehow and concentrated on protecting her mind. Suddenly the pain was gone.
"Oh, maybe I'll reconsider breaking you." she smiled at the Eldunari, putting it in her pocket and running back to the secret hall to get out. Murtagh was waiting for her outside already.
"Come!" he grabbed her arm and they ran out of the castle.
"Where are we going?" she yelled "What about Galbatorix?"
"Eragon is coming. Thorn saw them. We're going away from here." he said "Galbatorix is just under impression after loosing his power."
"Did you kill him?" she asked.
"No." he said "I can't do it because I swore to him I won't."
"Oh, crap." she said "But what if he kills us?"
"Well, I didn't swear I won't tie him up and close his mouth." Murtagh smiled.
"Oh, nice." she smiled. As they were getting on Thorn's back, they saw Eragon, magicians and soldiers coming.
"Go to the Varden. We'll meet there later." yelled Eragon to them "No one will hurt you. I promise!"
"Are we really going to the Varden?" asked Amaya as they were flying away from the castle.
"Yes." he said "Why?"
"Well…I'm not sure that's a good idea." she said.
"They won't hurt us. We helped them." he said.
"How can you be so sure?" she asked "Eragon is not there."
"They're not like you." he said "He's like something special for them. They don't want to make him angry."
"I have some unfinished business with the Varden." she said.
"And you'll keep having it…" he said "I won't let you make more problems for us."
"But…!" she complained "Come on, they wouldn't notice if one of them was missing!"
"Don't be so sure." he said "They're not stupid."
"I want my revenge." she said.
"What revenge?" he said "Your father killed someone, they killed him. Everything's clear."
"Yeah, but…" she said "It's not really like that."
"Oh, no?" he said "You're going to kill someone's father, so that person will come after you…and so on…"
"I haven't thought about it like that." she said "Maybe you're right."
"Of course I'm right." he said "Let it go. Besides, what if that man is a magician or something?"
"Oh." she said "But I have…"
"What?" he was curious.
"Nothing." she smiled innocently "I maybe have more reasons…"
"Really?" he was suspicious.
"Umm, yeah." she said "That man doesn't know I want to kill him…and why…"
"You won't kill anyone." he said "Just forget it."
"Fine." she said.
"Murtagh!" Nasuada almost ran to him when she saw him, but then she stopped, trying to make her face look expressionless. Amaya looked at her curiously.
"Nasuada." Murtagh said.
"Well, hey!" Amaya waved "You're not going to kill us, right?"
"No." Nasuada said "No one is going to hurt you. I assure you."
"Thanks!" Amaya smiled "Are you married?"
"Excuse me?" Nasuada looked at her surprised.
"Are you married?" Amaya repeated her question and Murtagh looked at her annoyed.
"No, I'm not." Nasuada said "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I was just curious." Amaya smiled.
"How are you, Murtagh?" Nasuada asked.
"I'm fine." he said "And you?"
"Ah, fine. I guess." she smiled.
"Umm." Amaya smiled "I have to go somewhere…to do something…you know."
"Where are you going?" Murtagh looked at her surprised.
"Ah, you just stay here. Enjoy the conversation." she said and left.
"Amaya!" Murtagh called her name.
"Yes?" she looked at him.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"Clearing my thoughts." she said "Dark woods seemed nice for that."
"Didn't you think it might be dangerous?" he said.
"No. Galbatorix can't get here, right?" she said.
"I just came to tell you Galbatorix is gone. Forever." he said.
"Yay!" Amaya almost jumped on him.
"Yes, everyone is celebrating." he said "Eragon just came back. The others will come later."
"That's great news." she smiled "But what now?"
"After the celebration, they will decide who will be the new king or leader." he said.
"Nasuada." she said.
"Yes, she's one of the suggested for the place." he said.
"Right." she smiled "You know, I found that guy."
"What?" Murtagh looked at her in shock.
"I found the guy who killed my father." she said.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Nothing." she said.
"Really?" he almost didn't believe it.
"Yeah, I saw this man…he was also happy and his family was with him." she said quietly "I knew it was him. I found it in his mind. He wasn't even a magician!"
"Then what happened?" he asked.
"I guess I got wrong information." she shrugged "This man just tried to save his family. And my father…I realized there was nothing to avenge."
"Oh." he said "You just surprised me."
"Well, I'm not always a crazy bitch." she said "I just realized I couldn't do it. My father wasn't careful and this man came behind his back and killed him."
"You should forget about it all then." he said, hugging her gently.
"Yeah, I guess I should." she said "Well, I'm going soon."
"Going where?" he looked at her surprised.
"What did you talk about with Nasuada?" she asked.
"You're changing the subject." he said "Where are you going?"
"I won't tell you unless you tell me what you said to her." she said.
"We talked about the Empire, the Varden…the future." he said.
"You what?" she rolled her eyes "Oh, come on! I didn't leave you two alone to talk about crap!"
"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.
"Oh, you silly people." she said "Oh, please. I'm not that stupid. I saw how you look at each other!"
"It's not like that…" he said.
"Don't be stupid. Marry her!" she said "Oh, come on. Don't look at me like that!"
"You're crazy." he said.
"I am, but you still have to do it!" she said "Look. You like her, she likes you…she seems nice, plus she'll be the Queen of the Empire."
"Even if I do that…" he said "That's my thing. You won't tell me what to do."
"Yeah, whatever." she said "I won't tell her about us, so I can at least tell you what to do."
"Tell me where you are going." he said.
"Ha! Who's changing the subject now?" she laughed "I'm going home!"
"Home?" he said "Well, I guess that's reasonable."
"Yeah, I want to see my family actually." she said "And find that hot soldier. I can't stop thinking about him…oh, dear…ah, and show something I have to my family so they can be jealous. The shiniest jewelry ever! "
"What do you have? You keep saying it…" he said suspiciously.
"I won't tell you." she smiled.
"Tell me." he whispered her true name. She stared at him in shock.
"What the fuck?" she was surprised and happy in the same time "You can't…! Oh! I'm free!"
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"I don't know." she was excited "Fool's luck! Or maybe if I didn't kill that guy...oh! But hey, I'm free! Free!"
"Yes, you are." he smiled "I guess it wouldn't be fair if I was free from Galbatorix and you weren't from me."
"Oh, I'm so happy!" she almost started to cry "This is just…awesome!"
"Yes, I see you're touched." he said "I guess you can get back to normal life."
"Normal…" she smiled "Right. If I find out what that is!"
"When are you leaving?" he said.
"Right after I say goodbye to Thorn." she said.
"Sure." he smiled "Well, I hope we'll be seeing each other…"
"Oh, don't forget to send me an invitation for your wedding." she said.
"Stop it!" he said.
"Just send me…okay?" she laughed "I'll send you mine."
"Are you really sure that man likes you?" he asked.
"Oh, he does." she smiled "If not…he will."
"Will you tell me what that thing you have is?" he said "For good old times?"
"Kiss me." she whispered.
"Here. Will you tell me now?" he said after kissing her cheek.
"I have…one of the…Eldunari." she winked at him.
"What?" he was shocked.
"This one didn't want to break." she said, showing him the Eldunari and putting it back to her pocket "And it kinda saved my life."
"Are you going to keep it?" he asked.
"Yes, of course!" she said.
"You're so evil!" he said "And what about the poor dragon's soul inside?"
"Fuck that." she smiled "But if you ever need help…you'll find me."
"Thorn won't like this idea." he said.
"Oh, come on!" she said "It's not like he's inside!"
"You haven't changed a bit!" he laughed "I want my power over you back!"
"Ah, you don't have to change completely...I think." she said "We didn't really know how it works, did we?"
"Probably one letter changed." he said "I'll figure that out."
"No, you won't!" she said.
"I guess this is goodbye." he said "Be careful."
"As always!" she said "Bye."
THE END
Disclaimer:I don't own the characters; they all belong to Christopher Paolini except Amaya and other characters you don't recognize as Paolini's.
Author's note: Thanks everyone for reading!