Chapter 10: Meet the family
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I've been lazy. I hope this chapter is long enough to make up for it. Enjoy!
Murtagh didn't even bother to tell Allia his only living relative was Eragon. But no doubt she'd look at him like he was insane and tell him other wise.
So he simply followed the girl across the large pathway and through a labyrinth of uneven pathways until they stood in front of an enormous sapphire blue tent.
"Be prepared," was all she said before slipping through the flap and into the tent. He followed.
The main part of the tent would have been spacious if not for the clutter. The tent walls were layered with maps of cities, counties, and camps. Child's toys, loose papers and various knick-knacks were scattered across the worn, ornamental rugs. Hundreds of charms, bundles, jars, pots and pans hung from the ceiling by thin strings.
A large pot hung over a dull fire in the very center of the room, the smoke drifting up and out of the tent from a hole directly above it.
Two long tables ran along the walls to the left and right of the door flap, creating large counters. These, like the rest of the tent, were covered in too many things to list.
There were three people in the room.
One, the only man, sat in the far corner at a small, decently tidy, section of counter. He had dark blonde hair that was cropped to his head. His arms were layered in ink.
The younger of the two women was stirring the large pot with great effort, sweat smeared across her brow. Her hair was a little darker than the man's; her eyes were dark and pensive.
The older was sitting on a short stool, sharpening one of five blades in front of her. Her hair was dark brown with thick streaks of gray running through it.
The second they entered the room every eye focused on them. Complete silence left only a strange sense of anticipation to fill the air.
Finally the silence was broken by the man, who smiled as he said, "It's been quite awhile hasn't it, Murtagh?"
"I… uh- I suppose," he stuttered. "Who are you? All of you?"
"I suppose you wouldn't remember. Your mother brought you here when you were four. We," the man gestured to the two women. "Are your mothers family. And yours."
"I thought I had no family," he stuttered as Allia put her hand on his shoulder and led him to one of the seats at the large table. She sat on the stool beside him, not removing her hand from his shoulder.
The others followed the example and came to sit across from them. The girl brought a bowl with her, which she placed in front of him with a spoon.
Murtagh stared at the thick porridge as the woman began explaining.
"I assume Allia has told you of our people. Yes? Good. Well, you see Murtagh, most of our women, it is very uncommon for us to have boys we don't know why it just is, don't marry. They simply have their children out of wedlock. And it's not at all uncommon for the women who do marry to leave us for a simpler life. That is what happened to your mother's family. Some generations back a daughter of fire married a man in Carvahall and gave up one life for another. The magic stayed in the blood of course, but none of the woman's descendants had it actively. Until your mother and uncle. They were both had great potential. It is… unfortunate that only your mother chose to seek what her powers could give her."
"She left Carvahall. That was when I met her. By pure chance actually. She was traveling alone so we agreed to share a fire with her for the night. I, and my companions, would never have known what she was if we hadn't been raided that night by a band of bandits. She used what little she knew of her magic to fight them with the campfire. As did we. She had no Coven. The knowledge of her fire Coven had died with her ancestor. She was just a young girl without a purpose. So she joined our family. She was a story teller, and my best friend."
The woman choked, her eyes brimming with tears. "Forgive me we forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Nadya. This is my daughter Drina, and my husband Harman."
Drina and Harman smiled at him.
"You'll be staying in your mother's old quarters. Her things are still there, but there's room for your things as well. Allia will show you after you finish your breakfast." Nadya smiled once more, walked around the table and gave him a quick hug before returning to her blades. The other too followed her example.
"Kizzy and Tsura will be back for lunch so you can meet them then. Cole will be back mid afternoon, after training. He's looking forward to having a young man closer to his age around." Harman added with another smile before returning to his workstation.
Murtagh finished his breakfast quickly and stood up. Allia followed his example.
She got up, grabbed his arm and led him through the door-sized curtain in the center of the canvas that served as a far wall. The bead curtain lead to a plain canvas hallway, that was completely empty except for a thick pole that supported the tent. It was buried in the ground. There were three beaded doorways, unevenly spaced, on either side of the hallway and one at the end.
"The first one on the left is Kizzy's room. It joins with Tsura's, which is the next doorway. Beyond that is Cole's room. Then at the end of the hallway is Nadya and Harman's room. I know it looks like it takes up the entire back of the tent but it doesn't. The farthest curtain on the right is Thorn's room it extends back so there's room for him. Your room is the one in the middle. It's joined with Thorn's. Mine is the only one left."
She led him into his room. It was small and, like most of the tent, cluttered. The furniture consisted of one cot with deep maroon bedding that matched the carpet, a dark wooden writing desk, and half-a-dozen trunks that lined the small room. At the foot of the cot, which lies on the far left from the door, was the bead door that led to Thorn's room.
Murtagh walked through the blue-lit room and sat on the cot. He turned to Allia. She smiled at him and turned to leave.
She was literally half way out the door, when she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and Murtagh?"
"Yeah?"
"Since I'll be in the room next to you try not to snore as loudly as you did last night."
Ha, Thorn snickered loudly in his head.
"And tell Thorn the same extends to him!"
Ha!
A/N: Please review!!