And now, to address my reviewers, because they had good input. In general, of course Galbatorix (I just can't bring myself to call him Galby...) has to step in and make their lives miserable. As for why he hasn't already, Galbatorix is a patient man. He's waiting for Alyssa to grow up enough to be useful. Now for specifics (sorry if your name doesn't show up, FF is being stupid today):

Witchy Pixie: Yes, it's fast. It's more like connected oneshots than a story. It's just easier for me to write that way. And funner. But as Alyssa grows up it'll be more like chapters.

Restrained Freedom: I personally thought Galbatorix was good in Inheritance until that kid rant I went on about. He has a cool character, and I enjoy writing him. But sadly, yes, the bubble has to pop. Here's our evil king, the leaderless rebellion will be addressed next chapter.

NormalityIsNonexistent: Kudos for giving me five reviews. You are now my favorite person.

TrappedInWonderland: Thank you :) I don't have kids, but I do have three little siblings (one of which is upstairs singing to himself at the moment) and from my experience with them, that was what I imagined being a new parent would feel like, especially for Nasuada.

Franny Mika: I work with toddlers, I'm an expert on cute.

Warrior of the Flock of Music Shines: You are not the only one disappointed at the ending. I tried to find a way to fix it but I just ended up with another original story -_-. Alyssa is one of my favorite names, too.

Thank you all for reviewing! And thank you to those who favorited or suscribed to story alert. You all deserve kudos.

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

-Sun Tzu

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Nasuada could not bring herself to worry over Galbatorix as of yet. Alyssa did not see much of him, as he did not seek her out, and on the rare occasion both parents were indisposed, Thorn was watching her governess very closely.

It was something, Galbatorix surely knew, they would have done no matter what world they lived in. So he left them be, content to see the child on the rare days her parents deigned it acceptable to bring her with them on whatever duty they were currently fulfilling.

As she grew to be a toddler, he saw her less. From the way her parents complained about the constantly broken state of both child and rooms, he was more than aware she was becoming too much of a handful to bring to dinner, as opposed to the gurgling baby in her mother's lap.

For the first years of her life, Galbatorix and Alyssa met sporadically. Whenever he saw her he would offer her a false smile, and she would show a flash of bright happiness in return. She usually responded well to him, and though his contact with her was watched closely, he would speak with her of trivial matters, worming his way into her head. She would stare up at him with wide, innocent eyes, listening intently. Her cheerful, carefree manner was a welcome distraction to the rest of his palace, but to him it promised ignorance later in life. Optimism.

And his favorite, her childhood personality presented the possibility that she would never see past his lies.

"There used to be thousands of dragons. There were so many they blocked out the sky." He told her, watching the three-year-old at his feet play with a doll in the shape of a lion. She enjoyed it far more than the frilly dolls he'd presented her. Her inclination towards wild and dangerous animals was promising.

Her eyes widened, meeting his without fear. It was the first time she had been generally alone with him. Nasuada was across the room negotiating a trade agreement with representatives of several cities, Murtagh at her side, and Thorn was at the window, keeping a watchful eye on the playing girl at the feet of the king.

Galbatorix had to admire the child's eyes. She was already a beautiful specimen, her skin a shade of caramel, her mother's noble face, high cheekbones and a very convincing neutral expression. What she gained from her mother soothed her father's rough edges, but as she grew Galbatorix began to compare her to Morzan.

Her hair, like her father's, was thick and dark, though like her mother's it shone in the light, like copper and brass. Her lips were perfect for pouting, and her eyes were wide and innocent, her irises bright and her dark pupils contrasting their color into prominence.

Her eyes were a unique mixture of green and silver, green as the last dragon's egg on first glance, but muddled with swirls of startling silver upon further inspection.

Nasuada tried to make her presentable, but Alyssa often found ways to pull her hair down or tear her dress or fall into a mud puddle, so Nasuada had taken to dressing her in boy's clothing, her long, tangled chestnut curls the only indicator otherwise.

With her stuffed lion and pretty eyes and curls bouncing on her shoulders, Galbatorix thought it suited her well.

"Daddy says you hab a dagon." She spoke in a high pitch, as children to, slightly mispronouncing her words, but clear enough to understand and innocent in intent, unafraid to ask such a thing of the king.

Galbatorix nodded, leaning back into his chair. "That I do. You shall meet him one day, I'm sure."

She smiled brightly. "I lub dagons. Dagons are pwetty."

It took Galbatorix a moment to decipher her speech, inwardly groaning and wishing she would outgrow such speech quickly. "Yes, of course." He narrowed his eyes at her, an idea forming in his mind. "You like Thorn?"

She nodded, giggling. "Torn is daddy's bbbeeessssttttest friend. Torn take me fwying. Torn say, he lub me foreeeevvver. Like mommy and daddy!" She waved at Thorn outside the window and giggled when he winked at her, holding her lion close.

Galbatorix let his gaze flick to Nasuada and Murtagh, deep in negotiations, and then to Thorn, who only had eyes for the girl.

The king watched the girl, playing happily with the toy he had given her, her parents so far away and Thorn so close by, and an idea began to form in his mind.

The possibilities of such a child were endless, but surely one of his minor alterations would be useful for this one thing…surely, this one thing would hold the doors of possibility wide open.

Galbatorix's dark eyes studied Alyssa's green.

And then he smiled.