Chapter 10

"Kili?" Charlotte thought, confused. So Durik was an alias too? Wow, this guy must have lots of reasons to hide his identity. She grew curious about his past. What made it so he had to cover up his identity like that?

Charlotte thought of another thing that didn't seem to add up, other than the mystery of how years ago, she had suddenly been transported to Murtagh's house. The time frame during which it occurred didn't make sense at all. She had saved him when she was twenty-two. It had been a few months after the Sean incident, and seeing Murtagh get abused had struck a chord of empathy in her. Even though what he suffered was way more severe, it reminded her of her own pain, and she didn't think anyone deserved that.

Since she was now twenty-eight, that meant she had saved Murtagh six years ago. And Murtagh said that he was ten when it happened. But he was eighteen when his age was 'frozen' due to becoming a dragon rider. So, that meant he was older than that. The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit together. Did Murtagh remember it wrong? Could it be possible that it actually happened when he was thirteen or fourteen?

At night, as she slept, Charlotte had a dream. She was walking along a countryside path. She looked around at her surroundings and saw a large tree root next to her. She followed it for a mile, and it led her to Arla. Strangely enough, Arla was not in the state it was in before, in her last dream. The once-beautiful flowers had shrivelled up and died. Some of the branches had fallen off. She grew a little sad, thinking of the conversation she had with Eragon in her last dream. He loved the tree so much. He must be sad to see it in its current state.

Wait, if I'm having this dream, Eragon must be here! she realized. She got excited, despite her sadness about Arla. She would see Eragon again! She kept her eye out for him while she made her way to the other side of the tree. She glimpsed a hooded figure wearing a cloak. Eragon? But hoods didn't seem to be Eragon's style. It was too… dark for him. She went toward the figure anyway. Hearing her footsteps, the hooded figure glanced up at her. It was Eragon!

"Oh, hi Eragon!" Charlotte greeted him happily.

"Hello, Charlotte," Eragon said in a soft voice. Instead of his usual smile and bright, happy eyes, he looked sad and his eyes were downcast, lacking their usual energy.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

After a pause, Eragon answered, "I just don't know what to do."

"...Is this about Murtagh?" Charlotte asked.

Eragon looked up, "How… how did you know?"

"Well, I am a part of the Varden, after all. I've heard a bit about your relationship with him, so I guessed that's what made you feel troubled."

Eragon said, "I just hate him so much. He's done so many bad things. I get that he's being controlled, but sometimes, it seems like he goes beyond what he's ordered to do…" He broke off. He frowned and said, "And just because he's being controlled doesn't mean that he's not a threat. It may not be his fault, but it still makes him as dangerous and big of a problem to the Varden."

Charlotte sensed that Eragon wanted to say something more, and he seemed to have a lot of pent-up emotions about the topic, so she stayed silent and waited for him to continue. She patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"It's all my fault," Eragon suddenly choked out. His tone had completely changed. The anger directed at Murtagh before seemed to be a façade. Just a way for him to try and stay sane and block out his guilt.

"You see," he explained, "He was taken to Galbatorix during a battle when he was staying with the Varden. I was travelling with him before that, and he really didn't want to go to the Varden, but because of me, he ended up going. If I hadn't convinced him or if I hadn't met him then, he would be free right now. He would probably be living a much better life than he is now."

Charlotte squeezed his shoulder. She felt so much sympathy for him. Fate had given out a cruel hand to Eragon and Murtagh. "I understand why you're feeling this, but Eragon, as much as it hurts to acknowledge this, there's nothing we can do to change the past. What matters now is the present. You could work to help Murtagh, try to make things better for him. Then slowly, you could solve the mistakes of the past. Just because you can't directly go back and change everything, it doesn't mean you are powerless with his fate. I believe in you. You have the power to make things right."

Eragon sighed and looked into Charlotte's eyes. "Thanks," he said.

"Do you need a hug?" Charlotte asked him. She hugged him before he had a chance to say anything, because he looked like he could really use one.

Eragon tensed up in surprise for a moment. Then, he relaxed and hugged her back. They stayed like that for a few seconds, and when they pulled away, Eragon wore a small smile on his face. He had regained a grain of his usual light aura. "Wow, you must be some sort of sorceress," he said.

Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me? Do I look like a sorceress to you?"

Eragon laughed and clarified, "No, I didn't mean it as an insult. I meant that you must be a sorceress to turn my mood around like that. I feel so much better now. I really feel like I could change things for the better. Thank you for that." He beamed.

Durik announced the new orders that he had just received from Lady Nasuada, head of the Varden. She had told him that she and some of her top-ranking officers would be taking over Murtagh's interrogation. They were allowed a week of time off. A whole week! Charlotte was surprised that they would receive a break after so much had happened. Durik explained that Nasuada acknowledged the great work they had done. Capturing Murtagh was no easy task, and they had fulfilled it, thus she deemed they deserved a reward. Besides, many lives were lost during that mission. The week off would also serve as time for the agents to recollect themselves and grieve for their friends.

Murtagh was still chained up in the torturing chamber. He felt so exhausted, not to mention extremely dehydrated as well. His vision was fuzzy. Now and then, he would become more conscious, and things would look clearer. Then, they would go back to the usual fuzziness. At least the wound inflicted on his leg had been healed by Eragon. At the sound of soft footsteps, he raised his bleary eyes. He could make out a figure in a dark cloak moving toward him. He saw that the figure was female. She lifted up her hood, and stared at him.

Murtagh was startled by how piercing her eyes were. He felt as if he had to turn away, or else she would pierce through him and see his deepest, darkest secrets.

She knelt down to his level and met his eyes once more. She revealed a small water pouch from the inside folds of her cloak. "I have brought water for you."

Murtagh looked suspicious. Was she here to poison him?

She said, "Come on, it's good water. You can drink it. I swear it's not laced with poison or anything." She took a swig of it herself to show him that it was safe.

Reassured, he took the pouch. After gulping down the water in a matter of seconds, Murtagh asked her warily, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you helping me?"

She said, "That's irrelevant for now. What you should be asking is 'Can you really grant me one of my greatest wishes?'"

"One of my greatest wishes?" Murtagh looked puzzled.

She answered, "Yes. In fact, I can. I can offer you an opportunity to redeem yourself. I can present you with a way to change the past."