Can't Hurt Her

Disclaimer: I just own Marin. Everything else belongs to CP.

Saphira landed a little less than half a league from Gil'ead. Marin rolled out of her saddle and fell to the ground gratefully. Oh gods, she still hated heights.

Murtagh and Eragon dismounted after her. She finally looked up from the newly and wonderfully appealing ground to see that Eragon was examining Saphira's wings. Her eyes could barely make out small dents and gashes on the thin membranes.

Eragon called Murtagh over and said, "Hold her down. I have to remove this arrow." Murtagh gripped the wing where Eragon had indicated as Saphira took hold of a large sapling with her teeth. As soon as Eragon pulled the shaft out of her wing, she whimpered in pain and clipped Murtagh under the chin, sending him flying.

Marin stuffed her fist into her mouth to fight a laugh. It was refreshing to see the ever-so-coordinated Murtagh being thrown through the air. As the young man pulled himself up Marin had to release her laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"I-i-i's nuttin'. I's jus' nice t' see someone who ain' me messin' up," she managed to gasp out.

"Well, you'd know all about messing up, wouldn't you?" he asked. Eragon looked at him questioningly. Murtagh ignored him. The blue rider turned to Saphira and said something to her. He then hugged her, and she took off with the unconscious elf on her back.

Marin then looked back at Murtagh. He was staring at her face. No, he was staring at the bruise on it. His eyes flicked down to the marks on her neck, and then to the shortness of her dress.

"What do you mean?" Eragon asked, vocalizing his obvious question.

"Ask Marin," he said quietly.

"What is he talking about?" Eragon asked her.

"I dunno," she lied. "Go' 'im up the shoo', I did. Didn' do nuttin' wrong in Gil'ead."

"Accepting the fact that you got into a fight with a shade, tried and failed to shoot him, and then had to rely on me to get yourself out of trouble," Murtagh said. "Oh, and let's not forget the fact that you got beaten before you got up the shoot."

"'Ow…" she began.

"Your face is bruised as is your neck," he replied. "Be more careful." He then glanced at the awkwardly cut pockets in her dress. "What did you do with that money you got from the guard?"
She pulled the pouch out of the pocket and returned it.

"What are you going to do with it?" he asked.

"Use i' when I need i'," she said with a shrug.

"And you're not going to pay us back for the money we've lent you?" he asked.

Marin gaped at him.

"Murtagh, she doesn't have to," Eragon said.

"I earn my keep," she muttered. "I've go' ya'll outta trouble afore."

"And we've gotten you out of a great deal more," Murtagh said.

Marin's nerves were at an end. How many times would he reference her past? How long until Eragon figured it out?
"Mayhap," she said. "Still, ain' ya go' enough?"

He stared at her.

"I suppose so," he said. "Keep it." There was something about the way he said, "Keep it," that infuriated her. It was something a man would say to her if he liked her trick and gave her an extra coin. She felt her anger rising. She knew she should shut up before he said something, but her mouth wouldn't.

"Ain' ya go' i' all cep' security?" she asked. "If ya believe tha', even."
Murtagh narrowed his eyes, and Marin knew that she'd gone too far.

"Do you want me to hate you?" he shouted. "Are you trying to make me angry? Does it give you pleasure?"

"Firs' ya think I wan' ya t' love me, and now ya think I wan' ya t' 'ate me?" she said. "Make up your bloody mind!"

"You make up yours," he retorted. "What do you want to be?"

"I though' ya said a leopard doesn' change i's spo's," she shot back.

"I did," he agreed, "and you just proved it."
"Yeah?" she asked. She didn't know why she was on the verge of tears. This was ridiculous. She'd been called a hundred things worse than this. "Well ya did too."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Something about she said seemed to affect him very deeply, even more deeply than what he'd said to her.

She didn't answer. She couldn't tell him that she'd only said it because she couldn't think of anything better to say.

"What did you mean by that?" he repeated, grabbing her wrists and raising his voice.

He was going to hit her, and he'd be just as bad as the rest of them.

"Murtagh!" Eragon yelled.

Murtagh did nothing, only stared at her eyes. He seemed to register their fear, and then a look of disgust crossed his face as he dropped her arm and walked away, sitting down on the ground, his head in his hands.

"We need to move," Eragon said to him. He looked at Marin and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Aye," she said quietly. She was still shaken. Murtagh had been ready to hit her, and then something had stopped him. That something hadn't been Eragon; at least she didn't think it had been. What had it been then? She mounted Cadoc and rode off behind Eragon and Murtagh. A line of torches followed them. She was suddenly very relieved to have that horse.

'Oo'd a knowed tha' i' would come t' this? she thought. She wasn't sure what she was referring to.

After many bleary hours of riding—during which Marin had fallen asleep twice and had had to be awakened by Eragon and Murtagh respectively—Eragon finally said the much anticipated words, "We have to make camp. I must sleep—whether they catch us or not."

"Agreed," Murtagh said. "Have Saphira land. We'll meet her."

They followed Saphira's directions and found her drinking from a stream at the base of a small cliff; the elf was still slouched over her back. Saphira greeted them with a soft bugle as Eragon dismounted.

Murtagh and Marin helped Eragon remove the elf from Saphira's saddle.

Saphira and Eragon both looked at the elf curiously.

"As far as I know, she's the first elf the king has captured. Ever since they went into hiding, he's been looking for them without success—until now. So he's either found their sanctuary, or she was captured by chance. I think it was by chance. If he had found the elf haven, he would have declared war and sent his army after the elves. Since that hasn't happened, the question is, Were Galbatorix's men able to extract the elves' location before we rescued her?"
Marin shrugged. Murtagh didn't look at her. He hadn't since he'd stopped himself from striking her.

Eragon interrupted the silence by saying, "We won't know until she regains consciousness. Tell me what happened after I was captured. How did I end up in Gil'ead?"

"The Urgals are working for the Empire," said Murtagh shortly, pushing back his hair. "And, it seems, the shade as well. Saphira, Marin, and I saw the Urgals give you to him—though I didn't know who it was at the time—and a group of soldiers. They were the ones who took you to Gil'ead."

Marin nodded. She couldn't fathom why the empire was doing this, but then again, what did she know of politics?

"This will mean war!" Eragon exclaimed. "Once the people of the empire learn of it, they will rebel and support the Varden."

"Woul' they?" Marin asked. "They migh' no' believe the Varden coul' make their lives be'er. Some of 'em migh', bu' no' all." She thought of Jamison and Dante. Maybe some would rebel.

Murtagh rested his chin in his hand. "Even if they heard of this outrage, few would make it to the Varden. With the Urgals under his command, the king has enough warriors to close the empire's borders and remain in control, no matter how disruptive the people are. With such a rule of terror, he will be able to shape the empire however he wants. And though he is hated, people could be galvanized into joining him if they had a common enemy."

"Who would that be?" Eragon asked.

A look of worry crossed Marin's face. Would Dormnad, Dante, and Jamison be caught? Would they be caught?

"The elves and the Varden. With the right rumors they can be portrayed as the most despicable monsters in Alagaësia—fiends who are waiting to seize your land and wealth. The empire could even say that the Urgals have been misunderstood all this time and that they are really friends and allies against such terrible enemies. I only wonder what the king promised them in return for their services," Murtagh explained.

Marin frowned. Everyone she knew hated the Urgals even if they had never seen them. Mayhap that was how he'd say they been misunderstood?

'it wouldn't work," Eragon argued. "No one could be deceived that easily about Galbatorix and the Urgals. Besides, why would he want to do that? He's already in power."

"But his authority is challenged by the Varden, with whom people sympathize. There's also Surda, which has defied him since it seceded from the empire. Galbatorix is strong within the empire, but his arm is weak outside of it. As for people seeing through his deceptions, they'll believe whatever he wants them to, or like Marin said, they won't believe the Varden can make things better. It's happened before."

Marin assumed he meant the fall. She remembered one storyteller who'd told a group of people about the fall when she was ten. Her father had dragged her away as quickly as he could. That had been a good thing. Tábor's soldiers eviscerated the storyteller and the listeners. It hadn't been the first time her father had saved her life. The second time had been when he'd hidden her when the robbers broke into his small store at night. She bit her lip to keep from crying. She'd heard him being murdered, and she hadn't been able to do anything about it. He'd locked her in the closet so that she wouldn't leave. She'd been angry at him then, but now she realized he'd saved her life. She'd never appreciated him in life, and now he was gone. She gulped and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Eragon asked her.

"T' change," she said, her voice only cracking a little. Murtagh didn't make any comments, much to her relief.

As she changed, she allowed herself to cry a few tears. It had been so long since she'd allowed herself to shed tears over anything bad. Her philosophy had always been, Worry later, cry later, and think later. It had always served her well until she'd met Eragon and Murtagh. Then she'd been given time to think during their long rides. Now she realized all that she'd been doing was avoiding sadness, not leaving it behind.

When she came back, Eragon looked first to her and then to Murtagh and said, "You risked your life to rescue me; I owe you for that. I couldn't have escaped on my own."

"You're welcome," Marin said.

"I can heal that for you," he said, getting up and pointing at the bruise on her face.

"Thanks," she said. It was admittedly painful, and it stung if she touched it, something she'd managed to do a few times while changing her clothes. "I' seems like guys always know jus' where t' 'it ya so tha' i' feels like your eye's gonna explode."

Eragon stared at her and then seemed to brush it aside, laughing slightly. He put his hand on her cheek and murmured, "Waíse heill."

"Thanks," Marin said again.

Saphira growled at her. Back off, she told her. Marin scooted away from the very confused-looking Eragon. Murtagh seemed determined not to watch. Marin couldn't quite tell if he was laughing or scowling.

Eragon turned to Murtagh and said, "There's nothing for me to heal, but I'm still grateful."

"I'm just glad I could help. It…" Murtagh faltered and rubbed his face. "My main worry now is how we're going to travel with so many men searching for us. Gil'ead's soldiers will be hunting tomorrow; once they find the horses' tracks, they'll know you didn't fly away with Saphira."

Eragon nodded in grim agreement. Marin grimaced. This would mean more hard riding. She hated hard riding. It usually made falling off Cadoc at least once inevitable.

"How did you manage to get into the castle?" Eragon asked them.

"Marin distracted a guard at a back entrance, and we both had to climb through a filthy scullery shoot," Murtagh answered.

"I' wasn' fun," Marin added. "I almos' fell back down the shoo', an' i' wouldn' 'ave worked withou' Saphira." She glanced at the blue dragon, hoping that she'd placated her.

"You are the only reason we escaped alive," Murtagh added, glancing at Saphira as well.

Saphira hummed contentedly, adding to Marin alone, Just watch your step around my rider, and we'll be fine.

Marin nodded, as Eragon put a hand on Saphira's neck and glanced at the elf.

"We should make a bed for her," he said.

Murtagh got to his feet and stretched a blanket for her. Marin helped him lie the elf down on it. As she did so, the cuff on the elf's sleeve accidentally tore.

"It's fine," Eragon said as Marin began to apologize. He began to pinch the fabric back together and gasped.

Marin almost threw up when she saw the exposed skin. It was mottled with layers of cuts and bruises. Her arm looked almost as bad as Seleyn's body had when they'd found her body. She'd been raped and then beaten to death.

Eragon was visibly shaking with anger as he unlaced the back of the elf's shirt. Murtagh cursed when he'd removed it. The elf's back was covered with more cuts, bruises, and burn than Marin—or probably anyone else for that matter—could count. The only thing truly visible besides wounds was an indigo tattoo.

"Can you heal this?" Murtagh asked.

"I—I don't know," Eragon said, swallowing. "There's so much."

Marin wondered if he regretted healing her cheek.

Saphira glared at her rider, clearly berating him, Eragon said to Murtagh, "This is going to take some time. Can you get me food? Also, boil rags for bandages; I can't heal all her wounds."

"We can't make a fire without being seen," Murtagh objected. "You'll have to use unwashed cloths, and the food will be cold."

Eragon grimaced, and Marin gave him an apologetic look. The rider gently laid a hand on the elf's hand, and Saphira settled next to him. They were going to heal the elf.

Marin got up to go get food ready.

Murtagh stared after her as she walked away. He'd tried to hit her earlier. He couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd sworn to himself that he'd never hit a woman after what he'd seen his father do to his mother. He remembered how badly beaten Selena had been the night Morzan had thrown Zar'roc at him. He cringed at the thought. That had been his punishment for trying to pull Morzan off of his mother. And now he had come so close to treating Marin the way Morzan had treated his mother. The thought made him sick. Harlot, he'd called her, just as Morzan had called Selena for reasons Murtagh had never known. Maybe Marin had been that, but it couldn't banish the look in her eyes as he'd grabbed her wrist and raised his hand. They had mirrored Selena's eyes. True, his mother had had brown eyes, and Marin's were hazel, but it was the same expression. He followed her to get the food for Eragon.

She looked up as she heard him approach.

"Wha'?" she asked.

"I'm helping you. Is that allowed?" he asked.

She nodded slowly, clearly confused, as she pulled the remainders of a rabbit out of the pack.

"Do ya think i's alrigh'?" she asked.

Murtagh took it and said, "It's not spoiled. He'll need it. Magic taxes your strength."
"Can ya use magic?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Murtagh wondered for a moment if she was still on her quest to find out as much about him as she could. He wasn't ready to tell her. He'd yelled at her for her past. He didn't need her to become self-righteous.

"No," he answered, deciding that the question was immaterial. "I've simply known mages before."
"Lis'en," Marin said.

"I am," Murtagh told her.

"I'm sorry bou' wha' I said," she said after a pause as though she was trying to figure out what to say. "Bou' a leopard no' bein' able to change 'is spo's. I' was low. I dunno why I said i'. Sorry if i' mean' sommat t' ya."

Murtagh looked at her for a minute. Could she have guessed? No, he decided.

"What I said to you was low. You risked a lot to get us into Gil'ead. I'm grateful for that. Your past shouldn't have changed that."

"So, ya admi' tha' you're wrong?" Marin asked before she thought.

Murtagh looked at her before answering, "About trying to strike you? Yes. About trying to take your money? Yes. About not being grateful to you? Yes. About not trusting you for your past? No."

"Then ya 'aven' forgiven me," she said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Did you expect differently?" he asked.

Marin bit her lower lip and drew in her breath. Did he always had to be so infuriatingly right?

"No," she said. "I guess lowness ain' always wrong."

Murtagh continued to stare at he as he asked, "Do you always ruin everything? We get along, and then you say something…" He stopped himself. Marin might be incapable of watching her mouth, but he wasn't.

"Sommat like a streetrat," she finished.

"You said it," he told her.

"Is i' all me?" she asked. "Is i' really all my faul'?"

Murtagh looked down and contemplated it. "No," he decided.

"Can we try t' ge' along even with ya knowin' wha' ya do?" Marin asked.

"If we can," he agreed. He couldn't forget her past, but he'd trust her as far as he dared.

Marin tilted her head to the side as though she were considering something. At last, she tentatively reached out and hugged him.

Murtagh was surprised by it at first, but then he wrapped his arms around her upper waist, completing the gesture. He pulled away from her and said, "You'd better give him his food."

Marin nodded and took the food over to Eragon. She noticed that his ears had turned red and giggled slightly. The little innocent was noticing the elf.

"I'll go hunting," Murtagh said. "He'll need more food later on."

Marin nodded. The routine continued until dawn, with Murtagh getting food and Marin delivering it. At last, Eragon finished.

"Will she live?" Murtagh asked.

"I don't—I don't know," he said in a ravaged voice. "Elves are strong, but even they cannot endure abuse like this with impunity. If I knew more about healing, I might be able to revive her, but …" He gestured helplessly. His hand was shaking so badly that he spilled some of the wine. He took another swig to steady himself. "We'd better start riding again."

"No! You must sleep," protested Murtagh.

"'E's righ,'" Marin added. "You're ready t' fall o'er as i' is."

"I…I can sleep in the saddle, but we can't afford to stay here, not with the soldiers closing on us."

Murtagh and Marin reluctantly gave in. "In that case, I'll lead Snowfire while you rest. Don't fall asleep while he's asleep," he added to Marin. "I can't lead two horses at once."

"An' 'ere I though' ya coul' do everything," she mumbled sarcastically.

Murtagh snorted as they re-saddled the horses.

"So, you two are getting along now?" Eragon asked.

"For now," Murtagh said.

They departed the camp with Eragon eating on Snowfire before he went to sleep on the horse's neck.

So, that's the end of this chapter. How did everyone like it? Thank you for the nine reviews. Sorry it took so long to update. I'm doing something for school that is running my life now. The good news is, it's over tonight. I also have to respond to one extremely juvenile and asinine flamer who isn't even innovative enough to come up with a new flame for every person.

Flame Rising: Well, let's analyze this "clever" and "thorough" critique.

"Good God. A fucking piece of shit from my ass could write better than this."

That's a pretty powerful statement. Prove it.

"How old are you? Five? Six?"

How many five and six year olds do you know who have access to a computer or have read a 497 page book?

"What the fuck is wrong with you that you think you can write a story people want to read? The only people that like this crack-out piece of shit are other inbreds like you."

Well, first of all, this fic is an experiment to see how many people like this and how many people hate this. So far, you're the only person who hates it (if you've read it, which I somewhat doubt considering you have an auto-flame). Also, I'm very impressed that you've checked the backgrounds of every single reviewer who's ever reviewed a story you've flamed and found out that they're all "inbred freaks." I'm not expert, but I'm pretty sure incest is a taboo that is frowned upon in many societies and not widely practiced.

"Please, do the rest of humanity a favor and never, ever write anything again.
Just to make sure, maybe you should jump off a cliff."

Well, I'd only be doing you a favor, and I'm not inclined to do that, so no. Besides, it's just fan fiction. Get over it. Oh, and suicide is never the answer. Suicide is for the maniacally depressed people who think their lives are over and think that they will do everyone else a favor if they kill themselves, but the fact is that they're leaving behind family and friends who will be forever haunted by the fact that someone they knew took their own life.

"Got it?
Good."

Yes, I got it as my thorough analysis shows. You're only doing this for fun or to take out your anger, in which case I laud you for yelling at people you don't know instead of injuring/maiming/killing someone.

Lady-Mystique: Thanks. It's fine. I'm glad you like it.

Prettybella: Yeah, I don't know where that came from. The food thing was from the book.

Stripysockz: You'll find out. I'm glad you liked the battle scene and how I've incorporated Marin. I'm trying not to have her take over the story, and I hope I've done that. She and Murtagh are starting to work it out.

MysticLegend11: Yeah, it was. I'm glad you like how I'm keeping Marin from being a Mary-Sue. Durza knew her name because he looked into her mind. You'll find out about Den-ner later too. I see what you mean about the storytelling, but it's kinda been necessary. I didn't think of you idea. I actually kinda like it. I might try to do that. LOL. You'll find out about what happens to Marin later. She won't be a rider in this installment of the series though. (It's gonna be a trilogy, like the books.)

CaramelBoost: Thanks. Marin may get another chance. She just has to work it out. I hope you liked this chapter.

Narnian Sprite: Yay! It's fine. You didn't take too long. LOL about Murtagh. He's just mad because he was starting to trust her, and he found out something that makes her very untrustworthy. Plus, he hasn't had a lot of love, and the whore thing made him doubt what she felt for him.

Mean Titan: Thanks. I'm glad you like Marin.

FireDancer: Thanks. Sorry it took so long to update.

Dragonflame-05: I'm glad you think so. He is hard to write. I hope I kept him in character in this chapter. LOL about the laid thing. Sorry about the update.