Hazelcloud: A big thank you to all of the reviewers, especially Noxus and Cara Amnell for being so supportive!

A Lecture

When Elva and I returned to the tent in the Varden camp, I was not surprised to find an angry Angela waiting up for us. I was surprised to see that Eragon was there also. Angela leveled a cold glare at me, while Eragon merely looked annoyed. I felt a small hand curl around my own hand. Elva. I gave her hand a squeeze trying to be comforting, and smiled pleasantly at everyone else.

"Good evening. I had thought you would have gone to sleep." I greeted Angela, hoping to avoid a confrontation. Angela was having none of it.

"Where were you all day?" Angela hissed venomously. I sensed Elva shift uncomfortably next to me. I refused to be ruffled, I had done nothing wrong.

"I was watching over Elva." I said with a smile. "We were getting to know one another." I gestured with my hand, and saw Angela's gaze focus in on the grass bracelet woven around my wrist. If anything, she looked even more displeased.

"You did not have permission to do that." Angela said coldly. I frowned, and looked over at Eragon. He looked uneasy, but not willing to argue. I should have known that; in the books he had definitely been portrayed as a little scared of Angela.

"I didn't know that I needed to permission to watch Elva. We did not go far away; I swear she was safe the whole time." I said quickly. Angela loved Elva, of that I was very sure but I also knew that she did not exactly like me.

"That is not the point Gayle." Angela said angrily.

"Leave her alone. I wanted to go out." Elva snapped suddenly. Angela looked surprised for a second but then the surprise faded away into anger.

"Don't think that you are blameless either. You knew that today you would swear an oath to the Varden; there is no way that she could have avoided us all day unless you were helping, Elva." Angela snapped. Elva flinched, and I tightened my grip on her hand.

"So that's what this is about." I nodded towards Eragon. All of the pieces were falling into place now. We had avoided them all day but we had been outmaneuvered.

"You are untrustworthy Gayle. I have been trying to be understanding but you are acting irrationally. You have to swear your loyalty to the Varden." Angela said sternly. I heaved a sigh, this was something that I was dreading, and it was unavoidable.

"She hasn't done anything!" Elva cried out. I smiled weakly down at her, and wished I could pretend to be more confident. Angela looked as though she had something else to add but I was tired of how hate filled every word she said was.

"I'll swear it." I said slowly, feeling like I was agreeing to my own death sentence. Surely, I was overreacting but the thought of an unbreakable oath filled me with dread. Angela, and Eragon looked surprised and I could feel Elva's fear. She had felt that the oath would bring me pain but it was unavoidable.

"What?" Angela asked stunned.

"I said, I'll swear the oath." I took a deep breath and turned to Eragon. "But you're going to have to say it slowly, and tell me what everything means."

"Alright." Eragon looked relieved that I had given in so easily. I could feel a cold knot of dread in my stomach as he began to say the oath. He explained it to me, and I memorized it quickly. The words meant nothing to me but I could feel the power behind them when he said them. "Do you remember it all?" Eragon asked. I blinked at him, and nodded weakly.

"We can't see much in her mind. How will we know if the oath is in place?" Angela asked quietly. Eragon was watching me, and he seemed confused and sad.

"Her true name is Gayle." He said slowly, and I heard the sudden intake of breath from Angela. "I can feel the power in the name when I say it." Eragon added in response to Angela's surprise.

"But… why would she tell us her true name?" Angela asked. Eragon shook his head, he had no answer. I turned away, unable to look at them.

"There are no unbreakable oaths where I come from. Everyone only has one name." I said quietly, still avoiding their gazes.

Gayle was not in fact my true name but it was a form of my name and apparently that was enough for Eragon to sense its power. I wondered how effective an oath would be sworn using that name. I did not plan on correcting them; that would just aggravate the problem. Plus, true names were something that needed to be protected in Alagaesia and I needed to learn to play by the new rules. And maybe…just maybe it would make the oath just that much less binding.

"If you just say your name when you swear the oath we will have proof that it worked." Eragon said gently. I swallowed my mouth dry from nerves, and began the oath.

"I, Gayle, swear not to share information regarding the Varden, or any of the Varden's missions or members. I will not intentionally harm the Varden. I will be loyal to the Varden." I finished the oath without a problem but felt sick.

A wave of nausea rushed through me. I collapsed to my knees, and pressed my palms to my forehead. It hurt! I could almost feel the iron bonds that the words had woven around me, they were tight and cold. It hurt… I could hear Eragon asking if I was alright, and Elva hugging me but they seemed so distant. I closed my eyes, and wished the pain would stop. There was another burst of pain, and I flinched. Then the pain faded away, though I could still feel the weight of the oath hanging on me.

"Gayle? Gayle?" Elva sounded frantic. I pulled my hands away from my head, and steadied myself by pressing them to the floor.

"Elva." I said, and winced as my voice wavered. I took a deep breath, and began again. "I'm fine."

"No. I don't think you are." Elva said. "I can feel pain, you're in pain and I can't do anything about it."

"I'm fine now." I said, wanting to avoid talking about seconds ago. To stop the questions I could sense coming I turned to Eragon. "That's it right? I don't want to go through that again."

"That has never happened before… What happened to you Gayle?" Eragon asked. I could see the honest worry in his eyes. I bit my lip, and shivered. The weight of the oath hung about still, and I wondered if it would be like this forever now.

"I can feel it. I can feel the bonds of the oath." I whispered. Eragon looked surprised, and Elva looked angry.

"It must be because there is no ancient language where she's from. Eragon, it hurts her!" Elva said. Eragon nodded, he was mulling it over.

"That must be why. I'm sorry Gayle but it was necessary." Eragon said sincerely. "And I don't think there is anything I can do about the weight you feel."

"Ahh…" I sighed, and wearily got to my feet. My head spun, and I stood still for a bit. "I think I'm just going to head to bed." I said. Elva's hand closed around mine again, and she helped me towards my room. We passed by Angela and I saw guilt in her eyes. Guilty for hurting me or Elva, I wondered. I lay down, and Elva watched me as though fearing another breakdown. I smiled at her. "I'm fine now. You should go to bed too."

"Okay." Elva said. After one more searching look, she turned and curled up in an extra blanket that she had dragged in. I closed my eyes and wished that sleep would come quickly.

But it would be a long time before the weight of the oath stopped feeling suffocating, and I could relax enough to fall asleep.

Hazelcloud: Yeah, sorry; the oath is not actually in the ancient language. That would have been impossible for me to write, but for the story's sake let's all pretend it is. :)