What Could Help

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

-The Fray in How to Save a Life

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. Thank you.

Andizhan awoke without opening her eyes in the middle of a bed. She felt something warm on her blanket. It took her a moment to realize it was the sun. She almost smiled. It had been seventeen years since she'd felt the sun on her skin.

It had been slightly longer since she'd lain in a proper bed. She almost smiled again. She remembered Ajihad. Then her near-smile slipped. He'd been dead a year. She remembered how Galbatorix had come down to her cell to tell her the news and try to find the word. He hadn't come down again until about two and a half weeks ago. At least it had been that long according to the lines she'd scratched into the cot's mattress.

She felt the bed tip slightly. She opened her eyes to see a small girl with orange hair sitting on the end of the bed.

"You're awake," the girl said, titling her head to the side.

"Yes," Andizhan said.

"Why don't you sit up?" the girl asked.

"I can't," Andizhan explained.

"Deandra said you were sick. I didn't realize you were that sick," the girl remarked, tilting her head even farther to the side.

"Is Deandra the small woman with the red hair?" Andizhan asked.

The girl stopped tilting her head, straightened her neck, and nodded. Then she got up and ran across the room yelling, "Deandra, she's awake!"

"Okay, I'm coming, Lilith" the same voice from the previous night yelled. "So, you're awake now? I suppose you'll be willing to give me a chance to help you, and if you still don't think I can't, I'll have to prove you wrong."

"You don't understand," Andizhan said.

"I probably don't," Deandra agreed. "I still have to heal you."

"You're healing me so that the king can break into my mind without killing me," Andizhan said.

"This won't be the first time I've healed someone for that reason," Deandra said.

"So, you're his healer? Why?" Andizhan asked.

"I serve the king because that I nothing else to do and because it pays well and because I need to look after some people," Deandra explained.

"Is she your daughter?" Andizhan asked, indicating Lilith.

"No, I'm simply raising her for a mother who wouldn't do a good job," Deandra said. "I've been married twice. I had a child with the first one, but he died because of the same disease that killed his father."

"What happened to the other one?" Andizhan asked.

"The second one was older than I was, but he could handle me better than the first. I never loved anyone more. He died five years ago," Deandra said.

"I'm sorry," Andizhan said. "My husband died last year."

"Wait. You're the former rebel leader's wife, aren't you?" Deandra said.

"Yes," Andizhan replied.

"I'm sorry," the healer said. "I healed you while you were asleep. Well, really passed out."

Andizhan groaned quietly.

"You'll live. Besides, if I heard correctly, there's not much left you can give," Deandra said.

Andizhan shook her head. "Only my daughter's life," she murmured.

Deandra looked at her with a little pity.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't help you with that. I can only keep you alive a little longer."

"Can you help me die a little sooner?" Andizhan asked.

Deandra almost dropped what was in her hands.

"No," she said. "I cannot—will not—do that."

"It was worth a try," Andizhan muttered.

"Why do you want to die?" Lilith asked.

"If Galbatorix gets what he wants from me, my daughter will be in danger," Andizhan replied.

"Do you love her?" the girl asked. There was a strange hint of sadness in the girl's voice.

"Yes," Andizhan answered. She had the feeling that Lilith didn't think her mother loved her.

Lilith nodded a little bit before the sadness left her face and she turned to face Deanrda again.

"Do you still need me to stir the sleeping potion?" she asked.

"Yes," Deandra replied, handing the girl a stirrer.

"Who's it for?" Lilith asked as she stirred the concoction.

"Those prisoners Morgana doesn't let sleep," Deandra said. "I've heard she's started giving them potions that keep them awake at night."

Lilith looked sadder again.

"Listen, girl. You're not like her. Don't worry," Deandra said.

"Maybe that's why she doesn't love me," Lilith said quietly.

Deandra looked angry, though not at the child.

"If she loves anybody, she loves you," Deandra said at last. "She's just never been a maternal sort. Don't think on it."

"I won't," Lilith promised.

"The potion is mainly for the elf," Deandra said, changing the subject. "There's another one I made up that'll negate the effects of the waking potion."

The healer turned to Andizhan and handed her a cup. "This'll put you back to sleep," she explained. "I think you need that more than anything."

Andizhan nodded and downed the thing in one gulp. Almost instantaneously, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep for the first time in a long time.

Things were not going well for Thorn. His rider was doubtlessly going to do something stupid because of the elf very soon, he had been scratched by Shruikan more times than he could count during lessons, Murtagh had wasted a lot of energy healing him, Eofor was currently in a state of despair, and Thorn had absolutely no idea how to comfort the distraught dragon.

It's my fault, Eofor kept repeating. Why didn't I listen? I should have listened. If I'd listen, I would still have Hathcyn.

You do still have him, Thorn said. He's still your rider. Besides, I doubt Galbatorix will keep this up for very long.

He will, Eofor said. I know he will.

Thorn sighed. It was true. He probably wouldn't do it forever, but he would do it for a while.

The least you can do is stop crying about it. Murtagh and I have punished before this, and we've survived. You will. Just stop crying. It won't make anything better, Thorn said. He then decided to use his last resort. Besides, how can you fight him if you're like this?

Eofor thought for a moment. You're right. I've learned my lesson. I'll find a way out of this.

Good, Thorn said, thanking his lucky stars that the green dragon had stopped crying.

It hurts. Not being able to talk to him. Is there any way around it? Eofor asked.

None that I can think of, Thorn said. You can still share emotions. Possibly. Try it. Try to convey pictures to Hathcyn. They're not really thoughts.

I'll try that, Eofor said.

Only use it in times of urgency, Thorn warned. He'll figure it out otherwise.

Eofor nodded. He reached out for Hathcyn's mind and felt a block. He gasped in pain.

It didn't work, he said. The dragon's voice had become deadened.

I'm sorry, Thorn said.

He'll pay, Eofor said.

He will, Thorn found himself saying. So, he'd found himself agreeing with the belligerent, blunt little dragon. Maybe he was going crazy. Hell, maybe he needed to go crazy.

Eofor grinned.

Lilith walked through the corridors. She stood still for a moment. What were the directions to the Foresworn chambers again? Which vial was to counter the waking potion and which one was the sleeping potion?

Just then, she saw the person she'd been looking for walking down the corridor.

"Uncle Murtagh!" she called out.

The man stopped.

"Lilith, what are you doing awake at this hour?" he asked, kneeling down so that he was at her level.

"I have to take these things down to the elf in the dungeons. Apparently, my momma gave her something that won't let her sleep. I have to give her an antidote and sleeping potion because what my momma's doing is in-in-inhumane?"

Murtagh nodded. Lilith could have sworn she'd seen a look of anger cross his face when she mentioned what was happening to the elf.

"Anyway, I need a pass, and only you could get me a pass," Lilith finished.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand as he stood.

"You're hurting my arm," she said.

Murtagh chuckled slightly and picked her up.

"I'm five. I can walk," she protested.

Murtagh put her down.

"Do you know that way to the dungeons?" he asked her.

Lilith shook her head.

"Follow me then," he said.

Arya was lying on her cot in the cell. She couldn't sleep as much as she tossed and turned. In fact, tossing and turning made her newly beaten back hurt even more. She decided to simply sit up. She could do that, at least for now. She wondered how long Murtagh's healing would do her any good. Morgana had taken her revenge by giving her a potion that made it impossible for her to sleep.

That was when she heard movement outside her cell. She squinted through the bars and saw the outline of two men. She gulped as she recognized one outline. Murtagh was back.

Wait. Why had she recognized his outline? That made no sense. That night had been nothing. Why couldn't she forget it then? Had it been something? She almost laughed.

A smaller figure became visible as she stepped into the light. It was a little five year old girl.

"Who are you?" Arya asked as the girl unlocked the cell door and entered.

"I'm Lilith," the girl said. "I have two potions for you."

"What are they?" Arya asked. She didn't want to distrust a child, but she didn't know who'd sent her, and after all, she couldn't be that hard to deceive.

"This one is an antidote to the waking potion. This one is a sleeping potion. It'll practically knock you out for a few hours," Lilith explained, holding out the vial.

Arya didn't take it. She was afraid this child had been lied to and was really giving her something that would cause even more pain. She definitely wouldn't put something like that past Morgana.

"Why don't you take it?" Lilith asked.

"I can't be too careful in this place," Arya said with a slight smile.

"Oh no, it's fine," Lilith said, continuing to hold the vial out.

"Just take the potions, vanyali. Trust me. They didn't come from Morgana," a male voice said.

Arya closed her eyes.

"Murtagh," she said, leaning back against the wall subconsciously. She winced at the sudden contact.

"Did they come from you?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to ignore the pain.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He'd seen her wince.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Murtagh was silent.

"Lilith, may I have the waking antidote?" he asked kindly.

The girl handed it to him.

"You didn't answer my question," she said. "From whom did the potion come?"

"A healer known as Deandra," Murtagh replied.

Arya reached out her hand to take the potion. Murtagh's fingers brushed against hers as she took it. She shivered and then mentally cursed herself. Why was she acting like a little girl? She was older than he was, and he was a human at that, barely old enough to be considered a man among her own people no matter what his own thought of him.

"Why are you rolling your eyes at me?" Murtagh asked.

"I don't know," she said. She took the lid off the vial and downed it.

"It tastes vial," she murmured.

"Most of her things do," Murtagh agreed.

"She made me swallow worse things when I got sick," Lilith put in.

She laughed slightly before it turned into a cough.

Murtagh put a hand around her waist to pull her forward and clapped her on the back.

"Did it go down the wrong pipe?" he asked.

Arya nodded and stopped coughing.

"I have to go give the other prisoners the potions," Lilith called. The cell door slammed.

Murtagh and Arya both looked around. The latter became aware that the former had not let go of her waist yet. She felt herself leaning into him. She pulled away slightly a second later. She shouldn't be doing this.

"You can let go of me. Dras Leona will never happen again," she said.

Murtagh chuckled softly and pulled her closer. He put a hand on her chin and raised her lowered eyes to meet his.

"Is that so?" he asked.

Arya put her lips very close to his and ran one finger over his chest. She smiled slightly as she felt him shiver. She whispered, "Do you really think that I could do that again after all you've done to me? You saw what happened to me because you captured me. You could have ignored me in the inn, and none of this would have happened." She pushed him off of her and slid away.

"We have spoken of regrets, vanyali. I did not intend to hurt you, and I have helped you to the best of my ability," Murtagh said. His voice had grown colder.

"Regrets do not fade," Arya said. Her voice was equally cold. "They never should. Maybe you didn't intend to harm me, but I cannot forgive you for it. I cannot dally with the enemy."

Murtagh pressed his lips against hers. She tried to pull away, but he held her fast. He flicked his tongue against her lips, inviting them to open. She opened her mouth and leaned in closer. She didn't have the strength to resist left in her. They stayed like that for perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour. Murtagh pulled away and stared at her.

"You already did," he said as he got up and left.

Arya took the second vial that Lilith had given her and stared at it. Why had she let him do that? He'd made a fool out of her just after she thought she'd made a fool out of him. She slumped angrily against the wall of her cell and downed the second vial. It tasted awful, but she kept drinking. By the time she was done, she had slumped against the cot and fallen into what was the most peaceful sleep she'd had in a long time.

That is the end of chapter 14. I myself was surprised by the Murtagh/Arya action in this one. I wasn't expecting to have them meet again for a while. So, did you all love it or hate it? Please, R & R as you always do. Here are the review responses.

Roguelane: It's fine. You were away from technology. As for whether or not she's pregnant, just wait and see. You'll find out who Lilith's father is soon. Very soon. I'm glad you love Hathcyn. Everything will work out in the end. I'm glad you thought the scene where Galbatorix was torturing Hathcyn and Eofor was powerful.

Prettybella: Nasuada will be in the next chapter more. I'll put in more about her lessons. I'm glad you liked the chapter other than that.

CaramelBoost: Yeah, I can't beat chapter 1. Well, maybe I will, but I don't know. I hope you liked this scene. Lilith was in this chapter, and she will probably be in the next one. I'm glad you liked the Eofor scene. I feel sorry for him too. Nothing seems to go his way, does it? And yes, there was a Murtagh/Arya scene. A Morgana torture fest is coming soon. It'll be the biggest yet. I think we all like hating that OC.

TheSummoningDark: I'm glad you want to huggle Eofor. I hope you liked this chapter.

KewlKid: I know it took me a while to update. I was busy.

Shara: Thanks so much. That was very nice.

Blizzardstar2000: I'll admit it's an unorthodox method. I never pictured Galby as much of a diplomat. I think he tries, but then he just snaps. I hope you liked this update.

Fredsonetrueluv: That does describe Eofor. I'm glad you saw the bit of Eragon/Nasuada and liked it. There will be more bits that will become more than bits later on. I promise I will put Nasuada in the next chapter.

Suicune1000: Thanks. I get that stuck in my head so many times. My personal favorite part is, "To hand-crafted beer made in local breweries. To yogurt, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese. To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo. Huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou. Emotion. Devotion. To causing a commotion. Creation. Vacation. Mucho Masturbation." I hope you liked this chapter.

ANGEL-OF-DEATH6: I hope you end up liking where I go with that pairing. I'm glad you felt sorry for Eofor. Now, I think Hathcyn will begin to listen. He needed that kick in the pants. (Much like the one he gave Eragon. Haha. Lame joke.) Yep, Galby's rude. I'm glad you love Shakespeare. I read Romeo and Juliet and Othello for English, and I loved them both.

Kiba-ish: Who doesn't love Murtagh? He's awesome. I'm glad you love this fic.

Maze2010: Thanks. I'm glad it felt natural. I had some Thorn and Eofor stewing in this chapter. You'll find out what that means. I think I know what you think I mean, and I know that you will eventually find out if you're right.