Chapter 21

Gwen lit the lantern in her room. She was about to get ready for bed when he heard a distant pounding on the outside door. Who in the world could that be at this time of night? She stayed in her room as she heard her mother answer the door. She laid down on her bed and tried to relax.

~*~

Titania sat in a rocking chair knitting when she heard a thudding knock at the door. "Coming," she answered, getting up and going to the door. She opened it a crack to a couple of soldiers, one a younger man whose face she was able to see clearly and another whose face was hidden under a hood. "Can I help you?"

The man whose face was covered with a cloak answered. "Yes, I think you can." As he said this he lifted the hood from his face to reveal himself.

A gasp escaped Titania's lips as she recognized the man. "What are you doing here?"

"To dispose of you by order of the King." He barged in along with the young man and slammed the door shut. He then grabbed hold of Titania's throat before she could retaliate With his other hand he grabbed a long knife and stabbed it through her stomach. With a muffled scream Titania began to lose consciousness.

~*~

With a start Gwen sat up as she heard her mother scream. She ran to her bedroom door and looked out down the hall. In the distance she watched, in horror, as a strange man stabbed her mother. "No!" She screamed at the top of her lungs when her mother collapsed to the ground, dead. The men turned their heads towards her.

The older man who killed Titania shouted to his companion, "Kill her!" The man rushed towards Gwen's bedroom.

Gwen quickly cowered back into her room and shut the door. She grabbed her oil lantern and threw it at the wooden door shattering the glass and igniting a fire. After, she raced to her window, opened it and jumped out into the cold night air. As soon as her feet touched the ground she heard the soldiers barge through her room. With a curse they ran through the fire and looked out the window. They spotted her running into the woods. "Quickly!" The older man jumped out of the window, his young companion following suit.

Gwen ran into the woods never bothering to look behind her. The guards followed her for as long as they could before they began to tire. Gwen, however, continued to push herself despite her tiredness; she was racing towards Garrows farm to warn Eragon. It wasn't long before she lost her pursuers.

The night was cold as ice causing Gwen to shiver even though she was in a black cloak that covered the length of her body. She grabbed it on her way out of her window knowing that she will need it. Her fingers grew numb and her feet sore as she trudged her way through the thick brush of the woods. A few times she tripped over a log or tree root. At one instance she nearly rolled her ankle. Gwen was not only physically tired, but mentally as well. In her mind she saw her mother's murder again and again. The more she pictured it the more sick she became.

Soon she was lost in her mind and began to pay less attention to her surroundings. Once more she tripped , but this time she fell down a steep ravine and into the creek. The freezing water numbed her entire body; she found breathing hard to do and swimming nearly impossible with her clothes weighing her down. Yet, somehow, she found the strength to swim across the creek. She grabbed hold of a tree root and pulled herself up and out of the water. On land once more, she rolled over, her face looking up at the cloud covered sky. No moon nor stars gave her hope of safe passage to the farm. In her heart she felt as if nature had turned itself against her as well.

Before she froze to death, she got up and pressed on towards the farm.