"Well, I am." Miantha stated matter-of-factly, fetching her daggers from the saddle bag. "Are you?" He just kept on staring. Miantha felt her irritation grow. "What, just because I'm a woman means I can't fight? I do daggers. Do you know how to spar with daggers?" Finally, Murtagh blinked, and went over to his own saddle bag, retrieving a long, wicked blade at least a hand and a half long. "Only a short sword, I'm afraid." He said slowly.
Miantha got in her ready position, knife over heart, and Murtagh hurried to do the same. "Wait!" Barked Brom, stepping between them. "I need to ready those weapons for you. Did you see what Eragon and I did? We guarded our blades, so that we wouldn't hurt each other too fatally. Give me those," He grabbed their daggers, and said a few words over them. Miantha snatched hers back. "You didn't hurt them, did you?" She snapped, running her fingers over the now slippery surface of her knives. If her only remembrance of her father was damaged she didn't know what she would do.
"No, I will fix them later." Brom said, and sat back, apparently anticipating an interesting match. Miantha slipped back into her fighting stance, Murtagh doing the same.
"I'm sorry if I don't fight that well," Miantha started. "You see, I haven't -" Murtagh struck before she even had a chance to finish her statement. So that's how it's going to be, she thought, and attacked him with her best arsenal of moves, even forcing him back a couple of steps.
But there was no denying it; he had much greater upper body strength, and could keep going for much longer. Miantha had to win with her speed, and finish this quickly; she could feel herself tiring even as she thought, trying to block Murtagh's blows.
Swiftly, Miantha ducked under Murtagh's strike, deflecting his hand-and-a-half, and held her right hand dagger to his throat. He looked at her in surprise, and then lowered his sword hand. "That was amazing." It was Eragon speaking.
Miantha was caught up in Murtagh's eyes for a moment, and then looked towards Eragon, almost glad for the interruption. "Thank you," She replied. Murtagh handed his sword to Brom, and after his was done, Miantha turned over hers to Brom. "Your spar was pretty good as well," she added.
Brom was looking at her daggers oddly, at the runes on the hilts. "What?" "Nothing, nothing; you are a very interesting girl, Miantha. What with the sign, and the..." he muttered, trailing off. Miantha just looked at him oddly for a moment, then cautiously took her daggers back, stowing them away in her saddle bag again, before settling into her sleeping furs. "'Night, all," She said.
The next morning, Miantha rolled out of bed, and out of habit checked to make sure that everyone was still there. After being nearly abandoned once, she wasn't about to risk that again. But everyone was there, also just getting up. She got dressed fast, and then all four of them had breakfast.
Eragon cleared his throat. "Brom, I still think we need to plan a stratagem for Gilead. It will take a miracle to infiltrate their dungeon." Brom tapped his chin. "A miracle - or a dragon."