Hello! I'm so, so sorry for being late with this chapter, but I was in southern Utah on March 15th, without my computer, and I didn't manage to get the chapter done early. Mea culpa. I am determined to get the next chapter up on time, however.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. It's not nearly as plot-driven as the last few updates, but I couldn't resist the ideas I had for writing it. Also, as you may or may not be able to see, I am going to start titling chapters, although I dont quite know where to enter the chosen title, so I'll need to do some experimenting.

Also: I didn't have an extremely long time to edit this, so if you see any spelling errors or inconsistencies that I've missed, please tell me. Any and all comments are a huge help, whether for editing issues or for criticism, and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to write. Enjoy!

Corrin lowered himself carefully to sit down on the stone, mindful of the spot where Leah had stabbed him during their bout. An apple-sized bruise was already forming. The Riders and a few elves were arranging themselves in a loose circle on the pavers of the Court. Across from him, Murtagh was in deep conversation with Yaela, while to one side Varog was whittling a chunk of wood with surprising delicacy. Leah sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring intently into the flame that someone was maintaining in the air with neither fuel nor embers.

"You'll want this," Blodhgarm said from somewhere over Corrin's shoulder, unceremoniously dropping a wooden goblet into his lap.

Corrin stared at it blankly for a moment. "What?"

Murtagh sat up a little to catch the goblet Blodhgarm threw in his direction, frowning down at it. "This is nice. What is it for?"

"Alastr," Blodhgarm announced grandly, "has a new vintage for us to sample tonight."

Everyone except Corrin and Murtagh groaned. Corrin noticed that one or two of the elves sitting nearby found excuses to rapidly disappear.

Murtagh gave Eragon an interrogative look, which was met with a shrug and a grimace. "Alastr has been attempting to reproduce faelnirv from our own plants for several years," Eragon explained. "It has, thus far, been less than successful."

I think it is fine, Saphira asserted.

Blodhgarm waved a hand dismissively. "You have no taste."

Saphira snorted smoke at him.

I would like to taste it anyways, Kiera said, stretching her neck out to put her head next to Corrin. I only got to have faelnirv once or twice in Ellesmera.

"Sure," Eragon said, "but on the off chance that it is actually a decent vintage, only one glass for each of you. I have enough to deal with from Saphira and her mead."

Varog made a deep chuffing noise as he laughed. Leah tilted her head thoughtfully. "I thought only wine had a vintage," she observed.

"No, I think there are other drinks which have vintages," Murtagh said. "Maybe it pertains to any fermented drink?"

"Well, you don't exactly hear the phrase 'fine vintage of mead' in use," Leah argued.

Corrin tuned them out as Blodhgarm returned to his field of view carrying an uncorked skin. The furred elf poured a generous amount into each of their goblets before sitting down and pouring for himself. Holding up his cup, he announced grandly in the common tongue, "Let us drink and die together!"

Eragon lifted his own drink with a resigned expression. "Ilf gauhnith," he pronounced jokingly.

Leah grinned laconically. "No, Ebrithil," she lectured, laughing, "you're supposed to say that after you drink."

"Fair enough." Eragon shrugged and took a generous mouthful. A second later he spat out a fountain of liquid. "Agh!" he yelped, flailing his free arm. "Eta ilf gauhnith! Ilf gauhnith eta! Yaela! How do I say that correctly?"

Yaela was staring down into her cup with a censorious eye. "This does not even remotely taste like faelnirv."

Leah laughed at them both and took a sip from her own cup. Her entire face pinched as though she was sucking on a lemon.

Corrin tentatively drank from his own portion. It was awful. The drink tasted like rotten apples and scented soap, and was almost as flat as water. He forced himself to swallow, and offered the goblet to Kiera. She opened her mouth wide for him to pour directly onto her tongue.

Ugh, she grumbled unhappily, running her tongue in and out of her mouth to clear some of the taste. I agree with Yaela-elda.

Me too, Corrin said, gingerly setting the wooden goblet to the side.

Eragon was tasting again, wincing. "Saphira, this reminds me of that Urgal wine we had in Nar Garzvog's village."

"I think," Varog rumbled thoughtfully, "I should be insulted by that."

"Don't bother," Leah advised. "As terrible as your people's wines are, this is still worse."

Varog leaned over and shoved her hard enough to spill her drink. Thuviel snorted at her in amusement.

Eragon raised an eyebrow at the two apprentices. "Don't injure yourselves too horribly," he ordered. "We are all getting back on the usual training schedule tomorrow. That includes sparring." He frowned suddenly and reached into a pocket. "That reminds me; Corrin, catch." He tossed a small wooden bauble across the fire to Corrin, who fumbled to catch it. "Wind that up every day and it will wake you up at the correct time."

Corrin nodded, weighing the bauble in one hand. "And the correct time is?"

"Early," groaned Leah.

Eragon shrugged unsympathetically. "It's healthy for you to rise with the sun."

"Doesn't feel healthy," Leah grumbled.

Varog nodded his great horned head. "And what if we ever want to stay up late, eh? Look at the stars, or something?"

Look at the stars? Saphira asked amusedly.

"Well," Leah offered logically, "They are different here."

"Are they?" Murtagh asked, tipping his head back to look. Corrin glanced up as well, but he knew too little of stargazing to be able to discern the difference.

Leah nodded enthusiastically. "We're looking at a different part of the sky here than any you can see in Alagaesia. Look," and she extended her arm to point at a particularly bright star just visible over the shoulder of the mountain. "That's Aiedail; back in Alagaesia it wouldn't have been visible until past midnight, unless you were way high up."

Corrin felt Kiera's attention shift back to Eragon. Lady Arya said that you and Saphira once flew that high, and that you saw the world was round.

Murtagh spun around to look at Eragon. "You two did what?" he demanded.

"Did I never tell you about that?" Eragon asked. Murtagh shook his head.

"You should tell it now," Varog rumbled, holding up the chunk of wood in his hands to examine it. "Is good story."

Eragon shifted to sit cross-legged on the stone, glancing thoughtfully at the sky. "Alright, well," he began, "this was towards the end of the war, right after Nasuada had been captured. I had been given a, well, prophecy isn't the right word, but Angela's werecat Solembum had told me about several actions and locations that I might need in my journeys. One of these was the Rock of Kuthian, and after Solembum and I discussed it…"

Corrin listened avidly as Eragon continued, through the discovery of a spell of forgetfulness, through a journey northwards along the Spine, and through the choice to fly on from Tierm, through the night and into the storm. Blodhgarm added his testimony as they described how they had hid Saphira and Eragon's disappearance, but otherwise the only sound besides the crackling of the magic-fuelled flames was Eragon's voice, conjuring up images of the great storm cloud and the curving horizon, lit like the edge of a sword.

As Eragon and Saphira jointly narrated their memories of the height of their climb, Corrin more felt than heard Kiera sitting up behind him. He turned partly around to see her with her neck stretched out to look up at the stars. As the conversation continued around the fire, Corrin got up and walked to his partner, placing a hand on the smooth scales. He tipped his own head back, feeling their minds meld until the stars took on a reddish tinge as her sight blended with his. Kiera curled her tail around the two of them, and they stood there for a while, listening and watching, the few sparks ascending towards the wheeling of the heavens.

This chapter was mostly a bit of fluff between the last update and the first day of training, but I'm glad I was able to include some of the characters and stories from the books. It's always nice to access the mythos of the world that way. I intend to have the next chapter posted by April 15th; until then, please feel free to comment, and I hope everyone has an excellent month!