city pigeon: Thank you for R&R-ing. HEHE. Please keep updating your story, it is very good………………… I will try to update regularly.

A/N: Please Please Pleeeeease! If you read, please review…..I'll give you virtual cookies. I have one review so far, hoping to get more.

This Chappy may be a little choppy, I apologize, Time elapses in this chapter and leads up to almost a week after Eragon leaves Dras Leona. The next chapter will start off at the night following Galbatorix's leave for Dras Leona. I apologize In advance, but I might get a little screwed up with time elapses in the book b/c my mom has grounded me from all my books, so I have only my memory to refer to.

One more thing! I need a beta, would anyone like to be my beta. Email me at and I will get back to you.

Thank you for reading, and PLEASE review.

The room was pitch black, and there was nothing to light the room...unless Ria could somehow get a fire going in the old fireplace. She slouched in the only furnishing that the room offered, and tried to force her eyes to become accustomed to the darkness. In the meanwhile, she thought on the words that the King had said. What did he mean by 'test'? Was she supposed to do something?Maybe he wanted her to find her way out?Ria didn't know, but whatever test he was referring to, was agitating the hell out of her.

She sighed and let her head roll onto the back of her chair. By now her eyes had grown somewhat accustomed to the darkness, but it was still hard to see because of the lack of any illumination in the room. On the other hand, there wasn't much in the room to see, especially since it was practically bare. It seemed only sensible that Galbatorix wanted her to escape from the room. Why else would he have shut her in there?

Ria knew that the door she had come in was probably sealed tightly, and the filigree was probably drawn across it once again. There must have been another way out...maybe there was a secret passageway. Ria carefully stood up and felt for the wall in front of her. When her hand touched the cold stone, she began to feel for any open seems in the stone wall. It was annoyingly difficult since she couldn't see, so she forced herself to spend several minutes on one section of the wall.

She had gotten halfway down the length of the wall, when she felt a change in the texture of one of the stones. Ria excitedly felt around the area to see how far it stretched, and was puzzled by the fact that the stone was only a foot across, and a few inches tall. The seems of the rock had been sealed, and she wondered how she was supposed to pry it open. She felt strange markings around the edges of the rock, but couldn't make out what it was, because it was so dark.

The rock had a gritty surface, so it seemed feasible to scrape away at it till she got somewhere. She slid a dagger from a sheath within the boot she was wearing, and she began to scrape at the surface of the stone. She took off the top layer of the stone, and continued to work till her dagger hit a smooth bump. The plaster-like sealant continued around the bump, so she continued to work away at its sides as the bump continued to grow. Ria realized that the bump was actually another stone. She hollowed out the edges around the stone, and tried to pry the stone from the wall. It wouldn't budge, so she tried to chip away at as much of the back as she could get to.

Ria retried, and the stone popped loose from the wall and fell to the floor with a hollow clang. The thud left a musical ring in the air, but at the moment, she didn't care about the stone. She ignored it for the moment, and continued to search the compartment and found nothing. Ria kicked the wall in frustration, and continued to move on to another part of the room. She searched for what seemed like another five hours, but found nothing.

She felt around once again for the chair, but tripped over something on the floor. The next moment, she felt herself falling towards the floor and her head smacking off a hard object. Everything went black...

Ria woke with a sharp pain shooting through her temples, and the smell of the dusty stone floor up her nose. She opened her eyes to realize that she was in front of the fireplace and it was lit, she looked around in confusion. King Galbatorix sat in the chair by the fireplace, and was looking at her with mild interest. Next to her hand, sat the stone that she had pulled from the wall. It shone with a silver sheen, and little veins of white were webbed across its surface. Ria sat up and ran her hand over it, in wonder.

"Congratulations, you've passed."

Ria had almost forgotten her situation, and looked at the King. "Passed what, Your Majesty?"

"The test I gave to you, of course." His voice was even and smooth, as always.

"May I ask, what exactly was the test, Your Majesty?"

"The test was to see if you would find the egg, and you did." He stood up and offered her a hand. "You see, I saw something in you, and I was right about that something. You were the one meant to find one of the last remaining eggs in Alagaesia." She took his hand warily, and he helped her to her feet. Ria had the egg tucked under her arm, and she looked at it in astonishment.

"You mean egg...as in Dragon egg?"

"Yes, a Dragon egg." He motioned for her to follow him once again. "You will be the next Dragon rider of the Kingdom. Of course, you must have proper instruction and training. That is where I come in." He took her back out of the series of rooms and she followed him into the castle corridors. The torches were lit, and it seemed to be night-time.

She followed him back to his quarters, and he shut the door behind her. The King sat behind his desk, and she stood, waiting for him to speak or do something.

"Until your dragon hatches, you will be instructed in combat and in learning. We no longer have Lord Tornac with us, so I will be personally instructing you," His voice darkened to a more serious note," I am giving you a privilege Ria, and in return for my generosity towards you, I expect loyalty...is that clear?"

"Yes, your majesty." She finally knew his interest in her, and even though it thrilled her, it also sent fear to her heart. What kind of things would he have her do under his command? Ria knew what he was capable of, and she knew what he had done in the past, and she vowed not to become like him. In the meanwhile, Ria would take advantage of his instruction. But, as soon as she was ready, Ria decided that she would cut loose.

Ria was kept under immense supervision and seclusion, she realized that Galbatorix would not want anyone else knowing what she was. Though he never told Ria anything, she knew he was trying to keep as much information as possible from the Varden. It would be ignorant to not know that there was at least one spy in the castle linked back to the Varden.

Her egg hatched a week later, but before then, Galbatorix had started training her in sword fighting. King Galbatorix was deeply impressed with her skill, so she told him about her father, and how he had taught her how to sword fight at a very young age. She wasn't perfect, mind you, but she had the very instincts a swordsman should need, along with the movement, agility, and form. Ria could take on a very advanced swordsman, but when it came to Galbatorix, he was a challenge that she could not overcome. It seemed that her only advantage over him, was her agility, but his technique overpowered her swiftness.

Galbatorix also gave her a tutor, who was very learned in different areas of study. He educated her on the History of Alagaesia, but Ria noticed that he smoothed over certain parts about Galbatorix. The King and his subjects obviously did not know that she had been previously educated in Alagaesian history, by her father, who was from Alagaesia. Eridian, her tutor, also educated her in Math, Language (including the language of the Elves), Reading, Philosophy, and Herbology. Ria thoroughly loved learning, and she learned the material with confident ease.

She was resting in her room when her egg hatched. Ria noticed a cracking sound coming from near her desk, where she kept her egg, so she pulled herself out of bed to go check it out. The shell pieces were scattered around the proximity of where the egg was, and in its place stood a small, oddly angular creature. It was a shiny silver in color, and had a row of white spikes down its back. It's thin wings strangely protruded from its body, and were white as well.

A sense of wonder overcame Ria, and she kneeled down, stretching out her hand toward the dragon. It's intent eyes bore into her with a curiosity as she touched its head.

Immediately, Ria felt a severe amount of energy pass through all her nerves. She jerked her hand away from her dragon, and collapsed on the floor. A moment later, it passed, and in its place was a strange feeling. Ria could feel something pressing against her mind, and a mixture of emotions nudged at her consciousness. First, she felt ravenous hunger, then it was coupled by a strong feeling of elation.

Ria still laid on her back, staring at the ceiling and trying to sort out what had happened, when the sharp faced creature popped its head into her view. She shrieked in surprise, and immediately sat up. Ria felt the hunger once more, and decided to get it some food.

Ria grew close to her dragon, like any other rider would. After Vanilor hatched, Ria was able to start learning magic, which Galbatorix also instructed her in. Ria finally found out the importance of her learning the ancient language, and was able to quickly solve situations with magic because of her extensive vocabulary. But, saying and doing was two different things...It took her a few months to build up enough skill to do more complicated spells,

but Ria did eventually get better at it.

It was during this time that Ria found out that Galbatorix had been keeping some very important things from her. She had overheard him talking to one of his advisors one night...

"What are we going to do about this other rider, Your grace?"

"Try to get him to join us...and if he won't, kill him." Galbatorix's voice was cold and uncaring.

"We have tried to do this...at least that is what Durza had told me. The rider does not wish to cooperate."

"Well Durza needs to try harder!" Galbatorix slammed his fist on the desk.

"I will be sure to tell him that."

"Tell the Ra'zac to be on the lookout, if they see him, they are to capture him and his dragon immediately. We can't risk one of the only two dragon riders in Alagaesia going to the Varden...that would certainly mean trouble."

"Two?" The advisor inquired, "There are two now?"

"Yes," Galbatorix answered. "I'm surprised you haven't seen the other dragon yet...I have a half-elf rider under my supervision, and she is quite powerful...It would be a shame to loose her, that is why we must be careful."

"Half-elf..." the advisor was in wonder, "How ever did you manage that?"

"She doesn't know, of course...she was working in my kitchens when I discovered her, she had the certain aura about her."

"That is truly amazing. We must be very careful then..."