I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Edited 1/30/22
Please let me know your thoughts throughout the story, I'd love to hear for you :)
Enjoy,
Once Hidden, Twice Found
The armed men standing guard around the doors paused in whatever hushed conversation they were having, and stood deferentially motionless as if they were nothing more than stone. They wore no metal armor, nor uniform, nor did they have a crest across their breast yet even so they seemed no less decorous or dangerous. It was as if their stillness was merely a performance that might change into a deathly wrath within a breath of air. As Brom walked out from the shadows enveloping the space beyond the door, he paused, considering the guards, and nodded slightly, and as he did they relaxed back against the wall. No doubt that when the dragons and the travelers were out of sight the guard's conversations would begin anew.
Brom then turned his head to the company standing around the doors, looking at each dragon and Rider in turn, before he rubbed at his face. His beard, Rose noticed, had been neatly trimmed as had his hair, and he wore a clean, bronze-buttoned green tunic and dark beeches and boots- making him appear to less of a forest man but one of a civil society. Though the lack of his usual long, tousled beard made him look younger and very much kinder, it did not improve his irritated grimace when he looked at them or the sharp steel in his voice as he spoke. "Keep close," he said gruffly as he turned away. "If you fall behind I'll not stop and get you." Then, without looking to see if they followed, the old man walked deeper into the shadows of the hallways.
The halls of Tronjheim were, as Rose had first thought, nothing more than a marble maze, built in such a way to complicate even the simplest of routes. There was no straightness- the halls all seemed to curve- and more than twice they seemed to have back tracked until at last, they came to a wider hallway, though there were few people. The walls here were covered in murals that must have once been bright, but now the colors were so faint that Rose could hardly make them out; she saw the shape of a giant man standing over a mountain range and a strange creature with the head of a woman and the body of a mountain cat.
Rose noted these halfheartedly, her mind drifting again and again to the conversation earlier had with the Varden leader. She was rather perturbed by the brevity of the conversation, having thought that they would be in there for ages upon ages, and not no more than a brief hour. Surely, there was more the man had to say, she thought. Yet, perhaps, the leader could not, or perhaps he did not wish to. Whatever the reason may have been, it worried her very much, for there was very little the leader did tell them. She know not where she stood and what was expected of her, this was something she did wish to understand wholly and heartedly.
These thoughts remained with her, overtaking any other, and she hardly took notice of where they were walking and the sudden bubble of conservation as they turned into a wide arching passageway before turning towards a distant gate. It was only when silence fell over the massive hall that she was brought out her thoughts, and looked up at the men and women and dwarfs who had paused to stare openly at the dragons, their talk having come to an abrupt halt at the sight of them. Young children were seen looking out from behind their mother's skirts, their eyes wide with wonder or terror, some were too young to know the legends of the Riders and the dragons and sniffled softly, their faces hidden. As Rose looked towards these people, some met her eyes, while others turned away, and she realized then with a cold sort of start that these people were mere strangers. Their lives could mean nothing to her or, should she choose them to be, they could become everything.
Turning away, she decided to ignore them for now, and continued to follow after Brom, who seemed to take no notice of the people and dwarfs as he talked with Eragon. She turned her attention to them, wanting to think no more on the Varden's people, or the dwarfs hidden beneath the mountain.
"Where are we going?" asked Eragon, keeping step with the old man.
"Out of these halls," said Brom. He was walking with slight limp, one Rose was certain hadn't had before, and his skin was slightly flushed. "I'm going to show Thorn and Saphira where the dragonhold is so that they can rest while the four of us have supper. You can join them afterwards."
Eragon nodded, considering this, and adjusting his cloak, he asked; "Where's the dragonhold?"
"Do you remember the large red gem in the ceiling?" Brom asked turning to look at him. Eragon nodded. "It's called the Star Rose here, or as the dwarves call it: Isidar Mithrim. The dragonhold is above there. The dragons will have to fly to get there. Before the Fall the marble caves were used whenever a Rider and dragon came to Farthen Dûr."
Rose's steps faltered as she stared blankly at the back of the old man's head, suddenly feeling very cold. She had been expecting, upon coming here, that they would staying a building of some sort, a place with walls and a ceiling that were manmade that held a bed within its confides, and certainly not be resting in a cave. It would be as if she had never left the wilds but had found some cavern to rest in for the evening and perhaps the day after. She dearly hoped that if Brom was not jesting and his words were true that at the very least there would beds with blankets- her body was sore enough from sleeping on rocks.
Feeling Thorn nudge her on the back, she continued to walk far behind them, well out of earshot. Had they had more to say about the dragonhold, or perhaps that there were no bathhouses in which to bathe, she didn't wish to hear it. She already felt like cursing, or spitting, or perhaps a fair amount of both. She no longer wished to think of it, and stared instead at the back of Selena's head as she followed them through an open gateway. The woman had, like Brom, bathed and wore a clean set of clothing. Her hair had been trimmed and fell in loose curls half-way down her back, weaving back-and-forth as she walked. Surely, then, if Brom and Selena were cleaned and bathed then there had to a bathhouse of sorts, Rose concluded, or perhaps they had jumped into the lake outside the mountain upon coming here.
This thought did not make her feel any better.
Once outside the polished iron and gold gates, Brom stopped beside a gleaming statue- it was of an extraordinary creature Rose had no name for- and turned to the dragons. She glanced around the dome's walls looking for the caves Brom had spoken of but seeing nothing but gloom and rock and ice and large patches of springy moss, Rose listened to what he was saying. "I've been told that there is fresh meat and water awaiting the two of you," he told the dragons. "You may rest in whichever cave you want. Later tonight someone is supposed to come with bedding and whatever else you might need."
Thorn switched his tail against the ground- a few bystanders started at the unexpected noise and, seemingly remembering quite suddenly that they had elsewhere to be, walked away. He turned his head to look down at the statue behind Rose, his tongue flickering between his teeth. When your matters are settled and you are ready to sleep I will come and bring you up, he told her. Until then try to act as agreeable as you did when we first arrived. It was a pleasurable change.
Rose stared at him stoically. I'm always pleasant when there's good company.
Thorn made a throaty sound that meant he was laughing, and walked off the path, far from the crowds, before taking flight. The people stirred, turning to look in amazement as he spread his wings and soared into the empty air, his scales iridescent in the torchlight. Not a moment after he left, Saphira followed after him, gracefully arching toward the white crown of the marble city and disappearing from sight.
Eragon and Rose were directed then back through the gates and passed through even more streets. Without the dragons following behind no person- human or dwarf, young or old- stopped to gawk at them, and they were able to pass through the streets without watching eyes.
They came to a stop inside an arched room, low tables lined on the floor forming small, barely passable walkways. A few dwarfs sat around the tables, jesting more than eating the food in front of them, taking no notice to the people who paused under the archway. Once they stopped, Selena walked ahead to charm the dwarf at the blazier for some supper. It was a short conversation, and she returned to them with a covered pewter platter in her hands and an earthen carafe resting in her arm. Without speaking, the man and woman swept from the cramped room, and down more halls and passageways until Rose was certain that she would never find her way out on her own.
It was just when she became convinced of this that they stopped before a set of steep stairs, carved out from the living rock on a passageway where there was no other person in sight and hardly any noise at all. Then as Eragon began to voice a question, Selena and Brom hurried up the staircase, disregarding them completely. After a moment of watching their disappearing backs, Rose unhurriedly followed after them.
She was not certain how long they continued up the stairs, only that her legs ached and her lungs burned, demanding her to rest but the couple pressed them on slowly and she had trouble keeping up even at that pace. They passed many archways blooming out from the small landings, and opening up to a balcony overlooking the marble city below with a bubbling fountain in the center of its small courtyard. Once she saw the glint of colored glass on the ground, likely from a broken window or ornament, and a forgotten copper dollop, stained and tarnished with age. When she was certain that she could go no further, Selena stepped into one of these terraces and came to a stop, waiting for the rest of them to catch up with her.
Rose stood under the cloister, winded, as Brom opened one of the two doors set into the wall and without pausing he and Selena disappeared through it. She watched Eragon as he glanced tensely around him, his gaze settling on the doorway. He looked as if he wanted to say something, anything to cut the dense silence, but decided against it with a shake of his head. Knowing what he was feeling, Rose walked up and stood beside him.
"They're livid," he stated, not looking at her as she stepped beside him.
She nodded in agreement. "Very much so," she said. "Were you expecting something other than them being upset?"
"No." Eragon frowned and shoved his hands into the pouches of his jerkin. "I wish that Brom would yell at us," he said. "I can handle his shouting but this…I don't want to go in there. I've only seen Brom this angry at me once and I don't want to go through that again."
"Nor do I," she said and then took a deep breath. "We best not keep them waiting, it may only make what is to come much worse. Shall we?" Rose tilted her head towards the door, and then not waiting for him, stepped under the archway. She paused briefly to look at the glyphs carved into the side of it. The carvings were recently painted and gleamed brightly in contrast to the old worn stone.
Pressing her fingers to the colorful paint, she had walked into a small, rather overfull room; a tall and long wooden chest had taken over the majority of it, leaving little room to walk. Beside the chest, painted by a graceful hand was a mural showing a long necked white stork by a grassy pond, on the other walls were even more paintings but these had faded long ago, almost completely disguised against the dull stone walls. A beaten looking divan faced the chest and colored mural, its fabric worn to something that was unrecognizable, and beside that was a small table with a copper ewer filled with yellow and orange and white seashells. Knotted chairs, which were painted with vining flowers in the same style and hand as the mural, stood around a small stone hearth which sat in the corner of the room. The hearth was filled with glowing coals as if a fire had been hastily put out merely moments ago, casting a dull light to outline of a small hallway. At its end was a dark wooden door, which was also painted in the bright colors of sunflowers and irises and vines. A makeshift dining room stood in the far corner of the room, far from the hallway, a long wooden table pushed against the wall with a fair number of mismatched, painted, wooden chairs littering around it.
Rose felt herself frown as she carefully took a step deeper into the chamber.
"There's nothing in here that will bite," came Selena's voice from behind her. "Feel welcome to come and sit and eat with us."
Rose jolted and turned to her, she had half forgotten that Selena and Brom were within the hovel. The woman had moved, unnoticed, behind her to shove a chair in front of the door forcing it open. No wind stirred through the room- everything was deathly still- nothing to expel the faint smell of mildew.
Biting at her lip, Rose backed away, nearly stepped into Eragon, who stood behind her, overlooking the room with interest. She was half expecting the woman to attack her as she had done in Teirm, or yell, or something, anything to show how she felt- but Selena just looked at her and Eragon and closed her eyes before meshing her lips together. With a great huff the woman walked around Rose and Eragon to a long table opposite of the divan, and looked inside a large basket on the ground next to it. After a moment she sighed, slamming the top shut, and turned away from them. "There will be no bread tonight, Brom. I'll see what I can do to come by a basket or two tomorrow," she said. "Jannet mentioned that she was making sweet bread, perhaps I will see what I can get from her."
"I'll not disagree to that," said Brom. "Jannet is your friend's wife, correct? The one from the Northern Lands?"
"You mean Herb? Yes, she's his wife."
Brom nodded, and seated himself at the table. The dark wooden table was set with earthen dishes and plain goblets and it too was painted; gracefully stroked sunflowers and irises and leafy ivies danced around the edges. Rose walked over, the smell of food having called to her, and touched her fingers to the delicately painted petals, feeling the rise and fall of paint. She seated herself and looked up from the paint on the wood. The plate in the center was piled high with carved meat and vegetables, and she realized suddenly that she was ravenous. Her mouth began to water. As the conversation continued, showing no sign of end, she squeezed her hands tightly in her lap as if to hold them down.
Finally the talk ended, though rather suddenly as if Brom and Selena were merely filling the silence, before they began to serve themselves. When they had taken their fill, though they did not eat it, Rose could wait no longer and piled her plate as well. As she waited for Eragon to take his share she studied the paintings on the table a little more and then looked up, eager to eat something more than dried fruit and meat, and hard, tasteless breads. She was sick to the back of her teeth with travel fare.
"What is this meat? I have never seen anything like it," said Eragon, as he took a large slice.
"It's a roasted beef," said Selena, passing the jug to him. "You will want to try this too, as will you, Rose. It's some of the best wine you will ever taste."
After pouring himself a generous amount of the wine, Eragon handed the decanter to Rose for her to do the same. The wine was pale as straw and swirling, and poured out like the softest of silks into her glass. After setting the remaining wine aside, she took a small sip. The wine ran lightly over her tongue, crisp and sweet. It was, as Selena promised, quite good.
Then they began to eat and she concentrated on the food. The food was delicately flavored, and far from the rough traveling cooking; the meat was stuffed with herbs and garlic, roasted so tenderly it dissolved on her tongue, and the carrots and turnips and beets had been cooked in rosemary and thin slices of onion. Brom glanced at her, as he helped himself to more of the meat, and something in his face seemed to change. "Whatever excuses you two have, keep them to yourselves. I do not want to hear them," he said in a steely voice. "What the two of you had done was daft. Beyond daft. I'm not sure if you're imprudent or unsure of how exactly your brain operates. You could have gotten yourselves and the dragons killed, or worse captured. It sounds as if you almost did!" He looked between them as he picked up a knife, his knuckles turned white as he tightly gripped it, pointing its shining blade at them each in turn. "Do either of you have the faintest idea what would have happened if Galbatorix had gotten ahold of either of you, or the gods' forbid, all four of you?"
Rose knew exactly what would have happened but even so she remained silent, feeling as if she had no voice at all, and, no longer hungry, pushed her plate away. She set her hands in her lap and rubbed them together. Her fingers were cold as ice. She keep her face blank and stared at the raging man passably.
"He would torment you until you agree to become nothing more than his puppet!" exclaimed Brom, answering his own question with hardly a pause. "He could set you out to destroy your own family, to prove to you that you are no longer in control, and you would do it without hesitation. You would have no mind or body of your own."
"I'd would die before joining Galbatorix," Eragon declared, dropping his food roughly onto the plate. "I would never join him!"
Brom turned in his chair to fix Eragon with a hard stare. "You say that now," he said, "but when he threatens Saphira or forces himself into you mind, you might find that you haven't a choice. You would join him because Galbatorix would do all in his power to force you into it. He wouldn't let you die either. When there is something he deems of value it is protected from death. He may drive you to edge of dying but you would pulled back again and again to the point of complete madness. Once he supposes you are insignificant you shall be tossed aside like rubbish but until then you would nothing more than a prize." He took a sudden breath and leaned back his chair, his face slowly paling. "While I'm certain you're brave words are truth now, Eragon, if Galbatorix ever got his hands on you they would mean naught."
Eragon's face reddened and he said something in the Ancient Language, pausing between every word as his eyes narrowed. The meaning of his words were not lost on Rose, she figured that he was repeating his earlier statement in attempt to clearly state his point. It was when he fell silent, and Brom fixed him with a sad smile, that her suppositions were conformed.
"I hold onto what I said," the old man said. "I meant it not as an insult but as a warning, should either of you decide to repeat that idiotic adventure."
Eragon held Brom's gaze, his hands balling into fists. "I remain with my statement," he said.
"As do I." Brom leaned back in his chair with a grimace, his hand rising to his chest before falling onto his lap. He clenched his jaw and spoke through his teeth; "Remember to pick your battles, Eragon," he warned.
"That is quite enough!" Selena said sharply, rising suddenly from her chair. "Brom, please, if your injury is troubling you, go lay down. Since I cannot get you to see a healer the very least you can do is rest. We can easily move this conversation into the sitting area while you do so."
His attention turned to her with the air of a conversation had many times over. His eyes hardly focused on her at all. "I do not need to lay down," he said absently. "I'm fine."
Selena huffed. "Then let us sit elsewhere. I believe we have all ate our fill and are content to leave the plates here until a later time," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Come now, you old crippled goat, up you get."
Brom grumbled irritably but stood up and walked, slightly hunched over, to the divan anyhow. There he hushed and inelegantly dropped into the cushions, with a small hiss through his teeth.
"What happened?" Eragon asked quietly, his eyes fixed on Brom. His hands twitched and he hid them inside his cloak. "How did he get hurt?"
Selena turned to him but did not take her eyes away from the man. "Not long after you left the Ra'zac ambushed us. We escaped but we did not do so unscratched."
"We didn't leave them unscratched either," came Brom's voice from behind the divan. "Now, are you three going to come over here and join me?"
Rose stood up and rested her hands on the back of the chair. "I do not suppose that either of you know how the Ra'zac came to find you, then," she said, leaning forward to grab ahold of her goblet of wine.
"We do not," said Selena. "I think that they have been tracking us for a time. In that aspect I believe it to be fortunate that you two were absent. That does not mean that I have forgiven either of you for leaving as you did. I'm still currently thinking of ways that I might strangle to you both."
Rose felt herself frown, and to hide it she took a long, thin sip from the goblet. "And what of the threat you told me about?" she asked, cradling the cool glass in her hands. "Should that not be explained in full."
At first Selena did not answer as she walked across the room and seated herself beside Brom. "Sit down and we shall tell you about it," she said and then remained silent until Rose and Eragon seated themselves in one of the unevenly stuffed chairs. Rose moved around in the chair for a moment, thinking that perhaps the floor would be much more comfortable, until the woman began to speak. "The moment I got here," she said to the both of them, "certain events have taken place and have been set up, like pieces to a board game, waiting to be put into play. The moment when you and the dragons arrived so did these pieces move. The leaders here, whether it be of a large or a small organization, have been, and will continue to try to, state a claim of either one or both of you because it will likely be that the two of you and the dragons will be bring the end of Galbatorix's reign. His end is the Varden's current goal, anything beyond that is ambivalent."
"And the spies?" Rose asked. "What of them?"
"There are always spies," grumbled Brom. "It does not matter where you go or how many people you think you trust, always know that there are spies."
"Believing so is naught but supposition," muttered Rose. "Peering over your shoulder at all times leaves you with a sore neck and an empty heart."
"Rather a sore neck than a slit one," Brom asserted, his head leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes.
Rose frowned at him.
"If there are spies, what will we do?" asked Eragon, looking uneasily between her and the old man.
"Be as careful as we plan to be without them," said Brom. Stirring, he looked between Eragon and Rose without any display of emotion. "Which is to say; very, very careful. Which brings us to what needs to be said tonight before you two go off and rest. While you are here, I want you to be mindful of the words you say, you must think before you speak, and should either of you walk about Tronjheim you are to do it together either with one of us or each other. I do not request this because I believe either of you to be inept but because it is for your own safety. Perhaps in the future things will change but as of this moment we know not everyone's intentions and I will not have either of you become their pawns, nor will I have your blood spilt because of them." He paused and scratched at his short beard. "The two of you are in unique position. One of power and influence but remember you are guests here. Powerful guests, yes, but guests nonetheless."
Brom fell silent and that silence fell over them for a short time, as they were each wrapped up in their thoughts. After a moment, Rose took another sip of the wine favoring her its sweet taste. It had been so very long since she has held anything so lovely or drank a wine half worth its labor. She settled the etched goblet into her lap and reached out her mind to Thorn but he turned her away, forcing her from his company. She huffed in annoyance, silently cursing him, and studied the design set into the glass.
"So," said Selena after a time, "tell us what truly happened in Gil'ead."
Rose looked up at the woman and frowned. "You have been told of what happened."
"In parts but we all know there is more to it," the woman said. "The way the both of you hesitated before speaking did not help matters any. This and the fact that we have traveled with you both long enough to where we are not fooled by your watered-down version of events."
Rose scowled, and looked around the room once, her eyes not settling on any one thing. She had a distant feeling that Selena didn't truly wish to hear the story again- though she had to admit that what she and Eragon told them was very clipped- but wished more for a reason not to let them leave just yet. Turning to Eragon, she saw him looking dazedly at her, his eyes drooping, and he then turned away and began again to tell them of Gil'ead, and unlike before, when they had met with Ajihad, Rose added in details- odd bits and pieces of information that she had a hard time forgetting. As they talked of the Iron Tower within the wheel shaped city, and meeting Dormnad, and his assistant who stood outside his door, Eragon paused. "There are a man outside with him," he said. "He had been there when we entered Dormand's… home, I guess you can call it, and when we left he was still there. He watched Rose when we walked away almost as if he knew her or thought he knew her. I remember because he looked like he was about to call her out."
Selena turned in her seat. "Do you think perhaps that this man might have recognized you?"
Rose frowned, trying to think of what that man might looked like but her mind drew a blank- she could hardly remember him at all. "He may have," she admitted. "I had thought that he seemed familiar, yet, I could not recall from where, nor could I think of who he might have been. To be honest I still haven't the faintest idea."
"Can you think of who it might be?" asked Selena after a moment. When Rose shook her head, the woman sighed and looked at the emptied goblet in her hands. "Could he have been one of the men Tornac took with him to Gil'ead? He had said that a fair amount stayed in the city."
Rose shook her head again. "No," she said firmly. "I did not see any of those men and they did not look upon me. When Tornac left I did not see him out. There is no way for one of the soldiers to know who I am. They were all very new to the region." She paused, rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb. "Besides, this man was no soldier. He was of another ranking."
"A noble, then, perhaps."
"I highly doubt it. Noblemen tend not to travel near Gil'ead for reasons that are of their own," she said, thinking of the crowed conversations she had once listened to. "Some might send their assistants, though, to gather news or to send a report. If nothing else, he was likely one of them."
"It could have been someone who had an acrimony towards you," said Brom, rubbing his beard. Until then he had been completely silent. "I'm certain there were people within the Courts who had some sort of discord either with you or your father. It very well could have been a watchful eye, as well. Who knows what word Galbatorix spread after you left his city."
Rose looked at him evenly. "The King sent word that I was either dead or captured by his enemies," she told him. "That is to say the Varden."
"That's a curious move for him to make," said the old man after a moment. "Clever too because if anyone were to recognize you they would either think nothing of it or far too much and try to rescue you. If you were to resist them they would conclude it to being that you were of weak heart and fell into the enemies hands, but still you'd end up at Galbatorix's throne."
"I had thought the very same." She turned in her chair glance out the door, seeing if there was any daylight remained. None did, the air beyond of the faint light was nothing but black and shadow. "This is why I stayed out of towns and away from people as much as possible. In Gil'ead however I could not sit around idly as Eragon walked into a city filled with Empire soldiers. It did not bode well with me."
"How did you even know of this?" asked Selena, leaning onto her knees. "I've heard no word of Galbatorix or his deeds in many weeks."
Rose stiffened and for a long moment was silent. Selena knew very well that she had gone to give Shadowless, Tornac's former steed, a proper home and who she had met with while doing so. She had told her because she felt that if nothing else the woman should know that much, though she had not said much beyond that. "It hardly matters how I heard of it," she said, not looking at Selena. "There's been painfully little news of the King's deeds. It's unnerving. I believe that he is planning something significant."
"Galbatorix is always scheming," Brom scuffed. "I think that we have talked long enough into the night. Why don't you two join the dragons and get some rest. We have an early start tomorrow."
Rose stood up and moved to set the goblet on the table as Eragon stirred. He looked around with heavy eyes and then slowly rose to his feet and stretched. "Before I go to sleep, I'd like to bathe," he said heavily, "and to have clean clothes."
Selena looked at him and nodded before standing up and disappearing behind the door down the short hallway. After a short moment she returned with three bags, and handed one to Eragon. "The clothes you left are in there," she said. "They have been cleaned and mended, and for now they shall have to do. I have yours as well, Rose, and your viol. Your other belongings can wait for another time but until then know that they are safe."
With a tired nod, Rose took the bags from Selena and held the instrument close to her chest. She had missed its comfort. Perhaps in the morning she would pick it up and play its strings, to listen to its sound if nothing else… "What of the horses? They are in the sables and well, yes?" she asked. "I would very much like to see Starshine come morn."
The look Selena gave Brom was not lost on her, and she frowned. "The horses," said Selena slowly, carefully as if she were thinking over the words, "Eragon's and yours that is, were lost when the Ra'zac attacked. We could not afford the risk to backtrack and look for them. Some of our supplies and smaller, less important belongings were lost as well. I am sorry."
Rose looked down and studied the earthen floor. It would do the woman good, she thought, to invest in a rug. She pushed the thought away and gradually nodded. It was merely a horse, she told herself as her eyes began to burn and sting, though she knew it was more than that. From the time Starshine was a foal, she had known him and would often spend her days with him as he grew. They had become attached to one another in a strange and wonderful way, and when the testy stallion didn't accept anyone else's care he became her responsibly and now she would never know the creature's fate. It is as if all the good things from my life at the capital are being lost or taken from me leaving only the bad and the new, she told herself, and then walked towards the door, silently waiting for Eragon to join her, only he did not.
"How were they lost?" he asked, suddenly sounding awake. "It's not easy to lose a horse, or even two."
"It's easy when two assassins and their monsters are chasing you down," growled out Brom. "Very easy. Now off you go. We've talked enough tonight. I'll see you both later."
"You're not going to walk down with us?" asked Eragon, unfazed by the man's harsh tone.
"Nay, I'm going to stay here and rest," Brom told him. "There's no telling what Selena will do to me if I overextend myself and collapse." He turned to Selena and raised an eyebrow. "Is that not what you said earlier today? That if I overextend myself you shall either skin me alive or tie me down?"
"I said nothing about skinning you," said Selena without glancing at him. "Skinning was never my forte, it's far too delicate of a procedure." She walked to the door and stopped beside Rose. "Come, now, Eragon. I shall only take one more trip tonight, anymore and I'll be sleeping in the halls leaving you to wonder about hopelessly lost."
Eragon started and stood up, casting Selena a suspicious look. As he came closer to them, he turned and called out a good night to Brom. Then without a word Selena led them back down the staircase. The stairway was in Rose's option worse going down than up. Her already tired mind and body burned with the agony of moving as it was, and the stairs seemed to have grown much longer in the time spent dining and conversing. When they reached the bottom it brought no relief, her whole body burned with exhaustion. But without a chance to break and catch her breath, she and Eragon were led through more darkened streets lit with glowing red lights- they heard no noise from any sort of human life, likely everyone had gone to bed- until they reached a stout archway and passed through it into a rough, short stone passage. After quite some time of walking bent over Selena stopped them, and pointed to the open door to her left. "Bathes are through there," she said. "One for ladies and one for men. I shall wait here for you but, please, be quick."
Rose made to walk through the doorway but paused and glanced at Eragon- he had stopped and was talking quietly to Selena. The woman nodded and then waved him away, telling him that they would speak of it in the morning. Not commenting on it, she waited until Eragon was closer to her before disappearing into the room beyond the door.
The bathing-chamber was a massive room, carved from within living rock, a large still pool of water in its center. Soft red light reflected off the water's surface, completely unbroken, and a jug filled with soap rested at its edge but otherwise it held no other decoration. Rose stood in the open doorway and then slowly closed the door behind her. She stepped further into the room, glancing nervously at the water for a long moment before she took off her stiff, dirty clothes and tested its depths with her fingers. It was warm and stank of sulfur and salt. After grabbing the ewer, she found a set of steep stairs and lowered herself into the water. Once she was knee-deep she sat on the stair behind her. She did not know how deep the water was and felt quite unwilling to find out, and so she washed herself and her hair quickly before dressing in clean clothing and quickly exiting from the room.
Rose waited silently in the shadows until Eragon exited from the chamber across from her. He took his time, and she found herself growing heavy with sleep, and then eventually he came out and they walked towards the wide archway together. Selena was where they had left her, leaning against the wall, her gaze focused on an unmarked spot. She looked towards them as they came closer and pushed herself to her feet.
Wordlessly they exited the tunnels and walked to the gate at the far end of the hallway, and then paused, standing there a moment. Everything beyond the light of the gate was the darkest of night, there was not a hint of starlight or candle-glow from the homes- all was pitch.
"We will met here after you wake," said Selena in a quiet voice. "Let us know when you are ready and one of us will come." She covered her mouth and yawned. "I didn't say before but if you are to call me anything here, call me Ailis. Inside these walls that is what I am known as, and for now, I would like to keep that way." Turning to them, the woman hugged them both briefly. "I am glad you two are safe. I cannot begin to tell you how worried I was, but if you ever do anything like that again don't expect me to ever forgive you for it."
Eragon nodded and rubbed his arms, looking above the great building. As he did, Rose felt Thorn mindtouch with her. Is everything sorted out? he asked, and as he did two shadowy forms of dragons come into the soft light.
I don't believe so, Rose said tiredly, but it is as far as we are willing to go tonight.
The dragon snorted and landed beside her. He did not have on his saddle, and she wondered absently who had taken it off.
Quickly, Rose turned and said a quick good night to Selena before scrambling onto the dragon's back, her bags swinging from her shoulders. She held tightly onto his spine as he took off into the empty air. Over the beating of his wings she did not hear the woman shout after her wishing her a good rest. It felt strange, to her, to fly with Thorn without a saddle but the flight was over before it truly began and she slid from his back.
Thorn wordlessly swished his tail and lead her to the cave he had chosen for them to rest in. She followed him to it, not bothering to look around at the catacomb of caverns above and around her or the glistening floor of the massive red sapphire, the Isidar Mithrim. What she had to say to Thorn could wait until the sun shined its light, she decided as she walked after him into a cave.
It was dry and the floor looked as if it had been recently swept- tiny crisscrossed groves scratched their way across the thin layer of dirt. The cave drove in about a dozen feet and then turned sharply, a large cushion lay at is curvature, her bags and the saddle were next to it. She turned, looking around and saw a hovel carved into the wall- it had a thick mattress and many blankets resting upon its opening. She walked towards it, dropping her bags carelessly to the floor and slipped off her boots. With a great yawn, she crawled in-between the covers, pulling the blankets around her and lay down. The blankets were already warm, and without another thought she fell asleep.
A/N: I don't know if any of you guys have ever made your parents so mad that they don't know how to react, so they hardly so at all, but its scary. Its scary because they do not yell or scream and even act like what you did was wrong, and so you're sitting here waiting for that yelling and screaming to start but it never does. Instead they sit and talk and even though they sound upset its still unnerving, and you know that won't be the end of it. You know that you are going to pay in the future for our actions in others ways. I have and even though I'm an adult it still creeps me out when my parents are calm after I tell them bad news.
This is pretty much what happened in this chapter: Brom and Selena are angry, beyond so, but they are unsure of how to react so they simply do not. Instead they talk it over, seeming far too reasonable, and the thoughts and words playing within their head is something else all together. But even their anger is minor, minor compared to the disappoint of knowing that Rose and Eragon and the dragon hadn't just told them instead of running off, if anything that apparent lack of trust is close to heart breaking.
Anyhow, tell me what you think.
