Chapter 10: The Call of Roan

It wasn't long at all until Riley saw the haphazardness of Therinsford. Riley glanced at the sky. Saphira was nowhere to be seen, of course, but Riley worried that she would be sighted anyway. As they came to a bridge to enter the city, a burly, greasy man blocked their path, demanding a toll of five crowns. Riley was outraged and she could see Eragon felt the same.

"Well, I'm not paying." She said defiantly, "And don't pay my way in, Brom" and side-stepped the troll as Brom pulled out his coins. Brom ignored her and paid in full.

Riley waited on the end of the bridge. She glared at Brom, but it quickly turned into a smug laugh as she watched him stumble into the man. She noticed Brom's hand shoot out, a pocket sized knife sliced the man's coin purse undetected. They reached Riley and continued to the city. Brom relieved Eragon's disappointment as he showed the glinting coins in his hand. Then he scolded Riley for her defiance, told her there were better times and places for it, which left Riley feeling foolish and confused. If he thought ignoring a small toll man was insufficient then who and where did he expect her to proclaim herself? She idly considered Galbatorix's soldiers, but that was all she could think of that she would be able to face without being overpowered.

Riley dropped Brom's riddle from her thoughts as they arrived at a barn. A man named Haberth, shook her hand after he did Eragon's and asked what he could help with. Riley stared at the horse by his side. She admired how snowy white he was and the strong attitude he had. She stuck out her hand slowly to let him sniff her.

"We need three horses. They have to be fast and tough," Brom said.

Haberth looked down the stalls at his animals. "I don't have many, but I'll see what I can do. Keep in mind, those won't be cheap."

Brom nodded and simply said, "Price is no object." Riley leaned against the splintered barn door, squinting into the shaded barn as Haberth retrieved horse after horse, tying each to a stall so he could bring out the third, but Brom stopped him. Haberth seemed confused but he went along with it. Haberth described the temperament of the two he brought out. Both had a fiery spirit as they were young and just broken in. One was a light bay, the other a beautiful blue roan.

Riley knew from the moment the roan's eyes saw her that she would kick and scream to have him. Brom agreed to buy them, but looked warily at her horse, not sure if it would be up for their particular journey. Riley declared to herself that they would prove Brom wrong. She patted him easily, feeling a comfortable bond already forming between them as she felt the horse push against her with the end of his nose.

"We are keeping him," She simply confirmed.

She retuned her attention to the others. Eragon and the bay were staring at each other and Brom haggled with Haberh to gain the white horse, Snowfire. He didn't want to give him up. Riley didn't blame him; Snowfire was the best he had, next to hers that is. However, for the right price and promise of the highest treatment, Snowfire's reins were now in Brom's calloused hands. Before leaving the stalls, they also bought full tack for the horses. Brom reassured Haberth of his care once more and they departed. He told Riley and Eragon to bring the horses to the city's edge and wait for him. They waited for a half hour, brushing the horses and lost in thought.

"What do you think he's doing?" Riley finally asked, getting tired of waiting. But before he answered, Brom came forth around a shack with boarded up windows and told them himself.

"I was looking for clues to the whereabouts of the Ra'zac. They were here and didn't stay long. They bought some horses a few days ago." Brom took Snowfire's reins and they walked until Therinsford was out of sight. The three stopped shortly to check all the supplies and to tighten them on to the horses.

Riley rubbed hers between the ears, almost having to step on tip toe and remembered something. "Eragon, when you first touched the bay, you had a funny look on your face. What was that about?"

"Oh. I touched the bay's mind. It was an accident really. I hadn't known that I could. How is that possible, Brom?" Eragon asked with excitement at the base of his question.

Brom frowned, continuing to tie up his supplies. He said, "It's very uncommon for someone so young and inexperienced. It usually takes years of training to learn that ability."

Wonder if I can do it too? Riley thought. She looked at her horse; his liquid brown eyes gazed back. She concentrated on those only, blocking out the shuffling of hooves and mumbling of her companions. There! She felt something. Something bright and fiery at the edge of her mind. She concentrated intensely, but the source held a protective shell. She could tell it was paper thin, but still couldn't penetrate it. Her roan neighed and she lost the presence. Riley realized that she had shut her eyes to focus better and when she opened them, she found that not only was her horse staring at her, everyone else was as well. She sighed and strapped the last bag to the roan.

Before they moved on, Riley brushed her hand along his side and smiled. "Maybe next time."

Riley pulled her small body up and wrapped her fingers around the stiff leather rope. She listened to Brom's pointers to riding since she had never ridden by herself before.

Riley followed at the rear on the stoned road around Utgard's peaks and under the distraught outpost of the long-ago-Riders. They all rode in silence for hours until both Eragon and Riley became restless to see past the mountains and out of Palancar.

"Are we there yet?" Riley asked because of the anxious child inside and because of the soreness in her behind. "I've never seen what's out there. Cori made it this far. Now I will too."

Brom laughed quietly. "We are nearly there. Just around here." Brom pointed to a narrow bend in the valley and everyone sped up, eager to see the new surroundings.

Riley gasped. "It's so open! Will it be safe to pass?" Riley asked as they stopped along the Anora River to gaze upon a russet plain, empty of the lush trees that Riley felt security in.

"It should be fine; just about deserted besides the nomads. There'll be a few villages spread out, but we would find more to the south," Brom said to soothe Riley.

"How long to cross the plain?" Eragon injected, squinting up at the clear sky to Saphira, where to anyone else there was a bird.

Brom jumped down from Snowfire. "Two days to a fortnight. We'll settle here for tonight." He led his horse off the road and the others followed suit, glad to use their legs. "Your horses deserve names. What shall you call them?"

Riley knew what her horse's name should be. She had been mulling them over through the whole ride. "Devron," Riley said turning to him, his blue coat shining in the sunset. "Do you like that one?" Again, Riley tried to contact the horse's mind. Though she still couldn't fully penetrate, Riley was able to tell that he was pleased with her choice. Eragon named the bay Cadoc, after his grandfather.

They laid out their sleeping mats on the thinned grass. Riley was just about to practice reading her journal, but Brom had other plans for her.