The Queen's Seal

Chapter Four

Scene Two

The Queens workroom in the Palace. Late afternoon.

Murtagh and Nasuada are relaxing on the balcony with drinks at hand.

Nasuada: So you spent the morning there. Did you see many people?

Murtagh: I think you want to know, did many people see me? Only Elandia and a girl who opened the door. It was fairly quiet at that time of day. I doubt if anyone recognized me.

N: And you think she will be able to help us?

M: I think it's likely.

(There is a knock and Farica enters.)

F: A note has come for you, sir. The messenger did not wait for a reply.

M: Thank you, Farica. (She goes out. He examines the pink seal, opens the note and reads it. He hands it to Nasuada.)

N: The cellar door? Why does she want you to go there?

M: Well, the cellar isn't open to clients, so possibly she thinks I would prefer it to the public rooms. She's right of course.

N: Murtagh, are you sure she is trustworthy? This isn't... some sort of trap?

M: No, I've known her for years. Of course I'll go armed in the city. Everyone does. Whatever happens, I'll be ready for it.

N: Will you take Thorn, just in case?

M: He may be too big now to land in a small back garden. But there's no way he will stay here. We may have to find a place for him to wait nearby so we can keep in touch.

N: Then I will go with you, and stay with him until you know what this is all about.

M: What? No, it's too dangerous for you.

N: You just said it isn't a trap. Whatever happens, you can handle it, remember? Anyway, I'm curious too. I want to meet her.

M: (Opens his mouth to object, then closes it.) I'm sure she will be honored to meet you. But please promise me you will stay with Thorn until I contact you? I don't know how long this will take, and if I am worrying about you, I'll won't be able to focus on whatever is there. Promise me, please?

N: I promise. And you must swear you won't take any unnecessary risks. I worry too, you know.

M: I swear it. (They kiss.)

Scene Three

Cellar under Elandia's house. Wine bottles are stored in wooden racks and several large barrels and crates are scattered around. Candles set in wine bottles are on three or four of the larger barrels, with wooden stools or crates drawn up to them. There is a short stone stairway at the back leading up to a slanted metal cellar door. The atmosphere is smoky, but the room is clean though bare and basic. Most of the stools and upended crates are occupied by hooded figures, some of whom are smoking pipes.

Two knocks, a pause, then three knocks are heard on the metal door. The hooded figures look up, glancing around to see who is missing. A young man speaks up softly.

YM: Shall I see who it is? (Several nod or wave their pipes towards the door. He goes to the back and calls up the stair) Say the password!

Murtagh: Tornac.

YM: Then enter if you will.

(The doors open and Murtagh descends. He wears his cloak with the hood covering most of his face. A tall magician stands and pushes back his hood.)

TM: Greetings, friend of Tornac. Make a light and let us see your face.

M: Brisinger un bolle rauta (a ball of red light appears just over his forehead and he pushes back his hood.)

TM: (Coming closer and examining him) You! You claim to be a friend of Tornac?

M: More than that. He was much more than a father to me, and I am told (glancing up) that he regarded me as a son in all but blood.

TM: Yet you betrayed him to his death!

M: Never. We were both betrayed, through my ignorance and arrogance. I would never have turned on him.

TM: We will hear your tale, then, before we decide. But do you not serve the Varden Queen now?

M: Aye, that I do.

TM: She seeks to bring us under her heel, and you are sent to make us her servants as well! Is that not true?

( The cellar doors swing open with a crash and Nasuada stands at the top of the steps. Thorn hovers close behind her.)

Nasuada: It is not! (She descends the steps while 's head hovers over her and his bulk fills the doorway.)

I am no tyrant like Galbatorix, seeking to make all creep and crawl before me. I led the Varden to victory against him for the sake of those he crushed beneath his evil will. I resisted him under torture of mind and body, and he could not break me to his service.

Of all the evil tricks he used, the enslavement of his enemies through the knowledge of their true names is the one that I most hate and fear for my people. Those whom he enslaved are free now. Perhaps some of you are among them? (Pause. No one meets her gaze.)

I have come to see you to share my earnest wish that this abominable practice of name slavery or mind control must never be allowed to rear its head again in this land. I am here to invite you to form a league of magic users who will find ways to limit the abuse of this power. I am no magician myself. I must rely on others who have this power to manage its use.

You all know that abuses both great and petty can occur, for magical power comes to the foolish and ignorant as well as to the wise and good, such as all of you here. I ask you now, will you consider how to take this burden on yourselves, for the good of this land and of its people?

(Silence. All look down at first, then exchange quick glances. )

TM: Lady Nasuada, you ask a great deal of us. As you see, we here are but few, and you should know that many of us are not well known even to each other. We only recently began meeting here, and one motive for our convergence was to combine such power as we command to resist the control of another who might seek to limit our use of magic. What you have said to us merits our attention, but we cannot commit to any course of action without a goodly course of discussion and much pondering of your request.

N: That is all I require of you for the present. If there is anything you would ask of me, I will hear it now, or when you will. May I also ask that Murtagh Shur'tugal be admitted to your councils?

TM: We have already agreed to hear what he has to say. We would be pleased if you too would join us this evening as our honored guest.

N: I accept with pleasure. (Murtagh places a stool for her while the young magician draws a tankard of mead and sets it before her. All settle in to hear Murtagh tell his tale.)

TM: Shur'tugal?

M: (Takes a drink from the tankard and begins.) You all know who sired me. Most of you know that and not much else about me. But Morzan was never a father to me as that word is understood by most men. I learned early to hate and fear him and to avoid him as much as a child can. By the time I was five, both my parents were dead.

I was brought here to be raised in the Castle, under the eye of the old Tyrant who hoped to form me into a replica of Morzan. I was fortunate that he did not take much interest in me for many years. During my youth, Tornac was my teacher. He trained me to ride and to fight with various weapons and with none, but his greatest skill and his passion was swordsmanship. From him I learned to wield a blade, but far more valuable than anything else, I learned self-mastery.

Magic took no part in my training, for neither Tornac nor myself had any trace of it. When I turned eighteen, the Tyrant began to draw me into his service. I soon saw him in his true colors as a cruel and selfish man who did not deserve to be called a king. I made up my mind to flee, but I could not leave my friend and teacher in ignorance of my plans. I went to say goodbye, but he was determined to go with me and I could not dissuade him. A guard I had trusted betrayed us and Tornac was killed. The knife that was thrown into his back and through his heart - i felt it pierce my own heart, but he ordered me to go on and I knew that I could not help him. I left and hid myself until I found the strength to go on my way alone.

Before long, I met with Eregon and Saphira on the road and began traveling with them. We soon became friends and, when he decided to join the Varden, I went with him to Tronjheim. As I had expected, the Varden soon found out whose son I was, and kept me confined for a few days. When they were attacked by an Urgal horde, I was asked to fight alongside them. That battle we won, but our leader Ajihad was killed by treachery a few days later. The same traitors who killed him captured me and dragged me back here. They were strong in magic and in torture, though no match for the cruel Tyrant they served.

I needed all my strength and all the skill in mental defense I had learned from Tornac to hold out against the Tyrant's

demands to serve him. He found a way through those defenses when my friend here hatched from his egg. Torture of myself I could bear, but not of him. I submitted in order to protect him, and we were allowed to live, both enslaved to the Tyrant's evil will.

So the son of Morzan became a replica of his father after all. For a while. The vicious deeds I committed during that time haunt my dreams and dog my steps. Though the enslavement of my will ended many months ago, the consequences will never end.

I am here with you now, my friends, to share my memories of my time as a man enslaved through knowledge of my true name. I ask you, is this a power anyone should be allowed to use against another?

I do not open my mind to others easily or willingly. Before I learned to use magic, I learned to defend my mind against magical intrusion. For this one purpose only, if it will help any of you to decide to join yourselves into a league of trustworthy magicians to keep the careless, the greedy and the power-mad from usurping the natural right of each person to his own thoughts, his own will and mind - for that purpose only, I will share with you, one at a time, such memories of mine as you wish to examine.

(Silence. They look around at each other, then their eyes drop to their hands and they dibble at their pipes and drink from their tankards.)

TM: Your spoken memories are enough for us, Murtagh Shur'tugal. We know you speak the truth, for, as Queen Nasuada has suggested, we lived through much the same experiences in recent years. We share your memories already through your story and through our own.

N: (Standing) For my part, I thank all of you for your kind welcome and hospitality this evening. Thorn will carry me home, and return here for you, Murtagh Shur'tugal, if that is your wish?

M: I would like to stay a little longer, if agreeable to those here.

TM: You are welcome to join us in our quiet carouse, Rider.

M: Good, then I will return among you shortly. (He gives his arm to Nasuada and they go up the steps together.)

N: Again, my thanks and a good night to you all.

TM and Others: Good night, Lady Nasuada. Sleep well. Slytha wiase, Nasuada Drottning.

End of Scene Three