Greetings readers, nice to see you again. Sorry this is a bit late, I normally upload at about 3am on a Saturday, in England, where I live, not the same time zone as America, so it might be sunday, or Friday, or Saturday for that matter I don't know, and I don't much care.
Anyway this is the next chapter so enjoy it, review if you want, don't if you don't.
Chapter 3: Normality.
The council beamed with triumph, pleased that Nasuada was dancing to their tune, just looking at their grins made Eragon feel slightly sick.
"We do insist" said Jormundur "for your own good and the good of the Varden."
The other elders added their expressions of support, and all but Jormundur scowled at Eragon when he snorted 'Not to mention their good.'
Falberd was the first to stop and turned to Arya "Will the elves find this agreeable?"
Arya did nothing but stare for a small while, until Falberd was fidgeting under her piercing gaze, then lifted an eyebrow "I cannot speak for m queen, but I find nothing objectionable to it. Nasuada has my blessing."
'Good elf' Eragon said to Saphira as the councils smiles turned even more sickening.
Saphira rolled her eyes 'You are silly sometimes little one, she could hardly find it otherwise, with what you told her. She believes we are backed into a corner.'
'We are' he told her.
Confusion came over their link 'Are we? And if we are then why are you so cheerful?'
'Because all corners have one severe weak point, an escape route I intend to use.'
'Lashing out at whatever's in front of you' Saphira said nodding.
'Don't be stupid Saphira, I'm going to smash the corner to pieces and run away through the building.'
She snorted loudly, drawing all eyes to the pair, mainly because of the jet of roaring flame that accompanied Saphira's snort.
Nasuada thanked Arya before turning to Jormundur "Is there anything else that much be discussed? For I am weary" she asked, ignoring Eragon and Saphira's antics.
Jormundur shook his head "We will make all the arrangements. I promise you won't be troubled until the funeral.
'When there will be a shit load of trouble.'
'You should add 'for your delectation' to the end' Saphira said, watching the scene before them with interest, interest that Eragon lacked.
'A shit load of trouble for your delectation, nice.'
"Again, thank you" said Nasuada "Would you leave me now? I need time to consider how best to honour my father and serve the Varden. You have given me much to ponder" she splayed her delicately fingers on the dark cloth that covered her lap.
Umerth looked like he was going to protest at the council being dismissed, but Falberd waved a hand, silencing him "Of course, whatever will give you peace. If you need help, we are ready and willing to serve."
Eragon leapt to his feet and quickly headed past them to the door.
'Come on Saphy, let's find something to kill, I'm sick of politics. Can't these people solve their differences like everyone else, by killing each other?'
"Eragon, will you please stay?"
Eragon audibly groaned, but dutifully returned to his seat, this time setting his feet up upon the table top.
The council glared at him, and his disrespect, and seemed alert and worried, Falberd even looked reluctant to leave, lingering by the door, but leave they all did, eventually.
Arya was the last to go, before departing she looked at Eragon, her green eyes revealing the worry and apprehension that had been concealed before.
Eragon winked.
Nasuada sat, partially turned away from Eragon and Saphira "So we meet again, Rider. You haven't greeted me. Have I offended you?"
Eragon grinned "Stabbing me in the heart would be the only way for a pretty girl like you to offend me."
'Such a flirt' Saphira muttered, no real annoyance in her tone.
Eragon scowled at the room at large "Atra nose waise vardo fra eld hornya" he said, reaching into his magic. Nasuada stiffened as he did so but made no actions "And there we go, now no elf, man or dwarf can overhear our conversation... we can do many other things without be overheard too."
Nasuada smiled shyly at him, her posture softening "Thank you Eragon. You don't know what a gift that is" her words were stronger and more self-assured than before.
From behind Eragon, having not had the chance to get up when he rushed for the door, Saphira finally moved, carefully making her way around the table to stand before Nasuada. She lowered her great head until one sapphire eye could stare into Nasuada's black ones.
She maintained her gaze for a full minute before snorting softly and straightening.
'Tell her...'
'Got it' he responded, having already read her thoughts "Me and Saphira grieve for you, and your loss. Ajihad was a good, strong man. We didn't know him long, but all we saw was a leader willing to risk his own life for the sake of his people. He would have made a great king."
She looked up at him startled by his kind words "Thank you."
"But know that now, your strength much becomes the Varden's, you must guide them well when you take up his mantle and that will not be an easy task."
'Not exactly what I wanted, but good enough, a few of your additions in there?' Saphira inquired.
'Gods some people are so hard to please' Eragon mumbled 'I've told her essentially what you wanted to say, don't be so bitchy over the specifics.'
"I also have some to tell yo... no wait fuck that, first I have a question."
Nasuada nodded.
"What I want to know is" he leaned on his fist, staring her right in the eye "How much did he tell you?" his crimson eyes bore into her black, like knives covered in blood.
She gulped, but held his gaze "After I met you, he told me. Everything. He wanted me to form my own opinion of you before he... coloured them, but, if that's what you're really asking, then yes, I know that you are a Shade."
For a moment Eragon's eye were harsh, and angry, before he shrugged "Well that's good, one thing that always seems to kill a relationship, tell someone halfway through that you're kind of a really, really evil being. It's a pain, thankfully you already know. And?"
She smiled at his comments, then looked down at her dress "At first I was shocked, and, I must confess, appalled. But then I thought more on our meeting and, well, you seemed nice enough. Not the inhuman devilish monsters Shade's were spoken of as being. Learning that taught me a lesson, it taught me that not everything was as black and white as I had believed, there was good in evil and evil in good, it put many things into perspective for me."
"Good for you. Now can I g... what?" Eragon turned to look at Saphira who had said something to him "Oh, shit, forgot about that. Right, that thing I wanted to tell you" something entered Eragon's voice as he spoke now, a restraint that hadn't been there before "Ajihad's last words. I've kept them a secret, until now, only Arya and Saphira know of them, but you have the right to know."
"'Do not let the Varden fall into chaos, they are the only hope of resisting the empire, they must be kept strong. Please promise me'..." a long pause followed with Nasuada staring at him wide eyed and teary "and so I did, I made that promise, I swore to keep the Varden strong and I will" the hint of pity that had been in Eragon's eyes faded "And if that means I have to kill you, Nasuada, his daughter, I will. Do not doubt my... willingness to perform the request Ajihad made of me. I am not a man of my word, but this is one thing I will not fail, you have my word."
"I-I see... thank you for telling me this" tears were even closer to falling, but there was a small smile on her face. Even in his last moments Ajihad worked for the good of the Varden. She made to speak but Eragon cut her off.
"I have told no one else of these words. I have no desire to usurp the Varden's leadership."
She laughed at that "But that leadership isn't to be me, is it?" her reserve vanished, leaving behind only composure and determination "I know why you were here before me and what the council is trying to do. Do you think that in the years I served my father we never planned for this eventuality? I expected the council to do what it did. And now everything is in place for me to take command of the Varden."
"Oh" Eragon blinked once then smirked "So the little girl knows what she's doing, huh? That's good, I don't need a stupid leader" his own reserve also vanished, leaving only the arrogance and power of the Shade he truly was.
She looked at him in confusion before nodding "Continue to keep Ajihad's instruction a secret. It would be unwise to bandy it about, as people might take it to mean that he wanted you to succeed him, and that would undermine my authority and destabilise the Varden. He said what he thought he had to in order to protect the Varden. I would have done the same."
"My father..." she faltered briefly, before collecting herself "My father's works will not go unfinished, even if it takes me to the grave. That is what I want you, as a Ride and a Shade, to understand. All Ajihad's plans, all his strategies and goals, they are mine now. I will not fail him by being weak. The Empire will be brought own, Galbatorix will be dethroned and the rightful government will be raised."
As Nasuada finished a tear ran down her cheek.
Eragon walked over to her and gently wiped it from her dark cheek, claiming the seat next to hers as he did so "Good, you'll need that determination. But remember" his crimson eyes burned with a roaring inferno as they met hers "I am not one of your soldiers. I am not someone you can just order about. I am the Rider who became a Shade, and I do as I please."
She looked directly into his eyes, directly into that blistering inferno of anger and hate "I know, you can do whatever you want. The council members are foolish if they think they can control you. You are a hero to the Varden and the dwarves, and even the elves will hail you victory over Durza" Eragon shivered as the name passed her lips, but Nasuada didn't notice, too caught up in his eyes "If you were to go against the council, or even me, we would be forced to yield, for the people will support you whole heartedly. Right now you are the most powerful person in the Varden. However, if you accept my leadership, I will continue down the path Ajihad, my father, has lain down. You will go with Arya to the elves and be instructed there, then return to the Varden."
Eragon nodded "Any yet the council is smart" he reminded her "They understand that I do not know what kind of power, or authority, they wield, and that I don't know if it would usurp my own."
Nasuada frowned at him as he stood, towering over her seated form "And so, they extracted a promise for me to give my loyalty to the Varden" he continued, speaking softly, almost tenderly.
He moved, and she turned to watch him, until the back of the chair was placed directly against the edge of the table "What are you..."
A hand was placed either side of her, resting on the table, his arms sealing her in, his face so very close to her own "But you see, my promise was loose, with room to manoeuvre, also honour is for the victorious, there is no honour in defeat, better to be a coward than one of the 'honourable' dead, or a prisoner of war."
"But even so, I don't really wanted to become known for breaking my word, so you" he stroked her cheek gently again, with a long, pale finger "Nasuada, Leader of the Varden, will become my salvation" he smirked, then straightened up, and held out his arm.
Nasuada stood with him, not sure what was going on, but unwilling to back down. He wrapped his fingers around her forearm, gripping it tightly "I bow to no one, so this will have to do" she returned the grip, and quite a grip it was "You, Lady Nasuada, Daughter of Ajihad, Leader of the Varden, have my loyalty, complete and utter..."
She blinked in surprise.
Then she felt it...
It ended so quickly, but she knew it was real, the second she looked up into those mad crimson eyes.
"I trust you understand?"
"Of course" her answer didn't show her discomfort.
"The council tried to extract an oath of fealty from me, I don't think they understand the difference between featly and loyalty, not like you and I. Admittedly this wasn't exactly what I planned on doing, but it's good enough, better in fact, you see I never said what I would swear loyalty too, I could've sworn it to a cat, and they couldn't have complained. But I suspect that this will annoy them even further. And well, I'm playing their game, and so I'm going to play for the jackpot."
Her face was stony, but not impolite.
Eragon looked her over once "Come on" he moved closer and kissed her cheek pulling away with his usual grin, widened at the embarrassment on Nasuada's face "Stop being so serious."
She took a moment to steel herself, taking a deep breath and working out a crease in her clothing, and when she spoke her tone was serious "Thank you, your loyalty it means... a lot to me, no matter how little it means to you. Now may I ask something from you, will you do the same, before the Varden, when the Council expects your pledge."
"The same?" there was no mirth in his voice anymore "Sure... exactly the same" she shivered at his words.
"The bond we created is binding" she continued all the same "when done before the Varden it will be more so, do not dishonour me" she was testing the waters, so to speak, of this new relationship.
Eragon moved close to her again, bringing his face close to hers "Nor you me."
"I apologise" she said looking away, sadness returning to her face "I have lost my father, but others were lost as well, you lost your friend" Eragon's face turned stony "I liked Murtagh a great deal and it saddens me that he is gone. You have my condolences."
He nodded and pulled away from her, stomping towards the door, his face now twisted into a scowl, just hearing her say, quietly, as he left "Goodbye Eragon."
There was a bitter taste in Eragon's mouth as he entered the library through a carved archway.
'Was what you did in there wise?' Saphira asked, following him in.
'Whether it was or was not, it has been done, no point going over it now. Besides Saphira...'
''I'm not wise'' Saphira used quotations marks in her own head 'Yes I've heard you little speech little one, maybe obtaining some wisdom should be first on our list of things to do.'
'I thought 'Don't die' was first.'
She blinked 'Good point.'
He shrugged and led them through the seemingly empty library to the alcove where Arya sat, waiting for them. He took the seat opposite her aware of her eyes studying him intently. Saphira sat in-between, where neither could escape her gaze.
Eragon took several moments, one to yawn, one to glance at Saphira, one to gaze at Arya, and the others just to piss her off.
"You seem tense, my offer to relieve that is still there, you know" he said with a calm grin, as if completely unaware of her agitation.
With blazing emerald eyes she glowered up at him "What have you done?"
"What chou mean?" he asked yawning.
"What have you promised the Varden?" her tone was hostile and angry "What have you done?"
The last part even reached Eragon mentally, something that really pissed him off. He realised just how close to losing the control the elf was, but wondered if she didn't realise just how thin Eragon's own control was.
Eragon glared back at her, meeting her angry gaze head on "I don't know what I've done to offend you" 'Besides existing, right little one?' he ignored her attempt to calm him down "But you should watch your tone. Now what makes you think my actions are of any concern to you, elf?"
"Fool! You know nothing about me. I have spent seven decades representing my queen here, fifteen years of which I bore Saphira's egg between the Varden and the elves. In all that time, I struggled to ensure the Varden had wise, strong leaders who could resist Galbatorix and respect our wishes. Brom helped me by forging the agreement concerning the new rider, you. Ajihad was committed to you remaining independent so that the balance of power would not be upset. Now I see you siding with the Council of Elders, willingly or not, to control Nasuada! You have overturned a lifetime of work! What have you done?"
Her mind lashed at his again, and Eragon had had enough.
He stepped onto the table, with such speed that not even Arya noticed, until he was right into front of her, his hand wrapping around her tawny throat. Eragon slammed the elf into the wall behind her, his pale fingers restricting the path of oxygen to her lungs.
Clicking noises and gurgles could be heard from her mouth as she struggled for breath, staring up at him with genuine fear.
"Do not forget your place in this relationship, elf!" he said, the anger that had been bottling up throughout the council meeting and his later meeting with Nasuada, and of course the brief moments of control with Arya, now raged without decency or mercy. His face was right in front of hers, so close that he could see his own crimson eyes reflected in her emerald ones, he could see the mad, overpowering anger in them "And do not presume to judge me, NOR MY ACTIONS!".
Nothing for a moment, a long quiet moment, except for the sounds of Arya choking, his hand wrapped around her throat, her hands trying to pry his away.
'Kill her.'
One single voice, a whisper in the dark reaches of his mind, and it sparked a landslide.
'KILL HER.'
'Break her.'
'Burn her.'
'Devour her.'
'Rip her apart.'
'Cut her to pieces.'
'Crush her until only a drop remains.'
'Pummel her into nothingness.'
'Break her spine!'
'Crush her skull!'
Thousands of them spoke, toughs of voices speaking at once all telling him thing, telling him to kill, to murder and slaughter her. They told him how, the sentences getting longer and more detailed, they told him where, how long to make it, the precise ways of causing pain, and the worst part... he wanted to listen.
Eragon cast her aside, throwing her lithe form onto the bench, she didn't move, still gasping for breath. But Eragon took no notice of that, he was holding his skull tightly in his hands, squeezing and crushing his head in his fingers.
Arya turned to look at him, as he gripped his head, she could see a fleck of crimson in his brown hair.
Saphira was about to move, but then she flinched away, her eyes closed and her face tensed as if afraid, terrified of something.
A wind, coming from nowhere, blew through the library, haunting words whispering through it as it went by, blowing through Arya's hair, and casting Eragon's about wildly. It was impossible as he had spoken no words and drawn no magic, but it occurred all the same.
"SHUT UP!" he roared, as books started toppling from shelves, as if pulled by unseen hands.
And they listened.
The library quieted down, until the only sound was their heavy breathing.
Eragon took another calming breath, he was shaking like crazy, and his butt hurt. He was sitting on his chair with his legs up on the marble table so he had probably fallen backwards.
He looked through his bangs at the elf, just making her out between brown hair, she was sitting, her hand around her, no doubt bruised, throat "Sorry" he said offhandedly, a bit caught up in his own issues to be sincere "I'll heal that if you want?"
She watched him carefully as he continued to breathing, calming himself further down.
"Ugh fuck" he slapped a hand to his forehead "Look back there, I did what I had to" he explained, deciding that calming Arya down would be best for now "Nasuada will not be controlled not by the council, not by the dwarves, not by the elves, and not by me. She is cut from same cloth as Ajihad, hell she came from his cock, she knows his ways, and learnt them well. My loyalty rests with her, but if necessary I can break that loyalty."
An emerald continued to watch him cautiously.
Eragon sighed, he had really fucked things up, hadn't he? It took him several moments to bend his pride far enough "I'm sorry" he finished, looking down at the marble table top.
"I... I apologise" he glanced up, his eyes meeting hers for a second before she glanced away "I was impolite, I insulted you and did not realise how much understood" she bowed her head. Eragon, who himself refused to bow, knew the effort it must take for someone like her to bow, to someone like him "Forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive" he said, waving it away, and, to him at least, it was gone.
'Are you alright?' he asked as Saphira opened an eye and looked about in fear.
'I... I...'
'What did you see?' concern for Saphira overtook him and he sat up straight, staring at him.
'A great beast' she said, calming herself, but unable to hide her fear 'Massive and monstrous, forged out of shadow and blood, and it was going to swallow me whole... I... I... I am a coward' she said, disgusted by herself.
Eragon didn't comment, knowing that disagreeing would make her feel worse, and agreeing with her was something he couldn't do on this matter 'If that ever happens again, close your mind to mine, what you were seeing, and feeling, wasn't real' he said examining the memory, lacking the first hand fear she had felt the imperfections of it glared through.
'Then how?'
'Remember how we can see things through each other's eyes, what if I showed you something and made it so intense that your mind got confused, unable to tell which was reality and which was false.'
'I see, an interesting tactic' much like him she was trying to act calm whilst panicking or anxious, or pissed off, though he generally sought to piss everyone else off 'Are you alright?' and now it was concern for him.
'Don't worry about it, I just need to rest' the tunnels had taken a lot out of him, and then Ajihad and Murtagh's deaths along with the council and then Nasuada, Arya had just been the straw that broke the dragon's back. Yeah that was it, he was just stressed. At least that's what he tried to tell himself.
"So" Eragon opened his eyes again, having been about to drop off "You loyalty lies with Nasuada? She will not bend or break, even under the pressure she will face?"
"No" Eragon assured, sitting up, his hands still shaking "I've seen it, she knows exactly what she's doing. Ajihad and her planned for this. She will honour your agreements and respect your decision, so long as they conform to her morals."
"I see."
Eragon stood up and took the seat next to her, he could feel the tension from her as he did so but didn't react, instead removing her hand from her neck.
Arya shivered as his fingers ghosts over her purpling skin.
"Waise heill" an uncomfortable itch, that begged to be scratched, came about around her neck, but she resisted said urge and Eragon soon walked back to the other side of the table with a sigh, her neck healed.
"Thank you" her tone was truly grateful, yet still cautious "Your compromise will be accepted by the elves, though you should not forget your debt to us for Saphira. There would be no Riders without our efforts" she relaxed slightly, tranquillity returning to them and their surroundings, despite the books and scrolls cluttering the floor.
"I'm not likely to forget that, its burned into my palm" he lifted up said palm and showed it to her, just to emphasise his point 'And my debt to Durza' he said, speaking solely to himself 'is burned into my eyes, for all but me to see.'
Silence encroached onto the pair, Arya was consume by her thoughts, considering all angles of what he had told her, Eragon was just watching her.
"Ellesmera is the elves capital, right? What's it like? Did you live there, or elsewhere?" he asked, partially interested in the elves, mostly in her.
For a moment she said nothing, then she gazed at him, but not at him, it was as if she was looking right through him "Ellesmera was, and always shall be, my home. I have not lived in my family house since I left for the Varden, when the walls and windows were draped with spring's first flowers. The times I've returned were only fleeting stays, vanishing flecks of memory by our measurement" her voice was wistful, full of an unidentifiable emotion, somewhere between longing, hope, and, if Eragon wasn't mistaken, fear, as if she was afraid of her home.
He breathed in slowly through his nostrils, enjoying her faintly spicy scent of crushed pine needles "It must be hard, to live amongst humans and dwarves all the time, without any of your own kind."
"You speak of humans as if you weren't one?" she said, cocking her head, but immediately regretted her choice of words as she looked in his usually angry crimson eyes, that turned sorrowful and longing "I..."
Eragon chuckled darkly "I'm not human, I assure you" he told her with a smirk fit to murder kings "The only thing I can truly claim to be is a Shade" he laughed, a laugh for the screams of new born babes, ripped from their mothers teats, then smashed against a wall "Ha, in many ways I'm just like Carsaib... That was his name" he explained seeing her puzzled look "before he became Durza, just like my name was Eragon... before I became Legion" she watched him solemnly, some fear entering her eyes again.
"We're very alike me and him" Eragon said, not really speaking to Arya, speaking more to himself than anyone else "He had no one to run to and ask for help, I have no one to run to and ask for help. There's no one out there who can understand our situation. We only have the joy of killing and the thrill of causing death, the utter elation bloodshed brings to us. That's what made Carsaib into Durza, and that's what will make me into Legion."
"You are not yet Legion" she reminded him, her tone still sad "And can you not also claim to be a Rider?"
"Yeah, but we aren't exactly numerous."
"Then you are not alone."
Eragon looked up at her with a knowing grin on his face, he could see it in her eyes, she knew something and Eragon knew it, and she could see that he knew something too. It puzzled and scared her, but thrilled him "Galbatorix isn't exactly a favourable role model, and he's not exactly a picture of the Riders righteous glory" he said, trying to throw her off of the scent, but hoping she wouldn't lose it.
"No" she said, Eragon wasn't sure if she was agreeing with him saying 'No Galbatorix is not a good role model' or if instead she was saying that Galbatorix wasn't the last rider, if she knew about Oromis.
But he didn't ask. He wouldn't speak of Oromis, or of Glaedr, not even to her. They would be his secret until he either met them or understood who and what they were.
Rider and Dragon, that much was certain, but how? All had perished in the fall if... just about everyone was to be believed, those who didn't swear loyalty to Galbatorix in any case, so how was a pair still alive?
Were they servants of Galbatorix, hidden until now? If so why would they tell him to go with Arya to Ellesmera? Perhaps it was Galbatorix himself, but the question still remained, why?
Thoughts like this had swam around Eragon's mind for many an hour in the tunnels. In the end he decided patience would pay off, he would wait, he would go to Ellesmera, he would follow their instructions, and then he would have his answers, whether they were willing to give them or not.
"So..." he cast about, easily finding a topic of interest "Seventy years?"
"What?"
"You said you had served for seventy years, well you said seven decades, which is just a stupid way of saying seventy years?"
"So?" she asked something akin to self-consciousness in her tone.
"You look rather young for seventy."
And wasn't that the truth, Eragon knew elves lives were extraordinarily long, but he would have never suspected that Arya was seventy years old, never mind older. She appeared to be a woman in her early twenties. The only sign of any age on her face was her eyes, deep and knowing, and most often, when directed towards him, annoyed.
She scowled at him in a manner that seemed almost defensive "Or perhaps all humans look old for seventy. My kind is not so short lived as the rest of you."
Eragon cocked an eyebrow "So defensive, I like that" his words were soft and husky, and he stared at her through his crimson eyes, drinking her form in. His eyes somehow seemed to promise Arya a night she would never forget, though whether in a good or bad way was still unknown "So, your kind age slowly or something?"
She nodded 'Something' clearly being the answer she chose.
"Honestly" he shook his head in exasperation, but he was grinning all the same. All the anger and stress from earlier had fallen away, leaving only mild taunts in their place.
They gazed deep into each other's eyes for a moment. Eragon marvelled at the emerald colour of the slanted eyes, whilst Arya admired the fact that he could control himself, despite the murder, pain and anger that always seemed to burn within his crimson irises.
"May the stars watch over you" she said, standing and leaving.
Eragon watched her go, his eyes not focused on her bum as usual, but instead on the back of her head, then said to Saphira 'These elves are an odd bunch, don't cha think.'
'They certainly seem more... strange, when compared to the other races we have met.
'Going from pretty much wanting to kill me to blessing me in about five minutes, I'd say weird, it's a more... powerful word than strange and indicates something stranger than strange, you know like, if there are no dogs barking then it's strange but if there blood dripping from the ceiling then… well I guess that also strange but to me weird implies something more strange than something strange. In any case, I really hope they're not all like that.'
'No one will be calm until things are back to normal' stated Saphira.
'Saphira, I'm a Dragon Rider who became a Shade, and I'm meant to save the world. Define normal.'
See you next week, toodles.
