The Girl with the Broken Crown
Disclaimer: Meh. I'm too lazy to type it again. Take a look in the first chapter.
Summary: Rya's back and she has her father's mess to clean up. Even worse, she has to find a husband of some royal bloodline, train with the elves, and hunt down all the Ra'zac... all before the end of the year. Not to mention old friends, mysterious, handsome young men, and an awry spirit... along with all of Alaglaesia to rule...
Author's Note: My computer crashed! Stupid COMPY! lovingly kicks computer And it's been taking me a while to recover all my stories from online... and searching for all the floppy disks I've saved stuff on lying around. So, this will be getting faster as I get all my sobs stories back online.
Chapter Two: The Ruling of the Council
"Ham," Murtagh said, his eyes full of greedy hunger. Eragon licked his lips as the platter of sliced ham was placed in the center of the table, amongst the various fruits and vegetables. Half the potatoes had already been devoured, along with some of the bread-stuffing and cranberries.
As Eragon reached in and dragged a giant slab of ham onto his plate, Murtagh spoke. "You know, this wouldn't be right without waiting for Rya."
"Murtagh," Eragon said, holding a knife in one hand and a fork in the other. "You're right. Real gentlemen would wait for a lady."
Murtagh smiled at his brother. "Yeah,"
After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, Eragon stabbed the slice of meat with his fork and started to cut. Murtagh looked on in confusion, then in horror as his brother stuffed a giant chunk in his mouth.
"Eragon!" he shouted.
"What?" Eragon asked through his mouthful of ham.
"What? What do you think you're doing?"
Eragon swallowed, "I said real gentlemen would wait for a lady." He thrust his knife through another piece of ham. "I thought about it, and I think being hungry trumps being a gentlemen any day." He inserted the ham in his mouth and pushed it to the side to talk again. "Besides, Murtagh, Rya's like our sister. She would understand."
Glancing from his brother to the food on the table, Murtagh shrugged and reached for his own slice of steaming meat.
::alagaësia::
"Er... can you repeat that?" Rya asked meekly, her hands going cold. "I think I might be hearing things.
"By your father's will, you are to be married three fortnights after you accept the crown. Hence, you must find a suitable bachelor of a high status within five weeks. The last week we will arrange the marriage." the grey-haired man read from a yellowed scroll. Rya felt her face flush.
"That's... that's... I can't do that!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
"You must, or you forfeit the crown, and we will find a suitable ruler who will follow the rules."
Rya closed her eyes, sinking lazily back into her seat.
"There's something else," the man said, his voice dipping into a tone of light happiness.
"What?" Rya asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
"The last request of your father," he said, drawing a envelope the same shade as the parchment scroll out from under the hardwood table. He handed it to his squire, who brought it over to Rya. She stood to take it.
Pulling herself to her full height, she managed to say, "I will consider these terms."
The man nodded as she left the council office.
Once she was out of hearing range and the heavy wooden door was shut, she swore explosively, turning to punch the wall. After the anger had passed, she twisted so that her back was against the wall and slid down to the floor, nursing the broken skin of her knuckles.
Rya opened her hand and took a good look at the seal. It was her father's all right. Running her thumb under the paper, the old wax popped right off, leaving the letter to be opened without a problem. She carefully unfolded the aged parchment. It was her father's handwriting also.
"My dear daughter," she read aloud. "If you are reading this, then the council has pronounced my death. Do not be sad."
Rya gave a harsh laugh. "As if," she retorted.
"They have probably told you about the marriage law I have set. That is for your own sake. Now I have a final task to ask of you."
Frowning, Rya squinted at the next line.
"Conquer the eastern lands."
"How?" she asked.
"Conquer them in my name. You have the dragon power. The people of the north are unaccustomed to dragons."
"Oh,"
"Since I am no longer here, the Ra'zac will also run wild. Destroy them if you must, but be careful."
"Great... rogue Ra'zac," she said, glancing over the rest of the letter.
"Are you talking to yourself?" a male voice asked.
Rya sighed. "Tristan,"
"You were, weren't you?"
"You've got me,"
"What did you say about the Ra'zac?" he grinned. His messy brown hair looked unnatural without the usual metal collar and partial helmet. It fell haphazardly over his grey eyes.
"Nothing... just my father. Haunting me," she waved the letter lazily. The stiff parchment bent in the middle as it caught the air.
"Oh," the squire sank down the wall beside Rya. She looked at him, sighing. It was also strange seeing him out of the grey and red uniform that all the squires wore and into a loose-fitting shirt and brown pants that tied around the calves.
"Why can't anything be normal?" she asked.
"Normal?"
"Yeah," Rya stared at the paper that was pinched between her thumb and forefinger.
"Does normal have a definition?"
"I don't know. All I do know is that this--" she motioned to the letter "--isn't normal."
"Can I?" he offered.
Rya handed him the yellowed parchment and waited as he read it.
"Wow..." he whispered finally.
"Tristan, I didn't know you could read."
"You do now."
Heavy footsteps could suddenly be heard down the hallway coming toward them. Both scrambled to their feet. It was Hared, one of the senior members of the Royal Council.
"Milady," he greeded with a cheshire grin. "Sir Etham commands that you start on your quest north as soon as possible."
Rya returned the smile. "And when would that be?"
"Tomorrow at the latest."
Gursh!!! I am SO sorry this took me forever!! I had such horrible writer's block for this story... then I thought I had it... then I couldn't find the floppy. Oh well. It's up now. I'm going to try to update at least every week. I've been working on a book, but stupid WRITER'S BLOCK has hit me there now. It's horrible.
To my reviewers! Since it's only the second chapter, I'm just going to list you. No individuals right now, because they'd be all "THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU GUYS!" and writing that seven or eight times is kind of boring. So, thank you SO much to: Armaris, KilalaBigKitty, save the pandas, HahynGirl, Sahar a.k.a Tails, WeepingWillowleaf ((and, hey, thanks! I don't mind being scrutinized, it helps!)), and Deer-Shifter!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!