Leonor entered in Galbatorix's throne room. The king was standing in the middle of the room and seemed very nervous.
"Ah, finally here. What did you find out?" said Galbatorix, like he had to go somewhere.
"They are planning to attack you in four days but I don't know will they do it after this. They could change their plan if they believe I will tell you all." said Leonor.
"And what do you think?" asked Galbatorix.
"I say they will attack." said Leonor.
"Why?" asked Galbatorix surprised and looked at her.
"Because if they think I didn't tell you, they will do it. And if they think I told you, they will do it because you will think that they will change the plan." said Leonor.
"Good." said Galbatorix "Then we need to prepare for fight."
"Yes. I also know how many soldiers they have." said Leonor and Galbatorix seemed shocked. Of course, Leonor told him there were much more soldiers than there actually were.
"This means you and Murtagh will have to lead the army." said Galbatorix.
"I don't know." said Leonor "But what if we fail?"
"That won't happen. But if it happens you will call me to help you. They don't have a chance." smiled Galbatorix.
"Great." smiled Leonor.
"Now go to plan with Murtagh what you will do. You need to go to the battle field tomorrow and meet with the army before the battle starts." said Galbatorix.
"Ok." said Leonor and went out of the room.
"So what now?" asked Murtagh when Leonor came back.
"Tomorrow we're going to lead the army." she smiled.
"Why are you smiling?" he looked at her.
"Because…Galbatorix told me that he will come personally to help us if we fail." said Leonor. Murtagh smiled.
"And it looks to me like we are going to…fail…" Leonor looked at him.
"He will come…and we will…you know." said Leonor, looking around to make sure no one can hear them.
"Then we have a plan." said Murtagh "Now I'm going to prepare everything we need for the battle."
The day passed fast in preparing for the battle. Leonor spent most of the time talking with Diamond. After everything was ready, Leonor went out of the tower and went to walk in the woods. Suddenly she heard the sound of the river and the waterfall. She went closer and saw Murtagh standing there and looking at the river. It was almost unbelievable that such a nice part of nature can be so close to Galbatorix's towers. Leonor got closer to Murtagh.
"Hey." she said quietly "What are you doing here?"
"Just thinking." he said and sat down under one tree. Leonor sat next to him.
"Thinking about what?" she asked.
"I don't know anymore." he smiled "I guess about what can happen in next few days."
"Actually everything can happen. I can't believe what we are doing." said Leonor.
"Why do you say that?" he asked surprised.
"I don't know who is crazy here. But we are going to fight for a crazy man who will stay away from all. Just think of it. He started the war and he won't even show his face. He is hiding here like a coward and other people die for him. And for what? Tell me. For what?" said Leonor quietly "For the country? No! It's what they believe. One man made everyone here think that the Varden are bad. But is it really true? I don't know. I just now that we will destroy our land and water. People will die and who survives will remember it forever."
"But the Varden just want to destroy the Empire. And Galbatorix said he will come to help us." said Murtagh.
"Yes, he will come to help us but only to save himself! He will come only if we are defeated. How nice of him, no?" said Leonor angrily.
"Maybe you are right. But if we kill Galbatorix and destroy the Varden, we will save the Empire." said Murtagh.
"Ah, whatever." finally said Leonor "You know we could die soon and I don't want to fight with you now."
"Okay." he said quietly and suddenly got up. Leonor looked at him surprised as he took off his shirt. Then he looked at her.
"Come!" he smiled and ran into the river.
"What, are you crazy?" Leonor looked at him surprised "My clothes would get wet."
"Then take it off." laughed Murtagh and he was already standing in the river. Leonor looked for a second at herself.
"Ah, whatever." she said and went closer to the river "Is it cold?"
"No, come on!" he didn't wait for her answer and he pulled her into the river.
"Hey, it is cold!" yelled Leonor, totally wet. He just smiled and put his arms around her.
"Better now?" he said and slowly kissed her. Leonor closed her eyes for a moment.
"No." she whispered with a smile on her face, touching his back with her hands.
"No?" he asked surprised "What do you want then?"
"I want to make love to you." smiled Leonor.
"Why? Because we could die in a few days?" he looked deep into her eyes.
"Forget about everything. No past. No future. Only present and us." said Leonor quietly. They started to kiss passionately.
After some time, Leonor got up from the grass and whispered some words in ancient language. In a second she was wearing a nice red dress. Murtagh didn't feel like using magic so he just put on his wet clothes. Leonor looked at the river and Murtagh was standing behind her back. She slowly turned around.
"I want to tell you something." she said and looked deep into his eyes.
"What?" he said quietly.
"I…" she said and in that moment Murtagh dropped Zar'roc on the ground. He picked it up fast.
"What did you want to say?" he looked at her.
"Murtagh! Galbatorix wants to see you now!" said Thorn and Leonor and Murtagh could see the red dragon flying above the trees. Murtagh looked at Leonor.
"See you later." he said and left.
"What were you doing?" Galbatorix looked surprised at Murtagh. Then Murtagh realized that his clothes was still wet.
"That's none of your business." said Murtagh. Galbatorix just rolled his eyes.
"Before you go to the battle, I want to tell you that you have to take care of Leonor. If something happens to her, it will be better that you are already dead." said Galbatorix.
"Yeah, yeah." said Murtagh.
"And you will have to bring me Saphira and Eragon after the war is over." said Galbatorix "And this time you will do what I say!"
Murtagh didn't say anything and just kept looking at Galbatorix's dark eyes.
"Repeat these words! I don't want you to fail! Just do exactly what you did when you brought me Leonor and Eragon. I made a mistake when I let him go because of Leonor. Now the only thing that matters is Saphira." said Galbatorix and said something in ancient language. Murtagh looked for a moment at Galbatorix's angry look and finally repeated the words.
"Good." said Galbatorix "That's all I wanted from you."
Murtagh just looked angrily at Galbatorix and went out. Now it was totally dark outside.
The next morning, Leonor and Murtagh had to go. Leonor told to Murtagh that she couldn't sleep that night so she will sleep while they are flying. Diamond didn't like the idea that Leonor will again use magic to fell asleep instead of trying to overcome her fear of flying.
When Leonor woke up, they were already with the army. They just gave orders to the army and waited for something to happen.
"Do you think they could attack us earlier?" asked Leonor.
"Maybe. We don't know. But we will be ready." said Murtagh.
"Did you send spies to see if they are coming?" asked Leonor.
"Yes." said Murtagh.
"Good. Then we can just sit here and do nothing." said Leonor.
"Not exactly." said Murtagh "We need to think about many things."
"Again? My brain hurts from thinking." laughed Leonor.
"Leonor, this is not a game. These people now depend on us." he said.
"Eh, poor people." said Leonor.
"Maybe it's better that you stay somewhere safe when the battle starts." said Murtagh and looked at her.
"Finally you said something smart. But I don't want to miss all the action." smiled Leonor.
"Do what you want. Just stay safe." said Murtagh and looked at the sky.
"What are we going to do when Eragon appears?" suddenly asked Leonor.
"Depends on what he will do." said Murtagh.
"And if he will want to fight against us? Even Galbatorix is dead already?" Leonor looked at him.
"We will capture him." said Murtagh.
"And if we fail to kill Galbatorix?" she asked.
"Then we are dead." he smiled.
"Oh, that's great." she rolled her eyes "You know what? It's better that we stop planning things because we always end up with stupid plans."
"Then what are we going to do?" he asked surprised.
"We will make decisions later. Right before it happens. We can't actually say that everything will happen as we planned…probably won't, so don't waste your time on planning. Do something useful." she smiled.
"Like what?" he looked at her.
"Find a place where we could fight against Eragon." she said.
"What?" he asked surprised.
"Well, we can't fight or speak with Eragon in the middle of the battle field. We need a place…" said Leonor, looked at one mountain near and pointed with her finger at it "There! We can see everything from there and we will be safe."
"Ok, but maybe we should check it first." said Murtagh "Come on!"