She stood before the mirror, looking at herself and the dress she wore. It was midnight blue and somehow set off her black hair quite nicely. An apt metaphor would be to say that Via looked like the nighttime sky, dark but still darker in some places and her ashen face resembled the moon. Thoughts of the night made Via shudder. If it had been Murtagh as he had been a year ago, she would have been perfectly fine with tonight. But Murtagh had changed for the worse and she was unsure how she was going to let this happen tonight. Was he going to rape her? Galbatorix rapped enough women, would his protégé be any different? She silently prayed that her most fearsome fantasies would not be the truth. Anyway, maybe something will happen, something to enable me to escape.

Via tried to think of ways to make her escape as she stood there, admiring the billowy dresses sleeves and narrow tunic, which clung to her torso but then flared out once again when it reached her skirts. She couldn't help admiring the dress, even though she knew it was outdated. In fact, Galbatorix had reveled in the fact when he allowed Via to pick a dress from the royal apartments that had been closed for over one hundred years.

"You see, Via, the last queen of the Broddring Empire wore these outfits and as you are to marry my beneficiary, it is only suitable that you wear one for your wedding day," the king then paused for a moment and then smiled the cold smile that Via detested more than almost everything else in the world. "After all, there will never be a queen of the Broddring Empire again." Via could have sworn that he looked at her when he said this but as usual, Via stayed silent.

Via tugged at the sapphire necklace that sat at the hollow of her neck and barely skimmed the white lace of the squared neckline and sighed softly. I wish he could see what he has become. Did I love who he was? Yes, I think so. But this… This isn't even a shell of the man I loved. This is his father.

A knock startled Via out of her wondering and a servant poked their head through the door. "They are ready for you." Via nodded and adjusted her black curls once more. If she was going to get married against her will to a man whom she no longer loved, she would at least look dignified when doing so. After all, she was marrying a dragon rider. Who wouldn't be thrilled?

Only those of us whose entire lives have been ripped away because of those same Riders, Via thought wryly as she stepped away from the mirror, picked up the bouquet of white roses and stepped into the hall to make her way to her own wedding. She couldn't help but laugh slightly at the bouquet that she held. So much for the meaning of flowers. Purity of intent. Hah! There is no purity in this wedding. I live a lie, Murtagh is the new Morzan and this entire marriage is just Galbatorix's manipulations to be able to claim that his future riders are descendents of the last Broddring princess.

Via stopped outside of the two large wooden doors that blocked her view of the throne room and listened to what she heard from inside. Nobody else would have heard, but Via was not anybody else and she only caught snatches, anyway.

"I hear that she's the king's daughter and that's the reason."… "At least she's decent looking, but who would want to marry a mute?" "Who wouldn't want to marry a woman who would never speak?"… "She's so lucky to marry a rider!"… "I heard that she's pregnant with the king's child and that's why." "She's pregnant with the rider's child!"… "She's the King of Surda's sister and this is part of a peace treaty."

Via recoiled as she heard the last snippet. If her name and Orrin's were put together, someone who knew better than the common gossip might actually wonder. She could not risk that.

The doors were opened by pages and Via started to walk down the long aisle to the throne where Galbatorix sat and her betrothed stood. The two dragons, the black one and the red one, stood behind the throne. Their riders were dressed to match their respective dragons, but for Galbatorix this was nothing new. Murtagh however… Via couldn't help but admit to herself that the red tunic made her husband-to-be look superb, but she would never admit it aloud. Not that she could, anyway. Not if she planned on living.

As she stepped onto the throne dais she realized something was… Strange, to say the least. And then she realized what. One of the arms of the golden throne had somehow been extended. Magic, I assume.

Murtagh took Via's hand and led her up the last stair and then turned so that the two stood facing the king. And then started to speak in the Elvin language.

Via heard someone in the audience groan; most people didn't know the Elvin language. She wasn't supposed to and so she tried to make it look as if she was bored instead of listening to Murtagh speak, since that's what the normal person, even a bride would look like whilst in reality, she was anything but bored.

"I, Murtagh son of Morzan, take Via, daughter of Alagaesia, as my wife today. Take her to serve the enhancement of Alagaesia, take her to serve the true ruler of the Broddring Empire, take her to serve my dragon, Thorn. None shall be higher in my mind than her other than my lord and master, the welfare of my country, and my dragon. This I, Murtagh son of Morzan, Rider of Thorn, so to swear."

Surprisingly, this short statement took a while to say in Elfish. Via tried to stop her understanding from showing upon her face and silently prayed that it did. 'Take her to serve the betterment of Alagaesia…the true ruler…my dragon'? That was not the normal vows one made at a wedding. Not that Via had been to many, but she knew this was not said. It was as if… As if he was sacrificing her to those said things. Am I to die today to serve Alagaesia, Galbatorix, and Thorn?

But then again, Galbatorix is not the 'true ruler of the Broddring Empire', Via realized suddenly, finding a loophole in something that should have been impossible to find an escape from. Galbatorix was not usually this careless. Unless he truly believed himself to be the true ruler of Alagaesia.

At the end of this speech, Via turned to Murtagh, expecting a ring to be placed on her finger. It wasn't as if she could speak her own vows. But then Galbatorix raised a hand and spoke. "Earls and Ladies, as we all know, Lady Via cannot speak yet vows must be said at a wedding. And she shall." He raised his hand and the extended arm of his throne began to glow. Via had to look away from the bright light and only once the shadows around her died down, did she look back.

A collective gasp came from the group of people in the room for there sat the last remaining dragon egg. It was the color of Via's own eyes, something that unsettled her.

"Put your hand on this egg," Galbatorix said. "And think the vows you would like to be said and I shall speak them for you."

Why is he wasting his time and not probing my mind? Is this a trap? She looked towards Murtagh, hoping that his face would reveal something, but it did not show even the smallest amount of worry, remorse, anything that might warn Via.

Via inhaled and flexed her hand, as if reluctant to touch such an important item. And then she put her hand on it and began to think. Good-bye, Galbatorix, Dragon slayer! The Broddring line still lives!

"Frahaina thrystathveir!" the formerly silent woman yelled in and a flash of green light blinded the whole room.

"You have signed your own death decree, Alsavianost Broddring," Galbatorix seethed as he saw that the silent girl had stolen his egg.

Murtagh, son of Morzan, just stood with an expression of hurt on his face. An expression that swiftly became hatred.

Fra-From, Haina- Harm, Thrysta- Thrust, Thveir- Traverse

A/N: Sorry for the badly written spell, I took the words from the Project Inheritence Encyclopedia.
This story is going quicker than any of my others. Three updates in a day. I won't be around tomorrow or the next day though, sorry. Hopefully Thursday I will get one up. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, read, review, enjoy!

Lady N