Disclaimer: Don't own Eragon.
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"What are you doing all alone in the dark, Alycie?" asked a servant girl as she spotted her friend in the gloom of the kitchen that night.
"I have orders to wash these as punishment for tardiness," explained Alycie, stacking a clay pot on the growing pile next to the washbin. The blonde servant girl walked to her side, curls bouncing.
"You must come to the servants' quarters! There's the most wonderful wandering bard who's offered to entertain us until dusk," she said.
"I still have these to do," started Alycie, gesturing at the several small stacks of dishes piled next to the bin. Her friend bobbed up and down impatiently.
"I'll help you do those later! Please, come! He's telling riddles none of us can manage to decipher! You're the only person I know who is good at that sort of thing! You must come!"
"I must finish these," replied Alycie pointedly, though her voice held an edge of wistfulness
"I've already told them you'd come," said the girl, her blue eyes pleading.
"Alright...I suppose I can come...but if Vivaria starts her shreiking at me, it was all your idea, Meliana," said Alycie. Her gleeful friend smiled with delight and took hold of her hand, running out into the hall with her. They wove through the corridors, entering the servants' quarters on the right and weaving through the crowd of eager maids and men.
"Here she is, Neal, ask the riddle once more," said Meliana, pulling Alycie up by her side. The bard called Neal was an old man with not white, but silver hair and dark, kind eyes. He looked at Alycie with a friendly smile.
"Hello. I am called Neal, the wandering bard. Whom might you be?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Alycie," replied the girl, returning his smile. "You have a riddle for me?"
"Yes, yes," he said, clearing his throat. "Tool of thief, toy of queen. Always used to be unseen. Sign of joy, sign of sorrow. Giving all likeness borrowed."
The room elapsed into a thoughtful silence, followed by hushed murmurings of the crowd amongst themselves. Alycie thought for a moment, staring at Neal levelly. She felt something throb within her head, but dismissed it for a passing headache. The fog in her consciousness lifted and she opened her mouth.
"A mask." The bard smiled, nodding.
"Clever thinker," he said. "Let's see about this one. Whoever makes it, tells it not. Whoever takes it, knows it not. Whoever knows it, wants it not. What is it?"
"These are impossible!" exclaimed Meliana from the left of Alycie. But her friend smiled. This one she knew.
"False currency," she said. Neal bowed his head once more in confirmation of her answer. The crowd of servants clapped in admiration. Meliana looked at Alycie.
"How in Helgrind did you figure that?" she asked.
"My brother happens to work for the shrewdest merchant in all of Alagaësia. Being tricked into accepting counterfeits is what enrages him over everything else," replied Alycie with a grin. "Have you any more, bard?"
"Let me think," replied Neal, furrowing his brow as he contemplated Alycie. He opened his mouth after a while. "When I'm used, I'm useless, once offered, soon rejected. In desperation oft expressed, the intended not protected. What am I?"
Alycie thought. The crowd resumed murmuring. Their eyes were narrowed, lips moving soundlessly, muttering to themselves as they concentrated on the riddle. After a long moment she laughed, stepping towards the bard and holding out her hand.
"You've got me," she said. Neal shook it.
"I'll leave you to solve it later," he said.
"I'll not sleep for weeks with this pretty poem reprimanding me for remaining unanswered," said Alycie. "Now I have one for you, bard."
"Try me," he said, crossing his arms.
"It is a thing so fragile, that even once its name is spoken, it breaks," said Alycie. The door to the servants' quarters was thrown open violently just as the crowd had begun to murmur loudly.
"SILENCE!" shrieked Vivaria, her eyes staring around wildly at the suddenly-silent crowd of servants, whose faces all wore the same look of sudden fear. Vivaria stormed to the front of the room, marching up to Neal in fury. "Who are you, sir!?" she demanded. Neal bowed.
"I am called, Neal, good lady, and I am a bard passing through. I was invited to entertain the servants," he explained.
"Well you're uninvited! You!" Vivaria's eyes had spotted Alycie. "Why aren't you in the kitchen washing those dishes like I ordered!?" Alycie opened her mouth to respond when Meliana broke in.
"I convinced her to leave her duty, Vivaria, it's my fault, not hers," she said hurriedly. Vivaria narrowed her eyes at the blonde.
"You will finish her task!" she ordered in an angry voice. Meliana nodded vigorously and hurried out of the room into the hallway. Vivaria turned to Alycie. "And you will show this...bard out!"
"Right away, Vivaria," said Alycie, nodding. The head of the kitchen servants turned to the rest of the individuals. "And as for the rest of you, no more strangers in the palace!" She stormed out. The servants stood and thanked the bard for coming, applauding him quietly for his songs and poems. Alycie walked him to the door and they continued at a slow pace that echoed along the stone walls in the hallway. The servant girl chuckled under her breath after a pause, breaking the silence. The bard regarded her.
"What is so funny?" he asked.
"She got it right," said Alycie.
"The riddle?" asked Neal, the corners of his mouth twitching.
"Yes. It is a thing so fragile that even once its name is spoken it breaks. Silence," she said. Neal laughed.
"Yes, and she broke it, too," he said. Alycie laughed.
"Here, I'll take you to the back servants' entrance. The guards won't interfere that way," she said, turning and leading him down another hallway.
They walked for a moment in silence. They passed a large portrait on the wall of a noblewoman. The bard stopped to look at it, Alycie halting by his side as well. "That was Lady Nereva. She was the first wife of the earl who lives here. She's been gone not even seven months and he's married three other women all at one time."
"Three wives?" repeated Neal, turning to her in surprise.
"Yes, three. Isn't she beautiful in that portrait, though?" asked Alycie, looking up at the fair-haired maiden composed of paint and canvas only. "The earl gave her necklace to his third wife. The painting exaggerates. It would be much more beautiful if they actually shined it. With all the Seithr oil they have imported you'd think they'd sacrifice some to use on their finery, but no, they just send it off somewhere else." The bard blinked suddenly, turning to her.
"Seithr oil?" he asked. Alycie looked at him.
"Yes, they import it to a warehouse near this palace. I've seen the order forms in the studies when I'm dusting. Great, huge imports of it too. Costs a fortune. But I never see it here. All I know is that at every full moon, two servants are ordered to take the oil and a month's provisions and head out to Helgrind. There's some very small celebration with the cathedral as well on that day. The strange thing is, once they're gone, they never come back. Once, a foolish apprentice boy who worked at butchery next to the cathedral followed the slaves that were sent out. He was never seen again either. The butcher was in hysterics after the ordeal."
"Strange," said the bard, turning back to the painting. His face had a contemplative look about it. Alycie cleared her throat.
"Yes, well we're all glad that the next full moon isn't for several weeks. Come, before Vivaria decides to check if I'm done," she said, continuing to walk along the hallway. The old man followed. They reached the door and Alycie bid the bard, Neal, goodbye and goodnight. He bowed to her, pausing for a few last words.
"It's a pity you are chained to this life of slavery," he said sadly. "Your mind is sharp and valuable. Never let anyone rob you of it, as it seems your greatest asset."
"Thank you Neal. May your wanderings be safe and full of joy," said Alycie. The bard bowed a last time before turning and walking off into the fading light.
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