Next part! (Because Selena is quite a little brain-eater.-pets her-)

So last time was Lan and Tor being slightly emo and quite useless, as far as understanding their sibs goes. However, they are cute so I forgive them.

This chapter is Selena, Tor's baby sister. She is kind of a nerd. Um. Tell me if she's a Sue? And then tell me how to fix her? 'Cos it's waaay easier to write Sues that are the same sex as you and I am quite fond of her. Also, it is quite useful for this and further Selena-bits if you have read Ever After. Just a heads-up. You know. Not digging for reviews or anything:D.

Next time will be Garrow, Selena's husband and heir to the throne of Alagaesia. Yay?

Disclaimer: ...Mostly OC's, but you know the drill. Anyone you recognize is Paolini's.

(Reviews are always for the good.)

Lineage (Pt. One):

Selena is twelve when she discovers the truth behind the myth; reading through Surda's main library (which is the best library on the continent, (and woefully inadequate) thanks to that book-burner Galbatorix—and 'Lena's read all the apologist literature; can even buy that a lot of what he did was for the greater good, but burning books? That she'll never forgive him for), the smallest person there, pushing along her ladder to read the best books at the top of the shelves.

Selena read the Domia abr Wyrda when she was nine, and promptly pronounced it a crock of shit to the surprise and horror of the court, and the fond smiles of her parents, King Orrin and Queen Nasuada of Surda. 'Lena's one of the most intelligent people to live on the Alagaesian continent in centuries, and she knows it; however it is a rather irritating fact that she is a) female and b) a princess, both of which mean, obviously, that she can't be as academic as she'd like.

When 'Lena is twelve, her brother makes a startling discovery about his parentage and he gets drunk a lot; 'Lena is startled too, but she hides it better and buries herself in the library, refusing to come out, drowning herself in leather and dust and old books. She picks a topic at random and reads voraciously; today it's elves.

No one on the Alagaesian continent believes in elves, anymore; everyone knows that they went over the sea with the Shadeslayer and his elf-princess lover, but she's always liked the stories.

So obviously 'Lena is a bit perturbed when she finds out that, according to Lysander's Encyclopaedia of Alagaesia, if she were to do this spell and this one, and then wander in the elf-forest (Du Weldenvarden, say the old stories), she'd probably come across an elf or two; she puts that information aside as out-of-date, but stores it in the back of her mind (just in case).

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Selena has no cause to use this information (to be honest she believes it's a hoax) but when she's eighteen it's finally decided that she and Prince Garrow of Alagaesia are to be married. And she loves Garrow dearly; he's her best friend (has been since they were first introduced and their brothers tried to burn down the room they were in, and they exchanged identical tired gazes) but she doesn't love love him and sometimes she really hates being royalty.

Selena decides, making a choice on a whim for the first time in her life, to go for a wander in the forest; after she's married, she knows, she'll have even less freedom and she'd like to find out the truth before that. If there is a truth to find.

It's possibly the stupidest, most reckless thing she's ever done; 'Lena doesn't make decisions on a whim. She almost throws up, twice, the day she's due to sneak out; she almost reconsiders but both her parents' stubbornness runs through her veins and she grits her teeth and gets the job done.

She takes her favourite horse, Amber, so her parents will know she hasn't been kidnapped (Amber's lovely—to Selena—and she hates everyone else; no kidnapper in their right mind would get near Amber in a bad mood. Scratch that; no-one in their right mind would get near Amber, full stop), and a spare, Blue; also enough food for a month even though she plans to be gone maybe a week, at most—it'll weigh them down but 'Lena can't actually hunt (she has an aversion to killing things. It's generally not a problem, but it means she won't be able to shoot a deer, even if it's a life/death matter) and she's not sure how much use an encyclopaedic knowledge of which Surdan roots are edible will help. She sticks a knife in her belt; if worse comes to worse she knows how to incur non-life-threatening injuries that are still debilitating, and a several sets of clothes as well as soap go into her saddlebags, and then she sets out.

The moon is hanging high above her as she settles onto Amber's back and braids her long dark hair, tying it off and flicking it over her shoulder when she's done. One last glance at the palace, and a cursory check of her inventory—knife, food, water, clothes, bedding, the things she needs for her spell—and she urges Amber into a canter and Blue keeps up.

She takes a deep breath once they're out of city constraints, a weight lifted from her shoulders, and anticipation settles in her heart.