I did not talk to her at dinner time. I knew I should have asked her more questions but I could not. I just went in her cell, bit out a sample of her dinner to prove it was not poisoned, then I left. After that I went right to bed and strangely I fell asleep pretty fast. I woke up and my father was there waiting for me to get up.
"Father?" He smiled and came closer and said in a low voice,
"Kobal, did you get any more information from that elf?" Only a few, damn! This was not going to make him happy,
"Yes, her age and where she resides, that's all." My father's smile went away. Oh great.
"That's all? Did you find out where the egg was?" I shook my head and said,
"She did not know." He laughed but I was not sure if this was good or bad,
"Well, Kobal, let me tell you we do not need to worry about that question anymore!" Wait, what? We still have a chance we can find it!
"What are you talking about? It's still out there we can find …"
"No, we cannot. Do you know why? Because it has hatched, Kobal! To a young farm boy named Eragon! A boy!" It hatched? How could it happen, and to a mere farm boy? What has the world come to?
"And, Kobal, I must ask you, you beat her yes? And you still did not get the answer from her?" Well I could not tell him what really happened so I said,
"Yes, but not so much, her mouth was already filled with so much blood that I could not understand her!" I thought my father would laugh at this but his face was apathetic.
"Well that's funny because when I visited her last night, after dinner, she had no mark on her what so ever. Strange, don't you think?" He visited her last night? No, that means he hurt her!
"Yes, very strange." He glared at me and appeared inches away from my face as he said,
"Kobal, I know you are not doing your job. You are a shade! You do not shed any mercy! Do you understand? I do not want anymore of this nonsense!" He was right. I am a shade and I am strong I should not be doing this. It is not natural.
"I understand, father. My foolish actions will not come by again. I promise," I lied. I am a lying fool. I knew that I couldn't do what my father does, especially to Aranel. If it were Arya then I would not have a problem.
"Good, now it is breakfast time." My father walked to the door and opened it but stopped there and turned to me,
"And, Kobal? She knew where the egg was." My father slammed the door shut. So she was a liar too? Well now aren't we both liars. I got out of bed and dressed quickly then made my way to the kitchen. I do not know what I was going to do. He expects me to beat her whenever she does not answer my questions and I am just not able to. A part of me wants to hate her and beat her until she dies, but that cannot simply happen. You do not know what I was going through, truly you don't.
As I entered the cell I put the empoisoned food on the ground. She was facing the wall again like the first time I entered the cell.
"Aranel? I brought you your food. Do you need me to eat it a bit?" I saw her nod her head slowly. I did so and moved the tray closer to her. She did not even look at me as she reached for the bread, but I saw something that disturbed me. Her arm was covered with scratches that were deep and crimson. I saw blood drip stains wrapped around her arm and dyed the end of her sleeve with the ruby color of her blood. I knew this was my father's doing. I kneeled down close beside her and said in a dreary voice,
"What did my father do to you?" She hid herself from me and said nothing. I already knew she had the scars on her arm so she could not hide that from me, but I was afraid to see what else happened to her.
"Aranel, please, I will not hurt you and you know that. Just let me see." I reached my hand for her chin and as I touched her she winced, but did not pull back. I lightly led her chin to my view and saw something that I wished I did not see. To the corner of her eye from the bottom of her chin was a thin yet profound cut. How I hated my father to disturb her beauty with this unsightly scar upon her soft face. She finally said something,
"I tried to heal it, but I am guessing that my magic does not work here?" I nodded blankly. I did not want to see her like this, my magic worked here. I could heal her. I put my hand close to her swollen cheek but she jerked back and said,
"What are you doing?" Why was she resisting this?
"I am going to heal you." She put her soft hand on mine and took it off of her cheek and said,
"Kobal, you cannot do this. It will not only get me in trouble but you as well." I shook my head,
"I do not care if I get in trouble. I want you out of this pain." I tried to free my hand from hers but she would not allow it.
"Kobal, please do not waste your energy on me." I was confused. Wasn't she hurt?
"Don't you want to be out of this pain?" She shook her head and said,
"Not if it means it will cost us both." I clenched my jaw tight and held a hard gaze on her. She was right though; she was the smart one. But I did not like it. I leaned my back against the wall along with my head and sighed. I wanted to heal her and I wanted to use my energy on her. Aranel broke the silence and said,
"I must thank you, though, for attempting to heal me." I smiled to myself and said,
"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't." I heard her give a quiet giggle then silence joined us yet again. She knew that I was uncomfortable with her hurt, but yet she still would not budge to let me heal her.
"Why are you not like your father?" I became a little offended. Did she think I was not strong enough? I shot my scarlet eyes at her face and said,
"What do you mean?" She became nervous at my glare; I could feel it. She tried to avoid my eyes but they were so captivating she could not dodge away. She said in a tense voice,
"Well, you are much nicer to me than he obviously is. And I just want to know why I have not bled under your wrath, but your fathers?" I narrowed my eyes at her. Did she want me to be like my father?
"So what you are saying is that you want me to be like my father? You want me to cause pain to you?" She shook her head quickly and said,
"No, not at all it's just that you are a shade and…"
"And I am supposed to be what? Vile? Heartless? Vindictive? Is that what you think that is all to a shade?" She backed into the corner and said,
"No, I just never expected you to be kind." I got up and stared her down. My voice got louder as I said,
"Because we are monsters, yes? Is that what they are teaching at Ellesmera these days?" Tears were starting to fill her eyes and her voice grew as well,
"Well its hard not to think that you are not monsters! You captured Arya and me and probably many other people for a foolish reason! And with what your father has done to me how can I not think of you as a monster?" I had my back to her the whole time so she would not see my bared teeth, but now she was asking for it. I turned around and I saw her eyes grow with fear. I said in my threatening voice as I stepped closer,
"So you think of me as a monster? After all I have done for you, you still consider me a monster? Well maybe I should start acting like a monster, but then I would not be a considered a monster then would I? I would more likely be a demon! Is that what you want? Is it?" Tears poured from her eyes as she said,
"Stop! Please stop! I did not mean it like that!" I crouched down still baring my white teeth at her and yelled at her,
"Then what am I?" She was speechless; she was completely shocked. I got right in her face and repeated,
"What am I?" She did not say anything. I have never been so angry at her before and could not help to unleash the monster she was so daringly to wake up. I wound up my hand and without hesitation smacked her across her good cheek. She squealed quietly and after that wept into somber sobs. I did not want to do that, but I did and even though my temper had erupted I was not pleased how I dealt with things. I sat down with my back to her unhappy with myself. This was an emotion that I should be crying about but nothing came out of my eyes. I felt empty, without warm tears on my face. I know you are probably thinking that crying is not that great but when you do not have it you cannot experience a real emotion. It was quiet except Aranel's soft cries and it did not please me.
"I'm sorry." I said softly. She did not respond so I continued to talk,
"I don't know why I did that. It's just… It is different. I am a monster to other people but not to you, and I still do not know why. But when you called me a monster it made me feel… angry because I'm not one towards you. Just because I look like one and I am the son of Durza does not mean I am a monster. I have feelings. I am not always a sly, loathsome shade. And when you call me things that I am not to you… it hurts me. You just assume it because I am a shade. But believe it or not we are not apathetic, and I am definitely not apathetic towards you." Her cries stopped and I heard her chain around her ankle move closer to me. Then I heard her lips by my ear as she said,
"If you are not apathetic then what are feelings toward me?" Oh no! Not this question again! But this time a felt I could answer it, for some reason I could answer it. There was nothing clogged in my throat, no stiffness in my back as I said,
"I… I feel very protective of you. I don't like it when I see you hurt, unlike other people it does not satisfy me. When I hurt you it makes me feel even worse; a monster as you would like to call it. And whenever I am near you I forget about what my father tells me. He tells me to shed no mercy, but I cannot bear to hurt you. I guess I care very much for you. That's not very apathetic now is it?" She was quiet for a moment then said softly,
"No it is not apathetic at all." I turned my face as my body followed and said,
"Then why do you think such things? Why do you think I am dead inside?" Her face was solemn when she said,
"You are right, Kobal. It is because what I have been taught at Ellesmera, or Arya. They say that shades are sorcerers that possess dark magic and that is true. They also say that the only way to make them happy is to see the pain and torture of another being. But I have learned that the last statement is false, and I thank you for correcting me." I shook my head and said,
"But I corrected you the wrong way. I should not be thanked for that." She smiled slightly and said,
"Sometimes that is what has to be done when someone will not listen." I still was not convinced that I did the right thing. I looked down away from her gaze and sat there in silence against the wall. She then said out of random,
"You know you are very cold to touch." I smirked and looked up to her and flashed my teeth at her saying,
"Does that bother you?" She shook her head and said,
"No, but doesn't it bother you?" That question was a hard one. I loved being cold. I loved the cold weather yet I have never been warm.
"I guess it does a bit. I mean I have always been cold my skin has never changed its temperature. That is something else about us shades. We are cold… But I do not hate being cold, it's just that I have never felt warmth from another being only their blood upon my hands, but that is not the same." She shook her head slowly and said,
"No it is not." Talking about it made me want me to experience it even more like right now. So I asked her as I went on my knees closer to her,
"Don't move." I could see that she got a little worried but I smiled again and said,
"I will not hurt you this time or ever again." She nodded and remained still. I moved my hands to her waist and wrapped them around the small of her back. She followed quickly as she moved her hands around my neck. She nestled her head into my neck as a whole rush of heat went through my body. It was incredible. I know that I have experienced heat before but that was from the blasted sun. This was from a woman. It was like no other… and I liked it. I have developed a new emotion for Aranel at that moment, but I did not think that warm was an emotion. There is another name for it, but I did not need to discover it now, but I will hope to find it soon for I liked it very much.
A/N: Hey guys thanks for reading, hope you like it and all. Now I will ask you to please review! Please I love them so much and I thank the people who have been reviewing. Keep it up!