Wrath of Conviction
Krum Chick
Author's Note: Wow! I was really excited when I saw four reviews for the chapters! I thank the four people who have, and I'm very pleased that you all liked them. Although I did receive a question from EchoTangoCharlie that I would like to answer.
ETC: Just one question: why couldn't Murtagh sleep with her? I mean I'm sure Galbatorix wouldn't care if he slept with servant girls!
My Answer: The answer to this question is simple. I put that in the story so it could be a reason why Murtagh and Rain could get into trouble. But the main reason why Galbatorix didn't want Murtagh to sleep with Rain was so that he wouldn't accidentally get an heir from it, which he did anyway, but it was a female because there could be dangers with having an heir with Murtagh, so Galbatorix wanted to avoid that, but Murtagh didn't follow those specific orders.
There's the answer to that question anyone who was interested in finding out! Anyway, I thank you all again for reviewing my story and I hope you keep on doing so and enjoy the story to its fullest. Now, on with the sixth chapter my friends! May your swords stay sharp!
Chapter SIX
A Thousand Days
Crack. Then a scream. Crack. Another scream followed. It was a routine daily in the Uru'baen castle for the past fifteen months since Murtagh assisted with Thorn and Rain's escape. Galbatorix searched for her all over the Empire, but much to Murtagh's thankfulness, he had no luck.
The torture was nearing its end, and Murtagh bared through it, biting down hard on the leather that was given to him. As the whip came down onto his back one last time, Murtagh only let out a small whimper, sweat trickling from his brow and his eyes beginning to flutter closed. He felt his wrists being untied from the wall and the leather being ripped from his mouth. He fell limply to the floor, blood smearing the ground as they dragged him away. As they reached his cell, the keys jingling and the sound of the locking mechanism moving in Murtagh's ears, his dim brown eyes looked around the hallway, seeing no one but the guards and himself.
They drug him into the cell and heaved him onto the blood stained bed. Murtagh's head fell limply onto the pillow and he let a small, strained groan escape through his parched lips. He opened his eyes once again and saw the soldiers leaving through blurred vision. When they finally left and he heard the lock shift in place, he struggled to sit up from the cot. He gasped for air as he finally managed it, swinging his legs over the side to be placed on the cold stone beneath his feet. He got up, barely managing to stand up and he went over to the barred window. He stood on the end of his bed to reach it, and grasped the bars with weak hands.
'I'm getting sick of this...I need to get out of here...' He thought to himself.
He looked down near his hands to see that he had a thin metal bar sitting there. He picked up and began to work on his previous progress, which was to cut the bars which were already weakened from many years of rust. He cut through them, not making a sound as he did so. He might've been weak, but he was thankful that he was strong enough to make an effort such as this. He spent a couple hours of sawing off one bar before placing it back and falling back onto his cot, resting for the morning to come when he would receive his tortures.
After a few days of working on the bars and through many tortures, Murtagh finally managed to finish his project. When he did, he mustered most of his strength to push the bars down and free. It made a noise and Murtagh quickly turned his head to see if he could hear anybody coming to the door to see what that noise could've been. When there wasn't, he gave out a sigh of relief and heaved himself painfully and weakly out of the window, crawling onto fresh grass in the courtyards. He laid there for a few moments, panting and fighting unconsciousness that was threatening to engulf him.
He quickly scrambled from the ground, his slow mind trying to process a plan as he hid away from patrolling guards. He panted and wiped sweat from his eyes. As he moved through the courtyards using any tactic of stealth that he knew, he finally reached the stables.
'More luck...thank God...' He thought, a smile coming to his lips.
He looked around and then ran as fast as his battered body could into the stables. He looked around the for any horse that might be trustworthy, until his eyes landed upon a familiar sight.
"Tornac..." he said with a relieved smile as he saw his other lifelong friend sitting in the stables.
Tornac snorted and shook his head a little. Murtagh stuck his hand out to give the horse some comfort. Tornac hesitated before realizing that this was his master from many years. He snorted again and Murtagh smiled and unlocked the stable door. He pulled Cadoc out and put his reigns in and saddled him. He crawled onto his saddle, hooking his legs in and wrapping his hands in his reigns, making sure if he fell unconscious, he wouldn't fall off.
"Go, Tornac. Make haste out of the city..." he whispered to his horse.
Tornac snorted again and darted out of the stables, snatching Murtagh's breath from his lungs. The horse sped passed a few soldiers who were stunned for a moment and started shouting. As Tornac rounded the castle toward the gates, the guards were trying to close it.
"Keep going, Tornac. Don't give up." he said.
Tornac kept running, and just as Murtagh thought they were going to close it out, the soldiers stumbled back in fear of being trampled, and the gates were left open a little, and Tornac ran out of the gates and onto the city streets. The soldiers that were out in the streets were oblivious to what was happening so they just stood there and watched him go by before realizing what was going on. Murtagh let out a sigh of relief when Tornac breezed passed the city gates and out into the open fields toward the north.
'Thorn took Rain to the north when they left...' Murtagh thought, and then a memory came back to him to what Rain had said to him, 'They captured me from my home in Carvahall, and they made me a servant girl in Uru'baen...'
"Alright...Carvahall..." Murtagh gasped out as his eyes fluttered closed just as he turned Tornac toward the direction around the Ramr River, and he would turn north later on to head to Carvahall. It would be close to a two or three month trip with luck, and he could only hope that he could heal before Rain saw him like this.
Three months later in Carvahall, Rain inside of the cottage that she had been living in for close to two years. She had the assistance of Delene with her, but she still didn't feel whole without the presence of Murtagh around her. As she was standing next to the flames, still cooking lunch, she glanced behind her shoulder to see her nine month old daughter playing with a toy that Delene had bought for her in town. Samira's hair hadn't changed from that dark brown that she was born with, and her dark brown eyes glowed within the light, showing every bit of innocense she had within her. Sometimes, her image would bring tears to her eyes, because she knew that she was a spitting image of her father.
Rain heard a little bit of a noise outside and she stuck her head out, seeing that Thorn had a deer clamped in his jaws. She still couldn't contact with him, but they had developed a system where they could communicate a little bit.
"Glad you could get a deer, Thorn." she said.
Thorn swallowed the deer and gave out a low hum after he swallowed it. Rain smiled and then went to pick Samira up, who looked up at her mother with a beautiful expression. The young toddler giggled.
"Mama," Samira said, clutching onto her mother's dress.
Rain smiled and kissed her forehead, causing Samira to giggle. All of the sudden, Rain heard Thorn give out a low growl. She turned toward the window where Thorn had a surprised look on his face.
"Thorn? What's wrong?" she asked, sitting Samira in her pen that she had made with Delene's help.
She went outside and gasped as she saw a horse with someone riding on its back. The horse didn't seem familiar and she didn't know who the rider was. She was going to go back into the house to grab a dagger until the horseman drew closer and she saw a familiar face under the hood.
"Murtagh!" she exclaimed, almost in complete shock.
Thorn snorted in surprise and stomped toward the horse. Murtagh looked up, his face pale and tired looking. He had a bow attached to the horse's saddle with a quiver of arrows along with it. Murtagh let out a tired groan and he slipped off the saddle and hit the ground with a soft thump. Rain rushed over to his side, grasping him by the shoulders. Murtagh let out a soft moan, his body shifting a little. Rain turned her head to face the ruby dragon.
"Thorn, help...I can't lift him," she said.
Thorn didn't waste any time. He walked over toward Murtagh, but Tornac began to panic, stomping away. Thorn didn't bother with him, he just clamped his teeth down on the back of Murtagh's cloak and placed him gently on his back like a kitten. Rain got up and walked back over toward the cottage and Thorn walked the short way back there. Rain got him off of Thorn's back and drug him inside, placing him on the bed. She looked over at Samira who was sitting there, playing with a wood toy. She suddenly stopped and blinked at the man she has never seen before with curiosity.
"Delene!" Rain cried out.
Delene came rushing into the room about thirty seconds later. She was blinking the sleep from her eyes since she was resting from taking care of Samira. She gasped in shock.
"Rain...is that...?" Delene asked.
Rain nodded, "Yes...he is. He's Samira's father."
Delene went over to the young man and made Rain stand by and watch since Delene was more practiced at healing. Rain watched her strip Murtagh of his cloak and his shirt. Rain felt tears sting at her eyes at the new gashes, scars, and scabs that littered Murtagh's muscled skin.
"The poor man was tortured..." Delene said, her breath snatched from her words.
Rain turned her head away from the sight and let the tears flow. She went over to Samira's crib, grabbed the young baby and held her. Samira was confused on why her mother was crying, but it in turn made her upset. She began to whimper, clutching onto the fabric of Rain's dress. Rain sat down and rubbed her daughter's back.
"Rain, calm the child and yourself. You cannot be upset. I can easily treat him, but it seems his unconsciousness was actually affected by his disregard to eat and dehydration," Delene told her.
"I'll prepare a meal then," she said, standing back up again and placing Samira back into the crib before getting cookware ready and starting a fire.
By the time Murtagh had awoken, the smell of food entered through his nostrils, causing him to blink and look around for the source of the scent. His entire body ached from the pains of travel, but he bluntly ignored the feeling. He looked down and saw that his body was wrapped in bandages, and much to his embarrassment, he was naked as well.
Are you feeling better? A voice said in his head, causing Murtagh to jump with surprise. After a moment of thought, he realized who it was. Thorn?
Who else? The voice said to him. Murtagh smiled, It's great to hear from you again, my friend. He looked over toward the window when he heard a noise and saw Thorn poke his large head through the window, his soft red eyes looking into his own. And I to you. All three of us have been praying for your arrival.
Murtagh blinked when Thorn had said 'three of us'. Three of us? Who's the third? Thorn hummed and turned his large head over toward the crib in the corner of the room. Murtagh couldn't see what he was looking at his position so he turned on his side and lifted his head to see that there was a crib beside his bed. He cocked an eyebrow and he gasped when he saw movement.
"Thorn...what happened?" Murtagh asked aloud.
Just then, he heard the door open and his head jerked toward it. Delene and Rain came in, Delene with a pile of clothes in her arms and Rain with a bag of supplies. She smiled.
"I'm glad to see that you're alright...sir," Rain said with a beautiful smile.
Murtagh smiled back and replied, "You shouldn't worry now. I'm fine...milady."
Rain giggled, placing the bag on the table and going to Murtagh's side and putting her arms around his shoulders, resting her head against his. Murtagh did the same, propping himself up on his elbow. Rain began to cry as she hugged him, relief sweeping over her.
"Don't worry now. I'm fine," Murtagh said.
"I was so scared that I wouldn't see you again. I saw you get shot with an arrow as Thorn took me away. I waited for what seemed like a thousand days. I was so afraid that you had died in Uru'baen..." she choked out, her body shaking.
Murtagh frowned and closed his eyes as he comforted her the best he could. After a moment of silence in each other's arms, they both heard a soft 'mama'. Murtagh's eyes sprang open and he broke the hug from Rain. Rain got up and smiled toward the crib. She walked over toward it, picking up a small form from it. Murtagh's eyes widened when he saw a child in her arms that was almost a spitting female image of himself.
"Murtagh...this is your daughter...Samira," Rain said, propping Samira on her hip while holding her.
Murtagh let the shock pass and he smiled slightly. He rose from the bed with shaking muscles. He swung his legs over to the side and placed them on the floor before standing up. He walked over toward the two girls and stood there, looking at the baby girl who stared curiously up at him.
"She's beautiful, Rain," he said, reaching his hand toward Samira and stroking her soft hair.
Samira giggled and reached her little arms out toward him. Murtagh chuckled. Soon, he found himself holding her delicately in his strong arms.
That was the result of your insubordination, Thorn said through his thoughts. Murtagh let his smile widen before saying, A beautiful result. Thorn chuckled, I can't agree with you more, young master. She is indeed a beautiful hatchling.
"I'm glad you're back with me, Murtagh," Rain said, her green eyes sparkling.
Murtagh looked back into her eyes and nodded his head with a smile. He leaned in and kissed her lips. Rain reached her hands up to his face and ended up stroking his hair as she returned the passionate kiss. Murtagh let the kiss go after a few seconds and moved a strand of hair from her face and behind her ear.
She smiled and took Samira from his arms, placing her back into the crib. She turned back to him.
"I think you need to eat and drink something. You're probably still weak from your travels," she said.
Murtagh nodded as he walked over and sat down in a chair. He let his gaze go back toward the crib where his daughter was sitting in it, playing with another wooden toy. He smiled, praising any God that existed that he was free from servitude and could finally be with his family. But in the back of his mind he knew that there were more dangers to come.