Rune!

Rune turned, fearful. Súndavar's eyes were wide. Eragon sparred with a man on one side of the camp, while Vanir and Shay fought off another. They were bladeless. Vanir's breeches were wet with dew. Eragon twisted to fend of a sword, but it caught his shoulder.

Something hit Súndavar, and he crumpled.

Rune screamed. The dragons were gone.

Tawnyclaw? Tawnyclaw!

The bird was no where in sight.

Pain, for a moment. Then nothing.

You'll all do nicely, was the last thing she heard. Very nicely indeed.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Rune awoke to biting pain in her wrists. The comforting warmth of Súndavar's body and Slate's dragonfire was gone, replaced by searing heat from the sun. She blinked groggily in the bright light.

Her heart stopped. Around her, there were children. At least a dozen. All were tied tightly with rough rope. They watched her with little curiosity, their eyes dull in their tired faces. Slight suspicion flickered on their faces, but none moved to question her. Rune's eyes widened, her heart began to race.

She had seen that look before. In the market, in Melian, the slave children had given her the same look.

Rune tried to wipe sweat from her forehead, but her hands wouldn't move. They pulled painfully, rubbed raw.

Her dream…she had never woken up. This was a dream.

But the blood that coated the back of her head was real.

It was then that Rune realized this was not a dream. This was real. These people around her were slaves. Except bars no longer served as a boundary between them. She was behind those bars as well.

"Shh! Don't speak."

Rune turned to the direction of the whisper. A girl about her own age had spoken. She came towards Rune – the only one in the cart not tied. She was heavy with child.

"I'm Cladi," she said softly.

Rune was too frightened to reply. Where is Súndavar? her mind screamed. Eragon? Shay? What happened to the dragons?

"Don't tell me your real name," Cladi whispered. "It's better that way."

Rune nodded, still in shock. A slave. She was a slave. And it was her fault, too. She was the one who had taken Súndavar off watch. If she hadn't…oh, this was bad. Very, very bad.

Rune glanced around the cart, searching for a familiar face. She saw none.

Cladi read the dismay in her eyes. "They're in the other cart," she said. "With the adults. The one you…he was going to be put in this cart. But he broke the ropes. The adults are kept in irons."

Rune nodded slowly.

"I have to warn you, though," continued Cladi, "You can't notice him. Any of them. You're worth more if you're innocent. If you give even the slightest indication you aren't Hane and Keorg will take advantage of it."

"In…innocent?"

"A maiden."

Rune understood. "I am. Are they—okay?"

"As okay as one can be in this situation. I know Súndavar," Cladi said. "Hane and Keorg sold him to Master Sigfrëd. Almost four years ago, now. I thought he was dead."

"What about Slate and Saphira?" Rune asked.

Cladi looked confused. "Hane got you, Súndavar, and three other people."

Rune breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn't know who they were. The dragons would have given everything away, resulting in a one way ticket to Galbatorix.

A screech tore her from her thoughts. In a burst of tawny, gold, and brown, something hurtled from the sky, through the bars, and into Rune's lap.

"Tawnyclaw!"

Yes.

Cladi backed up. The other children eyed the bird nervously.

"Don't worry," Rune hissed to them. "He's nice. He's my friend."

"Your friend?" asked a little girl. "But he's a bird!"

Yes.

"Birds can be friends too," Rune said. She was scared, but she forced a smile.

Rune searched for Súndavar's mind with her own. There!

He opened to her quickly, as soon as he felt her signature pushing at his consciousness.

Súndavar?

Rune!

It's me. Are you…

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have watched.

It's my fault, Rune told him softly.

Shay blames me, he told her. His mind merged with hers in a way that sent shivers up and down Rune's body. I should have watched.

How are the others?

We're alive. Eragon's bleeding, Rune. I've never seen so much blood.

Rune felt tears begin to seep from under her eyelashes. She had thought she was afriad before. Now she was terrified. The truth sank in, hard. A slave. That was what she was. Not a princess. Not the sweetheart of two Riders. A slave. She sobbed silently.

Cladi watched her. "The shock will pass," she murmured. "You get used to it."

"I'll never get used to it," Rune blubbered.

"You will. We are property. But do you know something? You never stop wishing."

"Wishing?" Rune's voice was choked, but the tears stopped. She blinked at Cladi with watery eyes.

"Wishing and Hoping," Cladi said. "We dream of Freedom."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Slate circled nervously, Saphira at his side.

We have to get them back. We left them.

Saphira blew smoke at him angrily. We did not leave them! There was nothing we could do.

We could have fought.

There are twenty of them! Saphira cried. We could not have defeated them all. Slate, be reasonable.

Slate was a wreck. He had never been away from Súndavar before, not this far away. He tried to blow fire in his frustration. Nothing but thin smoke came.

Saphira, he is my life. My heart. I cannot leave him.

Do you assume Eragon is not mine? I am no happier about this than you are, Slate. But we must proceed with caution.

I don't care! It hurts! My heart hurts when he is gone.

Saphira flew closer to him. She nuzzled his black throat scales tenderly. Slate, we must do what Eragon and Súndavar would want. We'll go to the Varden. They'll know how to get them back. Besides, our Riders aren't helpless. Everything will work out.

Slate blinked. If dragons could cry, he would have been. Saphira felt the terrible sadness in him like it was her own.

We fly, Slate, she said. Come. We fly.