AN: Yeah…Sorry. I know I said I'd have this up at the same time as my last chapter, but halfway through I got writer's block and ended up scrapping almost the entire chapter and re-doing it. Plus the first two paragraphs or so were just randomly thought up by me when I was doing the re-write. Enjoy the evilest chapter (for me to write) so far!

Chapter Ten
Weapon

As she threaded her way through the rich district of Urû'baen, Taize marveled at how luxurious the houses were. She had lived most of her life in Galbatorix's palace, certainly, but she was one of the few who worked behind the scenes on a daily basis. Most of the constant stream of visiting nobles had never seen, or would care to see, what went on in order to keep the castle running. They would never see all of the narrow back passageways that the servants and slaves used to go quickly from one part of the castle to another. They would never see the enormous kitchens, which Taize had long grown to hate but that Rhet had loved. But mostly they would never even notice the people who worked tirelessly, either to support their families or because they were forced to do so. Literally, of course, they were seen, but they were just white noise, easy enough to filter out once you had gotten used to it.

Sometimes she had felt like that was what she would always be, a fixture in the background. But now she had a vague feeling, as though she was destined for greater things. The egg was proof of that. She had managed to steal something that countless others had attempted and failed to retrieve. Of course, nothing would ever raise her name from obscurity if she was caught, as that voice had so bluntly reminded her. Which reminded her that she was going to need a weapon. It simply wouldn't do to be utterly defenseless when Galbatorix's soldiers were sure to be on her tail. A bow would do nicely. Not to mention the fact that it was the only weapon she'd ever used.

Since she had no money (obviously), she'd have to steal one. She made her way through the streets, checking each door she passed to see if it was unlocked. Just a few streets away from the palace, she found a house (actually, it was more like a mansion) that looked promising. The door was locked, but there was an open window on the ground floor, a pathetic attempt at alleviating the humidity of the muggy night. Taize slipped inside with ease.

She peered into each room cautiously until she saw what appeared to be the room of a teenage boy. As she stepped inside quietly, her suspicions were confirmed; his bed was right in front of her. It struck her how much he looked like Rhet. The two were so similar, but their lives had been so different. This boy had led an easy life, a privileged life, one without fear. Rhet had lived well for awhile, then been thrust into a strange new world in which he'd had to struggle to survive.

Why am I thinking about him in the past tense? she scolded herself. He's still alive. But a nagging voice in the back of her head whispered, For now.

She brought herself back to the moment, looking around the boy's room. A sturdy leather tube lay on a shelf above his bed. She looked inside, nodded, satisfied, when she saw the bow, and took it as well as the full quiver lying next to it. Then she put both items in the sack she was still carrying.

"Sorry," she whispered as she slipped out the door. She felt a little bad about taking something that the boy obviously prized, but her survival could depend upon it. His didn't.

She felt even more jumpy than she had back in the castle. After a few minutes, she located the window she had used to enter. Taize hit the streets running, keeping up her pace until she was far enough away to feel safe. By the time that happened, she had reached the poorer section of the city. It actually wasn't that bad (of course, she thought. Galbatorix wouldn't want anything too shabby in his city), but all of the houses were constructed in the same way, making navigation confusing to anyone who didn't know the city. More than once, she found herself wondering where she was, but eventually she was near the city limits. Surely by now Galbatorix had been notified of her escape with the egg, but she hadn't heard anything yet. It unnerved her not to know how close her pursuers were.

Suddenly, as she was running across the gap in between two houses, she heard someone call, "Over there! I think I saw something!"

She froze in place, rooted to the spot. She could hear heavy footsteps coming toward her, but couldn't tell what direction they were coming from, so she decided to run to the right and hope she didn't deliver herself to them like a present on Christmas morning. Fortunately, she seemed to have steered clear of the men, and was very near the outer limits of the city.

The vast emptiness beyond the last of the houses somehow scared her even more than the claustrophobic, twisting maze of streets she had just come from. It seemed to threaten to swallow her up, make her disappear into the openness.

She put her uneasiness aside and ran off. Taize looked back and could just barely make out a few shadowy figures, still calling to one another whenever they thought they saw movement. She left them behind, along with the city that held too many bad memories.

Taize knew there was a river close by, not more than one-and-a-half days' walk if she went the right way. She could last that long easily, but she didn't know which way was the right way. And eventually she would need to find her way to Surda. The sooner the Varden had the egg, the sooner she could stop worrying about the future of Alagaësia.

She was tired, but the combined effects of adrenaline and fear of the king if she was caught kept her awake and walking. Without the sun to guide her, she had no idea if she was going in the right direction. If the sun had been up, though, it probably still wouldn't have been much help. She had only retained vague snatches of memory from her trip to Urû'baen, and while she could recall having to cross a river, she couldn't remember the direction she'd been traveling.

The sun rose gradually, finally telling her which way was east. Fortunately she wasn't going that way, she would have been heading into the Hadarac all night. No, she was heading away from the sun, to the west, towards civilization – she hoped.

After walking for about half the day, she saw a faint blue smudge on the horizon. A river. She grinned, though it hurt her cracked lips. Rivers meant water. And water was good. Yeah, it would probably be a good thing if you didn't die before you reach the Varden, she told herself sarcastically, in much the same tone she had usually used with Kin'naid before her escape.

Speaking of Kin'naid… I wonder what his punishment will be, she thought sadistically. Galbatorix will have a fit when he finds out Kin'naid was on guard duty that night. It gave her just a little too much satisfaction to imagine all the horrible things that could be happening to her former tormentor. Although the thoughts became much less pleasant when she realized that those things would probably happen to her if she was recaptured.

She banished the negative thoughts from her mind and focused on reaching the blue band that was by far the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It turned out to be farther away than she thought, so it was nearly noon by the time she reached the water, ready to pass out from exhaustion. But before she did, she dragged herself to the river's edge and drank deeply, soothing her irritated throat. Then she fell asleep, utterly exhausted.

She awoke in darkness to the sound of voices.

"Ulask said she went this way. Besides, it would make sense for her to go to the river, right?"

"Well, yeah, but we'll never find her in the dark, unless she sends up a flaming beacon that says, 'Here I am, please capture me and take me back to Galbatorix,' which is highly unlikely, to say the least."

Gah! Stupid Galbatorix. She needed to get somewhere that he had never seen before so that he couldn't find her. But the place she was thinking of was many leagues away…Ah, well. She'd manage it somehow. She would have to. So, as cautiously and soundlessly as possible, she picked herself up off the ground, took one last drink, and set off towards her new destination.

AN: Sorry, that was a fairly pointless chapter, but I had to get her out of the city. She'll be headed to the Varden soon enough, don't worry…Woot! I finally wrote a better summary! The old one kind of sucked, if I do say so myself. On another note, I keep seeing stories about slave girls in Galby's palace! Not that I'm egomaniacal enough to think they all stemmed from this one…No, seriously. I'm not that egomaniacal. They just seem to keep popping up! Randomly! Like ME!!! Sorry, I'm babbling. Again...Just hit the little blue button and review...