Slave's Gossip and Swordplay

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Eragon. In this chapter I own Shaheen, Belinda, Ilsa, Elra Andrickai, and Talson.

This takes place two weeks after the events in chapter 4.

A young woman of nineteen brushed the grey mare's flank. Her name was Shaheen. She had thick, curly, shiny black hair that she barely managed to care for with her other duties, bronze-colored eyes, swarthy skin, average height, and a figure she liked to refer to as "curvy".

The mare stayed still while she groomed it. This particular horse, Isadora, was particularly mild tempered, though she could be fast when called upon. She was on of the best horses Earl Elra Andrickai had in his stables, and he had many.

She rolled her eyes at the though of Elra. She was his slave, and he was her master. It wasn't a happy relationship. Elra had been born a younger son in an impoverished noble family and made his tremendous fortune in the slave and horse trade. He had even earned enough money to settle in the Empire's capital and gain an earldom. When he was younger, he been good-looking and developed a taste for women that had lasted far longer than his looks had. Shaheen had been one of the slaves he'd captured during a raid in the Hadarac Desert. Thankfully, he had never shown much interest in her.

She had been the youngest of a family of priestesses. Her older sisters, who had all been taller, prettier, and thinner than she, had been killed in the raid. Elra discovered her gift with horses and put her to work in the stables. It wasn't the world's best job. Some of the horses were bad-tempered, some were lazy, some prone to sickness, and some got dirty far too easily in her opinion. She was a natural clutz and had more than once fallen into a water trough, over her own feet, random buckets, and many other objects. She was also the only female hostler, and the men were rather desperate because of this. She might have had less of a problem with this particular fact if any of the hostlers had been good-looking. This wasn't the case.

There were six slaves who worked as hostlers. Each had six horses to take care of. Isadora was thankfully her second-to-last charge. She only had to take care of Isadora's sister, Ambriana after she was done with the former mare. Both horses were fairly easy to take care of, as horses go. Tomorrow she would be taking those two horses to the palace for Elra's two spoiled, bratty daughters. The only good thing about this was that she would get new gossip from the palace slaves and servants. They got the best information. When she was finished with both, she decided to go out and sit with all the other slaves and servants who had finished their work.

She walked over to her friend, Arlena. They had worked together as maids before Shaheen was moved to the stables. With Arlena were two other girls, Belinda and Ilsa. Ilsa was dumb but decent company. Belinda was a different story. She was Elra's newest personal mistress and had much less to do than all the other slaves. She never failed to make a demeaning crack about Shaheen's slight chubbiness, which she had somehow retained throughout her slavery. Perhaps it was because Elra at least gave the slaves leftovers. Still, Arlena liked her, so Shaheen made an effort.

"We were just talking about the green rider," Arlena told her friend as she sat down.

Ilsa nodded in agreement. Belinda smiled in a demeaning manner. Shaheen liked gossip, so she ignored it.

"I heard she's the lover of the red rider," Ilsa put in breathlessly, as though this was vitally important.

"Ilsa, dear," Belinda said, "we don't know the green rider's a female. And I thought you were certain that the red rider was a female up until you actually heard otherwise from a palace slave."

"I'm sure she is," Ilsa said defensively. "I heard it from the same slave who told me the red rider was male."

"Well I heard she's the lover of Galbatorix himself," Arlena piped up.

"That would make it more likely that she would get the egg," Belinda agreed as though she were the supreme authority on such matters. "Besides Galbatorix is mad at the red rider for failing to capture Eragon Shadeslayer, isn't he?"

Arlena looked worried, "The king doesn't like us calling him that."

"If he has a name, I like to call him by it," Belinda replied. "The blue rider is an awfully dull title if you ask me. Besides, even Ilsa wouldn't be dumb enough or important enough to tell the king himself would she?"

Ilsa looked offended again.

Arlena maneuvered skillfully to change the subject, "I've the red rider is a gorgeous male."

Ilsa nodded in agreement. Belinda smiled at the thought. Shaheen thought she must be considering how much better a lover the red rider would be than old Elra Andrickai.

"I've heard the same rumor myself," Shaheen put in. It wasn't exactly true, but she didn't want to be left out. She searched her head for a piece of gossip from the palace slaves and servants had given her about the red rider. She had only one, and it had come from Delia, a girl who was an extremely creative gossip. It was worth a shot though.

"I have heard that his back is disfigured from a horrible scar."

Ilsa and Arlena gasped. Belinda looked skeptical.

"You heard from Delia, I expect," she remarked.

Shaheen denied these completely true accusations vehemently. Ilsa and Arlena looked convinced, though Belinda was still skeptical. Shaheen risked a jibe at her.

"I expect that would ruin him as a lover," she remarked.

Belinda's face turned dangerous. "What would you know of these matters? Have you finally found a man who likes a 'healthy' woman?" She went as far as to make air-quotes with her fingers. Shaheen glared at her and walked away. Arlena followed her. They left Belinda looking shocked and Ilsa trying to figure out what had just happened.

Surda

Roran stood at the center of the practice field. He strung his bow and notched an arrow. With a sharp twang the arrow embedded itself near the bull's-eye of the target. Eragon shot his arrow and hit directly in the center.

"I never could beat, could I, cousin?" Roran asked jokingly. He thought inward about the wonderful help Eragon would provide for him at Helgrind. He could rescue Katrina. He sighed at the thought of her. He would be able to kiss her, hold her, love her, smell her hair…

Eragon noticed the look on his cousin's face. It worried him. He needed more training before they could defeat the Ra'zac. He also wanted to find the new rider before the rescue.

He told his cousin as much. Roran looked angry.

"What about your promise, brother?" Roran asked dangerously.

"I will keep it," Eragon began.

"Doesn't sound like you want to if you ask me," Roran retorted.

"Roran," Eragon began, "if I get more training, the chances that we'll beat the Ra'zac will increase. If we have the new rider with us, those chances will increase even more."
"But the new rider will have to be trained," Roran said.

"Yes," Eragon answered, "we can all go to Ellesmera to get the proper training. Then we can come back here and beat the Ra'zac."

"Eragon, you can't leave the Varden," a female rang out. It was Nasuada. She was dressed in men's clothing and carrying a bow and a sword. She had to practice as well.

"Nasuada, if I get more training, I will be able to help the Varden more. It is not likely that Galbatorix will attack again soon after what we did to his army in the last battle and the skirmishes that followed. And if Roran and I go to the Ra'zac, it would get rid of two of the Varden's most dangerous enemies," Eragon explained.

"What if the egg hatches while you are gone?" Nasuada asked sharply. She was frowning.

"I will wait until the egg hatches to go," Eragon replied.

"That could take forever," Roran interrupted. "It might not even hatch until the war is over. We can't wait until that hatches to rescue Katrina. She could be dead by then. Eragon, those desecrators eat people." Roran actually started shaking Eragon while he said this. He stopped and waited for Eragon's answer.

Eragon sighed, "If the dragon egg does not hatch in two weeks, Roran and I shall go to Ellesmera alone with the egg to satisfy the elves. It is very likely one of them will be the next rider. We shall return in four months time after that."

Nasuada nodded her head in agreement. Roran opened his mouth to argue, then decided against it and closed it. He nodded in agreement as well.

"Just don't try to replace my hammer with a sword," Roran replied jokingly.

He wouldn't, Saphira put in. Eragon laughed. She was hunting and had listened in on their conversation a little.

"I shall inform Orrin and the council of this," Nasuada replied after they had finished talking.

"Oh, you'll inform me this time?" an incredulous voice rang out. It was Orrin.

Nasuada explained sweetly, "Your majesty, I sent you a message explaining everything. You had gone back to Aberon when the fishermen came, and the Varden was still on the Burning Plains. We had the council then. I am sure that the fishermen would tell you what happened in their own words, but I don't really think that's necessary. Still, if your majesty desires it, I could…"

"It's not about that!" Orrin howled. "You undermined my authority. I know you're the better leader, and I'm sure most people would agree. But…"

If you have no questions, your majesty, I suggest you forgive Nasuada, Saphira told the king. I doubt that she was trying to undermine your authority. Orrin looked shocked.

"Was that your dragon?" he asked Eragon incredulously.

"Aye, that was Saphira," Eragon told him.

"I suppose she's right. I can't believe I'm taking advice from a talking dragon, but I shall. Nasuada, I understand your actions. You were just trying to be a leader. I'm truly sorry," Orrin told them humbly.

Nasuada smiled and nodded.

"Forgive me for not telling you, your majesty," Nausada, bowing because of her clothes.

"Please, call me Orr…Gods!" Orrin explained as an arrow went flew directly between Nasuada and him. It hit the target directly in the center and shattered Eragon's arrow.

"Milady, your majesty, I apologize for frightening you," a nervous sounding male voice rang out. Talson was running towards them quickly, carrying a bow in his hand. A sword hung from his hip.

"Who is this, Nasuada?" Orrin asked.

"This is Talson, your majesty," Nasuada explained. "He is one of the fishermen who found the egg on Vroengard."

"Oh, pleased to meet you," Orrin told Talson. Then to Nasuada he said, "I asked you to call me Orrin. It would please me greatly. I've never liked formality."

"She can call you what she wishes," Talson put in with more courage then he'd shown so far. Orrin looked speechless.

Nasuada laughed at his expression and said, "I don't mind calling you Orrin, your majes- I mean Orrin." Eragon, Roran, Saphira, and Talson all laughed. Orrin managed a half-hearted chuckle and walked away.

"That was incredible archery, Talson," Eragon exclaimed.

"Thank you, Shadeslayer," the nervous young man replied.

"Would you like to spar with us?" Nasuada asked. Talson nodded after a few minutes of thought. Eragon dulled the blade the Varden had given him to replace Zar'roc. He then dulled Talson's and Nasuada's.

Talson and Nasuada sparred first. Nasuada was a fair swordwoman, but Talson was unbelievable. He had her disarmed in five minutes. He put his blade against her neck and took it away.

"You're supposed to say, 'Dead'" Nasuada told him jokingly. Talson looked puzzled, then placed his sword against her neck and said, "Dead," as she had told him to.

Eragon battled him. Talson's technical skill was better then Vanir's had been and almost as good as Murtagh's. He was more agile than any human had ever faced. After fighting for what seemed liked hours Eragon finally knocked Talson's blade out of his hand, placed his sword against his neck, and panted, "Dead."

He and Talson bowed to eachother, and the former fisherman walked away.

What do you make of him, Saphira? Eragon asked.

I like him, Saphira replied. I think he just had a lot of time on Vroengard to practice archery and swordplay.

I agree, Eragon admitted. I just didn't expect him to be that good.

That is understandable, Saphira agreed. I like him much better than snake-tongue.

Eragon laughed and nodded.

He turned to Nasuada and asked, "Do you wish to spar with me?" Nasuada shook her head.

"I think I've had enough sparring for today," she replied. Eragon privately agreed.

Teenchic2004: I know that Murtagh and Luce were a little old for their age. But wouldn't you be if your father had your executed when you were three, or he threw a sword at you.

To your other question, Morzan was hunting for Saphira's egg when that conversation took place. I don't think too many people knew about Murtagh's scar. I don't think that Galbatorix would be too keen to publicize the fact that his right-hand man got drunk and chucked his sword at his own kid. They were good questions though.

P.S. I think Iormungr's cute too.