Ending
This takes place nine months after the last chapter.
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. Thank you. And yes, I know the coronation scene is a lot like the one at the end of Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King, but Roran reminds me of Aragorn for some reason. Plus, that was one of the best scenes in the movie. They doubtless did better with it than I will, but who can take over Tolkien? Also, I improvised Vanir's last line from the story Crispen by Avi.
Shaheen looked down on the ceremonies from a balcony. It was where all the common people had gathered. She stood with the rest of the village of Carvahall, watching Roran's coronation.
The baby she was holding stirred slightly and cried out in hunger. She slipped to the back and began to breastfeed it. Everyone pretended as though they hadn't noticed.
Sanchez came to stand beside her.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Shaheen nodded. He and Angela had both wondered if it would have been wise to allow her to watch her father's child being crowned and then married to another woman.
"I already told you," Shaheen began, "I've discussed it with Roran."
"You never told me what agreements you two reached," her brother protested.
"He offered to marry me and restore my honor," Shaheen replied.
"Then why is he marrying Katrina?" Sanchez argued.
"I told him no," Shaheen answered.
"Why?" Sanchez asked.
"Because he loves Katrina, and she loves him. He was drunk that night, and we would've made each other miserable if we'd been married. He'd always resent me for keeping him from marrying the woman he loved, and I'd never be happy because I don't love him and he doesn't love me," Shaheen explained.
"You told him this?" Sanchez asked.
Shaheen nodded again. "He accepted it. He couldn't hurt Katrina. He just couldn't."
"And what about Belkis?" Sanchez pressed.
"When did you become so serious?" Shaheen asked.
"You're my sister. I have to be serious with you in these matters," Sanchez explained. "Now, answer the question."
"We decided I'd raise her, and he'd give me money for her if I needed it and that he'd find some way to visit her and be a part of her life," Shaheen said.
"That's all well and good, but will he acknowledge her as his?" Sanchez asked.
"We decided that wouldn't be necessary. She's illegitimate, and Katrina's sure to have children with him. I doubt even someone who's as good as Katrina is could accept her husband's love child," Shaheen explained.
"I don't like that part of it," Sanchez told her.
"We can breed horses together," she said. "We've always talked about that. It'll all work out. If I marry, Belkis will know that man as her father. If not, I'll tell her he died. It's better that way."
"I could never sway you sister," Sanchez muttered.
"That's good," Shaheen retorted.
Sanchez laughed, and her carefree and easy-going brother returned.
Roran looked on ahead as he made his oath to serve Alagaësia well as its king. Since the dying king was the one who traditionally passed the role on to the heir and Galbatorix was dead, it had been decided that Luce, as his eldest child, should be the one to administer the oath and the crown. Eragon, Murtagh, Ardis, and the partially recovered Oromis stood by her.
"I solemnly swear that I, Roran of Carvahall, shall rule my people lovingly, justly, wisely, and mercifully. I swear that I will do all in my power to keep the peace. I swear that I will not fall into the ways of our last king. I swear this oath, and I take this crown as the symbol of that oath," Roran shouted as Luce knelt before him and held the crown out to him.
A cheer erupted from the crowds as Katrina, the soon-to-be-queen, placed the crown on his head. Katrina then bowed. The riders followed suit, and then so did the rest of Alagaësia.
Islanzadí stepped from the place of the elves and presented the scepter of the kings to Roran without bowing.
"The elves will be your allies as long you uphold those promises," she promised as the handed him the gift.
"The dwarves will stand alongside this empire as long as you keep your oaths," Orik said, coming forward with a sword forged by one of the dwarves' finest smiths.
"Surda will be the ally of the empire as long as their king stands by his word," Orrin said. He presented Roran with a great ruby. Nasuada, his new queen, stood beside him.
Eragon came forward and said, "I, leader of the riders, pay homage to Roran, king of Alagaësia, so as he respects the riders as a separate organization and makes no attempt to overthrow us. He is, however, allowed to suggest corrections when he says that they must be made. The riders of old were the watchers, but they fell because none watched the watchers. All the rulers of all the kingdoms of Alagaësia need to do this."
"Aye," Oromis, Murtagh, Luce, and Ardis agreed as they bowed behind him.
So mote it be, all four of the dragons present agreed. Saphira began with a great roar. Thorn joined her. Then Kazul did. Then Iormungr's bellow came. Glaedr's came last, but his was the greatest.
Murtagh spoke up, "Today, we must also honor the one dragon that deserves to be here most but cannot be. We must honor Shruikan, who killed the king and sacrificed himself. We must also honor so many others who have given their lives to save Alagaësia from Galbatorix's tyranny. Freedom sometimes comes in the form of death. Honor those who took that kind of freedom so that we might have freedom in life."
A different cheer arose. Everyone in the crowd shouted the names of those they had lost. Murtagh thought he heard his brother whisper one name in particular: Elva. He heard Arya whisper the same thing. Murtagh found himself following their lead and uttering the name of the last Bringer. Luce and Ardis both whispered the name Shruikan.
Roran married Katrina in the presence of all his subjects after the coronation was over, and she was then crowned as his queen. As he placed the crown on her head, he chanced to look up at the balcony. He could just make out Shaheen holding a small child. His child.
I'll be good to you, Belkis, he promised himself. I'll be good to you too, Katrina.
Roran kissed Katrina on the mouth and turned to his subject. He yelled, "Your enemy has been vanquished, and I have been married to the woman of my dreams. Celebrate!"
"We have a feast to go to," he whispered to Katrina. She nodded and smiled. He kissed her on the jaw line as they walked into the hall. All the people standing on their platform and the other balconies followed. People in the streets below were being given money for food and drink for the day.
Arya pulled Eragon aside as they entered the hall. She was going to tell her mother whom she had chosen as her mate tonight.
"Are you sure she'll accept me?" Eragon asked nervously.
"How could she not?" Arya asked. "You're our hero, and I love you. Besides, I'm on better terms with her now than I was ten months ago."
Eragon nodded. It made sense. He'd known that he and Arya couldn't keep their love a secret forever. "I'm relieved about it, actually," he told her.
"Let me speak with her, Eragon," Arya said.
"I want to be with you," he protested.
"You faced Galbatorix without me. I can face my mother without you," Arya said.
Eragon groaned and said, "As you wish, princess." He was secretly relieved that he did not have to break the news to Islanzadí.
Roran and Katrina announced that the feast had ended and that the dancing was to begin. Ardis felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Edurna.
"Will the lovely shur'tugal honor me with her arm?" the elf asked.
"What of your mate?" she asked.
"My Dalia doesn't care. After all, it's just a dance," the silver-haired elf shrugged.
As Edurna spun her around, she saw Arya reenter the hall with her mother. They both walked up to Eragon. The queen whispered something in the rider's ear, and Ardis thought he looked relieved and happy at the same time. She knew that Islanzadí must have accepted him as Arya's mate.
Are you alright? Kazul asked.
I'm fine. It doesn't hurt like it used to, Ardis replied.
That's good, Kazul remarked.
You've been in a happy mood lately, Ardis said.
Ardis dear, you know why, Kazul snorted.
Ardis grinned to herself. Kazul had mated with Iormungr for the first time last night, and her dragon had been wonderfully delighted all day. Luce seemed to be unused to her own dragon's euphoria as well.
The song stopped, and Edurna returned to Dalia. She looked and saw Murtagh leading Luce onto the floor. Ardis' mouth quirked. She sat down. This dance was different than the last one. Only people who were married or lovers danced this one.
Vanir sat down next to her.
"I'm surprised your sister married him," the elf said, jerking his head in Murtagh and Luce's direction.
"They love each other, and convention wouldn't let them not be married," Ardis said. "It's different among the elves, isn't it? If I remember correctly, you don't practice marriage."
"That's right," Vanir said.
"I thought you weren't going to talk to me," Ardis continued.
"I decided I had been being stupid and immature for an elf and deciding not to talk to you would make me even stupider and more immature than I had been previously," Vanir answered.
"So, if you are done being stupid and immature, will you dance with me?" Ardis asked.
"When this is over, yes, lest I incur your sister's eternal wrath. It would be deemed inappropriate for me to dance this with you as I am neither your husband nor your lover," Vanir replied.
"Luce's always been a hypocrite," Ardis remarked.
"She's your sister," Vanir said.
"I'm not mad at her," Ardis said.
"I'm glad to hear it," Vanir replied.
They both sat in silence and watched the dancers. Ardis searched for something to say, but she couldn't find the right words. No one else was paying attention to the elf and the rider sitting by the wall. At last, she took a deep breath, leaned over, and kissed Vanir.
The elf was shocked but pleasantly so. He responded, applying pressure on her lips. He slid his tongue in between them, and she pushed back on it playfully.
Vanir broke it. "Fate is kinder than I had first thought," he said. "She deprived us all of what we wanted, but at last she saw fit to give it to us. It's fortune's wheel. She turns it, and all things turn on that wheel. With the fall of one fortune, another rises. Galbatorix's fortune has fallen, and ours has risen. May it stay risen."
As soon as Vanir finished, the dance stopped. Vanir and Ardis got up and danced. Maybe fortune's wheel would fall on them, but for now it was up, and that was all that mattered.
Well, that's the end. If I get up to two-hundred reviews, I'll write a sequel. Eventually. I hope you liked the epilogue. Do you know what would be really nice? I'd love it if everyone who put me on their favorites list or their alert list and hasn't reviewed yet gave me an overall review of the story since it's over. Could you do that for me? Here are the review responses. Thank you for the ten reviews.
PrincessBob: I wanted him to be able to do that. I thought he deserved the honor above anyone else because he'd lost more to Galbatorix than anyone else.
Edur Carthungave: I wanted to save him, but I think he'd just been through too much to stay alive. He didn't have a bond to a rider, and he'd been badly wounded, so it was sort of inevitable that he would die. It made me happy to have him kill Galbatorix though.
IwaNNaBeSaDAITED: I'm glad you like it. Tips for writing? Um, if you start writing and you still don't have a plot, don't post until you think of one. I didn't have much of a plot when I started chapter one, but I had a lot of it worked out by chapter two. I came up with several new ideas as the story went along, such as the idea that Galbatorix would resurrect the Foresworn and the idea of them opening the Vault of Souls to bring back the spirits of the riders. I don't teach well at all, so forgive the bad tips.
Matt: Well, I'm glad that that battle scene didn't destroy your confidence in the Eragon fan writers' battle scene writing skills before you really developed any confidence. The movie sucked so much. I've ranted so much I can't rant anymore. Well, I probably can, but I won't. I was pissed about them leaving out Solembum. I don't think they can even make Eldest because they left out Katrina and killed off the Ra'zac. I have some friends who hate reading. It's sad. Most of mine like reading though.
Frosted-Pink: The movie sucked, didn't it? They didn't even mention that Arya was an elf. When she say, "I'm princess of Ellesméra," I bet everyone in the theatre who hadn't read the books was like, "What's Ellesméra?" I'm glad you liked this story. It's over now.
Prettybella: I'm glad I didn't completely butcher it. I am so writing a complaint letter.
Inyellel: Thanks. Having Shruikan kill Galby was satisfying.
Vixen Hood: Well, you're lucky you haven't seen it. It sucked. I've mentioned this before. I'm glad you liked that chapter.
Sam14119204: I'm glad this update cheered you up. The movie was so bad it was downright depressing. And it wasn't like The Notebook where it was meant to be depressing either. Well, I did actually laugh at two not-meant-to-be-funny parts. The lines were so bad at Brom's death scene that I started laughing, and I almost died when Murtagh started banging on the cages and yelling, "Let me out of here." I bet everyone in the movie thought I was weird, including those hot guys sitting behind my friends and I. Oh well.