"What?" Asked Exire, taking the arrow in his hand and pulling it out of his side. "Have the Varden and the elves ever heard of amour?" Eragon stared for a moment, then laughed. Arya glared at Exire and Darad taped him in the back with one of his talons, causing him to stumble forward.
You knew I was wearing armor! Exire said to Darad, who snorted.
"Well, as long as you're not injured, we should press on." Arya said finally, tearing her glare from Exire and moving to mount Saphira, who had come up behind Eragon. "Eragon, come one. You look like a fool rolling around in the dirt."
Eragon blinked. He wasn't rolling. Then, with a mental shrug, he climbed Saphira and sat before Arya. As Exire mounted Darad, he said to Eragon,
Is she always like this? I didn't know short temperedness was a trait among elves.
Its not. Eragon answered. Your just infuriating her. Then, there was a loud rush of wind, and blast of sand, and the dragons were in the air once more.
Exire crouched low over Darad's back, still holding his spear.
Nasuada's head dropped. Her eyes closed and she began to fall forward.
"Nasuada!" Angela snapped. Nasuada's head shot up, her eyes wide open. "You were falling asleep again."
"This war will kill me through sleep loss before Galbatorix gets a chance!" Nasuada murmured, passing a hand over her eyes. Just then, Jormunder marched in, bowing and saying,
"My Lady, Eragon and Arya are returning, and there's another dragon with them!" Nasuada jumped to her feet, all feelings of tiredness gone from her.
"Take me to them!" She commanded, marching out the pavilion. Immediately, she was surrounded by the Nighthawks and she followed Jormunder who took the lead, marching briskly in the light of dusk. Overhead, she could hear the sound of rushing wind, then a roar that she recognized as Saphira's it was followed by a pillar of blue flame that Nasuada spotted over the tents. Then there was a second roar, this one deep and rumbling.
Finally, Nasuada reached the outer rim of the camp. Angela and Elva close behind. Saphira landed with grace, crouching low so that her riders, Eragon and Arya, could dismount smoothly. Nasuada nodded a greeting to them, then turned her eyes to the other.
The entire camp stared in amazement at the large dragon that landed beside Saphira. Its scales were dark silver, that that of polished chainmail. The dying sun glinted off it, blinding the watchers. Then, Nasuada's eyes were drawn to the man that slid from the new dragon's back. He was tall, robed in black with a hood that he pulled down. A sword was slung at his waist, and there was a spear in his hand, both ends tipped with spearheads. Turning, she got a look at his face. It was a well formed, tan face with hawk like features.
The man glanced up at his dragon, who was now surveying the sea of awed faces, then strode over to stand by Eragon, burying his spear tip in the ground. The dragon came forward to stand behind him.
"Nasuada." Said Arya. "Our mission, as you can see, was successful. This is Exire." Exire looked at Nasuada, his grey eyes looking her up and down. "And this is Darad." The dragon dipped his head, projecting his thoughts.
Greetings, Nasuada. He rumbled.
"It is an honor to meet you both." Nasuada began. "Please, if all of you would accompany me to my pavilion, I can offer you food and drink, along with more privacy."
"Sounds good to me." Said Exire briskly. Nasuada blinked, then turned and walked away, leading the way to the pavilion. Exire, Arya, and Eragon followed closely. Saphira said something to Darad, then leapt into the sky, Darad close behind.
Exire turned and watched as Darad left. Then he continued walking. He pulled his hood up farther, trying to hide his face. He wasn't use to the amount of attention he was now receiving from the crowed of soldiers. They were reaching out to him, calling out to him, asking for his blessing or his help.
Exire sidestepped a hand that was grasping for his arm, and bumped into one of the urgals surrounding the women called Nasuada. The monster turned and growled at him, bearing his fangs. Instinctively, Exire reached for a dagger in his belt, but Eragon grabbed his upper arm.
"Their our allies." Eragon said. "Starting a fight would not be a good idea." Then he let go and they kept walking.
"I wasn't the one who snarled about it." Muttered Exire, returning to his hunched walk, hiding his features. Arya shot him a warning glance, then turned back to the trail ahead, head held high.
They walked only a little farther, before the reached the crimson pavilion. As Exire looked up, he grimaced. The color reminded him of blood in the desert. As soon as they stepped in and the flap fell into place behind them, the crowd was gone, and Exire sighed, standing up straight and lowering his hood.
"Much better." He said to himself, taking in the interior of the tent as Nasuada moved to sit in her gilded chair. She turned in her seat to look at the four standing before her.
"Now, Exire, tell me about yourself." She said. Exire looked up at her.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Is there a way to be more clear? Tell me about how you found Darad's egg and what you've been doing in the Hadrac desert." Exire began his narrative once more, repeating what he had told Arya and Eragon when they had asked him about his past.
Nasuada listened intently, asking only a few questions here and there. When Exire finished, she sat up.
"Sounds like your life has been an eventful one." She commented, raising and eyebrow. But Exire shook his head.
"Eragon is the one who traveled Alagasis. All I did was live in the desert." He said, shrugging. Modest. That was a good trait in a rider, though Nasuada to herself. Next, she asked about his skill in battle, how he fought, and if he had ever fought with a force on his side.
"I prefer the spear." Exire began. "But I do use the sword sometimes. AS for fighting with an army, no, the only one I've ever fought with beside me is Darad. I like to be bale to trust my allies, and Darad is the only one I knew well enough then to trust with my life."
"Well, I hope soon we will be able to trust you." Nasuada said pointedly. "Arya, Eragon, I'm sure you have business to attend to, you may go. Exire, stay." Eragon bowed, and followed Arya out, glancing at Exire as he went.
"I look forward to fighting beside you some day." He said in passing. Exire grinned.
"As do I." He said in reply, before looking back at Nasuada.
When the others were gone, Nasuada walked over to Exire and stared into his eyes intently.
"Tell me Exire." She began. "What would you say if I told you that I need one of my people to examine your mind."
Exire's expression hardened and he crossed his arms.
"I would say that if you need to dig into my mind to see if I'm trustworthy, that real trust has finally died out. Either that, or you let me examine your own. After all, how am I supposed to tell you really all Nasuada? This could all be some elaborate trick of Galbatorix."
"If it were, then you would be to far in to get out of it." Nasuada retorted. Exire shook his head.
"If it was that, then I wouldn't still be here. I know enough about you to know this is the truth." Nasuada raised an eyebrow.
"Really? What do you think you know about me."
"Oh, where to begin. Your an orphan now, your father died in battle and your struggling to fulfill his place." Exire began in a conversational tone. "You trust someone small to guard you, and, your feeling lonely." Nasuada's expression was blank, but inside she was shocked. How had he known all this? It would have been easy for him to find out about Aijhad, but the rest? She hadn't felt him in her mind, just a slight probing at her mental barrier.
"How do you know all this?" She demanded. Exire grinned.
"I know how to learn something about someone just by looking at their walls. Its like reading a face." Nasuada seethed. If this man could do that, could Galbatorix o it to?
"Still, I'll need to have someone read your mind to check your story." Nasuada said, turning away from Exire and walking back to her chair. "I have a man in the Nighthawks, the warriors outside. He be willing to read it."
"No." Nasuada turned.
"No?" She said, allowing a hint of alarm in her tone.
"No." Repeated Exire. "My mind is my own. And if you feel like you cant trust me without reading me, then I guess Darad and ill just leave."