A/n: Finally some reviews! Before this chapter I only had one loyal reviewer (thanks EragonPeep!) but more people reviewed this time, it really made me want to get another chapter up. Okay gonna shut up now, enjoy!

CH.9

The next few days were no easier on Katrina's body, she had thought that Aris' cuts were mostly due to beatings, but Aris made sure that a slaver never touched Katrina, yet bruises and cuts appeared seemingly on their own accord. Aris let her sleep, never pressing for her story.

Katrina had noticed that there was some sort of unorganized system to the camp. As you woke up you found a job, and you had better get up by dawn. She had seen it once, a woman who looked to be about five past twenty years hadn't come out of her tent, so Bryshaw had chosen one of the slavers. Katrina had been confused for a minute when foreboding silence had taken over the camp, she had looked at Aris for an explanation just as the shrieking began, she remembered the feeling of horror that had blossomed in her chest. She had asked Aris how many lashes the girl got and Aris had stared at her.

'Your mind is far more innocent than I would have thought, especially being engaged.'

That had confused Katrina even further, when she asked what Aris had meant, Aris answered but reluctantly.

'There may be another baby in this camp nine months from now.'

Katrina understood then and her horror had grown, she made an oath to never oversleep or let Aris oversleep, she was determined to save herself for Roran. In that respect Katrina noticed that she was happier, Aris made her hope and believe that Roran was indeed coming, and their friendship was growing immensely. Over just a few days Katrina began to notice that when they were alone Aris was a little more relaxed, and though no big emotion was ever released from her impassiveness, Katrina could see flickers of what Aris was feeling in the girl's eyes.

Finally, four days past when she had originally intended to tell Aris of her life, she sat down on her bed and faced Aris' back.

"Uh, Aris? Do you still wish to hear my life story?" Katrina asked, unsure of if Aris was sleeping.

"If you are ready to tell it." Her short reply crossed the tent.

"I am." Katrina leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, placing her chin on her hands. Aris sat up and faced Katrina crossing her legs and sitting still, her expression patient and calm.

"Well," Katrina began, "It started about…four years ago, yes, that is about when Roran's cousin, Eragon, found a mysterious blue stone in the Spine…" Katrina wove through the story of how the Ra'zac had come for Eragon, killing Roran's father Garrow in the process. She explained that Roran was going to work to earn money for them but Eragon ran away leaving the burden of repairing the destroyed farm on Roran's shoulders. She told of the Ra'zac's return, they came for Roran the next time, they wanted to lure out Eragon from wherever he was. Her face grew grim when she spoke of the villager's defiance and the resulting attacks, and how Roran had come to her and asked for her hand, fearing that he may not have a chance to ask later. Tears burned at her eyes when she told Aris of her father's betrayal, him handing Katrina over to the Ra'zac because of his displeasure of her engagement. She told Aris that she had been kept in Dras-Leona, in the Ra'zac's lair, chained in a dungeon, threatened daily with death. She finished, telling of how the Ra'zac decided that Roran wouldn't be coming, but they couldn't eat her because it was against the King's orders, so they brought her here to stop their temptation to eat her. Katrina sighed as she finished, relieved that she had finally told someone. Aris' face had never moved, and she showed her understanding with one short nod at the end.

"I just don't understand what Eragon could have done to anger the King." Katrina shook her head in bewilderment.

"It was as I thought." Aris muttered, much to herself.

"What was?" Katrina asked.

"The Ra'zac are very fickle creatures, prone to impulse unless ordered otherwise by Galbatorix. Something phenomenal must have happened to your fiancée's cousin, this Eragon, for them to take their search as far as his cousin. And, to desire Roran's assistance so much as to burden themselves with you. Something great must have happened…something great indeed." Aris explained looking at the wall of the tent in thought.

"Like what though, nobody in the village had any idea, besides he ran off with the old story teller Brom, what could they have done? A boy and an old man." Katrina scoffed at the idea.

Aris' eyebrows rose a fraction though, "Brom you said? Hm…well that means that perhaps…how impossible though…" Aris spoke softly to herself.

"What? What is it? Did you know of someone named Brom? Do you know what happened?" Katrina asked overly eager for an explanation for her suffering.

"My only notion is ridiculously farfetched. The blue stone you spoke of sounds similar to the blue egg my cousin Arya used to escort from the Varden to the elves every year. It was a dragon's egg, it might have hatched for Eragon, Galbatorix learned of it, and sent the Ra'zac. As soon as Eragon touched the hatchling it would have made Eragon a Dragon Rider, a threat to Galbatorix and his power. That is hardly probable though, the egg hasn't stirred in decades."

Katrina nodded, knowing that even though she had grown up thinking that Rider's were a dead legend, since she had met Aris nothing was quite as unbelievable as before. "I just wish I could see Roran again, even for a second."

Katrina jumped as she felt a thin hand touch her shoulder. She looked up to see Aris sitting next to her, she gasped at the expression in the girl's eyes, they were filled with sadness and understanding.

"I wish I could show him to you." Aris whispered.

Katrina gave a short laugh, "Who knows where he is at this point! Finding him will be nearly impossible when I…if I escape."

"I meant to show him to you with magic. If I could touch my magic and if I had seen him before I could have scryed him…basically shown you him and what he was doing at the very moment I said the spell."

"You could have done that?" Katrina asked in awe, it sounded difficult.

"I used to be able to; scrying is a fairly basic skill." Aris said bitterly.

"Do you think…maybe…maybe I could learn?" Katrina asked, tentative hope blossoming in her gut.

Aris looked at her carefully, and her brow furrowed while she thought, "Magic is not an easy thing, it isn't a simple matter of you learning how to scry and nothing else, you would have to build up to it, it would take a while." Aris slowly said. "You see, when I said that scrying is a basic skill I meant for someone born with the ability and strength… you would have to start from scratch."

"But it's possible?" Katrina asked still hoping.

"We…we could try…it will take a lot of determination and practice. It may be impossible but if you really want to learn…It will be very dangerous." Aris slowly nodded to Katrina.

"Dangerous? Oh! Right because is Bryshaw were to find out…" Katrina shuddered a chill running down her spine.

"Well that is certainly something to consider, but that is not what I meant. Magic on its own, even in the safest conditions used by the most skilled user is a risk on your life." Aris' wore a serious expression as she conveyed her seriousness.

Katrina's eyes widened as she considered the implications, she set her jaw a moment later, "I can do it."

Aris studied Katrina's face then she looked down at her hands as if ashamed, "I will try to teach you, I won't make any guarantees…it's been seven years since I preformed a spell." Katrina nodded and touched Aris' hand, showing her appreciation in her trying.

"When can we begin?" Katrina asked.

"We will only be able to work at night. I will teach you the principles first, then you will have to learn to hide your mind, you remember me telling you that magic allows you to expand you consciousness."

"Right and if Bryshaw or the magician detect…"

"Exactly, then we will work on the language…it will be weeks before you even attempt a spell, that's only if everything goes well."

"Let's do it!" Katrina said in an excited whisper. Aris nodded and took a deep breath, her expressionless mask reclaiming her face.

"First, the most important rule, whatever it is that you accomplish with magic takes the same amount of energy from your body as it would if you had done it manually."

"Well then how is it in all the stories magicians and Riders did such amazing things?" Katrina interjected with a question immediately.

"At first it will be hard for you to access magic at all, the more skilled you become, the easier you will be able to embrace the flow of magic. As that happens your magical strength will grow. Think of it this way, if you went into the forest and lifted a boulder every day, before too long you will be able to lift the boulder easily for your strength has grown, the same principle applies to magic." Aris looked at her for a sign of understanding.

"I understand and I won't forget." Katrina nodded hurriedly.

"Be sure you don't. Next, the reason that the first rule is so important, once you release a spell there is no taking it back. So, if you don't have enough magic in your body, your magical strength is not great enough, and you cast a spell to strong, the spell will drain your body of energy trying to complete the task, it won't stop until there is no more energy, it will kill you." Aris' voice became harsher as she spoke of the severity. Chills wracked Katrina's body before she nodded and took a deep breath. "Good, now another thing, the farther away something is, the more energy it takes to perform a spell on it, a rock a mile away is harder to lift than one right in front of your feet."

"Okay, so let my enemies get closer before attacking."

"Indeed, if at all possible. The last thing tonight, you can control your magic by using the ancient language."

"Ancient language?"

"Yes, the language that elves speak, the language of true names. The language is a mysterious thing, you cannot lie when you speak in it for one, second, the names for things in the ancient language, that name is the objects true name. For example adurna means water in the ancient language, so adurna is waters true name. The reason you can control magic through the ancient magic is because when you know something's true name, you have power over it. You can perform magic without the language but it is infinitely more difficult. When you use magic without the language you have to clear your mind and keep complete focus on what you want to happen, with the language you can light a tree on fire and look at me while you're doing it without worrying about setting me on fire."

"Let's see if I understand, if I know the word for something in the ancient language, I can use it's name to control it with magic, I can control my magic and direct it wherever I want regardless of what I'm thinking about as long as I say the right thing, and I cannot lie while I speak in this language. Right?" Katrina asked chewing her lip in concentration.

"Exactly, that's enough for tonight, you need your rest." Aris' eyes smiled.

"Aris…could I ask you one more question?" Katrina asked as Aris lay down.

"I suppose." She said turning to face the wall and curling up to sleep.

"Well, if you can scry someone you've seen before…why didn't your cousin or aunt scry you, they can do magic right?" Katrina asked nervously, unsure if Aris would be upset by the questions.

"Yes, they are powerful elves." Aris said quietly, her voice dead again, "And, they've tried."

"Oh…It didn't work? How do you know?" Katrina couldn't stop her curiosity.

Aris sat up and turned to Katrina, tucking her hair behind her ears, "See these?" she pointed to two very small metal rings in her earlobes, "Bryshaw and his magician put a spell on them when they first captured me, it blocks anybody from scrying me, so if my family or friends attempted to scry me, all they would see was black, as if I was dead. The reason I know is because these rings are plain metal, so in order for the spell to work they have to sap energy from a source. I'm the source, they grow hot and energy is leeched from my body whenever somebody tries to scry me. Material items can't store energy you see, only people and gems have the ability to absorb energy, so were these diamond earrings I could store energy in them and when the spell was triggered it wouldn't affect me, but metal requires a direct source." Aris said mutedly, no hint of pain in her voice or eyes, though Katrina thought she could see it in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Katrina whispered laying down.

"Don't be, it can't be helped and it is a good bit of information to remember." Aris said curling up again.

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." Aris replied. Katrina lay in thought for a while, knowing that if Roran ever did come for her, Katrina would not leave Aris behind. "I will bring her with me no matter what I do, she will not stay here if I get out, she'll come with me!" Katrina swore to herself looking over at Aris' still form.

A-----------------------E

A/n: Okay, second chapter in two days, hope you enjoyed it though, it was mostly talking, I promise action soon! Here is just a friendly reminder to review please!!!