A/n: I was completely uninspired when I started this chapter, I had no idea what to write, so mostly this is just a filler chapter, boring in my opinion truthfully, sorry!! Also, my Word program is gone, so all I have now is Microsoft works, so sorry if the layout changes!
Ch. 16
Aris followed Arya quietly down the many vast hallways of the castle, her mind filling with memories of when she was a little girl, running through the halls with a young Nasuada. Finally they stopped before a huge room, it entrance marked by an overly large arch, leaving the room wide open. On the opposite side of the room a door lead out to a dais, it overlooked a courtyard; Aris could already hear the crowd.
"You highness, my lady." A maid approached them sinking into a low curtsy, it made Aris uncomfortable to be greeted like that. It felt almost as if she might be more comfortable scrubbing the floors rather than being a princess. "This is for you your highness." The maid stood up holding a delicate gold diadem out to Aris. The crown was thin, leaves of light green glass webbed by gold attached to branches of diamonds.
Arya lightly handled the crown, setting it on Aris' head carefully, and then shifting it so it was straight. "That looks beautiful on you." Arya gave Aris a small smile. "Now let's just smooth out this dress, I'll tighten it up." Arya gently placed Aris' thick braid over Aris' shoulder. Then she laughed, "Aris! The dress isn't laced up all the way."
"I couldn't reach it." Came Aris' short reply.
"You should have called for a maid." Arya said still laughing as she laced up the dress, "There, now it doesn't look quite as loose on you, are you about ready?"
"For?"
"To greet the people…" Arya looked at her in concern.
"Oh, yes…"
"Sister! How are you feeling? The tiara fits you, good! You look better, a good night's sleep helped I suppose, are you ready, the people are." Orrin strolled into the room in rich red robes and a gold crown on his head.
"Yes." Aris spoke and Orrin flinched before hiding it behind a smile.
"Very well, then let us begin." He held out his arm to his sister and she looked at him for a moment before slowly looping her arm within his. He smiled in encouragement and walked with her towards the dais. He walked confidently out onto the platform, Aris falling back to stand near the wall looking down upon the crowd with her dead eyes. "People of Surda! I have amazing news, a most happy event has occurred, one that none of us ever predicted."
The crowd below them began to shift excitedly, Orrin kept speaking, "I must ask you to remember with me, a certain person that was loved throughout. The little girl that my father loved so, who was mercilessly taken from us many years ago."
"Princess Aris…" the crowd murmured. Aris was surprised at the honest sadness that tinted their voices.
"Indeed, my sister. We thought her to be deceased much like her mother, but the three honorable Riders that serve us all have healed the portion of my heart that I thought would ache forever. They have brought my sister, Aristianna back to us." Orrin smiled and gasps ran through the crowd. He looked back at her extending his hand warmly, Aris stepped forward, grasping his hand lightly and letting him guide her to the railing on the platform.
She watched as screams and gasps rippled throughout the gathering. Then the clapping began, followed quickly by cheering and shouts of joy, she held up one hand and silence followed. She didn't want to speak; merely she wanted to escape from the attention.
"Thank you." She spoke her voice clear as it rang in the silence, "I'm glad to know that Surda has thrived and that you are as happy to see me as I am all of you. I'm pleased to be back."
The silence didn't stop and Aris glanced at Orrin in mild confusion. Orrin was staring at her in discomfort, he shifted his feet slightly and looked away, smiling as he addressed the crowd again, "Well, I suppose that says it all, tonight may you all toast to Surda!" He boomed across the crowd. Cheering commenced again and he took Aris' arm and led her back inside.
Aris immediately removed the intricate tiara from her head and handed back to Arya. "Why were they silent?"
"Because…well you sounded as if you didn't care about anything in this world, you words were almost hard to believe." Orrin shrugged uncomfortably, and he removed his red velvet cape.
"I'm sorry." Aris apologized.
"Even that sounded as if you were incapable of feeling…can't you smile or something?" He asked exasperated.
"I wish I could." Aris replied then walked out of the room leaving Orrin with his brows furrowed and Arya with her lips pursed in reluctant resignation.
A--E
Three days later Aris decided to walk around the city, quietly she left her room where, in the last few days, she had been sleeping and eating, restoring all possible strength.
As she walked down the stone hall she adjusted the dagger sheath she had strapped on her hip. She had left the bow and other blades in her room but she hadn't been able to convince herself to leave weaponless. She stepped out into the blistering heat of Surda and walked lightly to the castle gates.
"Aris!" A male's deep voice called across the courtyard. Aris turned to see Murtagh waving brightly at her, jogging in her direction. "Where are you headed?" He asked when he reached her.
"No where in particular, just walking." Aris replied, dipping her head in respect.
"Please, none of that milady, your rank is higher." He bowed in her direction.
"Yet yours was earned and mine was handed to me, my respect is given when one has the merits required." She replied turning and beginning to walk out the gates, Murtagh keeping stride beside her. "Besides, you are incorrect, nothing outranks a Rider."
"Fair enough!" He held his hands up in playful surrender, "Do you mind if I call you Aris then? I don't really like having to be formal at all hours." Murtagh asked lightly, undisturbed by the fact that under normal circumstances he would be stepping far out of line.
"Please do, what do I call you?" She nodded in agreement to his question.
"Murtagh does just fine. There really is nothing else to call me. Eragon and Roran both have their other names, Shadeslayer and Stronghammer, but I am just Murtagh for now." He laughed as they entered the main market.
"Did you not bring the other egg from Galbatorix?" She asked, "That is deserving no doubt."
"Perhaps but what name could you draw from that? Oathbreaker?" He grinned a crooked smile at her and she nodded solemnly.
"I suppose it is hard to name you, someday you will earn one though." She answered looking back up at him then glancing around at the market wares. A comfortable silence settled between the companions as they walked lightly between the rows of booths. Before long they approached the training grounds, the clash of steel audible from their position at the end of the market.
"Would you care to watch?" Murtagh's voice broke through the silence and she looked up to see him gesture to the training grounds.
"Just watch." She nodded, "For now." She added in her head, she was still unsure of whether or not battling was a good idea, she was determined to regain all possible strength before exerting herself beyond need. Murtagh smiled and they walked in earnest toward the enclosed arena.
Entering carefully they walked along the edge watching the numerous unique duels at hand. In one corner a group of soldiers met each other with thick hand swords, while a few archers claimed the other side. A few men swung axes and only a handful swung long swords like the Riders and Aris carried.
"His form is all wrong." Murtagh murmured as they watched a short sword soldiers take a wild hack at his opponent.
"Indeed, he would have more success perhaps if his feet were not planted and he didn't stand with them so close together." Aris agreed oblivious to the shocked gaze Murtagh shot her.
"Exactly…Aris?" He asked struggling not to tack a title to her name, "May I ask you something?"
"It seems you already have, but proceed." She nodded turning to watch the archers.
"I noticed that your mind…well…it's there, before I only could feel an inkling of your consciousness, and frankly your presence is massive…I guess what I'm asking is, why didn't you escape if you had such power in your grip?" She watched him as his brow furrowed in thought, "I know you were drugged, but why let yourself get caught in the first place?"
"I was ten, it's true, I was powerful even then for I inherited elfin traits, one being power in magic, but still I was a child. My mother and I had been attacked by Empire soldiers; I was tired and in despair for my mother had been killed. The slavers surrounded me and I only managed to kill a few before one got poison down my throat, it was over then, I couldn't fight." She explained calmly.
"I see…have you attempted anything of late? To test your limits I mean?" He asked again.
"No, I wish to gather strength then I will slowly access my magic, it is there though, I can feel it on the brink of my mind, waiting to overflow." She answered again, turning back to study the archers.
"So you inherited all elfin traits…except for the ears of course." Murtagh prompted.
"Not all, for example I cannot shoot an arrow, most elves are at least decent archers, not me, I cannot hit a mark. And, I inherited a dwarven quality from my father's side as well, the long seated grudges dwarves hold so well." She gazed at an arrow as hit the bulls eye.
Murtagh laughed, it was a light sound, it rang in Aris' ears. She liked the sound of laughter, Arya's which sounded of bells, Murtagh's which was reverberated in the air, and Angela's which had been joyful and bright. It made Aris wonder what hers sounded like. Yet nothing had sparked her enough to cause such a reaction.
"Aris! Murtagh!" Katrina's delicate voice rang across the arena, she and Roran stood hand in hand at its entrance. Both Aris and Murtagh made their way over to them.
"Hey!" Murtagh greeted them both cheerfully.
"Hello." Aris said nodded to them each in turn.
"We were looking for the both of you but never expected to find you together." Katrina smiled brightly, "We have a proposition for you two."
"Of what sort?" Aris asked, slightly wary for no reason.
"Don't worry, it's just that I dearly wish to see all my friends from Carvahall again and they have settled down in…what was it…oh yes Cithrí, and I was wondering if perhaps you would like to meet them too?" Katrina explained mostly to Aris.
"And, since it seemed like you enjoyed yourself when you met them before Murtagh, I though you might come as well." Roran added nodding to his brother.
"Sounds fine, I would enjoy that." Murtagh agreed heartily.
"If they would have me I have no desire to decline." Aris nodded, "When do you wish to leave?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, then we would only stay for two days or so." Katrina bit her lips in excitement, "So you'll go?"
Aris nodded once more and Katrina squealed like a little girl, "Oh good!" She exclaimed wrapping Aris in a hug that Aris actually felt comfortable returning.
"I will tell Orrin then pack some food, where shall we meet?" Aris asked a slight spark of excitement flowing through her as well.
"In the same courtyard we arrived in!" Katrina said releasing all but Aris' hands.
"Very well, I shall take my leave then, until tomorrow." Aris nodded gently pulling her hands back and walking away.
"I'll walk back with you!" Murtagh called after saying his goodbyes catching up with her quickly. They walked back in silence much like the silence they had left in. Finally as they reached the courtyard within the castle's stone walls, they said their goodbyes and went there separate ways.
Aris walked through the castle scanning the minds of those around her to find her brother; finally she located his presence down the next hallway. She paused as she reached the door he was behind, it was hauntingly familiar.
Inhaling deeply she knocked, entering when his voice gave her the okay. "Orrin, I came to let you know that tomorrow I will be leaving in the company of Katrina, Roran, and Murtagh to visit the villagers of Carvahall that now live in Cithrí." She stated rather than asked, though had he said no she might have listened.
She kept her eyes trained on the plain stone ground of the bedchamber, not trusting herself to be able to look around the room with any composure. "Very well…Aris…do you know what room this is?" He asked slowly, as if he didn't want to scare her.
"Of course, mothers and fathers…" She lifted her eyes from the ground to meet Orrin's gaze, slowly she allowed her eyes to roam the room taking in every detail possible. From the looks of it, it hadn't been disturbed in years, dust collected on the windowsill and layered the sheets of the undisturbed bed. "You have left it."
Orrin nodded as his gaze followed hers, "I couldn't touch anything of mothers…even father left her stuff as it was…but now that you're here, I thought perhaps you might help me do what I couldn't." He looked at her as if he was ashamed of such a weakness.
"Of course." Aris nodded approaching the large wardrobe in the corner, her hand hesitated then reached out and pulled open the door. Orrin walked up next to her and together they inspected the contents of the drawers and clothes.
"Brother…" Aris began, a question nagging in her mind.
"Yes?" He lifted a belt from the drawer and after a moment added it to the pile of their fathers belongings.
"How was it…how did father die?" Her voice was low as she folded a pair of her mothers leather traveling pants in her lap, adding it to its matching shirt. Orrin had paused his hand halfway to pull out a cloak.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye, " It doesn't sound as if you really want to know…Aris are you okay now?"
Looking down and sighing slightly she smoothed her dress, "Orrin, I have spent seven years of my childhood in a slave camp where they mercilessly beat me because I refused to give in. This…voice…tone that I have, I know it sounds like I'm dead, but that is how I didn't break. No emotion leaked from my features and it is going to take time for my face to relearn how to smile. I do want to know, and I am fine, or at least I will be eventually." She glanced up to meet his mixed gaze, a combination of disgust, anger and hopelessness.
"A-All right." He stumbled on his words then cleared his throat, "You wish to know how father died, right?"
"Indeed, he didn't just give up right? He was stronger than that…"
"Yes, he knew he had duties to the people, though after the two of you were proclaimed dead, he was never again the cheery man you might remember. He governed the same but it was as if he was doing it merely out of habit. Two years later he fell ill, seriously ill mind you. For a while a doctor came and tried to cure him and it worked to a degree. But, nothing enabled him to regain enough strength to get out of bed. He fought for a while, trying to hold on…but after almost three months he just gave in." Orrin sighed and pulled the cloak out, laying it gently on the pile, "He let the sickness overcome him, yet in that time I believe he was the happiest he had been for a while. Laying there in the bed staring at the…what was that thing mother made, out of magic with all of us in it?"
"Her fairth, the one she made when she made us sit in front of the mirror so she could see how the four of us looked together?" Aris pulled a deep blue silk traveling cloak from her mothers wardrobe letting the material slide through her fingers onto the floor.
"Yes, well he lay there every day staring at it. He began to sleep more and more as the illness took its toll and but he also began to smile. I think he was ready to join…well he thought both of you, but he knew he was going to be with mother again. He died with the most peaceful expression, being buried only with the fairth." Orrin finished with a sigh.
"Thank you…I'm glad to know, not only how he died but that they are together."
Orrin smiled at her softly, "And, I'm glad you're still here, father is happy that you're alive, I know it." He glanced up at the ceiling as if looking up their father.
"I hope so." Aris murmured and continued to empty the wardrobe.
A--E
A/n: So tell me what you think, I have quite a few ideas for upcoming chapters that will be better than this one, updates will be slower since I have two other stories I have to update now too!