A/N: I do not own Eragon but I do own this plot and original characters, enjoy the read!
Not Human
Aris pulled the tent flap aside, forcing herself to not hold it open for the tiny girl in her wake. Arabella, to her credit, did not show any reaction, merely ducked out of the way of the canvas descending on her. They were met one in the same, with suspicion and condescension, regardless of their supposed difference in status.
It was clear to Aris as she studiously ignored the burn of glares in favor of studying the tent's occupants, that the group was compromised of mostly nobles with small magical ability. All but two. As her eyes swept over the woman and man standing at the head of the table her nerves went on high alert and her mental walls slammed up with a suddenness that left no time for a warning for Saphira. The pair's eyes studied her coldly and for the first time in a very long time Aris feared being recognized. Around them swirled the aura of ancient times and the deaths and torture of many reflected in their gazes. She fought the nervous swallow in her throat and held her head high, hoping the old magic of the elves that swirled in her veins would not betray her assumed position as nothing more than an empire noble.
She curtsied stiffly, only low enough to show mutual respect.
"Welcome girl." The man's voice was soft and smooth as oil, "Is it true that you are the provider of this scroll?"
"Indeed, I am Lady Marian of Kuasta and that is my family's scroll." She wondered for a moment if the tension she could feel between herself and him was purely in her imagination.
"Yes, yes, I met this darling at breakfast." Lady Lora swept forward with no qualms and looped her arm with Aris, "come stand with me dear. She can use magic too."
It became clear that the two true magic users viewed the other nobles in the room as nothing more than pawns. The tension that was between her and them told her that she would not deceive them so easily as others at the camp. "I use but a little." Aris interjected.
"I sense the opposite." The woman's eyes flashed over her.
Fear welled in Aris' throat and she fought to recapture the stoic look she'd maintained so well in the slaver's camp. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and she succumbed to the first time to the doubts that perhaps she wasn't as ready for this mission as she thought. "What do you mean?" She asked quietly.
"I sense a natural well of power within." Her voice matched the cold eyes that seemed to penetrate whoever held her attention.
"I appreciate your belief in such, but I have had only the minimal training of my household magician." Aris accepted it as smoothly as she could manage.
"We shall have to rectify such." The man replied.
"I'm sure I shall enjoy any instruction you can provide." She bowed her head slightly.
The woman's eyes finally left her and she stepped forward with quick steps and placed her palms on the scroll, "Today we must translate this. I assume you have some idea of what it says."
Aris recognized the chance to stall the operation suddenly, "Unfortunately I've only been able to discern a few words, other than that all that's been passed down is the history of the scroll and the fact that it is not malignant to the user."
The woman unfurled the scroll and began to read the words Aris had so carefully etched onto the parchment. "It appears old, however, can you supply any proof of your words?" The woman asked.
Aris glanced downward slightly as the noble standing beside her pushed Arabella away from him in disdain but dutifully ignored the wince the little girl betrayed. "Nothing other than the journals kept by those who experienced its spells during the time of the dragon wars."
With nothing more than a nod in response the committee of sorts began to pour over the scrolls contents. As Aris kept an observant eye, inputting as she saw opportunity to steer them in the direction of labeling it useful, she noticed that nobody other than the two in charge did anything other regurgitate ideas that had already been tossed around. It became very clear that the so called group of noble magicians were to act as food should the magic of the stronger two magicians wane.
Aris kept her mind tightly sealed and knew that no real training could occur. Any access to her mind, so foreign compared to the others, would give her away.
Dusk approached not long after their break of bread and dried meat and Aris bowed her exit along with the other nobles, eager to get back to Eragon and share their findings.
o0o0o0o
The empty ring of poorly swung swords still echoed in his ears as he trudged back to his shared room with Aris. Saphira was in the midst of describing her latest hunt through their narrow channel of connected thought but he was barely engaged. She always found how she approached each deer so fascinating but after their years together Eragon listened out of courtesy more than interest. He was dwelling on the events of the day, wondering almost painfully how Aris and Arabella were fairing. Saphira had alerted him immediately when Aris had blocked her out and he knew that she had reason to and only hoped that his decision not to check on her was the correct one.
His day had been full of acting the part of mediocre swordsman. After working a bit of magic to disguise the make of his blade he had cut his ability into quarters in order to appear that practicing with the so called elite soldiers was anything near to a challenge. He had felt in slow motion all day and the ticklish blows they dealt made him yearn to laugh at their egotistic words.
All the same he hoped he could share the dull, yet entertaining events with the woman who had occupied his thoughts periodically throughout the day. The images of her serene beauty from the morning seemed to haunt him; he almost regretted sneaking the peeks he did, as they were determined to torture him with confusing desires as retribution.
He swung the inn door open to the most wonderful sight he'd seen all day. Aris was seated at a table in the middle of the eating hall, sipping tea and nodding politely as Lady Lora gushed about one thing or another. Her eyes met his with an ill-concealed plea for assistance, coupled with irritated amusement. He smiled openly at her and strode forward, grasping her hand gently as he reached her and kissing her knuckles.
"My wife, how I have awaited seeing you again." He ignored the cooing sounds that the painted woman beside the elven beauty emitted and allowed himself the pleasure of seeing Aris blush sweetly.
"My lord," Aris dipped her head politely, "Won't you join me for an evening meal?"
Eragon pulled out a chair quickly, releasing her hand reluctantly as the servant girl placed a pint of ale before him. "How was your day my dear?" He asked between swigs.
"You two are darling; you act as if you've just left the chapel!" Lady Lora screeched unpleasantly, "We were just talking about how exciting it is to be in such an elite group here. We really are in on what is going on. I mean swinging swords around is needed but really this operation would be nothing without the magic we are supplying."
He sensed Aris tense beside him and knew she recognized the opportunity to get some information. They had been warned to keep silent, but Eragon had a feeling that the noble woman milling around knew nothing of keeping secrets. "Indeed we are grateful for the various projects you work on."
"I only hope that I might be able to help out with more than just the one with my scroll." Aris sounded convincingly eager.
"Oh I'm sure you will darling, I'm on several and I've only been on board for two weeks, once they see your worth they'll ask for your help. Especially since they took special notice to you today." She winked with over emphasis and Eragon's jaw clenched with the sudden worry that spread through him. Aris' hand subtly touched his thigh and stroked down to his knee soothingly.
"Indeed, that was most unexpected; perhaps you could put in a good word for me. Coming from Kuasta it is hard to aid the Empire in ways that we desire as often as those who are closer. My husband and I would love to be able to help finally in this important mission."
"Oh of course darling, I get the feeling we'll be great friends. You're so much more tolerable than Silvia; she's sooo high and mighty about how she's the most important one here. Ha, you'd think she was the beauty of Uru'baen but I heard that her father practically had to pay her husband to take her." The woman giggled beneath her hand.
The serving girl placed plates in front of Aris and Eragon and removed Lora's finished one. Her husband walked in moments later and nervously greeted Eragon. "Fine display of swordsmanship today Lord Garrow."
Eragon nodded his thanks but dug into the food before him as was common in the current company.
"Come Lora, it is time to retire I think." Aris cringed at the way he was eyeing his wife and revulsion shook through her, she was suddenly reminded of the 'duties' of human wives.
As they left the undercover couple alone they both relaxed and Aris began to slowly pick at the bread on her plate. She glanced at Eragon who had slowed his eating and smiled softly, his hair was falling across his cheek and showcased his strong jaw in a way that made Aris' heart flutter in the most unusual of ways. His warm eyes met hers and his happy grin made her glance away with a confused flush rushing to her cheeks. 'It is merely because he is the only one here I can trust. He is handsome but now is not the time.' She was suddenly reminded of Arabella's previous comments about sharing a bed.
"Aris…" His voice was so soft and smooth it raised odd goose bumps on her arms. She looked up at him and was unprepared for the disapproval there.
"You must eat. I know you hate this, but you have not yet recovered to as healthy as you should be and I refuse to allow you to get any smaller than you already are. I will find a way to get you food you enjoy put please eat." She realized that his tone had been soft to keep attention off of them, but all the same his tone was doing unfamiliar things to her.
"I will, but I will not enjoy it." She nodded and sighed heavily before taking a bite of meat, the first ever in her life. The texture made her gag and she fought the wave of sickness that washed through her. She swallowed painfully and resisted the urge to smack Eragon for the silent chuckles he had collapsed into. "Disgusting."
They finished their meal quickly and headed back up to their room as soon as they could, strips of meat from Aris' plate tucked in Eragon's shirt for Arabella.
o0o0o0o
Aris was laughing, a lot and Eragon couldn't take his eyes off of her.
As soon as they had come into the room Eragon had sound proofed the walls and handed Arabella the stolen food from the table. She'd thanked him profusely and devoured it, getting a full stomach for the first time in days as the man brought her slave portion minutes later. Now she was bouncing around the room happily, telling the two adults stories about her brothers that they'd probably prefer to be kept secret.
She was currently standing on their bed behind Aris, doing her hair as she told Aris about yet another memory.
"He fell right in! It served him right daddy said because he should not have been picking on me. Mommy wouldn't even give him a towel even though he said the water was cold. He had to stand outside in the sun until he was all dry and I got to keep the horseshoe. Daddy hung it up right over my bed." Aris laughed again as Arabella giggled with delight.
Eragon sat slouched in a chair across from the two, sharing the scene with Saphira. Suddenly Arabella leaned forward and grasped Aris tightly, "Will you be my sister? I never had one of those."
Aris' laughed died away and was replaced with a gently smile, "Neither have I Arabella, I think I'd like that."
The little girl jumped up and cheered and Eragon laughed heartily. Despite the trouble protecting the two children of Carvahall could produce, if Arabella could keep Aris' sadness at bay, he would happily accept any extra trouble that came their way. "Your turn Aris! Tell me one of your stories." The little girl chimed.
Eragon watched warily as Aris' face fell, but when Arabella clambered down to face her she fixed a smile upon her face. "Alright…lets see…" Arabella turned to him and clambered into his lap to face Aris with a focus that brought yet another grin to his face. "There was one time, when I was a little older than you are now, that a friend named Vinakyn was training me to hide. He always found me every day, but there was once when I tricked him.
I was smart that day, I ran all around and left footprints here and there, making him think I'd either run into the forest or towards a stream and while he went off to look for me I went back to the place we started and climbed the tree there. It had thick leaves and lots of branches to hide me. I made sure with my magic that all my footprints were erased and I sat there until sundown.
He came back then and circled the tree, looking for some sign of me. He looked and looked and looked some more and finally he gave up and had to go get my mother. She came to the spot and looked up right away, moving the branches with her magic and Vinakyn turned bright red. He never trained me near trees again."
Arabella giggled, "You're smart Aris, will you teach me to be a good hider?"
Aris' eyes met mine and I saw the remnants of the happy memory slip away as she returned to the present, "Maybe when we are all safe Arabella, maybe."
Eragon sensed the end of the happiness that had permeated the room and bounced his knee gently, "time for bed little one." Saphira laughed at his stolen nickname as he lifted the girl from his lap.
Aris took her hand and led her to her room. Eragon heard the whispered words of the little girl who closed her eyes, "I'm so glad you saved me, sister, I'm glad someone did."
Aris came out of the room with a shaky demeanor. "Who knew a compliment could sting." She whispered.
He moved to her side and carefully took her hand, "They tried to save you Aris."
"They gave up." She corrected, shaking her head before he could reply, "In any case, it doesn't matter any longer. How was your day?"
He quickly delved into the hilarities of the lords and their supposed mastery of swordplay, eager to draw out the honest smiles he'd been privy to not moments ago. Before long he had run out of anything of substance to tell her and turned his smile on her, sure that she would have condescending words about the magic users as well.
When her eyes turned grave he straightened up, listening intently as she recounted the two magic users that might cause them trouble. "Do you feel it a good idea to continue?" He asked hesitantly.
"We have little choice, should I pull our support, or even just mine, even more suspicion will be thrown our way. I will simply keep my walls up and my head down, hopefully they will suspect nothing and hopefully they won't pursue this idea of training." She shrugged.
"I agree with her, I will not even be able to communicate with her at those times however." Saphira, ever present when possible spoke her piece, "And from such a ridiculous distance there is little else I can do to help."
"I appreciate your concern bright scales, but I will watch for warning signs and will not risk the lives of all of us on stubborn behavior. Should the time arise, I will remove myself." Aris stood with suddenness, running her fingers through the hair that fell across her face. "I will not fail."
o0o0o0o
Days passed with little change, every morning they were met by the two lords under the impression of hospitality, Aris maintained her position that they were quite obviously keeping watch over them. Every afternoon brought Aris to the tent to study scroll and Eragon to the training grounds. It had become apparent that Arabella needed something to do to keep the suspicions off of them but as far as either of them could think, there was little that was needed. Eragon began taking her with him, carrying his sword behind him and running him waterskins as he trained.
Norvafrell was a constant source of concern. The stable manager was not the gentle sort and Aris was hard pressed not to kill the man for laying a hand to the boy, let alone continuously. Eragon took it upon himself to place protective wards on him whenever possible, alleviating Aris' major concerns.
The boy was not doing well despite that. His demeanor became harder and he made no secret of the violent wishes he had for his so called master. Aris watched quietly, listened to him silently and tried to lend a reassuring word whenever possible, but she knew the signs and she feared for the boy who had taken on the characteristics of the rebellious slave. She sensed danger and pain ahead for the boy and with the desperate need to remain undercover she wasn't sure what she would be able to do when Norvafrell finally acted out.
Time passed slowly as Eragon and Aris waited to gain access to the inner workings of the camp and its goals. Eragon had taken to slipping out at night and listening to the conversations that went on behind what people assumed were safe walls. And yet nothing, it seemed that most of the nobles were for the most part, completely oblivious.
Frustration built and Aris began to push the scroll's spells as much as she could without drawing attention to herself. The magicians' eyes were always upon her and she was careful to seem naïve to the workings of magic. Playing the timid user card she had managed to avoid doing much magic in front of anyone, always claiming fear that it'd be too much. After weeks of this she had gained the reputation of a delicate woman and was no longer asked to do many tasks.
Finally the head magicians decided that he had studied one spell long enough to use it. The first one written on the scroll, with approval from whomever he reported to was to be put into action at noon that day, Aris was tight with anticipation.
"What if it doesn't work?" Aris paced their room nervously as Eragon strapped his sword on.
"It will."
"It's not as if the opportunity to test one was ever present, and I fear that the spell won't pull energy from the people affected and rather it will kill someone casting it. We'll be exposed should that occur." She murmured as she paused in front of the vanity, locking eyes with her reflection. "I suddenly feel as if I was not prepared for this."
Eragon approached her slowly, gently rubbing circles on her upper back as they looked at each other in the mirror. "There is no one I would trust more beside me here than you. We both know you can pull this off, stay calm and stay back and if anything goes wrong, Saphira is ready to help you, just open your mind."
Aris nodded slowly, looking back at the door that hid the sleeping Arabella. "Everything will be fine…" She told herself quietly, before following Eragon out the door for breakfast.
The rest of the world in a blur Aris felt as if no time had passed at all before she was standing within the canvas enclosure, scroll laid out on the table as it was every other day, and yet so much more taunting today. She nodded to the others in the room and took her place in the circle around the table. As the others filed in the head magicians studied everyone one at a time until all were present and they were ready to begin.
"We will begin soon, first, Lady Marian and Lord Pary please move to either side of us." Anxiety welled inside Aris but she moved immediately to the woman's side. "Alright now everyone join hands, we need all of you to lend your magic in order for this spell to take effect on the camp. It is expected that this spell will cause discord and fighting among themselves in the enemy army, should it work the only strength not taken from the enemy will be the strength to cast it over great distance and a great number of enemies. Brace yourselves, we begin."
Aris swallowed hard, she knew that she no longer possessed the ability to cast on humans but group spells required a group mentality and she could not let anyone past her walls. Taking a deep breath she focused inwardly, opening the smallest of holes in her barrier, she felt the magic rise around her and press against her, attempting to pull what power she was harnessing out completely. Her jaw clenched and her eyes closed and she focused on maintaining herself in the group. As the incantation started, her focus was almost impossible to maintain.
"Aha din faun mellon gwaith roth aran." The woman began to chant. Others joined and Aris muttered the spell between clenched teeth, the war with her concentration beginning to make her dizzy. She heard the words and summoned her magic, knowing full well none was leaving her. Suddenly she felt a pull on her walls from the woman leading, panic welled in her throat and with a gasp she slammed her walls up again, the urgency of her actions causing black to swirl beneath her eyelids and the floor to rise up and meet her.
Hours later she awoke to the urgent shaking of Eragon. "Aris! Wake up Aris!"
Her eyes flew open and she met his scared gaze with concern. "What happened?" She whispered, looking around the room filled with cots and washing stands.
"You fainted, lucky thing too, I've been listening since I got here and the magicians you spoke of caught wind of something odd in your head. As soon as you fell unconscious your defenses took over and they haven't been able to get in. Caused one of them quite a bit of pain, and now they're wondering how you learned defenses like that in the first place. Thank the gods no one here is from Kuasta because I pretty much have them convinced that anyone with money like yours receives similar training there." He spoke quickly and urgently, frequenting glances over his shoulder. "The spell worked though, Aris, I've been in contact with Nasuada and there have been no changes among our allies. All we have to do is watch chaos break out here. Hopefully they'll decide to use the rest of the scroll."
"Where am I?" She asked.
"In their healer's tent. They couldn't figure out what was wrong. I didn't even try, I know what elfin defenses of the mind are like, Arya taught me that lesson."
She nodded and sat up slowly, "Can we leave?"
"Not yet." The door opened then and the magicians entered, followed by Commander Ronthar. "We desire an explanation."
Aris met their gaze without fear, "I was scared, I felt a surge of power that I am unfamiliar with and I felt as if I was losing control. Before I knew it blackness swirled in my mind and then I woke up here."
"And your defenses? Where did you learn such, and how if you are so unfamiliar with impressive power? Your mind was not…human." The woman accused.
"I had a good teacher, a sorcerer who passed on many years ago, I could not access my magic for a long while, but my ability to defend my own mind was something I always did with ease." She replied coolly. "My defenses are personal to me as are yours to you, my culture is too different for you to imagine but I assure you, I am human. I do not understand what you are suggesting, did I harm something?"
Ronthar stepped forward, "Nobody here has ever heard of you two, and we are merely taking precautions. It is clear your contribution of the scroll is a good one so far, in light of your incident perhaps it would be wise if you steered clear of any other similar situations here, I will see to it that your presence is no longer required at the meetings." His smile was false and cruel. "I would recommend you two retire for the night."
With no acknowledgement to the other three in the room, Eragon extended his hand to Aris and led her from the room, hurrying her to their chambers. "This isn't good." Aris whispered, "That was my only access!"
"I know." He shut the door behind them and muttered under his breath before turning to her, "I know and now we'll be watched even closer. We should have expected this; you couldn't have done it any other way. We'll simply have to lay low around others for a while."
"And do what Eragon? Wait until someone slips up when we can hear them? We'll never succeed at this rate."
Gently Eragon guided her to the bed and sat beside her, "No, we'll simply have to be very careful about sneaking around and finding out what exactly is going on here." His expression hardened and Aris sighed. So much time had passed already and it was clear that problems had only just begun for them.
A/N: Reviews are appreciated, lemme know what you think =)