Chapter 9

A/N Thanks to Shadow Wolf Dreamer and Sebastiaan Asselbergs. I know I said not to leave a review, but thanks anyway. They made me feel better.

(Rya)

A white mark was embedded in her left hand. It was shaped like a spiral.

The dragon in front of her was as brilliant as the mark. Its scales shone like milk as a replacement for the sea during a sunset. Rya warily reached her hand out towards the infant dragon. It eyed her curiously before taking a step towards her. By now, Rya felt tears begin to brim in her eyes.

She felt someone place a hand on her right shoulder. She turned her head, fighting back the tears. It was Eragon.

'Awe inspiring. Isn't it? This is the first hatching I've witnessed after Saphira's. Even the wild dragons hatched without me countersigning them. It truly is a moment of wonder,' he stated with a smile on his face.

Rya simply nodded, too overwhelmed by the reality of the situation to even speak. There was a constellation of tears on her lashes. Eragon reached out towards her face and wiped the tears off of her.

'Rya. You now need to understand the responsibility you now have over the people of Alagaesia.' His voice was gentle, as if he was speaking to a child.

'If you don't mind, I would like to enlist you as my new apprentice dragon, once he grows old enough to carry you. I won't need to train you too hard on the swordsmanship side too much. Just on the magic side of things.'

'Thank you,' Rya whispered in reply.

'Now you just need a name for him.'

The dragon lapped at her face, causing her to laugh through her crying.

'I name him… Moonstone, after the colour of his scales.'

Eragon then stood up, and asked her to follow him.

'Rya… I'm sorry for being so distant from you. I know that I am one of the only family members you have left, but I didn't necessarily have a choice. You see, I'm going against fate with my existence in Alagaesia. I was supposed to leave and never come back, due to a prophecy and two curses I received, one from a soldier, and one from a creature called Ra'zac. I didn't have any means by which to contact you. The death of your parents was a tragedy, and I understand you needed someone to pick you up, I'm glad your uncle was there for you.'

Rya was shocked with what he had just said. She had told no one but… Murtagh.

Eragon saw the surprise on her face, and seemed to know exactly what had caused it.

He laughed before explaining how he knew.

'Murtagh showed me everything he knew about you, and everything you showed him,' he then leaned closer to her ear.

'In fact,' he whispered, 'Murtagh is looking at you in a way that I'm sure you would be intrigued to know about.'

She then felt another conscience press itself against her mind. Rya immediately threw barriers up around her mind. The mental probe didn't seem to be intent on attacking her mind, and so, she allowed it into her after realising it was Eragon. She then felt a wave of memories and emotions rush over her. After a while the torrent slowed down. Eragon's conscience then showed her an image of how Murtagh was staring at her.

He seemed to be in a dreamy state. Rya immediately recognised the guise on his face, it spelt lust.

She whipped her head around and caught Murtagh in that demeanour before he jumped back and stumbled off the rock he was seated on.

Eragon chuckled to himself. Moonstone suddenly gurgled in an awkward fashion and his tongue was lolling. Rya looked at Eragon in a questioning manner.

'He's hungry,' he explained.

'Well what do they eat?'

'Meat. From every type of animal except for insects. Fish, birds, four legged animals, everything. They even eat humans and elves if the Riders grant them permission. Dragons can go for days after eating about three cows. In Saphira's case, make that twenty. She's a large dragon, of two hundred years. She needs a lot of food. However, if she manages to eat that many, she can go without food for about half a year. In the case of your dragon, a few strips should be enough. Next week, he should be able to hunt for himself.'

'Where shall I get food for it now?' Rya asked worriedly. She knew from Zenith's lessons that the elves never killed animals for food.

'Oh. Why Saphira will hunt for him. Won't you?' he asked, poking the side of his dragons head.

Saphira grunted before flying off to find food for the hatchling.

'How long will she be?'

Rya had no intention of prolonging the suffering of the new-born.

'Count to three.'

'What?'

'Too late to count. Saphira's already coming back.'

A moment later, a small gazelle fell on the floor next to her. Saphira circled the three of them before landing gracefully by her Rider's side. Rya lay Moonstone down in front of her and stroked his scales. The dragon lazily walked over towards the gazelle. He sniffed it, then took a cautious bite. It seemed to like it and began to devour the rest of the animal.

Eragon abruptly jumped backwards and swore in pain.

'What's wrong?'

'Ah nothing. Saphira's crying. Dragons have tears and blood which is outrageously searing. If it falls on you, it will leave a terrible burn. This is the first time I have seen her cry since… Oromis's death.' The last two words were barely audible.

He continued quickly before she could ask any questions.

'Rya, after Moonstone has finished eating, Saphira will take you to the palace where sleeping arrangements will be made for you. I have to attend the court of the queen for the first time since I have come here. I need to make a good impression by being there early,' and with that, he sprinted out of the clearing into the tree line.

(Eragon)

Tialdari hall came into his field of view. He hastened his sprint.

First time I'll speak to Arya in front of her subjects, he thought to himself.

Eragon walked in through the huge doorway and walked straight towards the throne room.

He could see that the door was open. Eragon took a deep breath before walking into the room. There were several elves seated along the sides on raised platforms. He looked up at Arya. He immediately looked back down to the floor to stop any activity down below.

He made the traditional twist with his hand, and initiated the elven greeting.

After which, he kept his head bowed respectfully. He knew that he was her mate, but the other elves didn't know that yet.

'Shadeslayer, why do you display such a profound amount of modesty in my throne room towards me? Even as you are the lead Rider?' she asked.

'I am in the presence of royalty. I am the lead Rider, however, I am a leader. Not a king, which automatically ranks you as higher than me,' he replied humbly.

'But you are royalty,' and then in the ancient language continued, 'the elves should now recognise you as Konungr abr alfakyn. I have taken you as a mate. Why do you come here and embarrass me in front of our subjects by bowing your head?'

Eragon jumped as she just said, in the ancient language, that he now ruled over the elves along with the dragons. This now made him and Saphira the most powerful beings in and around Alagaesia. With the ruling of the two most powerful races in Alagaesia, he was untouchable in status. He was closely linked with the humans and the humans in Surda. He was part of the Durgrimst Ingeitum, giving him outside priority over the dwarves. He was also close to the Urgals due to there being many of them as Riders.

Eragon suddenly heard Lord Däthedr pipe into the conversation.

'Your majesty! How could you take him as your mate?' Eragon heard disgust in the voice of the elven lord.

Eragon turned towards him. There was an offended look on his face. Eragon gave him a sour look before opening his mouth but didn't get a chance to speak.

Arya got up from her throne and walked towards the elf.

'Do you have any problems with my choice?' she asked with a deceivingly calm tone.

'Yes! I-'

Eragon yelped in surprise as the elf hurtled towards him through the air from a blow from Arya's forehand. He managed to jump out of the way before the Lord of Silthrim landed next to his feet. Däthedr spat blood out of his mouth before making to get up.

'Letta,' Arya said, causing him to seize movement.

'I ask you again, do you have any problems with my choice Däthedr?'

'N- No… your majesty,' Däthedr spluttered.

Arya released the spell, allowing him to move freely again.

She walked back to her throne and sat down. Eragon simply gaped. He hadn't seen Arya do something anything like that since she had done it to Albriech during Elain's birth giving.

'Now then... where were we?'

A/N Leave a review. This chapter is longer than yesterday but it is still shorter than usual. I am intending on doing about twenty chapters until something I will do which I have been preparing for a long time.