Love Talk

They left the following day. Shadow used his power to get them some money, through street shows, and they left with a large sack of coins. Eragon could have just made them with the power word, but ever since the Rizdar's visit he was terrified by the prospect of using, and by extension, losing the power of the word all together. What would I do without it? He thought about Saphira and wondered if she had yet to lay her egg. Kroger walked as close to Arya as possible, talking to her whenever they stopped for a break, and constantly glared at Eragon, but why was beyond Eragon. I wonder why he hates me so. He doesn't even know that Arya and I are mates. Thinking of that I wonder how she'll tell Faolin. He let his mind drift lazily from subject to subject until Shadow raised an arm in front of him, so fast Eragon walked into it.

"What's wrong?" Shadow went down on one knee and put a hand on the ground. "Shut up," he said curtly. He felt his shadow for a moment longer then stood. He pointed at a group of trees a few hundred yards ahead. "In that patch of trees there are three men waiting for us. Two of them have swords and the other has a bow. They are regarded to be the best ambush team in all the land." Eragon drew Brisingr and to his surprise he felt something grab his pack, where Arvindr was, and pulled the sword out. It was Kroger. "Arvindr." With a sound like water falling on rough stone ice shot up Arvindr's length. With a burst of sudden speed Kroger shot into the trees and a howl of agony came from it, so loud it made the hair on the back of Eragon's neck stand up. "Brisingr." Eragon's sword burst into fire and he jumped into the trees. Kroger stood around three mangled bodies, holding a sword covered in ice, and splattered with blood. The elf was panting and a fierce gleam was in his eyes. Eragon jumped over to him and pushed him against a tree.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kroger stabbed at him with Arvindr, a shadow had fallen over Eragon that blocked each stab. Shadow walked calmly to them, an arm raised.

"Let him go Eragon." K'eray's clear voice fell down onto Eragon from one of the trees. She sat there with a bow, an arrow knocked to the string. Eragon let go of Kroger and walked backward, the flames on his sword dying. Shadow flicked to fingers at the dead bodies and his shadow formed into a kull and started to pick up the bodies and hid them.

"He should be done in a few minutes." K'eray jumped down and looked at them. She bended over at the waist and said,

"I think I'm going to be sick." Arya came over and patted her apprentice on the back.

"Are you going to be alright?" In a few minutes she stood up. K'eray looked up and avoided looking at the bodies. Her face was red from crying.

"I think so." Arya whispered in her ear,

"Go on. If you want to you can go contact Brom." Eragon's eyes widened. Had she just said their son's name? K'eray brightened and walked off saying, "Thank you." He walked to Arya and whispered,

"Did you just tell her that she could contact our son?" Arya nodded.

"Didn't I tell you? They're in love." Eragon's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly felt a surge of emotion that combined happiness with distaste.

"How long?" Arya shrugged.

"He refused to tell me." Eragon looked at where K'eray had disappeared.

"Do you know how far it's gone?" Arya raised a slender eyebrow and a small smile lifted her face.

"You're concerned for him aren't you?" Eragon nodded. That was one stupid question.

"I was involved in his creation; of course I worried about him." Arya smiled and said,

"I don't know how far it has gone, but it's only a matter of time. Elves have that right, and since you share in our power and lifetime, you need to get used to living by our customs, as well as your own race." Eragon smiled.

"I guess. But if that's the case then you should get used to Kroger being around." The smile vanished from her face.

"I know. But it's hard." Kroger had turned his back on them and jumped into a tree so Eragon leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I know it's hard. After what he did I wouldn't react any differently. "Arya kissed him back.

"Do me a favor and go listen to K'eray. I don't like eavesdropping on them, but they could cause problems." Eragon nodded and whispered,

"What will you do with Kroger?" Arya looked up at the hunched over figure, where he perched on a branch. "Most likely nothing, but keep away from him at all costs." Eragon smiled and kissed her. He jumped into the trees to where K'eray had gone. He jumped from tree to tree, not making the slightest noise until he found her hunched over a pool of water. She was waiting for Brom to appear, so Eragon sat in a tree above and to the left of her, so that the wind did not carry his scent to her. Brom's face materialized on the water and he said,

"K'eray, it's so good to see you." K'eray smiled at his words and said,

"It's wonderful to see you Brom. Again with the hiding emotions thing." Brom obviously shared in her happiness for a smile, bigger then Eragon had ever seen on his son, was on Brom's face.

"Can you blame me? I'm not fully an elf, so I have to prove that I owe my allegiances to the elves over and over and over again." K'eray smiled warmly at the image and leaned down to it whispering,

"You'll never have to prove yourself to me. I love you Brom." Eragon could not help but smile as Brom replied,

"I love you too, K'eray. And I want to be with you until I die." K'eray's face was calm but the rest of her the parts Brom could not see, were moving around in joy. She placed two fingers on her lips and laid them on the water, where Brom's lips where.

"I would love to kiss you." Brom did the same with his two fingers and said, "A touch that is impossible under the circumstances." K'eray let out a bubbling laugh and pointed her face to the sky. Brom smiled at the sound.

"You're always so technical. Lighten up. The proper response to that is, 'I would love to kiss you too." Brom looked at her in love for a moment then went to serious.

"Has your mentor found out about us yet?" K'eray brightened at the subject and tossed her long black hair, almost identical to Arya's.

"As a matter of fact she did. And you neglected to tell me that my mentor is actually your mother." Brom jumped back, as he had been staring at an open piece of her neck, and said,

"Wh-What?" K'eray again laughed and said,

"She told me herself." Brom groaned in mock distress.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's something I'm nearly ashamed of." K'eray seemed surprised by his words.

"Why? I would do anything to be as part elf as you are." Now it was Brom's turn to look surprised.

"Why?" K'eray started to answer then stopped, looking at the folds of her dress.

"Because....Because then you and I could be together and no one would try and stop us." Brom seemed happy by her reply, until the last five words came out of her mouth. Then he seemed alarmed.

"Who would try and stop us? Why would anyone try and stop us?" K'eray looked up and said, obviously proud that she knew so much,

"Because it's against the elven law for......" She stopped mid-speech and said, "Oh I don't know. Just in case. I'm just wishing that I was as half-elf as you, nothing more." Brom shock his head.

"No. What's against the elven law?"

"Oh, a lot of things are." Brom's shoulders sagged.

"K'eray." Eragon knew what was coming.

"Well.......it's sorta against the elven law for......you know.....an elf, female or male to sort of........take a mate that isn't fully elf." Brom's eyes flared.

"What!" K'eray started to try and reassure him.

"No, no, don't get upset. I don't care if there is a hundred million years of laws that say I can't be with you, I don't care. All I care about is you." Brom relaxed and said,

"You're risking the favor of your family, which is the second most powerful family in the entire world, by loving me, you know that right?" K'eray tossed her hair indignantly.

"I'm no more then a toy to my parents, an ill spoon retch that was brought into the world to do nothing more then obey their every whim. Every one in the forest treated me like that." She smiled warmly, with such tenderness that Eragon could not doubt her love for him, and said,

"You were the first to accept me as a living thing that had emotions and desires like the rest of us. I'll never forget that." Brom smiled and again laid his first two fingers on his lips and then laid them were K'eray's were.

"I love you." K'eray looked at him in mocked surprise.

"Emotion, Brom?" Brom chuckled and said,

"I've been working on it. I have to go. Contact me as soon as possible. I'll be waiting to see your gorgeous face again." K'eray giggled and Brom's face faded, but not before he winked at K'eray. When the pool was rippling with wind again she sighed. Standing she smiled and said,

"Thinks I have a gorgeous face." At that moment she froze. The wind had changed direction, bringing with it Eragon's scent. Looking up she saw him as he jumped down off the tree and walked to her.

"What are you doing? That was private!" Eragon chuckled.

"I wonder why." K'eray's back was perfectly straight from anger. "You have no right to spy on us like that." Eragon's eyebrows went up.

"Don't I? He is my son." K'eray's face tightened.

"Why were you spying on me. Who long have you been spying on me?" Eragon patted the ground.

"First off, I'm spying on you because you two can cause a great deal of trouble. And second I just now started spying on you." He sat down and gestured for him to join him. She hesitantly lowered herself to the ground a few feet beside him.

"Why?" The simple word that K'eray said held so many other questions in it. Why would she and Brom being together be a problem? Why did she have to be the one to restrain herself, when so many others could do anything they wanted? Why did Eragon have to be half-elven so that Brom wasn't full-elf and make her not be able to be with him legally? Why couldn't they just make an exception for K'eray, like they had with Arya?

"Why?" Eragon intertwined his fingers and said, "No one wants to make you unhappy. To the contrary they want you to be happy. Do you know why a master and pupil can not be in love?" K'eray nodded. "And if there is something important holding that rule in place, don't you think that there is something that is holding this one in place? The Queen has not personally signaled you out. It just feels like that." K'eray sighed and her shoulder slumped. She rapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on them.

"I love him so much; more then I have loved anything in all my life." Eragon nodded.

"Do you think he loves you too?" K'eray looked at him as if he insulted her.

"I know he does." Eragon smiled and said,

"Then I offer you this wisdom. It's found in the Law of The Riders. 'Man and women were not made perfect, but were born from the imperfect.'" K'eray looked confused.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Eragon smiled. It hadn't made much sense to him at the time.

"It means that you are not perfect, nor ever will be. There's another one that I want to tell you. There are three books in the Law of The Riders and this is in the center of the second so it's basically the center of all knowledge. 'Love is the all powerful force that can not be stopped by King, Queen, Law, or Nature. The first two because Love is more powerful than any mortal or immortal ruler, for it will continue after their death. The second two because Love is apart of Law and Nature.'" K'eray shock her head, not understanding. Eragon stood and brushed his pants.

"It means that if you love him, then don't let anyone tell you to do otherwise, for they haven't the right." He left her there, thinking over his words.

Once again I'm sorry it's taking so long. my firewall prevented me to use the doc uploader. But I fixed it