Florina leaned against the door as she watched the elf and the elf watched her. She didn't know why, but she feared for him now that Murtagh had found the rose. Her nightmares and visions had started when she had brought the damn thing into the castle. Through the window, the sun was beginning to rise and the silence in the city was a tension waiting to snap. It had been agreed that the city would not be breached should there be a fight. Florina refused to put her people in danger. Would Murtagh care? He had become a Rider under her father while she had been a spy and learned the Rider ways among the elves. She looked at the rose cupped in her hand. She needed to know what it was for and why it had been in the armory.

"What is the significance of this rose, Lifaen? Why was it in the armory in Du Weldenvarden?"

"It is a token of love that an elf gave to his beloved days after arriving in Ellesméra." Lifaen said. "It was my way of showing my love for you when you were training under Oromis and Glaedr. I have given you dozens in the years that we have been together. I gave you the first one under the Menoa Tree when I had taken you for a tour of the city. You thanked me that night."

"Thanked you for what?" She looked at him. He could see that her defenses were started to fall. The true Florina was beginning to show through the madness of the blood magic. She was coming back. As long as he didn't lie to her now, he could maybe stop the fighting before it even began."

"You thanked me for not being afraid of you."

"Why would others have been afraid of me?"

"You have your father's eyes and to others, they must have been uneasy to look into."

"What did you see when you looked into my eyes?"

"What I've been seeing for years and hope to be able to see again…love. Your love for the world and for your people and for me." A smile tugged at her lips and she looked at the rose in her hand again.

"Why does this one radiate with magic?" She asked and looked at him. This was it. This was where the truth mattered and where he could not mess up otherwise everything was lost.

"I gave you that rose, the second one, the night of the Agaetí Blödhren. I escorted you from your tree house to the Menoa tree. Before we left, I placed that rose in your hair."

"But the magic,"

"It stayed in your hair all night. At the end of it, the ancient dragons touched you and Eragon and must have left some of their magic in the rose."

"So the flowers,"

"Were never meant to control you." He smiled at her and her mind raced as memories started to crowd her mind again. She barely remembered that night. She remembered the dragon he spoke of, but the rest was a blur except for some things, like poems and sculptures. Eragon having two attacks while they sat in silence. She dropped the rose to hold her head as she slid down the door to the floor. Lifaen hurried over to her and she could smell oak in the spring. It sent her mind spinning even faster. She was wrapped in the smell as Lifaen held her, waiting for the fit to pass. Behind her closed eyes. She could see blurs of other elves' faces that she could feel herself dancing with. But mostly, and clearly, she could see Lifaen holding her and dancing with her. There was the memory of a taste on her lips that she could never place. "There is no reason for any to fear you." Lifaen's voice echoed. But she couldn't tell if it was a memory of him actually saying it as he held her.


Florina walked down the hall, trying to clear her mind. Memories of the Agaetí Blödhren still danced through her mind along with intentions. She feelings were mixed and she was having difficulty sorting them as what she thought to be true in her head was fighting what she felt was true in her heart.

Murtagh walked up to her and stopped to bow before trying to pass her. She stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"To kill the elf before he can do anymore damage." Murtagh answered and stepped back to look at her. What he saw was not what he was expecting. He could still see the madness, but there was a warmth there that shouldn't be.

"I believe I said I wanted him to watch the bloodshed that follows." She said. "No one is to touch that elf except for me." Murtagh sneered and moved to walk past her. She grabbed his shoulder tightly and stopped him again. "What are you doing?"

"Saving you."

"I do not need to be saved. And I said no harm was to come to the elf. What is not clear about that?"

"The why." Murtagh answered as they stood side by side.

"I want him to watch the bloodshed. Or did you miss that part of my order earlier?"

"Why do you insist on keeping him alive?"

"You are questioning me now, your queen?"

"I have never known the queen to keep a prisoner alive for no reason. I will free you from this spell that he has placed on you." Murtagh moved to walk forward and Florina threw him back down the hall and glared at him.

"Do you not trust me to make decisions when it comes to how I rule my Empire." Florina hissed.

"No," he said as he stood. "There is something wrong with your mind. You have become unpredictable and it is because of that flower and that elf. Before the attack on the forest, you were fine. You even turned Edan and Kilana to follow you. And now, when the enemy is on your doorstep, you cannot do what needs to be done to ensure the safety of your people whom you claim to love."

"If you kill that elf, those Riders will not hesitate to kill whoever is in their way to get to us. He will be the last to die, once he sees what his actions have caused."

"He dies now." Murtagh hurried towards her. She stepped in front of him and punched him in the jaw. He got up and started throwing punches as well. They wrestled back and forth, Florina forcing him back towards the rooms. Their fighting drew the attention of several Riders including Edan. They fell to the floor outside Galbatorix's old rooms which were open to air them out. Murtagh grabbed Florina's arm and threw her through the open door. he jumped to his feet and closed the doors, locking them with the key he had found.

"Murtagh! Let me out of here!" Florina screamed. "You will regret this! You will beg for death to take you before I'm done with you! Murtagh!" She threw herself against the door and Murtagh and the others stepped back. He wasn't sure how reinforced Galbatorix made the door. All he knew was that it was impervious to magic. Florina kept screaming and Murtagh looked at the gathered Riders.

"This is for her own good." He said. "That elf and that rose are messing with her mind and are trying to force a spell on her that will put her back under her control."

"You are dead after this, you know that right?" One of them said.

"It'll have been worth it to save her from this madness." Murtagh answered and began walking down the hall. "Prepare for battle. We attack when the sun rises."

Edan leaned against the wall by the door and looked at his hand and the silver oval there, the gedwëy ignasia. Kilana had chosen him for a reason, because of his heart or what was in it. He had sworn himself to Florina's service to protect the people. He had never been influenced by the blood magic. He knew that she had been unstable since the battle in Du Weldenvarden. Kilana had suggested that maybe it was her true memories trying to return. If that was the case, Lifaen was the key to all of this. And if Lifaen was the key, Murtagh would be coming for him again. Edan pushed himself off the wall and left Florina screaming as he hurried to guard Lifaen.


Things are beginning to happen. And I think I like this way of her coming back than dying. But that's not to say she'll live either. Haven't entirely made up my mind. Thanks for reading and please review.