A/N: Yay! Chapter 6! I've been waiting so long to write this chapter! And now I finally did. I'm very excited right now. ^^ I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did! And sorry that it's kinda short. But I think it works best this way. Plus this chapter is just a wee bit important.

Chapter Six: Raine's Secret

She waited for what seemed like an eternity in increasing apprehension. Something was definitely wrong. Murtagh had been nervous before he left, and those men that had come for him had not been regular guards; they had been the King's personal guard. From what Raine had heard they were only sent out for the most urgent of tasks. She was unsure of what was happening and she did not like this feeling of helplessness or being kept in the dark. Something had happened while they were gone and the King was displeased.

Or maybe she had been discovered. She was sure she had never been seen but perhaps Galbatorix had found a way to her nonetheless. There was not telling the extent of the Mad King's power. Then again, she could just be jumping to conclusions. After all, no one had come to search for her yet. Still, whatever was happening, it left her feeling sick to her stomach. For now, she could do nothing but wait for Murtagh's return.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the door opened. From her hiding spot she could not see him but she caught his scent. Murtagh had returned, though not alone. The same two guards that come to collect him earlier had arrived as well. She also scented something else; blood.

The guards held him under his arms and hauled him across the room, his feet dragging on the cold stone floor. Murtagh's head hung limply forwards, blood coating one side of his face. The guards tossed his unconscious form unceremoniously on the bed before leaving the room, slamming the door behind them.

Raine immediately ran to Murtagh's side. The blood on his face ran from a small cut near his left temple. Other than that, he had no physical injuries. However, there was no telling how injured his mind might be. And she still had no idea what this was all about.

She set to work cleaning the wound and licking the blood off his face. After a moment Murtagh began to wake. He groaned at first and blinked his eyes open wearily. He shut them again quickly, grimacing in pain. He tried to sit up but failed, too weak to rise. Raine whined, concerned. Murtagh looked at her for the first time since awakening.

"Raine?" he said it like he needed to convince himself she was actually there. She nudged his arm with her muzzle, reassuring him of her presence. "Help me up." She did so slowly, getting her head under his arm and leveraging him up. When he grimaced in pain again Raine decided that his rising was a bad idea. She immediately pushed him back down into the bed; though this time he lay in a far more comfortable position. He was about to protest but then groaned in pain, raising a hand to his head. Instead he did as the silver wolf bid and lay down. He fell unconscious again almost immediately.

She stared at him sadly for a moment. He was sill in pain, she knew, but there was next to nothing she could do for him. She hated feeling useless. She wished she could do more for him but while she remained in this state, there was nothing she could do.

So she left the room and let him rest in peace. Instead of leaving the castle however she decided to stay within the walls. Perhaps the need to pay attention to her surroundings and doing something different would keep her mind off Murtagh. There was nothing special about the training grounds or the stables. The barracks were unremarkable, as were the servants' quarters. This was becoming boring and her mind began to wander back to Murtagh.

She knew he would survive but she couldn't help but worry. He had been physically injured and it looked like he had suffered a mental assault as well. There was no doubt in her mind that he would recover; he was strong. How long it would take though was another matter entirely. That was what worried her. If the King thought that he had outlived his usefulness there was no telling what that madman might do.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Raine hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. She looked up now and found herself in front of an odd building she had never seen before. She looked around and found she was in the southwest corner of the grounds then looked back to the building. It was made of stone and was quite large, sealed tight by a heavy oak door. Her curiosity piqued, she decided to take a look inside.

There was no way she could open the door, no matter how smart she was, but perhaps she could enter through a window. A quick walk around the perimeter showed her an opening that would work. There was even a stack of boxes beneath the window, giving her the perfect step up. When she hopped up on the first box she caught a scent from inside. It was somewhat familiar but she couldn't place it. It was large though, and dangerous. This just excited her more however.

Jumping up from the top box to the open window was a simple task for her, and then she dropped down to the cold floor below. Raine's eyes adjusted to the dim light and she was startled by what she saw. A large red beast rested on the stone floor, which became increasing warmer the closer she moved to the sleeping creature. Large wings jutted out from its back and folded tightly against its sides. She had never seen him before but she knew the dragon lying before it; it was Thorn.

At the sound of Raine's entrance, Thorn raised his head and looked at her with his amber eyes. Apparently he knew her as well as he made no move to chase her away. Slowly Raine approached him and sat in front of his large head and nodded to him once. Since they were mentally linked, perhaps Thorn could tell her how Murtagh was doing. She saw in his eyes the same pain Murtagh must be feeling right now.

She felt Thorn hesitantly touch her mind and then he became more confident.

"Hello wolf." His deep voice echoed in her head. Despite the earlier confidence, he sounded confused, lost, and in pain. She remembered hearing somewhere that his size belied his age. The growth had been forced on him and he wasn't yet used to his own body, nor did he understand why this had been done to him.

"Greetings, Thorn Iejirterning," she replied. Thorn was caught off guard by her reply. He drew his head back, blinked his eyes and a confused noise escaped his throat. Come to think, why had no one attempted to touch her mind before? Oh well. That was a question best left for later.

"I see I am not quite what you expected." Her mental voice held a hint of amusement.

"It did not know wolves were capable of such speech," he said after a moment.

"No," she chuckled. "I don't suppose they can. At least not the wolves of Alagaesia."

"Is it because of the band around your neck that holds magic?" he asked.

"Not quite."

"Then how?"

"This form you see me in is not my form of birth." She paused, seeming to struggle to say more. "I've been sealed in his form through the use of magic," she said finally. "The same magic prevents me from saying anything more."

Thorn watched her for a moment, inspecting her, before speaking. "This is very strange. Murtagh will be interested."

"No!" Raine said quickly, rising to her feet. Thorn looked at her skeptically. "Please do not tell him," she said, sitting down again. "He is such a closed person as it is. I fear he may shut me out if he knows." She looked down at her paws and her ears flattened slightly. She had grown attached to Murtagh and did not want to be shut out by him. She also did not want to see him close himself off again.

"I see," Thorn said quietly. "I shall not tell him then," he affirmed with a nod. Raine looked up at him thankfully.

"Thank you, Thorn Iejirterning."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means Bloodscales," she explained. "For the colour of your scales."

"Ah. Murtagh said my scales reminded him of blood."

"Speaking of Murtagh, how is he?" She tried to sound casual but her mental voice sounded more worried than she had intended.

"Resting," Thorn confirmed. She could hear the shared pain in his voice now. "The King was very mad." He almost sounded scared now. "While you two were out, the Varden infiltrated the castle and stole the last dragon egg. The King was furious that Murtagh had not been there to stop them. So the King punished him."

Raine listened in silence, her anger rising. It was not Murtagh's fault he had been absent. It was the King himself that had sent Murtagh out, so how dare he punish him! This entire kingdom was not right. She wanted to leave and forget this terrible place, but she couldn't; not after what she had seen. She couldn't leave unless Murtagh left as well, or was freed from the King's hold. She couldn't stand to see him suffer alone. Her fate had become indefinitely intertwined with Murtagh's.

"Are you alright?" Thorn's words intruded on her thoughts. She looked up at the dragon to see him looking at her strangely. It was only then that she realized she had bared her fangs and a low growl had built up in her chest. Her ears had flattened against the back of her head and her tail thrashed wildly. She quickly calmed herself down.

"Yes," she replied. "And thank you for your help. I shall return to Murtagh now." He nodded to her once then laid his head back down to rest. Leaving the way she had arrived, Raine snuck back to the room in silence, her silver fur moving in the slight breeze except where the gold band restricted it. She looked down at the cursed hunk of metal in disgust, wondering if she would ever be free of it and allowed to return to her true form.