Free Riders
Author's Note: Eragon is not mine. Char, Blaster, and Saranya are. Comment as you see fit.
Chapter 40: Leader of the Varden: Exposition Fairy
They entered an elegant, two-story study paneled with rows and rows of cedar bookshelves. A staircase of wrought-iron wound up to a small balcony complete with a reading table and two chairs. Lanterns hung along the walls and ceiling, allowing white light to fall on the pages of an open book for reading anywhere in the study. At the far end of the room, a man stood behind a large, walnut desk.
The man's skin was dark, the color of ebony that had been oiled. He was bald, but he had a closely trimmed black beard on his chin and upper lip. He had grave, yet intelligent eyes, and strong features shadowed his face. He had broad and powerful shoulders, which were emphasized by a tapered red vest embroidered with golden thread clasped over a rich purple shirt. He held himself with great dignity, yet he still had an intense, commanding air around him. And his voice was strong and confident when he spoke.
"Welcome to Tronjheim, Blaster, Murtagh, and Saranya," The man said. "I am Ajihad. Please, take a seat."
Blaster and Murtagh slipped into armchairs. Saphira and Eragon walked to the door and took their seats. Saphira and Sara settled behind their Riders like mothers. Ajihad raised his hands and snapped his fingers. A bald man exactly identical to the one they had walked with emerged from behind the staircase. The two stood together. Murtagh and Blaster stiffened. "Your confusion is understandable; they are twin brothers," Ajihad said with a slight smile. "I would tell you their names, but they have none."
Saphira and Sara hissed in distaste. Ajihad watched them for a moment, then sat in a high-backed chair that sat behind the desk. The Twins retreated under the stairs, standing beside each other impassively. Eragon fidgeted slightly as Ajihad stared at him, Murtagh, and Blaster. After several minutes, Ajihad beckoned to the Twins. One of them hurried over and allowed Ajihad to whisper in his ear. The bald man suddenly paled and he shook his head vigorously. Ajihad frowned, then nodded, as if he had just received confirmation of something.
"You've put me in a difficult position by refusing to be examined," Ajihad said to Murtagh. "The only reasons you are here now is because the Twins assured me that they can control you and because of your actions on behalf of Eragon, Blaster, Char, and Arya. I understand that there may be things you wish to keep hidden in your mind, but as long as you refuse to be examined, we cannot trust you."
"Brom has, but apparently these guys failed to tell you that," Murtagh said, a note of defiance in his voice. Ajihad's face darkened and his eyes flashed.
"It's been nearly twenty-three years since that voice fell upon my ears," Ajihad said ominously, his chest swelling. "However, it came from another man, though one more beast than human. Stand up!" Murtagh stood, eyes darting between the Twins and Ajihad. "Remove your shirt." Murtagh removed his tunic with a shrug. "Now, turn around." As he slowly turned, the light fell upon the scar on his back. "Ah, Murtagh!" He nodded. "You're welcome to stay if what you say is true. But how do we know the truth?"
"I saw Brom do it," Blaster said. "Even I saw into his mind and found no worthy cause to have him seen as a criminal. Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur'tugal, thornessa er du ilumëo."
"He lies," one of the Twins said.
"No one lies in the ancient language," Eragon protested. "You of all people should know that. Elves do not lie, but they do withhold some of the truth if they don't deem it necessary. It does have limitations, you know."
"Then why didn't you let them in?" Ajihad demanded. He held up a hand, stopping their explainations. "We will discuss this later." He turned to Murtagh. "First I must handle this matter. Do you wish to stay?"
"Not really," Murtagh said sharply as he put his tunic back on. "And I won't let anyone else in my head."
Ajihad leaned on his desk. "You do know that, should I grant your asylum, humans and dwarves would rip you to shreads if they learned you are here. Not only that, Hrothgar, the dwarf king, might demand custody over you after what your father did, which is, to say the least, grossly unfair."
Murtagh shook his head. "I am aware. All I wish to do is leave. If you allow me to do so peacefully, I'll never reveal your location to the Empire. You can confer with Blaster, but I have sworn never to deceive nor harm any of the Varden in the Ancient Language."
"He speaks the truth," Eragon said. He spoke in the Ancient Language, but Blaster heard it in English, which meant that his wrist computer was attempting to filter the Ancient Language into a language he could understand. TARDIS Translator, this was not, but it was close enough.
"What if you are captured and brought before Galbatorix?" Ajihad asked. "He will extract every secret from your mind, no matter how strong you may be. Even if you were able to resist him, how can we trust that you won't rejoin him in the future? I cannot take that chance."
"Do you intend to hold me here forever?" Murtagh demanded.
"I have a counter offer," Ajihad replied. "The Twins or Brom will remove all knowledge of Farthen Dûr's location from your mind before you leave. We won't risk someone with those memories falling into Galbatorix's hands. So, what'll it be, Murtagh? And choose quickly, or your decision will be chosen for you."
Just get it over with, Blaster thought. He waited as Murtagh chose. When he had chosen, his words were slow and distinct.
"Confer with Brom," Murtagh said. "I do wish to leave, but I would like to spend some days here resting. Place guards at my door for my protection as much as theirs, but keep in mind that, as soon as I am rested enough, I will leave."
Ajihad's eyes flashed with admiration. "I'm not surprised, but I had hoped you would have chosen another option. Guards!" The cedar door opened and warriors rushed in, weapons ready. Ajihad merely pointed to Murtagh. "Take him to a windowless room. I want six men posted at the entrance and allow no one inside until I see him. Don't speak to him either. I have some things to discuss with him."
Eragon looked on as the warriors escorted Murtagh out of the room. The footsteps soon faded into silence.
"Alright, I want everyone out of this room except Eragon, Saphira, Blaster, and Saranya," Ajihad said. The Twins bowed and departed.
Orik stayed behind for a moment. "Sir, the king will want to know of Murtagh, if Brom hasn't told him yet. And there is still the matter of my insubordination…"
Ajihad frowned, then waved his hand. "I will tell Hrothgar myself, if Brom hasn't beaten me to it, as you have said. As for your actions…wait outside until I call for you. And don't let the Twins get away. I'm definately not done with them, either."
"Very well," Orik said, inclining his head. He closed the door with a soft thump.
After a long silence, Ajihad sat with a tired sigh as he ran a hand over his face, staring at the ceiling. Eragon, impatiently waiting for the man to speak, finally blurted out, "Is Arya all right?"
Ajihad lowered his gaze. "No," he said gravely. "Nor is Charlotte, Blaster. However, the healers tell me they will recover. They worked all night, and the poison took a dreadful toll on them. To be honest, if it weren't for you, they wouldn't have survived. For that, you have the Varden's deepest thanks."
"It was nothing," Blaster said. Eragon slumped into his chair with relief that Blaster and Murtagh's flight from Gil'ead was worth the effort.
"So, what now?" Eragon asked.
"I need you to tell me how you two found Saphira and Sara and what happened since," Ajihad said, forming a steeple with his fingers. "I know some of the story from the message Brom sent us, other parts from the Twins. However, I want to hear the unabridged version from you, especially the details concerning what happened after Dras-Leona."
Eragon was nervous, reluctant to share such information with a stranger. However, Blaster was the one who began, starting on his fake story of how he was traveling in the woods when he encountered Eragon and the eggs. Eragon started in, nervous at first, but he began to fill in the cracks Blaster couldn't fill in his story concerning himself.
They talked for hours, explaining what happened in Teirm, but omitted the fortunetelling, and how they found the Ra'zac. Eragon even related his dreams about Arya to the story. When Blaster came to Gil'ead and mentioned the Shade, Ajihad's face hardened, and he leaned back in his chair.
As soon as they were done storytelling, everyone fell silent. Ajihad stood, clasped his hands behind his back, and absentmindedly stared at one of the many bookshelves. After several minutes, he returned to the desk.
"So, what can you expect us to accomplish?" Eragon asked.
"I will explain it in full," Ajihad said, "but there are more urgent matters to tend to first. The news of the Urgals' alliance with the Empire is extremely serious. If Galbatorix is gathering an Urgal army to destroy us, the Varden will be hard-pressed to survive, even though many of us are protected here in Farthen Dûr. That a Rider, even one as evil as Galbatorix himself, would even consider a pact with such monsters is indeed proof of madness. I shudder to think of what he has promised in return for their fickle loyalty. Then there is the Shade. Could you describe him?"
"Tall, thin, pale skin, red eyes and hair, black clothes, and wicked strong," Blaster said. "Had a fascination with my name for some reason or another."
"Did either of you manage to get a good look at his sword?" Ajihad asked intensely. "Did it have a long scratch on the blade?"
"Yes it did," Blaster said. "How did you know?"
"I was the one who put it there trying to cut out his heart," Ajihad said, a grim smile on his face. "His name's Durza—one of the most vicious and cunning fiends to ever roam these lands. He's the perfect servant for Galbatorix and a dangerous enemy to us. You say that he was killed. How was that done exactly?"
"I got him in the shoulder with a small piece of metal," Blaster said, being vague about what a bullet was, "then Murtagh caught him with an arrow between his eyes."
"I was afraid of that," Ajihad said with a frown. "He hasn't been killed. Shades can only be destroyed by piercing his heart. Anything short of that would cause him to vanish and then reappear elsewhere in spirit form. It's an unpleasant process, but Durza will return, stronger than ever."
Silence settled over them like a blanket. Blaster then uttered a few choice curse words under his breath and started kicking himself for not knowing the whole story about Shades. A few moments later, Ajihad said, "You two are quite an enigma, Eragon and Blaster. You are a quandary no one knows how to solve. Everyone knows what the Varden wants, or the Urgals, or even Galbatorix, but no one knows what you want. And that makes the two of you dangerous, especially to Galbatorix. He fears you for he doesn't know what you'll do next."
"Unpredictable," Blaster muttered. "I like it."
"But, do the Varden fear us?" Eragon asked quietly.
"No," Ajihad replied. "We are hopeful. However, if that hope proves false, then yes, we will be afraid." Eragon looked down. "You must understand the unnatural nature of your position. There are factions who want you to serve their interests and no one else's. From the moment the two of you entered Farthen Dûr, their influence and power began tugging on you."
"Including yours?" Blaster questioned.
Ajihad chuckled, though his eyes stayed sharp. "Yes, including mine. There are certain things you should know, the first of which is how Saphira's and Saranya's eggs managed to appear in the Spine. Did Brom ever tell you about what happened with the eggs after he brought them here?"
"Yeah, he did," Eragon said, glancing at Saphira. She merely blinked and flicked her tongue at him. "Well, for me at least, though how they ended up in the Spine was an assumption rather than a detailed explaination." Ajihad tapped his desk before he began.
Ajihad told them how Brom brought the eggs to the Varden, and how they were all interested because they thought the dragons were exterminated. Only the dwarves had an issue as they wanted the next Riders to be an ally, though some preferred not to have new Riders at all, especially since Riders were usually either human or elven, never dwarf. The elves were likewise cautious after what happened with Galbatorix, so they didn't want human Riders with similar instabilities. After constant bickering, Ajihad explained, Brom managed to propose that the eggs be transported between the Varden and the elves every year. The hope was that Brom would teach whomever would be their Riders with the Varden for a year, then the new Riders would be sent to the elves to finish their education.
Ajihad continued to explain the difficulties with that issue. The elves liked the idea, of course, but only if they were free to educate the new Riders if Brom were to die before the eggs hatched. For over a decade, the eggs failed to hatch. A few months before the eggs appeared in the Spine, however, Ajihad began mentioning something peculiar.
"The silver egg, that is, Sara's" Ajihad said, "started glowing while it was being transported from the elves to the Varden. Even though they were heavily guarded, there was one major problem in the months before the transfer: the silver egg vanished. Somehow, none of our wizards could identify what had happened to it. Those last few months were tense, and we thought the worst: that Galbatorix had somehow managed to secretly get the eggs out of our protection.
"We then suffered a terrible loss late last year. Arya and the remaining egg disappeared on her return from Tronjheim to the elven city of Osilon. The elves were naturally the first to discover her missing. Her guards and steed were slain in Du Weldenvarden near a group of slaughtered Urgals. Another thing they found were footprints that appeared out of nowhere, and no one has an explanation to that. However, neither Arya nor the egg was there. When I heard this news, I feared the Urgals had both of them and Farthen Dûr would be in danger, as well as that of Ellesméra, the elves' capital city where their queen, Islanzadí, lives. I now understand that they were working for the Empire, which is far worse than I had anticipated.
"We won't know the nature of the attack and the exact details of it until Arya wakes up, but I have a few hypothesis based on what you have said." He leaned against his desk. "The most important hypothesis is this: the attack was quick and decisive, or else Arya would have been able to flee. Because she was deprived of a place to hide, she did the only thing she could have done: transported the egg via magic."
"She can use magic?" Eragon asked. Blaster dope-slapped him.
"It's one of the reasons why she was chosen to guard the eggs. Anyway, Arya was unable to return it to us, because we was too far away, and the elves protect their realm from anything entering their borders through magical means. She must have thought of Brom and tried to send it to him. However, because she didn't have time to prepare, I'm not surprised she missed by such a large margin. The Twins tell me it's an imprecise art. At the same time, whomever had possession of the silver egg somehow managed to transport it to the exact same place at the exact same time the remaining egg landed in the Spine. How that happened, and who sent it, we have no idea."
"So wait," Eragon said. "Why was she closer to Palancar Valley than the Varden? Where do the elves live? And where is this…Ellesméra?"
Ajihad stared at Eragon, then at Blaster for the next few minutes, considering the question. Finally, he said, "I don't tell you this lightly, for the elves guard such knowledge jealously. But, you should both know, and I do this as a display of trust. Their cities lie far to the north, deep within the endless forest of Du Weldenvarden. Not since the time of the Riders has anyone, dwarf or human, been elf-friend enough to walk their leafy halls. Not even I can tell you how to get to Ellesméra. However, based on where the battle took place, I suspect Osilon is near the western edge of Du Weldenvarden. Now, I know you probably have further questions, but please keep them until I have finished."
"That's Eragon for ya," Blaster said. "One endless book of questions."
"Anyway," Ajihad continued, "when Arya disappeared, the elves withdrew their support from the Varden. Queen Islanzadí was especially enraged and has severed communications with us. They are still oblivious to your existence, as well as that of your dragons. Without their support to help sustain my troops, we have fared badly these past few months in skirmishes against the Empire.
"I do, however, expect the queen's hostilities to subside, thanks to your arrival and your rescue of Arya. That rescue will make a strong case with her. However, your training will present a problem with both us and the elves. We don't know how much Brom taught you yet, so you'll both have to be tested to determine the extent of your abilities. Likewise, the elves will want to have you finish your educations with them, as it has nearly been a year, but I'm not sure we have enough time for that."
"And why not?" Blaster asked.
"Several reasons," Ajihad said. "First and foremost of which are the tidings of the Urgals."
What are the tidings of the Urgals? What will happen to Murtagh? When will Ajihad stop with all the exposition? Tune in next Tuesday for another butter-churning chapter of Free Riders. Now back on schedule.