AN: My (late) Christmas present to all of you. Enjoy! :)

Alianna and Murtagh gathered up their belongings and were preparing to leave.

"Where are we going?" Alianna asked. She wondered how they were going to find Eragon. Murtagh had told her that he had tried to scry him but for some reason was unable to.

However, while Murtagh had been traveling the last two days, he had heard rumors that Eragon had been in Helgrind and was now somewhere near the village of Eastcroft.

"Do you think he's still there?"

"He may be in the general area." Murtagh replied.

Eastcroft was a couple of days from where they were. Alianna was sure that Eragon would no longer be there by the time they arrived. But she figured it was worth a try.

Thorn arrived back just as they were packing up. Alianna decided to check on the egg before they left. With everything that had been going on she realized that she hadn't told Murtagh about it yet.

"I have to show you something." she said.

The two of them walked over to the bag and Alianna showed him the egg.

Murtagh was amazed. "How did you manage to get it? The spells Galbatorix placed around it were so powerful that…"

"He taught me how to break the spells years ago."

"I thought you weren't going to use magic." Murtagh said. "We don't know what effect it could have on the baby."

"I've only used it when it was absolutely necessary." she told him.

"And this was necessary?"

Alianna told him that it was. "Just think what it would mean if the Varden had three Riders."

"We don't even know if it'll hatch."

"It could."

Murtagh sighed. "You should have told me sooner." He then put some protective spells around it just incase.

After that, Murtagh helped Alianna onto her horse and the two of them began to ride off. Thorn followed ahead of them.

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Due to Alianna's pregnancy and the fact that she tired easily, it took them a week to reach Eastcroft instead of a few days.

Eastcroft wasn't a very large village, but it wasn't what Alianna would call small either. The gate into the village looked to be about fifteen feet tall. By the main gate she saw what looked to be an inn.

Alianna and Murtagh very cautiously entered through the gate. A watchmen approached them.

"I don't recognize you two." the watchmen said. "What is your business here?"

Murtagh spoke. "My wife and I are just passing through on our way to visit family. We need a place to stay for the night."

The watchmen looked at them suspiciously, but ultimately pointed to the inn.

Murtagh thanked him and the two of them rode away. Alianna put on her cloak as she did this. It was very unlikely that the people of this village knew she existed. However, Alianna knew that there would be several soldiers around and some of them could know.

Sure enough, as they approached the inn and were leaving their horses in a stable, two soldiers stood nearby.

Quickly, Murtagh moved Alianna over to a side street. The two of them stood there in complete silence as they tried to listen to what the soldiers were saying.

"I don't understand. I thought we were going to Surda. Now they army's been called back? Why is it so important that we find them?"

"Keep your voice down. You know the king has forbidden anyone to speak of this matter. We go into the village, look, and if they're not there we leave. Understand?"

Alianna and Murtagh began to breathe a little easier after the soldiers left. The walked towards the inn's entrance.

Halfway there, Murtagh stopped. He appeared to be deep in thought. Alianna took a few more steps but stopped when she realized Murtagh wasn't waling with her anymore. She turned around and asked him what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Murtagh exclaimed. "Did you not here what they were saying?"

"Yes."

"The entire army is after us!"

"I know that." Alianna said calmly.

"You're not worried?"

"Of course I am. I don't like this any more than you do. But we don't have a choice. This isn't about us anymore."

Murtagh looked down at her stomach. "You're right."

Alianna told Murtagh that they should just go into the inn, see what they could find out, and rest for the night. Murtagh agreed.

The inn was very crowded. Alianna guessed there were fifty people in the bar alone. They carefully made their way through the crowd until they saw a woman carrying a large pint of ale to a table.

Alianna approached her. "Excuse me? Do you know where we might find the innkeeper?"

The woman pointed to a man in the common room talking to a few guests. The man appeared to be in his early fifties. Alianna and Murtagh went over to him.

"May I help you?" the innkeeper asked.

"My wife and I need a room for the night."

"You're in luck. We have a few rooms left. But I'm warning you, I don't want any trouble. We've had enough of that these past few days."

Alianna assured him that they wouldn't be, but before she could ask him what he meant, the innkeeper motioned for a woman around the same age as him.

"My wife will show you to a room."

Murtagh paid the innkeeper for the room and thanked him.

The room was very small. There wasn't much there except a bed, a table and chairs, and an area to wash. Two candles were on the table.

Murtagh walked over to the table, whispered brisingr, and the small flames from the candles lit up the room. She set a bag containing some of there clothes on the bed.

"I'm going to go downstairs to get some food and see what I can find out. I won't be gone long. Will you be okay?"

Alianna nodded. "Be careful." she said as she kissed him.

After Murtagh left, Alianna unpacked some of their clothes and then sat down on the bed. She thought back to the soldiers they had just seen. So her father had disbanded the entire army and now had many of them searching for her and Murtagh. Obviously he wanted them found as soon as possible. If they were to reach Surda and Alianna told the Varden his secrets, he would be at a huge disadvantage. Still, it would not be easy to defeat him. While she knew many of his secrets, there were some things that even she didn't know. It frustrated Alianna, but she refused to get too stressed out about it. She needed to relax.

Slowly, Alianna layed down on the bed, once again feeling extremely tired. But just as she was about to fall asleep, Murtagh came back carrying a small tray of food. He had a strange expression on his face.

Alianna could sense what was wrong. "Eragon's not here is he?"

Murtagh shook his head no. "I spoke with some men at the bar. He left three days ago."

"Are you sure? Did they say his name?"

"No, but from the description he gave me, I know it was him."

A huge feeling of guilt came over Alianna. This was all her fault. If she hadn't slowed them down, they would've reached Eastcroft sooner and might've found Eragon.

Murtagh tried to assure her that it wasn't her fault. "We'll find him. But lets not think about that right now. Here." He handed Alianna a bowl of soup.

Alianna thanked him and they began to eat. Murtagh asked her if it wasn't enough.

"I can get you more." he offered.

"This is more than enough."

"How's our son?" Murtagh asked.

"He's fine." Alianna said with a smile. "He moves around a lot. He's strong."

"That's good." Murtagh said.

Murtagh seemed to be taking the news of Alianna's pregnancy well.

They finished the rest of their meal in silence. Afterward, Alianna asked if they would be leaving in the morning.

"Yes." Murtagh told her. "We'll have to stop at the market before we leave. We're running low on food."

Alianna nodded and then went to wash up. She splashed some water on her face and changed out of her dress. As she did this, she looked over her shoulder and saw Murtagh staring at her.

"How can you even look at me that way anymore?" she asked.

Alianna was nearing the sixth month of her pregnancy. Her stomach seemed to be getting bigger with each passing day.

"You look beautiful." Murtagh assured her. "Come here."

Alianna blushed as she walked over to Murtagh. And for the rest of the night they forgot about their situation and just enjoyed being together.

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Alianna and Murtagh woke early the next morning. They packed up their belongings, slipped out of the hotel before anyone could notice, and went towards the market.

Luckily there only seemed to be a few people around. Still, it took much convincing on Alianna's part before Murtagh agreed that they should split up. Alianna would get some food while Murtagh got their horses.

"Stay close." Murtagh said quietly.

"I will." she said.

After a quick kiss, Alianna walked over to look at the various kinds of food. She checked her small pouch which contained all of their money. They would need to make it last as long as they possibly could. She wondered what they would do after the money was gone.

"We'll figure it out." Alianna thought.

After wandering around for awhile, Alianna came across some apples. But just as she was about to pick up a few, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and turn her around violently.

"You there!"

Alianna looked up, her eyes widened. There before her stood one of the soldiers they had seen last night.