Kyana had never met a man capable to hold her glare for long without cowering; this man, Murtagh, was going to be fun to have around the palace, she could see that already. She glanced at him, curious to his character before she began walking out of the door and along the corridor. "This way, Rider." She said confidently as she lead the way.

Kyana was barely two steps in front of Murtagh but she could still feel his heated stare as it traveled down her body, sending unwanted shivers down her spine. She could tell Murtagh was a man of few words, however, his dragon seemed to be the opposite; at least to her.

The ruby dragon bounced at her side, its blood red wings fanning as it tried to fly. "Not in here, skulblanka." She warned, "The castle is not meant for dragons to take flight within. If you wish to fly, with permission from your Rider, I can show you a field with miles of land for you to soar without worry."

It let out a squeak as it bounded over to Murtagh. Murtagh, having clearly heard my message gave me a look, "Galbatorix said to stay within Uru'baen." He growled.

"The King won't mind." Kyana said confidently, "You will be safe enough with me."

He gave her an unknowing glance before nodding.

"Besides," she continued, "I wish to hunt again today. I promised Aberith, one of our butchers to bring him game today and I keep my promises."

Murtagh nodded. Her words reminding him of a friend he left behind. Kyana noticed his change in look, his face hung lower than normal and his hands tightly clenched. She didn't think as she reached down and grasped his hand with hers. He seemed to start to pull away but then relaxed and gave her hand a slight squeeze. "Thank you," he mumbled.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to join the kings service? You seem unhappy…" she trailed off.

Murtagh opened his mouth to say something more but stopped as if by force. He remained quiet for a moment before replying quickly, "Forget it, I am fine."

She could tell by the way he spoke, he was far from fine. She knew that she was going to have to change the topic so she redirected her attention towards the red dragon still bouncing by their sides.

"Have you found a name?"

"What do you mean?"

"For your dragon, have you found a name for him yet?"

Murtagh paused, "I haven't even thought about it…" he murmured. His gaze traveled down to his dragon who had stopped by his feet. "I don't even know any dragon names…"

"I can help you with that," she found herself saying. "There is Eridor, Fundor, Galzra, Ingothold, Ohen, Valinor… Any of those sound right?"

Murtagh shook his head fiercely, "No, he doesn't like any of those."

The two humans paused, neither knowing what to do. "He wants something unique. Something no dragon has had before." Murtagh muttered.

Kyana thought for a moment on all the names she knew, "What about Thorn?"

The dragon rumbled as his rider replied, "That sounds perfect. Thorn it is."

Thorn seemed happy with his name, continuing to bounce around his rider as Kyana lead them towards the stable. "Hello, Jarvisk." Kyana greeted the man who stood in front of the large stable.

"Lady Kyana," Jarvisk said, bowing. "How may I assist you?"

"My friend and I are going to hunt. I will need my horse ready as well as one for him." She said, pointing at Murtagh as she carefully avoided using his name.

"Of course, milady." The man said bowing as he ran off, yelling at men all around the stable as they prepared Auedir as well as a large brown mustang.

In record time, Kyana held her horse's reigns in her hand as she jumped up onto his back. She turned and saw Murtagh standing awkwardly with the brown horse's reigns in his hand and Thorn at his side. "Put Thorn in your pack for now," she instructed. Thorn let out a squeak but allowed his rider to pick him up.

Once the both of them were ready, Kyana lead them around the capital by horseback. She showed them the cavern as well as Madame Mikeins, the Healer. Kyana tried to avoid bringing him near the more…well…gruesome parts of the city.

After what felt like hours at their slow pace Kyana finally lead Murtagh out of the city and towards the dense forests that were nearby. She turned, noticing that Murtagh and Thorn had both been quiet since they started this trek. Her eyes scanned his form as he dully rode his horse. Thorn seemed uncharacteristically calm and quiet, only making an occasional sound.

As much as she denied it, she was worrying about the two boys. "Rider," she said, addressing Murtagh, "The clearing is just this way if your dragon still wishes to learn to fly."

Murtagh nodded dully but still remained silent. It was like he just didn't want to talk to her anymore, for some reason that hurt Kyana… for once she thought that she might have a friend…someone that her father couldn't threaten…

Kyana lowered her head; maybe Murtagh didn't want to be her friend…It's not like that's anything new…she was used to being isolated.

"Thank you," Murtagh said, he lifted his eyes to meet hers and she saw bits of remorse. Like he wanted to be her friend, but couldn't.

Kyana shook her head, "It is no problem, Rider."

She looked around their surroundings; here is a good place to stop she thought. Kyana jumped off Auedir, making sure to tie his reigns to a nearby tree branch. "Here is a good place to stop." Her voice echoed her thoughts. "Your dragon can fly freely here, Rider. I would stay and watch but I must go hunt." Kyana carefully tried to avoid saying Murtagh's name as she wanted to avoid even having feelings towards him so to her, he was just a Rider sworn in her Father's army.

And she was just another soldier.

Okay, I am so sorry I haven't been on here in a long time. With school ending, I really forgot about all my fanfictions and just am trying to get back into it. So please, comment what you like about this, tell me if I should continue, all the fun stuff!