Meg: WHERE IS IT?!

Ellie: Whoa! What's going on?!

Sarah, Brooke and Rebecca: NO QUESTIONS, RUN!

Ellie: WHAT'D YOU DO?!

Meg: IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME BACK MY COPY OF LORD OF THE RINGS, YOU ARE ALL DEAD!

Ellie: YOU GUYS HAVE A DEATH WISH?!

"Goodnight, you moonlight ladies, rock-a-bye sweet baby James. Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose, so won't you let me go down in my dreams?" -James Taylor

Ellie sang to the baby girl in her arms, which had made the child go silent. She couldn't help but wonder if that is what her own mother had felt like when she sang to her. Homesickness swelled within her heart at the thought.

"Where'd you learn that?" Eragon asked, interrupting her thoughts and his mind conversation with Saphira.

"My mother sang it to me and to my brother when we were little." She replied. "Are you ready?"

He nodded silently and took the child from her. Gertrude looked to her with a scowl and Ellie glared daggers at her. "Is it necessary to have extra bodies here?" The healer asked.

"If you wish to leave, you may." Eragon said, surprising them both. "But Ellie is my friend. She has been with me through everything since the beginning and I will not have that streak broken because you dislike the way she was raised."

The old healer glared at her, but said nothing, choosing to watch his work and be silent.

Ellie took a seat on the bed and closed her eyes, deciding not to give Eragon a reason to be nervous until he finished.

It was when she was about to drift off into sleep that Eragon spoke up, "It is done."

She opened her eyes and took in her first view of the child and grinned widely. "Oh, Eragon, she's perfect."

They walked out to the crowd that had gathered and proudly, Eragon handed the girl to a bewildered Horst. Ellie smiled and kissed Eragon upon his cheek, causing him to blush. "What will you name her?" She asked.

"Hope," Horst replied. "Her name will be Hope."

"Oh, Baldor," Brooke said, hugging him. "You're going to be a big brother!"

Thoroughly exhausted, nearly everyone went to bed with a smile.

Nearly everyone.

Meg gazed into the sky, her green eyes searching. Quickly, she located Sefu, a bird, and whistled to him. He landed upon her arm and she slipped into her tent, seemingly unnoticed. With great care, she took the paper from his leg and poured some seed on to the table.

Gingerly, she opened the letter and began to read.

Dearest Meg,

To my knowledge, no one has intercepted Sefu or even suspects that something is amiss. Unfortunately, I have been unable to discover a way to change my true name, but I will not stop trying. Thorn is eager to meet you, though I can not think of how such a circumstance could be conjured. It's exceedingly difficult to make conversation when we can not speak of the current biggest part of our lives.

As much as I need to see you, I do not think it will be pleasant. Perhaps I could visit before we meet in battle.

Yours only,

Murtagh.

She smirked and pulled out a bit of parchment and ink, settled down at her desk and pondered what exactly she should say.

My Dear Murtagh,

I don't quite understand your lack of conversation as there is much to speak of but little of relevance. Not even Ellie suspects Sefu and so long as we don't use magic, we should have nothing to fear. I am afraid I would be of little help involving your true name, but I will keep my eyes and ears open. In regards to Thorn, please do not tell him any stories which may endanger my well being such as my threats to you in the first few weeks of knowing each other.

Do not lose hope, we will see each other again as free people.

As much as I'd love for you to come, the danger of it is too great; I don't want you to risk your life for a silly meeting.

Elain has given birth to a beautiful baby girl who they have named Hope. She was born with a cat lip, though Eragon healed her. The children I visit have just about exhausted my stores of stories—short and long. I promised them that when I saw them next, I would tell them The Lion King, but so far I have been too busy to see them. They are so funny and can be quite annoying, but I love them as though they were my own.

Enough boring you. Yours truly,

Meg

She rolled it up and tied it to Sefu's leg. "Don't eat the flower this time." She muttered, giving him a rose which he held in his mouth by the stem and she sent him on his way.

She sighed, smiled faintly and climbed into her cot, falling asleep swiftly.

"Rebecca?"

Said girl nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise at her husband who had returned from a meeting with Nasuada the next morning. "Roran, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," He said quietly, taking a seat and thinking.

"What did Nasuada want?"

"She promoted me to captain," He said rather blankly. "Though she can not do much more than that so long as I...so long..."

He went silent; she knotted her brows together and took a seat in front of him, taking his hands in hers, "So long as what, Roran?"

He was hesitant, as though he was ashamed, "So long as I can not read. Would you...? Could you...?"

"Could I teach you?" She interrupted, then smiled. "It would be my honor and pleasure."

"So, Roran's leading the attack on Aroughs?" Brooke asked. Rebecca opened her mouth to question her cousin who merely interrupted her, "Baldor's going too, he told me.

"Peachy," Ellie muttered. "I don't have to keep you two from going, do I?"

"You don't have to worry about me," Brooke muttered. "I'm helping out at Belatona, not Aroughs."

They were in Meg's tent—literally directly beside Nasuada's pavilion. It had been decided that they would meet at her tent or room or wherever she was to just spend time together as friends.

"Meg sure is being a great hostess," Sarah commented dryly and they all turned to look at the sleeping girl.

"Cut her some slack," Ellie said with a smile, pulling the covers up to her chin. "She's been working hard and according to the guards that patrol around here, she rarely sleeps."

"I have a bad feeling in the pit of my gut." Brooke murmured, watching Meg carefully. "I hope she's okay."

Far from it, actually.

Meg was having a dream—or a nightmare. She was wandering through, like walking through a scene in a play. She was in a circular stone room and screams of agony echoed across the walls.

"It's alright, almost done. One more time."

"Murtagh?" She asked aloud, though he seemed not to hear her. He was sitting at a bed, grasping the hand of someone in the bed who must have been the one screaming. All around the bed were women, working on something—the person, she thought.

"You're going to be alright, ma'am." One of the women said. "Almost there..."

There was one more scream from the bed, and then the cries of a child pierced the room.

The women swarmed for a moment, handed a bundle to Murtagh and left.

"It's a boy," He said. "Meg, we have a son."

She could barely recognize herself.

"Murtagh," She panted. "You are a father, and a better father you will be than Morzan. I just wish-"

The door opened and in came none other than Galbatorix who took the child from Murtagh's arms and smiled darkly down upon it. "Ah, Megara, Murtagh, you have saved my throne by giving me a loyal heir. He will know nothing but faith to me."

"You can't take him away you selfish-"

"Galbatorix!" Murtagh stood. "Please do not take our son from us. We will do anything-"

"I know."

He looked directly at her. "The perfect leverage."

"Meg? MEG, WAKE UP!"

She bolted forward, gasping for breath and choking on her own air. Tears were running from her eyes and she was shaking horribly. "Meg!" Ellie said, as the four girls encased her in a massive embrace. "Meg, you're alright, everything is alright!"

"What happened?" Sarah asked, stroking her friend's hair. "It's alright, you can tell us."

"It was me!" She choked, fighting sobs that would no doubt come. "I had given birth to a son and Galbatorix took him from me, he was going to use him against me."

"A son? Who was the father?" Brooke asked, but she remained silent. "Meg?! Who was the father?"

"Murtagh," She whispered. "Murtagh was the father."

"This isn't good," Ellie mouthed to Sarah. She merely shook her head—not now.

"It's alright, Meg," Rebecca said. "We don't have to worry about that, okay? He's not here, you're fine."

They consoled their friend, all unaware that, pressing his ear against the tent, was Murtagh who had heard everything. Quietly, he slipped away and brooded upon his new knowledge.

"How is she?" Eragon asked as Ellie came out of Meg's tent.

"Better," She replied, nodding in the intention of walking in that direction. "She refuses to sleep, though and admitted that she's been having nightmares which is why she doesn't sleep. I'm heading to Angela's to get an herb to give her a dreamless sleep."

"What a coincidence," he said, the tips of his ears turning red. "That's where I'm heading."

Needless to say, the witch was an interesting character and it took a while just to get her on the right subject. "Oh, Meg, it's a horrible thing, what she must go through. I believe I have just what she needs."

Angela sifted through all her books and boxes until she pulled up a leaf thing. "Do you think she'll be alright?" Ellie asked.

"That depends on you," She was mixing together a vast array of dried plants. "If you are there for her, support her and ensure that she does not do anything she normally wouldn't do, I believe everything will turn out for the better. But if you abandon her, she will fall and with her, this world."

"No pressure," Ellie whispered as she accepted the makeshift Nyquil. "Come on, Meg needs some sleep."