Chapter 14- I get death stared by the Queen

I awoke to soft music and a keening voice outside my window. It was gentle and haunting. I sat up and whacked my head on something. "Ow!" I exclaimed. Then I remembered where I was which was odd because when you whack your head you're meant to forget stuff. Never mind. I looked around the room from the curving walls, soft colours, decorative ornaments and finally to the low ceiling with the beam I had hit my head on.

"Little one!" I smiled at the name Saphira had given me after I had rejected

hatchling. "Come out!" This time I smiled at how happy she was. I swung my legs out of the soft bed and slowly walked over to the open window. The sight that greeted me was astounding. There were fields and trees and bushes and flowers and… Everything was green! The houses were the trees; they were inside the trunks. It was beautiful to see nature and civilization working together in such harmony but that was elves for you. Everywhere I looked they were there. Petting wild animals, singing spells, weaving, sparring and building. With their brightly coloured tunics they looked like a rainbow on the ground.

Arya and Eragon were already there trying to completely ignore each other as usual. And failing as usual.

I sighed and climbed onto Saphira's back wishing all the while that they could just get over this. It was really annoying. Suddenly Saphira roared at them and asked sarcastically, "Are we going to keep the Queen waiting?" Arya blushed and quickly jumped behind me on the saddle. Eragon looked at her angrily and jumped on in front of me.

As I sighed again I thought about how many times I had had to do that in the past four days. I tried to think about something, anything rather then how nervous Arya was or how angry Eragon was or how agitated Saphira was as we flew in silence over the rest of the tree-houses to get to Tialdari Hall where we had an audience with Queen Islanzadi.

When we got there we had to wait in the large dining hall for Her Majesty to arrive. Arya looked as nervous as I felt; she was wringing her hands and muttering something under her breath. Probably a good luck charm.

Then she arrived. Blowing in like a sudden gale to earth. She stopped and surveyed the room; her eyes almost exactly like Arya's but, in this case, were more hostile. We all knelt in respect and she walked along our line before saying, "Eragon, Saphira you need not kneel, we are of course equals. With Oromis and Glaedr gone you are Lead Rider now." They stiffened at the mention of their old mentors. "Thank you Your Majesty," Eragon said softly before seating himself in a chair provided by an elf servant.

I was next in line and the Queen looked down at me imperiously.

"Mother…" Arya began starting forward to greet her but the Queen cut her off in a single wave of her hand. Arya slunk back into a chair like a naughty schoolgirl.

Then she glared at me with suddenly hostile eyes. "What are you?" she spat at me. I blinked. Sudden tears formed behind my eyes; she looked as though she hated me.

"Don't talk to her like that!" roared Saphira.

"Mother!" exclaimed Arya shocked. Eragon just sat there calmly. I bowed my head and said quietly in distress, "I don't know…"

"I cannot afford to let potential traitors into my midst especially ones whom I have never even heard of before!" she explained angrily. "You're human," she said venomously after composing herself. Then she turned to Eragon, "And you. Why are you travelling with this?" she demanded gesturing at me. "You're now the Lead Rider and you make these decisions?"

"Your Majesty," he began his voice low. "This girl, Lily," he said emphasising my name to make it clear that I had a name. "She fought a Shade and killed it, she hid us when we got sent to our world and she can use magic." I started suddenly realising I could use magic. The day the Shade attacked we were all too preoccupied with killing it than realising how I did it. "Therefore I'm sure that she's worthy to travel with us and she's definitely not just a human," he finished triumphantly. Saphira gave a small roar to agree. I still looked gormless kneeling on the floor staring at them.

The Queen noticed and said nastily, "Don't worry; I don't expect your pathetic little human brain to understand." Then turning back to Eragon she asked, her voice incredulous, "Well what is she then?"

"Mother," asked Arya tentatively. "I have a theory."

"Well go on then," snapped the Queen rather rudely.

"I um, I think that um," then she gathered her thoughts together. "Well first I have to tell you everything that happened when we were on Earth." She pronounced this unfamiliar word strangely as it fell off her tongue but everyone leaned in to listen. So she told the tale of their adventure on my planet and our 'Earth is a junction' theory; Eragon or Saphira occasionally stepping in to add other bits of information. "And so my theory is…" she said when she had finished. "That when Lily was born she was chosen to write a story/life by some unknown greater force but something went wrong and she got the powers of another story instead. In other words she became the story and her life was destined to intertwine with ours and Alagaesia's future. Like Gilderien said; she will play a greater part than she knows now." Everyone turned to look at me and I blushed again still looking at the floor.

Then I realised everyone was expecting me to say something. "Um, I, I agree with your theory Arya and although I don't quite understand my path now I will try to help rid Alagaesia of its tyrant king."

Islanzadi clapped a couple of times and then, to everyones greatest surprise, apologized to me. I accepted stunned.

"And do you have anything to add?" she asked turning half towards me.

"Um, I just wanted to say to all of you," looking around me at all the other elves. "As someone once told a friend of mine that I believe everyone should take to heart, true beauty isn't in what you see its what you feel." I didn't know what had made me say that that day but I just felt compelled to say it as if a greater being was there or something.

Then she turned towards all of us again and said briskly, almost as her usual self, "Oromis and Glaedr's funeral will be in three days when we have recovered the bodys, prepared the grave and organised the funeral." This sobered everyone up and although I hadn't known them I felt close to them and I too felt like crying then.

The Queen then dismissed us and we turned back to our tents for some well-deserved lunch.

"Well, that went well," chirped Eragon I flung him a Look and he shut up.

As we walked I asked Arya, "What happens now?"

"I know not," she replied shaking her head. She had been born in the Old Time and sometimes when she forgot herself she spoke like that. "I really don't know." And with that she walked away.