Chapter 10

Sared paced up and down the room tensely, occasionally throwing a wary glance at the window, as if expecting to see Saphira flying leisurely past, dangling Medea from her claws. A dozen or so of his personal guards, who were gathered in the same room, fully armed, clearly held the same opinion: their eyes were fixed on the window, their hands gripping their swords.

'I'm getting dizzy just watching him,' Thorn said to Murtagh, indicating Sared. Despite the room being the largest in the palace, all furniture had to be removed in order to create enough space for the dragon, as Murtagh requested. Even the doorway was widened to allow him to enter. Murtagh didn't feel comfortable leaving Thorn outside in case Eragon and Saphira returned.

'It doesn't make sense,' Murtagh replied, looking away from Sared in frustration. If not for Sared insisting that the Rider stays in the palace, he and Thorn would have gone after Saphira and Eragon hours ago. 'What use is Medea to them?'

'Maybe she has information that the Varden needs,' Thorn suggested. 'Sared became an important ally of Galbatorix after marrying her, so both of them could now be privy to Galbatorix's plans. Or maybe Eragon is secretly in love with her,' Thorn added innocently. 'Kind of like someone else I know?'

'I don't know what you're talking about, crazy dragon.'

Thorn made a low rumbling sound that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, causing Sared to turn around sharply. 'Excuse me. I forgot that you were here,' he said by way of explanation. Murtagh watched the prince with silent disgust. This was a coward who was hiding out in his palace, concerned only about his own safety; Medea's fate seemed to worry him only because her abduction could threaten his alliance with Galbatorix, from which he profited hugely.
Glancing across at Barbale, who was sitting in a chair nearby, Murtagh saw her glaring at Sared with the same dismayed expression on her face.

'Why didn't they take this fool instead? He was right there in the room with Medea, it would've been easy,' Murtagh remarked to Thorn spitefully. 'I still think that Thorn and I stand a good chance of finding the other Rider and his dragon if we leave now,' he said out loud, trying not to show his anger.

'Your help won't be required. I will send my men after them.'

'They won't be able to catch up with them on horseback,' Murtagh explained impatiently.

Sared studied him coldly. 'You planned this well.'

'Excuse me?'

'Asking the other Rider to kidnap Medea, so you could then supposedly go to bring her back and never be seen again? Very clever,' Sared sneered. Seeing Murtagh's eyebrows travel further and further up his forehead, he continued, 'What, you didn't think I knew about your little romance? You planned to make a fool out of me in my own house, and you helped them,' he raised his voice, pointing his finger at Barbale accusingly.

'Your Highness…' Barbale began indignantly, but Sared didn't let her finish.

'I saw you scurrying between their rooms like a rat! Passing messages, weren't you? I wonder,' he said, his tone suddenly calm, 'what Galbatorix will think of this? I doubt that you'll live long enough to even say goodbye to her.'

Thorn growled menacingly, dashing forward at the same time as his Rider. Sared's men reacted instantly: some gathered around the prince, shielding him, while others faced Murtagh and Thorn. They were no match for either of them, lacking skill and experience – clearly they hadn't been given a lot of training, perhaps because Sared didn't expect an attack on the palace. 'He really is a fool,' Murtagh thought with almost savage satisfaction, plunging his sword into the chest of the first man who attacked him.

'I'll deal with them, go find Sared,' Thorn's voice reached him as if through a cloud. Blood pounded in his head and a rush of adrenaline drove him on, as if pulling him towards Sared. But when he pushed past the guards to the back of the room, expecting the prince to be hiding out there, only empty space greeted him. Murtagh looked around, wondering how Sared could have slipped past without him or Thorn noticing.

'Looking for someone?' a calm voice asked derisively directly behind him. Murtagh whirled around, slashing at the prince with his sword. Sared dodged the blow readily and immediately delivered his own; although Murtagh parried it, its force made him take a couple of steps back in order to keep his balance. Murtagh's eyebrows met in a surprised frown; the prince's strength appeared to exceed his own, and he was just as skilled, which the Rider certainly didn't expect from him. Although he could have quickly defeated Sared using magic, the prince's pressing attack didn't let him concentrate on a spell.

'Can I just fry him?' Thorn asked impatiently.

'Bad idea. The fire could spread and cut us off from the exit.'

'I'm coming to help anyway, since you're obviously losing.'

'Thorn, don't-'

But the dragon was already rushing towards him and Sared, knocking over the remaining warriors with a sharp movement of his tail. The marble floor cracked under his heavy footsteps, unable to support the weight of the titanic dragon; palace walls shook dangerously and a column crumbled to the floor in front of Murtagh, separating him from Sared. The Rider looked at the door, noticing the remaining guards running towards it. Servants rushed anxiously out of the palace; Murtagh didn't see Barbale among them but he hoped that she had managed to escape.

'Oops,' Thorn said guiltily. 'I didn't realize… wait, where is that halfwit going?'

'Who?' Murtagh asked despite already knowing who Thorn was talking about. He turned around, spotting Sared disappearing inside the palace. 'The palace is about to fall, what is he doing? Why isn't he running for the exit?'

'Maybe there's an exit there somewhere? Or maybe he's suicidal, I don't really care,' Thorn replied vindictively. 'Let's go!'

They got out of the palace, landing some distance away from it, watched by the frightened servants and guards, who, however, didn't attempt to attack them again. Sared was not among the crowd.

Barbale separated from the other servants and approached Murtagh and Thorn. 'Did you kill Sared?' she inquired. Murtagh shook his head. The old woman frowned. 'Where is he, then?'

'I saw him running back inside,' Murtagh replied. 'Perhaps he got out through another exit. I don't think he would go back in unless there was another way out there.'

'I hope the palace became his grave,' Barbale said hotly. Murtagh was hoping for exactly the same thing.

Approximately half of the palace was destroyed; buildings which were located further away appeared to be unharmed. The servants and the army would continue to live in their quarters for now. Sared's body was not found inside the palace, which suggested that he did manage to escape. However, his disappearance for two days resulted in the conclusion by Galbatorix that he really was dead, perhaps buried under the remains of the palace which prevented his body from being discovered. Galbatorix didn't hesitate to declare through a message to Murtagh that due to Sared's death, all of his servants were now the king's property, and were to be transported to Uru'baen. The same would happen to Medea, when she was found.

Murtagh hoped that Medea wouldn't be too upset when she found out that her husband was dead. Because that was what he was going to tell her.

A.N.: Thank you all for reading and reviewing, it makes me really happy that someone likes this story, and I hope this is still interesting!

Also, after rereading the whole fanfic I cringed at how annoyingly cliche the earlier chapters are and how sometimes I don't make much sense, so I changed a bit of Chapter 2 and 3. It's not very significant, I just think that the plot makes more sense now:)