Chapter 17

The flower of immortality glimmered softly in the semi-darkness of Eragon's tent. The dragon rider was kneeling on the floor next to the transparent box that held Seleara; opposite him sat Arya, the fascination on her face mirroring his own. Neither of them had completely believed that Seleara truly existed until they saw it with their own eyes, and for a long moment they were too mesmerised to speak.

'Will you destroy it?' Barbale asked. She had remained so quiet that Eragon had already forgotten about her presence.

Barbale had been one of Sared's servants. Having discovered that he had Seleara in his possession, she stole it, after which she contacted the Varden and offered it to them. When Arya asked, somewhat suspiciously, how Barbale managed to find out where Seleara was, the old woman told them that she had twice seen a faint glow coming from the window of Sared's chamber that appeared for just a few moments before fading. As she peered through the window one night, she saw Sared kneeling on the floor with his back to her, concealing whatever he was doing from sight. The next day, driven by curiosity and suspicion, she discovered the niche where Seleara was hidden in the same spot, and later took it in the confusion following Eragon's arrival at Geoulnaresque. Eragon found it hard to believe that Sared could have been careless enough to place the thing that he tried so hard to keep secret in a place where it could have been found so easily, but he said nothing at the time.

It hadn't been hard for Barbale to sneak out of the palace a few days later, taking the flower with her – because of the prince's absence, the palace guards barely bothered to do their duty, being more interested in the content of their wineskins. Besides, they knew that the servants were unlikely to attempt escape - some of them had nowhere else to go and others did not dare to face the dangers of the desert.

'Yes. We will. Though it is a waste to destroy such a miracle,' Eragon replied hesitantly. He did not want to share too much information with Barbale, but he could hardly avoid the question. Despite – or rather because of – her willingness to hand Seleara over to the Varden when she could have kept it, he was wary of her. Something was telling him that a selfless desire to help the Varden was not Barbale's motive.

'It is necessary,' Arya said curtly, although her voice held a trace of regret.

Barbale simply nodded before turning to Eragon. 'Might I speak with you alone, Dragon Rider?'

He glanced at Arya, who nodded in understanding and slipped gracefully out of the tent without a word. As always, Eragon felt a pang of disappointment as he watched her walk away. 'What was it that you wanted to talk about?' he asked Barbale, pushing the unwelcome thoughts to the back of his mind.

'I haven't told you the whole truth.'

'I knew it!' Eragon said triumphantly to Saphira. The dragon was brooding outside; Eragon insisted that she had to stop trying to poke her head inside the tent to take a look at Seleara, as the attempt almost made the structure collapse.

But Barbale's confession wasn't what Eragon was expecting.

'I was the nurse of princess Medea,' she admitted. 'I came with her to Geoulnaresque. I watched you carry her away.' Although they were alone in the tent, Barbale lowered her voice to almost a whisper. 'And I thought… perhaps if I gave Seleara to you, you might release her… She told me that Murtagh came looking for it, and because you arrived on the same day, I assumed that you were searching for it as well. This is why you took Medea, is it not? Because you thought that she knew where the flower is?'

'I was looking for Seleara, but that's not why I took Medea with me. She didn't want to stay there.' Eragon hesitated, deliberating on whether to tell Barbale the whole truth, and decided against it. The old nurse seemed upset enough. 'And she hasn't been harmed at the Varden, I promise you… But she isn't here anymore. Murtagh has taken her.'

Evidently, the news of this hadn't reached Geoulnaresque. The shadow of hope on Barbale's weary face faded away as quickly as it had appeared. Attempting to comfort her, Eragon hastened to add, 'But if the Varden's plans are successful, you will see Medea soon - and you will never have to worry about her safety again. You have my word.'

Medea's day had certainly not been improved by Sared's decision to pay her a visit. Her fear of him had subsided by then, partly due to the fact that she was always shadowed by a guard; one was stationed outside her room when Sared entered, and she could call him if need be. Medea wasn't afraid for herself. She was safe, whereas Murtagh was not.

'So, did you see them?' Sared asked with a characteristic sneer.

Medea knew that she couldn't deny knowing what he was talking about; she couldn't deny the fact that Murtagh had done anything wrong – Sared knew the truth.
'Close the door,' she told him coldly instead.

'That's sensible. We don't want the guard to hear all about our friend's adventures,' Sared said gleefully before doing as she asked.

'At least one of us is enjoying this,' Medea retorted. 'What do you want, Sared? If you wanted to tell my father what Murtagh is doing, you would have done so already. Instead you told me, and I don't suppose you did it out of the goodness of your heart.'

'No, no exactly,' he agreed easily. 'You took Seleara from me. I want it back.' His tone was no longer mocking but oddly urgent; he seemed to have grown tired of his charade. Without meaning to, Medea riveted her gaze on his trembling fingers. Was it a trick of the light, or were his hands covered with a web of lines?

'So you did have it,' Medea exclaimed incredulously, too distracted by the revelation - and by what it implied – to register his accusation right away. Eragon did tell her about the possibility that Seleara was in Sared's possession, but she couldn't help doubting that it was truly so. And if Sared had the flower of immortality… did he use its power?

'Stop acting as if you know nothing about it!' Sared snapped impatiently. 'It disappeared on the same night as you. Are you saying it's just a… a…' he flinched and staggered, grabbing blindly at a chair. No sooner had he sank into it than a violent shudder shook his body and he fell on the floor with a groan. Medea was about to call the guard but only a horrified cry escaped her lips when she saw Sared's eyes sinking back into his skull, his dark hair fading into grey before falling out in clumps, his now transparent skin exposing the bulging veins below. He never stopped screaming.

The door was flung open and people – guards, Medea assumed - rushed inside, alerted by the screams. Medea was in a stupor, unable to tear her gaze away from Sared, as sickening as the sight was. A familiar voice uttered a string of curses behind her and she felt strong hands gripping her shoulders, forcing her to turn away. She was vaguely aware that she was trembling, and that Murtagh was whispering something to her, trying to calm her as Sared's cries faded away. Medea let herself be led out of the room, but when she reached the door, she glanced back at what was left of Sared. A guard was leaning over him, partially shielding him from view, but Medea still saw the grinning skull on the floor.

'I thought you would want to sleep somewhere else tonight,' Murtagh told Medea, leading her into an unused bedroom.

He said nothing about Sared. Medea didn't bring the subject up either. Her hatred for Sared prevented her from being sorry for his death – it was the way in which he died that stunned her. And although she was itching to ask Murtagh if he knew what happened to Sared, she saw that he was avoiding the subject and she knew him well enough to understand that this meant he wouldn't tell her anything.

But there was something that Medea couldn't keep silent about. 'Sared saw you with Nasuada. Be more careful next time if you don't want anyone else to find out what you're doing.' The remark didn't come out as calmly as she had intended; she sounded almost resentful. Medea wasn't even sure if she had spoken to warn Murtagh or out of a pointless, childish desire to show him that she knew about him and Nasuada.

Murtagh's expression went from shocked to defensive. 'Has he told anyone else about this?'

'I don't think so.'

He seemed to be deliberating over whether or not to tell her more. 'Nasuada is a good person. I couldn't stand by and do nothing to help her,' he explained somewhat reluctantly.

'So that's all there is to it?' Medea blurted out before she could stop herself. When Murtagh looked at her searchingly, she wished she hadn't spoken.

'What else would there be?'

'I saw you,' she admitted grudgingly. When he didn't seem to understand her meaning, she added, 'And it didn't look like you were just helping her.'

Murtagh considered that for a moment before realising what Medea was talking about. To her surprise, the corner of his mouth curved up slightly. 'If I didn't know better, I'd think you were…'

'Finish that sentence and you will die horribly.'

'…jealous,' he concluded, taking a step towards her, as if challenging her to carry out her threat.

It seemed surreal. There was a time when such banter would have been nothing out of the ordinary for them, but a long time had passed since then, long enough for them to become strangers. And yet here they were, suddenly acting almost like their old selves, as if, in that moment, they had forgotten everything that happened since.

And then the only thought left in Medea's head was that Murtagh was standing too close, looking at her too intently. Heat rushed to her cheeks when he murmured: 'Are you?' Are you jealous?

A knock on the door made them jump away from each other.

A.N.: I have essays to write every week at the moment, which is why I don't have that much time to work on the story, BUT I'm almost finished! Thank you to my long-suffering readers, as always, and also thank you, everyone, for your reviews:) I had some doubts about this chapter but I hope it's not too bad.

Just want to reply to the question asked by Restrained Freedom: I already PMd you, but just in case others might have the same question... Murtagh hasn't met Nasuada since he never reached the Varden; he's helping her because this is partly his way of seeking redemption for his past actions. But he HAS met Eragon.

hpswst101 –I was just trying to think of a name for my main character, and I randomly remembered the myth of Medea and how she betrayed her father for Jason. I thought that this is similar to how this story begins, so I decided to use the name Medea. I wasn't intending for her to go berserk though:)

Lobo de Fuego - Noo, you're awesome!:) I always look forward to your reviews!