"Good to see you are finally up."
After he closed the door behind him, Roran was approached by a man who looked like a common soldier. His short, grey hair and the beard mottled with silver tints told much about his age, but no more than his deep, grey eyes which analyzed Roran inquisitively.
"Roran Stronghammer," he said, approaching in a steadfast manner. Roran was a bit taken back by the stature and the imposing look of this middle aged man, who was no doubt more experienced than he was. He almost believed that an ample discussion about his late arrival would start until a smile on the man's face proved otherwise.
"I am pleased to meet you. I am Prestov, one of the Varden's captains and military leader for small operations," he said firmly, extending his hand.
Roran gripped his hand and shook it with respect. "I would introduce myself, but you already know my name."
His light and concern-free voice made the man's smile extend a bit further as he took a step forward, looking him in the eyes.
"The feats you accomplished are not simple deeds for a man your age, Stronghammer. Many of the soldiers I know would have failed where you succeeded, and perish when your determination and skills earned you another day in this world."
"I only pressed on because of the desire to save my wife from the Empire's clutches and keep her safe for as long as I draw breath. For that, no one can stand in my way, be it a foul beast like those dark, long beaked monsters or the empire's soldiers."
"A sound reason it is."
The man grunted, and then motioned for Roran to move forward. "What I heard about your determination is true, Stronghammer, but you are a simple man, just as I am, and you know that there will come a time when your hammer will not be strong enough to break the wall laid ahead of you."
Roran thought a bit about Prestov's words, but did not pay a great deal of attention to them as his conviction was most of the times enough for him to surpass the obstacles that arose in his path.
"That may be true, but that time is not now," he said shortly, then turned his head towards the older captain. "What is the reason for taking me away from my wife?"
Although he tried to keep his calm, Roran could not suppress the irritation and regret he felt for leaving Katrina alone not even a week after the Varden captured the city of Feinster. With the cold season approaching and the Varden's need to partially reorganize themselves as the citizens reinforced their ranks, Roran hoped for a moment of peace, a moment long enough for him to see his first born child.
The man eyed him briefly before looking straight forward, avoiding making eye contact. "You have probably heard the rumors about Nasuada, Stronghammer. After all, you are the cousin of Eragon Shadeslayer, the one free Rider and also Nasuada's vassal," the man paused and looked at him with a blank expression." That reason alone was enough for you to be closer to Nasuada than any other captains, except her military advisors.
Roran's eyebrows partially frowned as he shook his head. „Maybe you are right, but I did not think so deeply about it. All the time I spent after the siege was beside my wife, so I could not hear the rumors you speak of."
Prestov acknowledged with a nod, then continued. "Very well. I only asked because it was easier to explain if you heard them with your own ears."
Roran waited expectantly, but the shouts and the mumbling of the citizens that went past him were not dwarfed by the captain's powerful voice. Taking advantage of this short moment, Roran focused his attention on the road ahead, which was bustling with activity. Men and women of all ages and even a few dwarves went past him, minding their daily lives. The familiar sound of a saw cutting through a plank of wood and the bolts being struck down by metal hammers reverberated through one of the city's main streets as the workers were slowly rebuilding the buildings which were damaged during the siege.
The stone paved street they were walking was reasonably wide to allow larger carts filled with goods to pass through and was mostly straight, taking only a few turns between the larger buildings due to their reasonable placement.
"The visit Galbatorix paid to his city, which is now ours, had many repercussions among the citizens and the higher command. Not only that he took us completely by surprise, but not even Eragon could rise to the height of his expertise with the sword and the magic alike. It was only through a miracle that he left without producing more damage and taking more lives than he already did."
Prestov's voice trailed off until he spoke in a lower voice, "But that is not the cause of our worries. He achieved what he came for by delivering a clear message to all of us, a message that left visible scars…"
Roran scratched his shoulder and looked at Prestov quizzically. "I was there when Galbatorix came, but I prefer not to dwell too much on what happened."
His mind went briefly to Eragon who left Feinster without even saying a word, be it about his motives or simply telling him and Katrina about his departure.
Focusing on the present, Roran continued, "What was it you wanted to say about Nasuada?"
Prestov extended his hand and gestured towards a nearby building. Realizing that he wanted to stop, Roran moved towards the building and leaned against the wooden support of the porch, eyeing the captain.
Clasping his hands together, Prestov looked at him with a calm, yet worried expression. "Different rumors about Nasuada's welfare and her military capabilities have spread among the ranks of our soldiers. It's not hard, even for common men to see that she isolated herself in the commanding building, going out only when it is absolutely necessary."
Roran raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't she always like that? "
Prestov's grey eyebrows met in a slight frown as the man brushed his hands against one another. "Her isolation is not only a physical one, Stronghammer. Only a few orders came from her during these days, and even those were laced with the shadow of doubt. Those with high position are not supposed to say anything about it, but Galbatorix's visit has disrupted the natural order that kept our bricks together."
Roran placed his fist under his chin, looking down at the stone paved ground for a moment before he resumed eye contact with the elder captain, "I…I don't understand. She never doubted a moment of her decisions, and now…"
The image and the shouts of the boiling atmosphere that occurred at the meeting shortly after the commanding officers learned about Galbatorix's arrival unexpectedly flashed before Roran's eyes.
…you heard what happens to us humans when we clash swords with Galbatorix… he obliterates us….
….you forced Eragon to fight against an opponent much stronger than him while you hide like scared animals in their den…
...That boy will not win the war for us... You heard what happened to Arya and them elves... They were more, and they all failed...
The vivid string of events was still fresh in his mind, but the most prominent image was of fear, reflected naturally on Nasuada's face.
A low grunt coming from Prestov brought Roran's mind back to the present.
"That is what I heard, Stronghammer, not what I have seen with my own eyes. These are just simple rumors, not real facts," he paused for a bit as two travelers passed by, then continued, "I know you wished that these were but simple words weaved together by a simple citizen, but there has to be some truth in these rumors. There has to be…"
Prestov's voice trailed off as his grey eyes fixed themselves on the broken blade of a sword which was safely concealed between the bricks of the stone pavement. Realizing that the man lost himself in his musings, Roran turned his eyes away from the piece of metal and looked towards the large keep whose impressive architecture and size rose high above the common dwellings.
A firm pat on his shoulder caused Roran to shudder slightly at the unexpected contact.
"We're not going there," said Prestov as he moved forward, looking towards the smaller road that forked from the main one.
Roran eyed him with puzzlement, his attention switching between the smaller road and the keep. "Why not? That's where-"
"Not at the moment," the deeper voice cut him off. "The one who told me to meet up with you, who is a member of the council, asked me to lead you to the barracks, and that's what I am going to do," finished Prestov, assuming a knightly position as he took the lead, his head held high and his arms firmly placed besides his body.
The council, eh? Maybe the rumors are true, after all, thought Roran, quickly covering the short distance between the two of them. Moving beside Prestov, the two captains walked through the narrow alley that soon gave way to a large place which was bustling with activity: the market row.
Shouts and voices of different intensities and tones could be heard as soon as the two exited the narrow alley. A large, circular area surrounded by common buildings was the chosen place for commerce and trading of Feinster's citizens that placed their booths side by side, forming various rows. Although they came in different shapes, sizes and even colors, depending on the type of the material they were made of, the equal distance between the booths gave the place an even and organized appearance.
Away from the heart of the marketplace, other merchants have set up their trading points in various places around the circular space, filling up the barren edges with different colors and sights, depending on the merchant.
The amount of people which were present at the market place was relatively low, but that was not something out of the ordinary. After seeing that some of the merchants were still busy setting up their camps, Roran realized that it was still early and the peak activity would begin when the sun would be high in the sky.
Roran continued to look around for a bit until Prestov's voice attracted his attention.
"Let us go around, past those merchants over there," he said, making a circular gesture with his hand.
Frowning, Roran looked at the path which led straight towards the barracks. "I thought we were in a hurry, captain," he said on a slight teasing voice.
The captain was not bothered by Roran's comment, completely ignoring him for a brief while before he replied back, "We are, but don't you see anything out of the ordinary?"
The inquiring voice immediately startled Roran's interest. After only a short while, a low grunt escaped him as he could see the meaning behind Prestov's words. The reason why the pathway to the barracks was clear was because there were no citizens that blocked his vision.
At a closer inspection, he noticed that all the merchants which occupied the row of booths had the same bad luck as a large part of the citizens were gathering around the trading points which were placed on the edge of the marketplace.
It indeed makes little sense… Those merchants must be offering something special to attract that kind of attention, thought Roran. He prepared to let the captain know that he is ready until a faint voice was heard not far behind him.
"… and you wanted to abandon a discussion which had more meaning so you could speak about Eragon?"
"That be true! Nasuada may lead the Varden, but he's the one that gives us hope…or should I say, gave," another voice answered shortly after.
A chuckle followed shortly after. "I heard the coward ran away after the defeat he suffered at Galbatorix's hands. I expected him to be tougher and die like a man instead of fleeing."
Roran clenched his fists as the two men slowly approached his location, something which could easily be noticed by the increasing sound of their voices.
A low laughter escaped from the other man's throat. "Aye aye, and ya know what? The king will still hunt him down like the rat he is, so he won't escape tha' easily," he said excitedly, barely restraining himself from laughing. "Maybe he will stop caring about us altogether."
His companion chuckled, sharing his partner's enthusiasm. "The brainless brat. He's even more defenseless without us while he's on his own. He thinks we're too weak to aid him since he became the half elf freak he is now."
That was it. As soon as the words finished exiting the man's mouth, two loud laughs erupted from the throat of the two men.
The delight they took from bashing Eragon made Roran's blood boil as he turned around, facing the two of them which were oblivious to the murderous stare that was directed at them.
"Speak one more word against my cousin and I will make sure that you will come to regret whatever will come out of your mouth," said Roran venomously as his hand instinctively moved towards the hammer which rested at his hip.
The two men threw Roran long, questionable looks before they both giggled.
"Ye don't look like him," said one of them shortly.
His companion slapped him across the head, obtaining a low grunt in response.
Adopting a serious look, the man stretched his back and then crossed his arms. "Sir we certainly didn't speak anything bad about your cousin that would stain his reputation and put ourselves in a bad light."
Roran barely understood something from the quickness of the man's tongue. However, his resolve did not weaken as he moved forward, lessening the distance between the two of them.
"I heard every whisper and every word that you two uttered before you began laughing like two drunken Empire soldiers."
The two men looked at him wearily, but only the one that was slapped across his head by his companion allowed his feelings to betray him. His fearful eyes did not seem to linger upon a focus point for longer than a moment, and his hands trembled slightly.
"We…we were just over here while you were over there, an...and the distance between here and there is big! You cannot hear from there what we talked from over here because the sound there which comes from the people over there can be confused to what we talked over here, so you actually heard something which came from over there, not from here!"
Roran barely restrained himself for not grinding some sense into the two men who made a mockery of Eragon's name, starting to speak complete nonsense right after they were caught in the act.
"Leave them be, Roran. It doesn't worth it," said Prestov, gesturing to the two of them to leave.
"Y…yes sir! I will just go… over there," giggled the jittery men before he ran away, closely followed by his companion.
"Why did you dismiss them so easily? Were it not for Eragon, those two would probably have their heads meters away from their bodies!" snapped Roran, his face acquiring a cherry-like color as blood rushed through him.
"I am aware of that, and we owe much to Eragon," said Prestov firmly, his eyes acquiring a tiny hint of coldness as the captain narrowed his gaze."However, you are a captain, a leader, and you must not lower yourself to the level of a drunk peasant by putting more hay on the fire."
Roran exhaled loudly and briefly eyed Prestov before he looked in another direction, anything that would keep his mind off those two excuses of soldiers.
"I understand," he nodded slowly, dragging his voice as if he wanted to say something more, but no words came out of his mouth.
A short moment of silence followed before the clinging of Prestov's metallic boots disturbed it as he moved forward.
"This was an unnecessary delay, but we will not go to the barracks yet," he turned his head back, gesturing towards the merchants he spoke about earlier.
Nodding his head, Roran followed him as he walked towards the small camps at a brisk pace.
This was a long time coming, delayed by sudden events such as the crashes and my own schedule. To make up for it, I'll give you the next update as soon as I finish it, maybe even this sunday. So, things actually start to pick up in speed. The Roran chapters will get more and more interesting, as you can see, and this will only herald the arrival of more prominent problems. As you can see, Eragon's departure did not look good at all to the Varden.
There's something else I'd like to get your attention on. Consider it as a reward for my readers in exchange for your reviews. If I get more than 8 reviews for each chapter, until the Roran chapters are over, I'll write some bonus chapters that mark a significant stage of the story. THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OR THE STORY DIES THREAT! It's like I said, a reward versus a...small bit of time on your behalf. I definitely think it is worth it, and I'm curious if this is going to work. I chose an unlikely number, given the history of the reviews, because it's really worth it. However, it doesn't have an impact on the plot. Consider it an explanation of sorts, when time arrives. It involves Eragon's journey, if you are so curious, and I think the bonus I'm talking about is at least 2 chapters or 1 big chapter.