I sat on the end of my bed, tapping out a nervous rhythm on my thighs as I ran through our options in my head. Arya was leaning against the wall opposite me while Eragon paced back and forth between us. Oromis had taken his leave so as to begin preparations for the antidote we needed. Arya was watching me, intensely, with a curious expression on her beautiful face.
"Okay," I started, ceasing my nervous drumming with a flourish and clasping my hands together in my lap to keep them still. Eragon wasn't going to like this. "I think it is safe to assume that the palace is going to be under heavy guard, so sneaking in won't be an option. In my experience, when one is invited to exclusive events like this one, each guest is required to present their invitation before being granted entry. Fortunately, I think I know where I can get my hands on one such invitation."
"Only one?" Arya asked, frowning slightly.
"I only need one." I insisted. "But nobody will challenge a young noblewoman's request that she be accompanied by her lady-in-waiting. That is our way into the palace, Arya. Once we are inside, we can peel away from the festivities, find the reservoir and do what needs to be done. I doubt the guards will be suspicious of two young women should we be caught somewhere we shouldn't be."
She nodded, thoughtfully.
"A fine idea...with one crucial flaw." She replied.
"Which is?" I asked, curiously.
"If we are to succeed then stealth is the key. I stand a better chance of getting to the reservoir undetected if I go alone...it is also safer for you if you stay where you are expected to be. Nobody will single out one masked woman in a ballroom full of them, but if you are caught wandering the halls of the castle, you make yourself too vulnerable. Once we are inside the palace, I suggest that you attend the ball: act naturally and try not to draw any attention to yourself...I will make my way to the reservoir and rejoin you in the hall when I am done. You will excuse yourself and we will leave right through the front doors and, assuming everything goes according to plan, Galbatorix will be none the wiser."
I was not thrilled by the idea of mingling with nobles while Arya saved the day, but I could not argue that it did seem to be the most sensible thing to do. I nodded in agreement.
"Very well. Now all we need is..."
"And what of me?" Eragon cut me off, the previous impertinence in his voice now replaced by something that sounded almost like eagerness. I looked up at him, reluctantly.
"Eragon...don't be angry. I just...I've given it some thought and...I think that it would be for the best if you sat this one out." I said, softly. He laughed, disbelievingly, but I kept my eyes on his. His expression changed to one of confusion.
"What do you mean? You don't want me with you? Kate...you know I did not mean those things, I-"
"Eragon." I interrupted, "I do not say this out of spite. If Arya and I go alone, we have a chance of slipping in and out, unrecognised: this is a mission of stealth, not force. And if we are made, we will either be captured or killed. I have no illusions that we will be able to outfight the King's entire guard on our own. If you were to come with us, we would face a greater risk of being caught and if that happened, we would all meet the same fate anyway. We would be cut down before Obsidian and Saphira could reach us, and that cannot happen. And besides," I continued, apologetically, "You have sworn fealty to Nasuada, and she requires that you meet her on the battlefield within the week. Kitschley is only a few hours from here, as the dragon flies, but if we face any complications...whatever happens you must be there to stand with the Varden...for all our sakes."
He opened his mouth to argue, defiance shining in his brown eyes, but I knew he saw the truth in what I had said.
"This is bigger than us, Eragon. We both said things in anger, but you know that I love you. Like a brother. I am not pushing you away...but this is the right thing to do. All that matters is that we stop Galbatorix and live to fight him another day."
"I cannot stay here and do nothing while you put your life in danger, Kate." He said, pleadingly. I rose to my feet and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We are all in danger, Eragon. Like you said...we are at war. And sometimes sacrifices have to be made. The greater good, remember?"
"That...that is not what I meant." He whispered, but I sensed a reluctant defeat in his voice. I sighed, wrapping my arms around him.
"Stay here. Focus on your training, prepare for the battle. You will be of greater help to us here than you would be there." I said, as kindly as possible. He returned my embrace, squeezing me tightly before letting me go.
"If you are certain that this is for the best, I...I will stay." He replied, looking and sounding as torn as I felt.
"I am certain." I said, softly but firmly. "I am known well enough to the servants of the Empire, but there are few who have seen my new face. I think it would take more than a flimsy mask to protect your identity, and if you were to be recognised by anybody...it does not bear thinking about." He nodded, closing his eyes. He let out a ragged sigh and looked down at me.
"Very well. But I will first hear the rest of your plan...I will not have you running off and getting yourself killed on a fool's errand." He said, and I could tell he was doing everything he could to keep his voice light.
"Your confidence in me is very touching." I joked, quietly. "Well...other than the ballroom, I must admit I do not have a very reliable knowledge of the palace's layout. I still have some friends in Kitschley, and I know someone who might be able to help. My old stable-hand's wife has worked as a maid in the palace for many years, she must know every hallway and corridor like the back of her hand...and although I never did plan on collecting it, they do owe me a debt. We will have to pay her a visit first."
"That is sensible." Arya agreed. "The less searching I have to do once we are inside, the less attention I will risk drawing to myself. I never did like the idea of wandering aimlessly behind enemy lines."
Eragon nodded, keeping his eyes fixed to the floor.
"So...you have a way into the palace and, hopefully, you will have a good idea of where to go, Arya. But Kate, what of you?" He asked, frowning in concern. "We have no idea how long it will take Arya to reach the reservoir if she has to avoid guardsmen the whole way there...that leaves you alone in a large room filled with a lot of people who would see you dead...or worse. And I do not think it is very far-fetched to assume that if Galbatorix will be there, so will he."
He didn't say Murtagh's name out loud, but it hung there, unspoken, in the air between us.
"Yes...well...It has crossed my mind." I muttered, darkly. In truth, that is what I was dreading the most about this whole expedition. In the part of my brain that thought rationally, the part that usually spoke with Obsidian's voice, I knew that what I should really be worrying about was Galbatorix and, of course, I was. But mostly I was worried about what Galbatorix would force Murtagh to do if I was unmasked. "I must admit that the thought does not exactly fill me with the warm and fuzzies. But if doing the right thing was easy, everybody would do it, and we wouldn't have a war to fight in the first place now, would we? We all have our battles. This may have to be mine."
"Just be careful. Keep your mind closed, your eyes down, and your mask firmly in place. And try not to move so gracefully all of the time, it's a dead give-away that you are not entirely...well...human. As for all of the social graces of a noblewoman...well, I trust you already have that area covered."
I smirked, appreciatively.
"To perfection, naturally." I replied, in my best noblewoman-voice.
"Well, it looks like you have it all figured out, Kate." He said, gruffly. "I uh...I think I'll go and see if Master Oromis needs any help with the antidote."
"Sure..." I said, smiling weakly. We both knew that there was little he could do to assist Oromis, but I understood that it must have been difficult for him to stand there listening to the two of us plot when I had just told him that he wasn't invited to the party. I just hoped that he didn't view my decision as a betrayal.
Do you feel you have betrayed him? Obsidian asked, curiously.
I'm not sure I know the answer to that yet. I admitted. But it feels like the right thing to do. And I don't think it's just...intuition. It feels as though this is how it has to happen.
You think these feelings are connected to your visions?
I haven't trusted myself very much lately, Obsidian. I have doubted every decision that I have made, even the decision to leave Dras Leona, as absurd as that sounds. But this...going to the palace, saving that village...and leaving Eragon here, where he will be safe...this feels more right than anything has in a long...long time.
I know. He admitted. I feel it too, through you. Something greater than us is at work here.
I let out a small sigh of relief at his words.
Thank you. It means a lot to know that I am not just losing my mind. Sometimes I wonder...
Arya cleared her throat, politely, and I blinked and turned to face her.
"Sorry." I smiled, sheepishly. "I was just..."
"Do not apologise." She replied, with a smile. "I have grown used to the way Eragon drifts off now and then to converse with Saphira."
"Saphira...she probably hates me right now." I muttered, more to myself than Arya. She shrugged, slightly.
"Do not be so sure. In my experience, Saphira is happiest when Eragon is safe. Eragon, on the other hand...you might have some grovelling to do when we get back." She said, in an almost apologetic tone.
"He won't forget this." I whispered, thinking out loud. "But in time, perhaps he will see that this is the only way."
"Perhaps in time, so will I." She replied, flashing me a curious look.
"Arya...I do not think I can explain why or how I know this is right, so I am not going to try." I threw my hands up, hopelessly, and sank back down to sit on the bed. "I don't know what's happening to me, and I don't understand it. All of a sudden, I'm...I'm seeing and feeling these things, and I don't know why, and that terrifies me. I don't know whether these visions are a gift from the Gods or a product of Galbatorix's twisted magic, but I cannot resist the compulsion that accompanies them. And I know that you do not know me very well...or at all, for that matter, so I feel insolent asking you to trust me on what must seem to you like a foolish whim. But you have offered to help me, despite it all, and for that you have my sincerest thanks. I don't know how things are going to go tonight...but for better or worse, I know I have to do this. I have to try."
"Alagaesia owes a great deal to the seemingly foolish whims of Dragon Riders." She replied, softly. "Perhaps, after tonight, the village of Kitschley will owe a great deal more. You are right, I do not know you, Katharean. But I do know Eragon, and it does not take the gift of Seeing to know that he holds you in the highest regards. That is not something to be ignored. And besides," she smiled, "you are not the only one with fine intuition. I would not have volunteered to help you if I thought that it would all be for naught."
You know...I'm starting to hate her less and less. I confided.
It is nice to know that you still have the ability to think rationally. Obsidian replied, mockingly.
Hilarious. I replied, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes in case Arya thought the gesture was aimed at her.
Thank you. He snorted in amusement. I returned Arya's smile and let out a deep sigh.
"So...we are really doing this, then." I muttered, more to myself than to her. "If I'm going to fit in with the cream of society, I should probably bathe. I smell like someone who just spent three days travelling across the Hadarac desert and then slept in a tree...probably because I am someone who just spent three days travelling across the Hadarac desert and then slept in a tree. I will go and wash up if you want to gather any supplies that you might need...then we can meet with Eragon and Oromis and prepare to leave."
"An excellent idea." Arya concurred.
"I'll see you shortly, then." I replied, jumping to my feet and heading to the door. I stopped in the doorway and turned back to face her. "And we're going to have to find something to wear. I do not suppose there is a seamstress who tailors to the human nobility anywhere nearby? No, I thought not. Not to worry..." I sighed, grimacing slightly when it became clear what I would have to do. "It looks like we might have to make an unscheduled stop on the way to Kitschley."
"How far out of our way will this unscheduled stop take us?" Arya asked in a business-like tone.
"It won't." I replied, quietly. "It's right outside the village. We probably shouldn't enter through the front doors, though. I do not think, given the circumstances, that my father will be best pleased to see me. If my home fire still burns, it does not burn for me."
AN: As always, I haven't proof-read it, because I'm in the middle of a Dexter marathon and it's taking up most of my life. Plus, y'know...work and friends and all that stuff too. But mostly Dexter. And Dexter's Laboratory because every time I hear the name Dexter I hear the theme song for that in my head so I have to watch it. (bah bah, bah bah, bah bah, bah bah, doo doo doooooo...dunudunudunudunu dooooooo do do doooo do do do doooo dun dun dun dun dun dun dun...in Dexter's Laboratory, he's the smartest booooy you've ever seeeeeen, but Dee Dee blows his experiments to smiiiithereeeeeens, there is DOOM and GLOOM while things goooo BOOOOOOM, in Dexter's Laaaaaaaab! Oh my God. I have a degree. What am I doing with my life?)
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yeah...okay, I know you're probably going to hate on me for sticking Eragon on the bench for this, but he just doesn't fit into what I have planned. He's too impulsive and stuff, and I don't want to have to change his character. And if I didn't change his character, he would probably get everybody killed.
As always, please review! Even if you hated it. I get so excited whenever I get an e-mail that's not spam. ("Dear Miss blah blah blah, there is a chance you have been miss-sold PPI and are entitled to fake money that we just made up because apparently that's a thing now." OMG YOU ACT LIKE I EVEN CARE.)
P.S. There's a chance I just had a keyboard seizure, so if you haven't already read all that nonsense...don't. Just review please :) pretty please :) with a cherry on top. An awesome cherry that's purple and green and tastes like unicorn tears and pieces of rainbow.