What's the plan, Kate? Obsidian asked from the concealment of the cloud-cover high above my head. I chewed my lip, trying to think.
The last time I had laid eyes on my father's manor, I was watching it shrink into the distance as I fled for my life on the back of a young dragon. Now, as I surveyed my old home from the edges of the forest that bordered the courtyard...my courtyard...I felt as lost and anxious as I had the night I left. I closed my eyes and reached out towards the manor with my mind, scanning the rooms for any sign of my father, Selena, my brother-in-law or, Maker forbid, my step-mother, but I sensed that the manor was empty but for a few maids, the cook, and a handful of idle guards. Withdrawing back into myself, I opened my eyes, frowning slightly. I should have been relieved to find that my father and sister were not home: it was what I had been hoping for. So why could I not shake the feeling of disappointment that twisted in the pit of my stomach?
Well? Obsidian urged, anxiously. How are you going to get past the guards?
The main doors are out of the question, and the servant's entrance is too risky. It leads straight to the kitchen and the cook's already there. So that just leaves the windows. My bedroom is on the first floor, and there is a guard mulling about in the entrance hall, so I cannot use the stairs...I'll have to climb in through a first-storey window. I decided, somewhat revelling in the challenge.
You could reach the first floor easily from my back...Obsidian started, but I scoffed before he could finish. What? He demanded, sounding taken-aback.
Well...that's just a ridiculous idea, isn't it? I thought the plan was not to be seen.
I can be stealthy...He replied, defensively. I chuckled, slightly.
You know...my Uncle Grayson used to keep a wolf-hound as a pet. He was a massive beast, but he would always try to sit on my lap like a terrier. It was as if he didn't realise he was a wolf-hound.
What is your point? Obsidian asked, moodily.
My point is, you are not a lap-dog, Sid. You are a wolf-hound. I know that you are not fully aware of just how colossally huge you are now, but I am. The only way the guards would miss you is if they were all blind and deaf. And even then, they'd probably feel the ground shaking when you walked.
Now you are exaggerating. He huffed. But I suppose you may have a point. So how do you intend to reach the first-floor windows with your tiny legs and your notable lack of wings?
Creeper. I replied.
Name-calling? Very mature.
Oh, stop it. I grinned. Do not be such a stick-in-the-mud. I wasn't insulting you...my father has a creeper problem that he has never bothered to do anything about: there is creeping ivy on the north wall. It runs all the way to the roof and, if memory serves, which it should as I did spend most every day here for the better part of two decades, it runs reasonably close-by the window of my father's study. My bed chamber is just down the hall from there. If I can get in through that window then we will be laughing.
Won't your laughing attract some attention from the guards? He drawled, facetiously.
It is a figure of speech. Although you could try laughing a little, it might improve your disposition.
He sighed, inwardly.
I apologise. I am just worried. And you know fine well that I am putting it lightly. He muttered.
I know. I replied, softly. I could feel the tension emanating from him in waves through our mental bond. But this is the easy part.
That is what worries me. He grumbled. And all this for a fancy gown.
I know girls who would go to far greater lengths for a nice dress. I grinned, only half-joking.
"Katharean?" Arya's voice brought me back to earth and I snapped my head round to look at her. "Do you wish me to accompany you inside?"
"Ah...thank you, Arya...but I think this is something I have to do on my own." I replied. She nodded.
"I understand." She said, quietly.
"My father and sister are not home...however, if I am somehow spotted and recognised by any of the help, things will get much more complicated than I should like."
Arya considered this for a moment, and then swung her pack from her shoulders and knelt down, rummaging through it's contents without a word. After a brief moment, she rose to her feet, now holding a dark green, silk scarf which she held out for me to take.
"Here. Use this to hide your face...just in case." She advised, and I took the scarf from her gratefully. I wrapped it tightly around the lower half of my face, covering my nose and mouth, and then threw my riding-hood up, obscuring my hair and forehead. If anyone did see me, they would not know me. Anonymity was all I needed. If I was going to spend the evening behind a mask, I may as well start now.
"How do I look?" I asked her. She raised an eyebrow, a small, amused smile playing on her lips.
"You look like a very suspicious character." She replied. "But your face is hidden well enough."
"Excellent. Well...there is no time like the present..." I started, turning back towards the manor. "Wait here...if you see anybody entering the house, let me know." I tapped my temple, pointedly. "I will be quick."
"That would be wise." She replied, simply, and I took a deep, steadying breath, rolling my shoulders a few times to loosen myself up.
"No time like the present..." I repeated to myself in a whisper. "Okay..." Without another thought, I darted across the courtyard as fast as my legs could carry me which, I discovered, was pretty darn fast. As I approached the outer wall of the manor, I slowed myself just in time to avoid slamming into it. I pressed my body against the wall and paused for a moment, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside the house. When I was confident that nobody had seen or heard me, I started to move quickly and quietly around the side of the manor, half-crouching and keeping close to the walls the whole way. If I was spotted now, Obsidian would never let me live it down.
I turned a corner and smiled a little when I saw what I was looking for.
See? I said, triumphantly. I told you. It runs right by my father's study window. It's almost too easy...like an open invitation. It is a wonder this manor has not been looted a thousand times over with security as lax as this...
Without hesitation, I gripped the vines in front of me and leaned back with my full weight, testing that they were strong enough to support me: although a fall from the first floor would not kill me nor, I suspected, harm me in any way, it was a risk I would rather not take. Satisfied that the thick, ropey vines would hold, I started to climb: slowly at first, and then faster when I realised how easy this task was for my new and improved body. There was still so much I had not learned about myself since I woke up changed. And little wonder, too, since I had spent most of the past two weeks travelling, and the rest of the time eating and sleeping...and blacking out and Seeing things that I shouldn't.
I reached the window in what felt like no time at all and hauled myself up to peer inside. It was empty, as I had predicted it would be. I let go of the window-sill with one hand, carefully, and pushed gently against the pane but the window was shut fast, locked from the inside. I ran through a few words in the Ancient language before settling on the one I hoped I needed.
"Losna." I whispered, focusing my mind on the bronze latch on the other side of the glass. I breathed a sigh of relief when it responded to my prompt, popping open with a small click and allowing me to swing the window open as wide as the rusted hinges would allow. With a satisfied smile, I hoisted myself over the threshold and landed with a soft, easy roll on the thick-carpeted floor of my father's study. I stood up, slowly, looking around. The room was exactly as I had remembered it. I inhaled deeply, the familiar scents bringing with them a rush of memories and nostalgia.
"Home sweet home." I muttered, dryly. I crept to the door and listened for any signs of life, but the first floor appeared to be empty. Just to be safe, I closed my eyes and made a quick sweep of the house again with my mind. There were two guards stationed at each of the main entrances, as I expected, and the maids were bustling away in the dining room, half-listening to Maurice, the old cook, as he prattled on about the rising prices of lamb shanks. Unless I started hollering and screaming, I was safe.
I opened the door gently and strode down the all too familiar hallway to my bedroom, slipping inside quickly and closing the door quietly behind me with a small sigh of relief. I turned to face my old room and froze at the sight before me, feeling remarkably like someone had delivered a swift, roundhouse kick to my stomach.
Katharean? Obsidian must have felt my own surge of emotion. I shook my head, trying to think.
They've changed my room. They've...all of my things are gone. I closed my eyes, fighting the sudden, unexpected urge to burst into tears. I supposed that it may have been wishful thinking on my part to think that my father would keep my bedroom here, waiting for me. It wasn't like I was planning on returning home any time soon, but I had thought that, maybe one day, I would be able to. I always knew that some day I would forgive my father for his misguided loyalties and affiliations. It just never occurred to me that I might already be too late.
Every trace of me, every sign that I had ever lived here, was gone. My four poster bed was now a smooth, oak table covered in books and papers. My wardrobe was now a book-case, my vanity table was a brass telescope, my ottoman was a painting easel with a blank canvas. That's what this room was. A blank canvas, and everything that had made it mine had simply been erased like I had never existed. And it hurt.
What will you do? The ball begins in only a few short hours and you still have to get an invitation and a map of the castle. Obsidian brought me back to the present and I nodded slowly, trying to force away the empty aching feeling in my chest. I had often struggled with my guilt in the knowledge I had abandoned my home and my family...I didn't realise that they would turn their backs on me. Obsidian nudged my mind, sympathetically.
I know this is hard, Kate. But you have a new home, now. A new family. And your father still loves you...how could he not? These are just things...possessions. They don't mean anything. He cooed, soothingly. I nodded.
I know. I replied.
But they meant something to me.
I kept this last part to myself, pulling on what I hoped was a brave face. Keep watching the house. I'll head to Selena's chambers...see if I can't find something in her wardrobe. I would hate for all of this to have been for naught.
I turned away from the miserable room and it took all of my self-restraint not to slam the door behind me. Selena's bed-chamber was at the end of the hall...or at least it had been, back when I had a home here. I just hoped that nothing else had changed. I walked confidently towards it, not bothering to keep my footsteps light any more, and swung the door open, breathing a small sigh of relief when I recognised my sister's deep burgundy bed-clothes. I was already half-way to her wardrobe when I realised I was not alone in the room.
The humming of a tiny heartbeat made me freeze and spin around, and I noticed for the first time that Selena's room was not completely unchanged since I had last been in it. There was one difference...one huge, world-changing difference: a crib stood beside her four-poster bed. The burgundy drapes which hung like curtains from the bed-posts had blocked it from my view when I had first entered the room, but I saw it now: and it was not empty.
The child looked to be roughly a year old, with thick jet hair and wide brown eyes that peered up at me over the bars of his cot. He was standing, unsteadily, his chubby little fingers gripping the bars of the crib for support, and he was bouncing in an almost involuntary fashion. I had flown over mountains, faced armoured soldiers in battle, and escaped imprisonment unscathed from the clutches of my enemy, but I could not remember feeling as utterly terrified as I did now, faced with a tiny, harmless infant. I knew how to fly and how to fight, but I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do with a baby. And not just any baby...my sister's baby. My nephew...the thought made my stomach do back-flips. I cleared my throat, approaching the crib slowly so as not to scare him. He just continued to watch me with wide eyes.
"Hey...hey little guy. What's your name?" I cooed, not exactly expecting an answer. "You don't know me...but I'm your Auntie Kate."
Upon closer inspection, I noticed all of the little things in him that were my sister. His little, slightly upturned button nose, his straight, dark hair, his lips that were only a little fuller on the bottom than they were on the top, and his eyes...not the colour, but the shape. They were Selena's eyes. I smiled, warmly, all of my fear and trepidation forgotten about, and reached out a hand to stroke his hair.
"Well...you are just beautiful, aren't you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are, you're just beautiful!" I gushed, in the same voice I usually reserved only for animals of the small and fluffy variety. On an impulse, I reached into the crib and picked him up, gently, balancing him on my hip. "Oh, you're such a good boy. Can you say "Auntie Kate"? Ahn-tee-Kaaate?" I tried, elongating the syllables. He blinked and gurgled, and I knew that I loved him already. "No, I guess not...that's okay, baby. Just between you and me, your mummy didn't say her first words until she was three and a half. She was a late bloomer." I whispered. I knew he didn't understand what I was saying and was only reacting to my inflexion, but I felt a tug on my heart-strings when he giggled. I thought it was the most incredible sound I had ever heard. I held him closer and planted a light kiss on his crown, inhaling deeply. "The top of your head smells amazing. How are you doing that?" I asked, with laughter in my voice, and he giggled again when I bounced him a little, rocking back and forth on my heels as I did so. "You are so precious. I am sorry that I've not been around, baby. I've been fighting bad guys. You see, Auntie Kate is a Dragon Rider." I told him, softly. "But you don't have to worry about that, little guy. Nothing bad is ever going to happen to you."
Kate! Kate, get out of there, now! Obsidian roared in my mind, bringing me back to my senses. I had been so wrapped up in my little nephew that I had not registered the sound of the front door slamming shut. I spun towards the door of Selena's room, frozen to the spot. I closed my eyes, searching the ground floor for the new arrivals and swore internally when I brushed against the minds of my father, Garth and Selena. My father and Garth were in deep conversation about some Lord that they both knew, but my sister had already started up the stairs, coming to check on her infant son. Her infant son who I still held in my arms.
"Sorry, baby, but I have to go now. Your mummy's coming to see you and she's going to give you a big hug. But she won't understand if she sees me here..." I whispered, lowering him gently back into his crib. As soon as I let him go, his bottom lip trembled. "No, no, no, don't cry!" I begged, in hushed tones, but despite my protests he started wailing in distress. I grimaced, slapping a hand to my forehead, but I couldn't tarry any longer, Selena would be here in mere seconds...I spun around, looking for somewhere to hide.
The wardrobe! Get in the wardrobe! Obsidian commanded, frantically.
But it was too late. The door swung open and I stood facing it, with one hand still gripping the top of the crib. I felt like a child who had been caught doing something they know they shouldn't.
Selena looked almost the same as she had the night she helped me to escape. Her face was a little rounder and her figure a little fuller, but she was otherwise unchanged. Her large, green eyes widened with shock and fear, before narrowing into angry slits. I couldn't understand why she looked so angry...shocked, yes, but angry? And then I remembered that Arya's scarf still hid my face. She had no idea who I was...which, of course, had been the plan all along. But now, the game had changed and so had all of the rules. I was not just an intruder in her home: as far as she knew, I was a threat to her child.
She inhaled sharply, filling her lungs to scream for her husband and father, and I darted towards her with inhuman speed, covering her mouth to stifle her cry. Her eyes were wide and frightened as she struggled hopelessly against me, trying to break free of my hold, and I grimaced, hating myself for scaring her.
"No, no, Selena...it's me." I whispered, peering around her to make sure the hall behind her was still empty before pulling the scarf down to my neck and tossing back my hood. She blinked furiously, as though trying to convince herself of what she was seeing. I nodded, encouragingly, wondering why her heartbeat was not slowing down. If anything, it was beating faster and harder than it had just a moment ago. "Selena...I'm going to take my hand away now, but you have to promise me you won't scream. Father cannot know I'm here."
She continued to stare at me, dazedly, looking like she had not heard or understood a word I had spoken, but I removed my hand from her mouth: slowly, cautiously, testing her reaction. We stared at each other for a long time, neither one of us daring to break the tense silence that stretched between us...even the baby had stopped his bawling. I stifled a sigh of relief when I heard her heartbeat slow a little, and her breathing become more even.
"Katharean?" She whispered, incredulously. "I don't...How?"
"I used the old creeper on the North wall...climbed in through the window of father's study...it wasn't very difficult..." I rambled, nervously. She shook her head.
"No...how are you...here? How are you alive? You are...we all heard you were dead." Her voice broke on the last word and she clamped a hand to her mouth, shaking her head in denial as tears rolled down her cheeks. I sighed, heavily, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
"I'm here. I'm alive." I whispered, reassuringly.
"Your...your face...I barely recognise you..." She whispered, shakily.
"I know...it's a little difficult to get used to. The Ancient magics of the Dragons do wonders for a girl's complexion." I joked, feebly, with an apologetic shrug. She nodded, slowly, her eyes searching my face for something that she didn't seem to find. Familiarity, perhaps? Some sign that I was still her little sister? I wasn't sure. "How are you, Selena?"
Her eyes snapped back to mine, and I was unprepared for the anger which now shone in them.
"How am I?" She asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "Katharean...I thought you were dead. We all did...how could you do this to us? Do you have any idea...?"
"Okay, that's a little too loud." I cut her off, with a nervous grin, reaching behind her to close the door. "We have to be careful, Selena...I really don't think this is a 'fun for the whole family' situation. Father can never know I was here."
"Why are you here?" She demanded, angrily, and I took a step back, feeling slightly wounded. The baby resumed his wailing and Selena looked between the two of us and made an angry tutting sound before striding towards her son and lifting him into her arms where he quietened almost instantly. "I see you have met your nephew. Finally. Do you know we celebrated his first birthday last Wednesday? Where have you been, Katharean? And why are you back?"
"I...Selena, you know why I have not been here for you...for him...I have a responsibility, and-"
"A greater responsibility than the one you have to your own family?" She hissed, struggling to keep her voice down. "Do we meanso little to you?"
"I've just come from my bedroom, Selena. I think it's pretty clear how much I mean to all of you." I snapped back, fighting a tidal wave of pent up emotion.
"Father moved all of your things into the attic six months after news of your death reached us." She snapped, angrily. "He turned your bedroom into a study that's never been used. And do you know why he did that? Because it was too painful for him, for all of us, to walk past that door every day. He was too heart sick, he couldn't bear to come home once more to find me in tears by the side of your empty bed. It was becoming a shrine, Katharean. And we could not do it any more. I couldn't do it any more. We had to move on, all of us...I have a husband and a son who need me, I couldn't spend the rest of my life weeping for you. And now, I come home to find you here, alive and well and...masked? Do not turn this around on us, Katharean, we have loved you and missed you and grieved for you every day since you left. Can you honestly say the same? We are not the villains of the piece, little sister."
"Selena...you packed my things for me, remember?" I said, slowly, walking towards her. "You came to me in the middle of the night and you helped me to escape with Obsidian. Oh, and there's a point: Obsidian. What do you imagine I have been doing all this time? I am a Dragon Rider, Selena. The world outside your safe little bubble is at war and I am at very heart of it. I am nineteen years old and all of a sudden the fate of the world depends on me and a handful of my friends, and you have no idea...no idea what my life has been like. You cannot imagine what I have been through, what I have endured these last eighteen months. I am sorry for whatever Hell I have put you through, Selena, I really am. If I could go back and take that pain away, I would do it in an instant. But I can't change what has come to pass, I can only try to do what is right with the time that I have now. If you really want to know why I have not been here for you, I can explain. Or at least try to. If you are willing to listen to what I have to say." I finished, keeping my tone as even and diplomatic as possible in an attempt to mask the crescendo of conflicting emotions that warred within me. I was overjoyed to see my sister, safe and well and holding her son in her arms. But I was hurt, and I was angry that she was angry, and I hated myself for letting things turn out this way. She held my gaze for a moment, her chin raised with haughty defiance, but she sighed in frustration and moved to sit on her bed.
"I do not wish to fight with you, Katharean. For months I hoped and prayed that somehow you were still alive. But hoping for something that you know in your mind cannot be is a heavy burden. It was a poison. So I had to let it go. And now, you are here, and I am...there are no words to describe how I feel right now. It doesn't seem real...not yet. But whatever time I have with you here, I do not want to spend it arguing. Sit down," she motioned to the stretch of empty bed beside her. "Tell me everything. Perhaps then, if I know what has happened to you, I will be able to feel what I am supposed to feel...whatever that is."
Katharean, there is no time...Obsidian started but I brushed away his concerns.
Obsidian, this is my family. I will make time.
Have you forgotten why we came here? He demanded.
Of course not. But I owe Selena an explanation after everything that I...we...have put her through. I will make it as quick as I can. I flashed an image of a red-bricked mansion to him in our collective-mind's eye. That is the home of Lord and Lady Tropher. They are an elderly couple who live two miles north of here. Lady Tropher always used to boast about the fact that they are so highly regarded by the King that they still receive invitations to all of his formal events even though he knows that they are unlikely to attend. If you can get Arya there, she should have little difficulty getting in and securing that invitation by the time I've finished here. I know it is a little off-plan, but plans change.
I could sense that he wanted to argue, but clearly thought better of it when he realised that I was resolute in my decision.
Fine. But I would just like to state right now that I do not like any of this. When you start changing the plan, you leave more room for mistakes. If this little family reunion turns sour and compromises everything, do not say that I didn't warn you. He growled, angrily.
Duly noted. I replied, coolly, and he slammed down the walls of his mind in a temper, screening his thoughts from me.
Great. You too. And why not? Everyone else has had their shot at me: Eragon, Selena...why don't we just gather up everyone that I care about and put them in one big room and you can all just beat me with sticks or something. I drawled, facetiously, but he was already gone. That was okay. I was going to need a clear head for this, anyway. My own jumble of thoughts was confusing enough, I didn't need the input of an angry dragon to make matters worse. I sighed, flopping wearily onto the bed beside my sister.
"Okay, Selena." I smiled, wryly. "You're going to have to hear the whole story."
AN: I'm just going to upload this as it is, because I physically can't read it again. It's giving me the brain-pain. I hope it makes sense, because it's not making any to me right now, but I think it might be because my brain's gone into sleep-mode. Probably.
I should almost definitely get a beta.
P.s. I know it seems as though there's a bit of a story gap in this chapter, but there's a reason for it. Don't worry, all will be explained in the next couple of chapters...OPPA FLASHBACK STYLE!