Aliana gave Aerin the letter and the message when they had a moment while Galbatorix was distracted by talking to Murtagh at the ball that evening, waiting till the king was done to make her request. He turned to her and listened as she said she thought it was time the elf was able to move around the garden so his muscles wouldn't atrophy. Galbatorix agreed and went with her, redoing his wards once inside the room and then left after looking at Oromis for a moment.

"It is nice to see nothing happened to you in the Shade Lands." Oromis said into the long silence that followed.

"It's only those who are captured during battles who are taken to be Shades." She took off his bandages and gently cleaned the old herbal mixture off. "But I appreciate your concern."

"Why wouldn't I be concerned? You are the only reason I am getting better."

Aliana gathered more herbs, very aware that she was still in her green ball gown. "Only so Galbatorix can fight you. No other reason."

"Yet the idea of the fight being unfair bothers you."

"I am a Swordmaster, of course unfair fights bother me. Unfortunately I'm old enough now to know that the reality war offers no fairness." She paused, hoping she hadn't sounded as bitter as she felt. "You should take advantage of the ability to walk around the garden as much as you can."

"Which is no doubt thanks to you."

"It wouldn't be a very challenging fight for His Excellency if you're so weak that he wouldn't even have to try to defeat you. That wouldn't look very good on me since he said to have you in good health."

"What you say may be partly true, yet even like this I would not be easy to take down." He sat up, muscles flexing as he did so. There was power in the way he moved, but she wasn't intimidated.

"I know that you are not in good health, the amount of strength you have like this is not part of the equation."

His lips curled into a small smile at her frankness. "Truth be told, I have not had good health since the fall of the dragon riders. Most thought me dead because of a spell cast on me during my captivity by a Foresworn, which cut me off from the energy around me. I cannot do more than small spells as a result and it also causes me to have seizures, both of which not even the great healers of Ellesméra were able to cure. I would have won against Murtagh if I didn't have this disability and my dragon Glaedr wouldn't have been forced to surrender with me."

Aliana was taken back by him returning her candor and it took her a while to find her voice. "I have never met your dragon, but I am certain they care deeply for you."

"Yes, he does. Glaedr would like to meet you, but his prison forbids entry to anyone not Galbatorix."

"You mean you can still talk to your dragon? But that should be impossible, I heard Galbatorix bragging about his spell work to his new Shade."

He inclined his head. "Glaedr and I have been bonded for hundreds of years. Galbatorix lacks the ability to understand just how strong our connection because he has never had it with either of his dragons. His first one died because of him and poor Shruikan was magically forced to bond with him as a kit when his rider was murdered."

If someone had asked Aliana as a child what her king was like she would have naïvely said good things, but the more she'd seen and learned over the years, she now only served him because the alternative was death. She ground the herbs she'd gathered into a poultice, deep in thought. She applied it to his nearly healed wounds. "You said one of the Foresworn cut you off from the energy around you, correct?"

"Yes."

She bandaged him and pressed a point on his back which she'd read about in an old Swordmaster book.

He gave an involuntary gasp, eyes meeting hers. "I could feel my magic for a moment, what did you do?"

"I touched a spot that an ancient family tome suggested could connect people to the energy around them. All the way down your spine are places corresponding with the different functions of the body and mind, which most don't know about and the few that do sometimes dismiss them as merely ideas instead of remedies."

"It's such a simple solution." He mused softly, lips twitching. "You have reminded me why I argued to allow humans the opportunity of being dragon riders a long time ago. Unfortunately, my fellow Elves have had this habit of undermining the abilities of others in the past and sometimes still do. They paid dearly for such proud opinions when Galbatorix took over. Yet I wonder if things would be different if I hadn't spoken out against Galbatorix being given another dragon. Maybe the world could have been spared this terrible war."

She was surprised that he considered himself at fault because of a choice he had made, though she understood why. "If it's any consolation, I doubt your silence would have changed what happened. Galbatorix has openly stated on multiple occasions the death of his first dragon was the dragon rider council's fault for not intervening. He would have used that reasoning regardless of the results from his petition to get into power. He knows how to manipulate people into agreeing with him and if they refuse, he takes whatever they hold most dear to them away."

He studied her with his deep golden eyes, his expression solemn. "A very dangerous observation for someone still in his service."

"As I've stated before, Galbatorix already knows everything I am thinking so it's hardly a threat to me when it's something I've known for a long time and nothing has happened." She replied shortly, packing away her supplies.

"You certainly are fearless." He rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. "Will you be going back to the ball?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It's been a long day and-" she stopped short and stared at the hand he extended to her. "What?"

"Would you dance with me, Aliana?"

"I..." She knew it was a bad idea, but Aerin had been right: She found she didn't care about the risk, she wanted to know what would happen. "Yes, I will." She took his hand and danced with him. Something had changed between them when they stopped and bade each other good night before she left, but she didn't dare to think or hope what that was.