When Eragon awoke, the past night came flooding back to him and a grin graced his features. Arya was still resting, and he was somehow even more enchanted by her beauty in this moment because she looked so peaceful. He carefully extricated himself from the bed and looked out onto the balcony to find Saphira and Firnen had come back and were now curled up in the bowl-like impression built into the floor.
The sun had just risen, and Eragon decided to use the extra time to meditate and complete the five phases of the Rimgar. He was in his 3rd stage when Arya awoke and walked over to him, effortlessly joining him in the forms despite not working through the first two stages. Every now and then she would smirk at him and a touch of red would spread through her cheeks as she admired his form. He reached out a tendril of thought to her.
"What could you be thinking about to give you such a glow?" He teased.
She decided to show him exactly what had been going through her mind. He was forced into her memory of last night and immediately realized his mistake as his manhood surged in response to the images.
"What could YOU be thinking about to give you such…growth Eragon?"
He was about to respond when his mind registered another approaching the other side of her door. He quickly slipped outside so as not to be seen. On the balcony, he woke Saphira and she quickly flew him across to his own room. The knock on the door jarred Arya, but she quickly dressed and opened it to find Angela beaming at her.
Angela was not one to stand on ceremony, so she waved away the formal greetings, stepped forward to hug Arya briefly and asked a question only Angela would.
"So where is that blockhead hiding, and when are we celebrating?" Angela said expectantly, looking around at the empty room.
"Celebrating what exactly?" Arya floundered.
"Ooo where to start?!" Angela said. "Alagaesia is at peace, Eragon is back, Saphira is…"she paused. "Fine. I'll save that bit for later. Then there's the main topic of your own union of course! I have been waiting some time for this particular prophecy of mine to come about. There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of being right. So… where is he?" she repeated with a look of glee.
Arya let out a sigh, realizing there wasn't much point in denying what Angela clearly had already surmised.
"How did you know?" she asked, not expecting a real answer.
"I have my ways," Angela quipped. "Now where is he?"
"He sensed someone coming and slipped away with Saphira," Arya said.
Angela looked like she was concentrating for a moment then said "well now he knows it's me, and they're coming back."
Arya let out a pure singsong laugh.
"And what do you wish to speak of Angela?" Eragon said as he landed with Saphira.
She slid back next to Firnen in their bowl. After waking, Firnen spoke for the first time that morning.
"Greetings wise one." Firnen said to Angela.
"You two make quite the pair as well don't you?" Angela thought back to him.
"Fortune smiles upon me and my family," he replied. Then he shut their conversation off from the rest.
Eragon looked at Angela, waiting for some sort of answer as to what had just taken place, but he found nothing of her thoughts. While he could see slivers of most people's thoughts without any difficulty, Angela was an enigma. He could see nothing no matter how hard he looked.
"Very well Eragon I will answer," Angela said to his silent question. "I simply wanted to wish you my heartfelt congratulations on your new mate or wife or whatever you have chosen to call yourselves."
Eragon looked from Arya to Angela, not knowing quite what to say about any of it. They had shared a few kisses, but they hadn't spoken at length about anything. Nothing was determined. As far as Eragon was concerned, she could very well change her mind about everything. Arya waited curiously for his response to Angela's statement. There was a long pause as he tried to work his way out of the corner he'd been backed into.
"He always was a bit of a blockhead," Angela finally stated after a long while.
Arya snickered at that and Eragon feigned a look that said he felt betrayed.
"We haven't had time to discuss these things ourselves Angela." Eragon said finally. "Your timing, as always, is impeccable."
Angela laughed at that and said "Fine. Take time to talk things over, but I am rarely wrong, so what exactly is there to talk about?"
"Plenty." Said Eragon. "And unfortunately I do not have want of another pair of ears while we discuss it. There are enough already," he said, looking pointedly towards their dragons.
"Very well," said Angela. "But just remember who congratulated you first!" And with that, she practically skipped out the door muttering something about eggs and… bubbles or rice?