Feeling confident she wanted him to, Eragon bent, heaved her over his shoulder, and began to sprint through the corridors past hundreds of people. A few gasps, laughs and a cheer rang out behind them, but Eragon sprinted past everyone before they could be confronted. They passed Nasuada and Murtagh on the way, with Murtagh looking up just as they blurred by.
He heard the telltale sound of his brother's voice behind him yell out "about damn time!"
He also managed to pass Hvedra who shot him a wink and a smile, waving to Arya who held on for dear life, giggling as she bounced up and down on his shoulder.
When they reached the dragon hold, he turned her right side up and said, "There, now the secret is out. Nothing left to worry about."
Arya laughed once more. Her cheeks were bright red, but her thoughts were filled with mirth at his childishness. He was loving how much more carefree she appeared in this moment.
"What secret?" Alec said as he exited his room. Then he took in Aryas flushed state and their proximity to each other and let out a chuckle. "You two finally came to your senses eh? I am thrilled for you both, but it wasn't much of a secret with ballads and poems are sung and written about you throughout the land."
Eragon looked from Alec to Arya, wondering what ballads had been sung about the two of them. Arya's face burned red.
"This is fantastic!" Alec said mostly to Arya. "He was miserable in Arngor. Maybe now he'll let everyone have a little fun."
Eragon thanked him sarcastically and whisked them both into Arya's room before he could be embarrassed further.
As he turned to face her, he found that she had wedged her whole body against him, pushing him back against the door. She reached out to touch his still sweaty abdomen. He took in a sharp breath, and she gauged his response, his manhood showing very clearly through his leather pants. Her hands reached behind his waist, gripping him firmly from behind. She rubbed her center against him as her lips tilted upwards meeting his, making him swell torturously against the leather. His breath was quickening now as she kissed him, and he struggled to maintain control of his faculties. He let loose a moan just as she did.
The heat had spread from her to him in less than a second, and neither one had thought to silence their sounds with magic.
Alec called out from the common space between rooms "we can heeeeaaar you!" he shouted, and a chorus of two-leg and dragon laughter burst out from behind him.
"How many people are out there now?" Arya asked Eragon mentally.
Eragon slid the door open and peeked through the crack, spying Alec, Bohlr, Jadis, Kuthvir, and to his chagrin, their newest order member Haroldun and his tiny onyx dragon Dorzada.
"Sorry!" he yelled back, quickly warding the room from outside listeners.
That earned him another round of laughter, but he paid them no heed. Arya waited for him to answer her question.
"Six." He said.
She started laughing uncontrollably, infecting him with her mirth. They laughed together then.
"I missed this," Eragon said. "Just spending time with you again is everything to me."
She looked at him with understanding. "It is the same for me," Arya said.
They showered separately despite Arya's earlier teasing thoughts. Afterwards, Eragon was content to watch her work through the Elven briefings until her stomach grumbled rather loudly, signaling the end of their time alone.
"We haven't eaten all day have we?" Arya said thoughtfully. "Aye," Eragon said.
"We must have forgotten. My mouth was busy doing other things." He waggled his eyebrows for effect.
"Well then come along," she said, reaching for his hand as she strode to the door. "Let us eat and meet our newest students."
Eragon faltered at the use of the word our. While technically they both trained the students from time to time, Arya's other duties had often interfered in recent years, so she had passed them to some of the elder riders a few years earlier. To be mentioning "our" students now could mean only one thing.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked her mentally, showing her his line of thinking.
"Umaroth spoke true," she said in the ancient language. "I have ruled my people for too long already, and I have no wish to remain in Du Weldenvarden. And Firnen and Saphira are to be parents!" she said with tears of happiness threatening to spill from her.
Her joy was palpable now, and she spoke with excitement at the possibility of a different life from the shadow of one she had been living.
"I long for new adventures, new lands, and the raising of dragons Eragon," she said. "And… I long… for you."
Eragon's heart leapt at her admission. Saphira and Firnen's roars of happiness could be heard across almost the entirety of the Beor mountains. They rejoiced in the knowledge that their riders were happy, but they rejoiced even more that they themselves wouldn't be forced to part again.