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The travel to the castle was fairly quick, ignoring the night she hardly slept, being tormented by what happened in the battle and she had to brush off. While mounting on Thorn, she held on to Murtagh with one of her hands, as the other matched her appearance to a human, hiding her angular face and pointy ears.
It was a thrill to fly, being able to feel free, much better than on his claws, surely, even though the saddle wasn’t what anyone would call comfortable.
At Galbatorix’s lair, she would be a noble, acting as Murtagh’s mistress, to not be mistaken as someone he’d marry. It was both a blessing and a curse, since she would be easily tracked and observed and if otherwise, she’d be suspected.
Estelle knew she had to gamble her way out of this chaos, although at the very least, Murtagh had power on his hands… until he let Eragon get away, but at least this shows there is still hope to his humanity, or whatever his species calls it.
The palace looked imposing and full of bad omen. It was common knowledge she’d pass through hardships in it. After landing, she was guided directly to the throne room by Murtagh, where the king would hold a meeting with him and meet her. The riskiest part of the plan, she thought.
Looking down upon both of them, the meeting continued as they kneeled down and Galbatorix stayed on his throne, talking about everything that happened in such detail that’d harm him. Probably an order Galbatorix gave to him with his true name. She continued her line of thought very defencely, knowing how tough of an opponent she faced in disguise.
“About Eragon still… being alive, we can talk about later. First things first, who is this girl?” He almost said peasant.
After millions of pleasantries, talking through the 300 titles that the king made up for himself, he finally asked for permission to Estelle be his mistress.
“Oh my…” He gave a little smirk. “Wouldn’t you like for her to be your betrothed already?”
He flushed red and she smiled taking a look at how his face looked like a mess, recomposing himself with a cough. “I’m not sure about this decision yet, so I wanted to test the waters by taking her as my mistress if you so accept, your highness.”
Of course he didn’t reject his request or ask questions about her like a strict ruler would before an important member of the court would marry, because it would be a weakness for the Dragon Rider, or so he thought. Estelle smirks while kneeling face down, so the king can’t see how everything is going according to plan.
“Thank you, almighty Galbatorix.” The words felt as bitter as poison in her mouth.
Since they arrived early, there were still hours until lunch, so they were going to rest in the quarters. The corridors were spacious, so they could fit Thorn, but not the dragon of Galbatorix.
The guard asked, clearly enchanted by Estelle’s strange face, since Elves look different even when all facts point opposite: “Would you like a chamber neighbor to him my lady? Another bed? Ask anything.”
“It would be good to have my own chamber, although also making Murtagh’s bed fit for a couple if I may ask of you.” She asked with simple and tender elegance, making lies even sweeter than the truth. “For now, I’ll stay in his chambers, until that can be arranged.”
The guard shuffled and agreed with every single noise that came out of her mouth, but quickly got out.
Murtagh went back to his usual self, seeing how much effort you went through in manipulating that facade so easily, finally stopping to be so flustered and out of his normal personality to the court. They matched their steps, walking with grace.
“I’m already thinking like the awful people who gossip around the castle…” She reprimanded herself.
His room was very spacious, with a huge bed full of pillows, as such she shouldn’t have asked for another one to the guard, she wondered if it was really meant for a single person.
“You’re the first person to get here outside of guards, actually.” He said, slightly reading my thoughts.
“Please don’t do that again.”
“What?”
“Okay then.” Since she didn’t sound like a liar, she continued scanning the room.
There was a good space for Thorn to lay down, although it was just a bed and nothing more. The stables had more resources, but she imagined they’d be more comfortable together.
On the side opposite to Thorn’s, there were shelves so full of books they almost exploded. That would be a good search for some literature made by humans, she thought, eager to look though every single one of them.
“You can stay here and rest while I go fetch some food for Thorn.”
“Wait. Let’s resolve some issues first.” She started, “Do you want our relationship to be more reserved or more shown to the public? Knowing the nobles, which one would be easier to keep them at bay?”
He sat beside her on the bed, putting his arms around her shoulders and then looked at her deep into her eyes. They were very close. Almost too close.
“I’ve led your way through this long enough. I know you know how to do it better than me. Tell me, what do you prefer?”
Finally. This was the person she was looking for this whole time.
“Let’s make it more reserved then, to match our personalities. If the nobles look suspicious, one display of affection will drive them crazy for ages.”
“That’s true, let’s stick to that then.”
She felt his breathing from how close they were to each other. His gaze went to her lips, but she stopped the moment, knowing how wrong it felt. He was a human, and she was an Elf. Well… half Elf, but it didn’t matter at all despite not being a worthy successor to the throne, which already had a daughter of the queen at that, Arya.
“I’ll be checking out these books.” She said, taking a seat at the small reading table. “Good walk you both, see you at lunch?” She looked at both Murtagh and Thorn, who looked a little out of place, seeing what Murtagh almost did.
“See you” Both answered in unison.