Dunei - A Murtagh Love Story - Eldest Fan Fiction

Chapter 11

The bolt scrap warned the pair when they got their next visitor. Galbatorix was alone, and as he had done before he unstrapped Murtagh from the slab silently before escorting him out of the cell. But this time Lorena managed to stay calm, unafraid of Murtagh's disappearance.

She lost herself in her fantasies of the Beor Mountains. Hours passed and eventually Lorena lost interest in tracking an Urzhadn and instead returned her attention to the cell. Murtagh had been gone for what seemed far too long. She examined the veins on the ceiling. She hummed songs and poems she learnt as a child. Eventually she began to worry.

Lorena was chewing nervously on her bottom lip when she heard the bolt scrap. She sighed with relief but was surprised to see her grey lipped gaoler rather than the King and his prisoner. She was escorted to the privy room and fed before the gaoler left her alone in the cool cell. She noticed with a mixture of pleasure and distaste that she could no longer hear the crackling of the brazier. There was silence.

Panic began to claw at her stomach. He'll be back, she tried to reassure herself, he will be back.

* * *

She slipped in and out of consciousness so she was unsure how long it had been before she heard the bolt scrap again. Lorena focused on controlling her breathing when she heard multiple pairs of footsteps descend. Five soldiers came into view, all in red tunics with gold thread embroidered in the outline of a jagged flame. Each one flicked open a restraint before one pulled her off the slab and onto her feet. She tried to push him away, causing the soldier to tighten his grip painfully.

Lorena winced as he began to drag her up the stairs. She stumbled and would have fallen but his tight hold held her up, she kicked her feet trying to get them back on the ground and succeeded after a few steps. The door opened when they reached the top of the stairs, the guards did not look at them, but silently closed the door after they had exited the cell.

The soldier dragged her down the hallway, his companions following close behind. Lorena attempted to keep track of the number of walkways they passed and which way they turned but she found it more useful to try to keep her balance. Eventually they came across a brilliantly carved wooden door, with works of dragons in aerial combat.

They pushed the door open and shoved Lorena inside. She stumbled then spun, ready to fight, she managed to glimpse the smirking face of one of the soldiers, then the door slammed shut. She turned to examine the room.

It was empty besides her, and great in size. Beside the door she noticed hooks and a carved wooden table. To her left there was a dresser that took up almost the full length of the wall, with a full mirror beside it. The back of the room was open to a deserted courtyard, she noticed thin wooden panels hanging from the ceiling on either side and assumed that they could be pulled along as a wall to block the room from the courtyard and elements. The middle of the room there were plush armchairs, arranged in a rough circle as an entertaining area, with a short table in the middle. To her right she saw a wash basin and an enormous four posted bed covered in a black Shrrg pelt. Flameless lanterns ran around the perimeter of the room.

Most of the floor was taken up by a brown-silver Urzhadn pelt, Lorena knelt to inspect it, the quality was exquisite and had it not been in a chamber in Urû'baen she would have been shocked to have seen such a thing. She made her way out into the courtyard, the walls were dotted with doors. There was an overhang, running around the whole courtyard, to allow a person to walk into the different rooms even when raining. The walls ran high-too high she noticed-for anyone to climb without the aid of magic. The courtyard was filled with bushes and flowers, the wall covered in vines. It was big enough to comfortably house dragons, there was enough room for at least twenty or so dragons of Saphira's size.