Shadow of a Shade

Chapter Nine

Addiane nudged Eragon awake at dawn, then let him wake Murtagh up. Something told her that waking him up herself wouldn't be a fun experience.

She was indeed correct, the man grabbed his brother's wrist and flipped him over as casually as Addiane's adoptive brother would pick up sacks of potatoes when they were loading the carts to go to market.

Addiane sighed. She missed Kath a lot. He was two years older than she was, and the two of them had always been the closest of the kids on the farm.

Granted, they were the oldest two. But she and Kath had an even closer connection than the twelve-year-old twins Mihna and Knulf.

Addiane stopped for a moment. They were twelve. She hadn't even thought of that. It had been two years since she'd seen them.

"Breakfast is ready." She informed Murtagh and Eragon as they disentangled themselves from the wrestling match that was starting.

"I hope you cook better than Eragon does." Murtagh grinned. Eragon threw a stick at his head and he ducked, snickering.

"I like to think I do." Addiane chuckled.

"I will suspend your training."

"No you won't, she's very good and you know she needs to continue."

Eragon huffed in mock annoyance and plopped down next to the fire, accepting a small bowl of the porridge she'd made.

"When did you two find out you were brothers?"

The two looked at each other and Murtagh scratched his head, smiling a little sheepishly.

"Well, I uh... sort of used it against him, just a little bit."

"A little bit?"

Murtagh chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, I used it against you quite a bit."

"I'd say so." Eragon complained.

Addiane rolled her eyes. "Are you just going to keep arguing or are you going to actually tell me the story?"

"Well, when I was working for the Evil King, he sent me out to meet the Varden's army. Eragon, of course, was with them.

"I started the fight, and he was going pretty aggressively. I had a mask on so he didn't know it was me at first, I think."

"I think I sort of knew, I was praying I was wrong." Eragon shook his head.

Murtagh made a conceding gesture and continued.

"I revealed that we were brothers to catch him off guard, then took the chance and disarmed him and took his sword. Said it belonged in my hands anyway, it was my father's. Then I ran, like a coward."

Eragon grunted, but didn't say anything.

"Do you have siblings, Addiane?"

She smiled. "Sort of. My parents either abandoned me or passed away, no one really knows. The family that adopted me has seven kids. I fit in pretty well, actually, a lot of them are redheads."

"Seven kids? In Daret? How did they manage that?" Murtagh frowned.

Addiane shook her head. "Daret area. We lived on a farm outside the town. We all worked our part and helped out with the crops and animals and such."

The Red Rider grunted in understanding. "So you were pretty well off."

"Fairly. There were years where food was a bit scarcer, but we managed."

Nyriem bugled suddenly, making all three of them jump.

"What's wrong?" Addiane frowned at him.

"We're losing daylight."