The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

The New Family of Friends

It had taken a full week, but we were finally getting on the move today. The Varden was a hub of activity inside the mountain. People were moving about constantly, making whatever last minute preparations they thought were necessary. As for myself, Isabelle was helping me pack up the few belongings I had. Most of the clothes she had retrieved for me fit nicely inside my pack. She'd also given me a brush to try and tame my unruly locks of hair. As we sat in my room for the last time, she helped me pull out the tangles at the ends. It was getting so long since we'd left Carvahall; it was down to the middle of my back now.

"I wish my hair looked like this," Isabelle mused quietly.

"Believe me," I scoffed, "it's more trouble than it's worth." She only smiled and then pulled my soft waves of brown hair back into a horsetail. The leather strip I'd had with me since Carvahall helped to hold the hair back out of my face. When that was finished, we were finally ready to go. Isabelle swung her own pack over her shoulder and I hefted mine up. The last thing I picked up was laying on the bed, the polish shining in the lanternlight. With a pounding heart, I reached down to it: Murtagh's bow.

This was the last piece of him I had. Everything else was gone. There wasn't even a body to bury, as they'd never found him, and all attempts to scry him had been fruitless. The bow felt light in my hands, and I ran my palm over the sanded surface. It curved slowly and gracefully, and the leather grip was worn where his strong hand had gripped it so many times before. I could almost still feel his spirit within it, crying out to me. I would hold onto this bow, and treasure it until my last days.

"Are you ready?" Isabelle asked, standing by the open door and holding the lantern aloft to bathe the room in a warm orange glow one last time. I looked around the little room-that had once been Murtagh's-and sighed heavily.

"I've grown fond of this place," I admitted. "This was the first place I'd had a real bed in a long time and... Murtagh died here. This mountain is his final resting place. I'm loathe to go, but I know that we must. Perhaps I'll come back one day, for a final goodbye."

"Do not be melancholy," she said kindly. "I think you'll like Surda." I nodded slightly and then turned away from the room, following Isabelle and her lantern out into the hall. It was filled with people trekking down to the lower levels, and we soon melded into the crowd.

"You've been to Surda before?" I asked, adding my voice to the rising chorus all around me.

"I was born there," she explained. "My parents died when I was eleven, from the Sand Fever. One day, Angela came to Aberon and found me trying to run my parents' apothecary shop. Although I was a terrible businesswoman at twelve, she said that I had a knack for dealing with herbs and offered to take me on as an apprentice. There was nothing left for me in Surda; I had no family or friends to speak of. And I longed for adventure as a young girl. So I agreed. Part of me thinks she only offered because that strange cat of hers talked to me." That gave me a start. I'd read about talking cats before, but I had always thought they were just myths.

"A werecat?" I asked to confirm my suspicions.

"Yes, I believe that is what Solembum is," she replied.

"That's a very rare occurrence, Isabelle. Werecats don't talk to just anyone. You have to be very special," I said, watching her out of the corner of my eye to try and see what her reaction would be. She barely even blinked.

"Hmm," was the only reply I got and so I decided to drop the subject. When we reached the main hall, Angela quickly came over to us.

"There you two are," she chided in a very motherly tone, putting an arm around Isabelle's and my shoulders. "Come along quickly. We've got a long journey in front of us." I saw a little boy following behind her. He had shaggy, black hair and large yellow eyes, and I knew that this must be the werecat Isabelle had spoken of. He looked over at me, and blinked his huge, feline eyes a couple of times.