The night came sooner than expected as a lone woman's voice sang a lullaby, "Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby. Back to the days of Loo-li lai-lay."
Her face fell into a soft smile as she continued singing the sweet song and picked up a childish drawing of a family with only one child stick figure. The larger stick figures each bore lines in their hands and what passed for a woman had long flowing squiggles out of her head whilst another figure stood in between her and the man. In the background, three large animals lounged as if asleep. On the top of the drawing had a small child's attempt at writing, a duo of words that just stood out to say, 'My Family.'
She gently placed the object on a dresser, jumping when something fell outside the door. As she finished her singing, she placed the paper on a dresser and began unwinding her hair from the flowers and curls that entrapped it. A young woman stepped out of the shadows and walked over, standing matter-of-factly as she began weaving the loose strands into an intricate fall of waves, her face smiling softly at the singing before it twisted and she said, her voice wise beyond her years, "It does no good to be this way, forest queen. You'll never find happiness if you keep brooding over the child."
"I cannot help it, Elva, " Arya answered, her face turned down as the younger's fingers weaved through her hair and massaged her troubles away, "What brings you to Ellesmera anyway? It was not long ago since you left."
The fingers paused before they started again, Elva's expression impassive as she shook her head and said, "Elf Friend, remember? Plus, I want rid of this curse. I want to grow old and be able to die, instead of this endless life that I must live. I want to apologise to Eragon for my behaviour when I was but a babe in a child's body."
"It's been over a thousand years, Elva. What makes you think that he hasn't already forgiven you?" Arya responded, looking around at the young woman as the fingers stopped altogether and withdrawn. Elva looked tearful as she sighed and worried her lip slightly, looking the young woman that she wasn't. The younger's deep all-knowing violet eyes brimmed with guilt as she stared steadily at the monarch before she turned away, her arms hugging her torso before she whispered, "This curse allows me to know how even the most experienced of people all feel alongside their thoughts and intentions. It has always been this way. How can I forget how people have, over the years, aged and died while I stay the same 'age' that I appear to be?"
"I had thought that Eragon had found a way to suppress his curse."
"He tried yet even he could not change what had been done, Arya Dröttning. It has been too long, this is a part of who I am." Eva replied, smiling as she turned back, her clear violet eyes blazing before a knock came at the door and in came Harry who looked at the two women and stared as Elva cocked her head to one side and pouted slightly.
"Your Majesty, the celebrations are due to start." a voice called, the footsteps receding once she had given her confirmation. Elva smiled once before she went out into the hallway and left Aruba alone.
Shaking her head, Arya soon followed suit, looking at the picture once before leaving the room in the dark.
Maë
Mae sighed as the lightening, unseen scenery below flew by. The three, including Ashla, had flown non-stop as the night had drawn on. Hadrian hadn't been easy to convince that the Queen really did want to meet with him, eventually giving in and accepting what she said to be the truth.
He might be the king, but he's still young; She reminded herself, shifting slightly to alleviate some of the weight and leaning forward to grab hold of Ashla's spike. A grumble from him reached her ears before, With any luck, we should reach Ellesmera soon.
As long as we keep him safe. That's the important thing we must worry about. Mae replied mentally, her head bobbing from exhaustion. Bugling came from the male dragon before they fell silent once more, both watching for the bordering tree line of Du Weldenvarden.
You're tired, Maë. Came the comment from Ashla as she forced her head to up once more. Her eyes, heavy with tiredness, snapped open sluggishly and she shook her head, refusing to lay on the warm scaly neck of the Dragon underneath her. Something that irked the scaly reptilian behemoth as he snorted and began to descend, ignoring his Rider-and-partner-of-mind-and-spirit when she protested.
We're landing, Maë. You're tired and the king will most likely fall if we're not careful. He told her, tilting his wings to descend carefully, Besides, we're near to the boundaries. We should rest.
A sigh was his only answer as the sun peeked over the horizon and he flew over the grassy plains that were the forests border. Back-flapping his wings to lose his built-up speed, he glided down and soon landed softly on the windy meadow near a shady tree.
Hey, so this chapter was going to be two separate ones but it's late where I am so I'm just gonna be lazy and put them both together.
I hope you like and I'll see you in the next chapter. I hope I'm not too late with this because I have been very busy lately and that's why I haven't been able to update at all.
BTW, I'm not dead!
So, I'm sorry and I'll be back soon as I'm done with my coursework and what not.
Byeeeeee!
