Lover of the Legacy: A Hidden Desire

Chapter 13: Good Advice

Lover of the Legacy: A Hidden Desire

Chapter 13

Eragon stood dumbfounded before his cousin Roran. He looked much older than Eragon remembered, his long and arduous journey depicting its physical toll on the young man. His beard was un-kept and his clothes dirtied and torn, but otherwise, he looked healthy enough. While Eragon was engaged with Murtagh, Roran had landed ashore after sailing for many weeks along with the villagers of Carvahall.

Nasuada took her leave, allowing the cousins to catch up with one another. "I cannot believe you are here," Eragon finally said, walking closer to Roran to embrace him. Roran stiffened at the contact, exposing his anger. "You have a right to blame me, Roran, but I was only doing what I thought was the right thing."

"My father is dead and Katrina was taken captive because of you!" Roran growled, pointing his finger at his cousin.

Eragon sighed and looked at the ground, "And for that I am sorry."

"An apology will not bring them back." Roran said, balling up his fists.

Looking up, Eragon became on the defensive. "Do you think that I do not regret what happened? What is done, is done, but I will help you rescue Katrina. By my honor as a Rider, I will help you. You are my family, Roran; I look upon you as my brother, I will never completely abandon you."

Roran scoffed, "Right, so leaving Carvahall was not abandoning me…"

"I was trying to protect you," Eragon protested.

"And look how well that worked."

"What would you have had me do? I could not stay in Carvahall and risk exposing Saphira…"

"No, you should have told us—Garrow and I—about Saphira. We would not have liked the idea, but we would have helped you, since, as you stated earlier, we are family. But, you had to keep it a secret and look where that got us!"

"I wanted to tell you, but I was unsure how to tell you."

"Yeah, because you were a coward." Eragon began to feel his anger rise at his cousin's accusation. Yet, he understood Roran's contempt and did not further upon the topic.

"Do you want me to help you, or not?" Eragon finally asked.

"Of course I do, though, do not expect me to forgive you anytime soon."

Eragon nodded. "All right. I will discuss the matter with Nasuada and report back to you in a few hours."

"Fine." Roran brushed passed Eragon and walked out of the tent. The transaction between his cousin had gone better than he expected, but it still pained him to know just how angry Roran was with him. He vowed to make things right between them, no matter what. Nasuada popped her head in to see if Roran was gone, and seeing that Eragon was alone, she walked in.

"What is on your mind, Eragon?" Nasuada may have been his leader, but she still regarded him as a friend and wanted to make sure that he was all right.

"I need permission to leave with Roran. His fiancé, Katrina, was captured by the Ra'zac and I promised to help him. Will you let me leave?"

Nasuada crossed her arms. "Apparently I must since your mid is already made up. Denying you your request only to have you leave on your own accord will make me have to punish you when you return. I cannot allow that to happen. Your request in dangerous, however, it is necessary. Go and help him, but be quick about it!"

Eragon bowed, said his thanks, and then, darted off to find Satine. He found her helping the villagers of Carvahall settle into the camp. Upon his arrival, she smiled. "Good, we could use your help."