Adurna

Target Practice

Chapter Twenty Four-

I inched my way towards the entrance, speaking to some departures briefly, repeating that I look forward to seeing more of them, though I can't say I know their names. Luckily they smiled pleasantly back and wished me the same. Finally, most of the people were gone, if not all. Looking around I was surprised to see only Nasuada, Eragon, the dwarf Orik, and Angela sitting at the table as I saw the last man out with a tired grin. They were in a seemingly intense conversation; all but Eragon. He watched me with interest and looked to have been doing so for quite some time. I smiled self-consciously and began playing with my fingers, still not used to the warmth that spread through me every time his big brown eyes glanced in my direction.

Without warning he rose from his seat. The three others around him watched in surprise as he made his way towards me, as well as myself. He smirked gorgeously before turning to face the table again.

"We have other matters to attend to," Eragon spoke firmly, a smile still lingering in his voice as if he could not squelch its heat. "So if you'll excuse us, we shall see you all in the morning."

The other matters we were supposed to be attending to, I had no idea, nor did I care what they are. We didn't wait for a reply either. Instead, Eragon took my hand and dragged my willing body away from the confused faces. We jogged quickly in the shadows of others tents, smiling like fools as we had a moment to ourselves.

He led me through a few more mazes of tents until he halted at one not far from mine. There were sounds of two voices and another one of a child laughing. Plates were scrapping against forks and knifes, being cleaned of the leftovers no doubt. The voices were unfamiliar to me. My brows furrowed in confusion. Why had Eragon taken me here?

I was about to voice my question when Eragon began pulling me towards the entrance. I hesitated before the entrance. He just smiled widely over his shoulder at me before pushing his way inside. We stood close together in the eyes of three surprised persons.

A woman holding a wet dish with copper colored hair widened her brown eyes in confusion. Her jaw was tight as she whipped her hands against her worn dress and went to the man sitting beside the table. The man looked calmly at us, a smile forming on his lips. Much like Eragon, his hair was a deep brown and fell in waves around his ears while his gray eyes appraised our clasped hands with interest. My eyes dropped to the child sitting on his lap. I grinned at the one familiar face of Garrow. He smiled boldly at us and quickly turned to the woman who had now taken a few steps towards us.

"Katrina," Eragon said with a brilliant smile, closing the distance between them in a few strides. "It's good to see you again."

The woman, Katrina, hugged Eragon securely. "I was worried you would not return to us. We missed you terribly."

Eragon smiled again and kissed both her cheeks before turning to the man. I stood by the door way quietly, clasping my hands respectfully behind my back as the two men stood facing one another. The resemblance was uncanny, though Eragon seemed to be younger in age than the man. As if a silent conversation had gone through the both of them, they hugged the other quickly.

"Good to have you back, Eragon." The man said with a wide smile breaking across his face. Though I did not know who this man was, I felt myself smile along with him, as if I too could feel the loss of Eragon and the longing to see him again like the man must have gone through.

"Good to be back, Roran." Eragon replied, clasping his cousin on the shoulder. Roran! I've heard plenty of stories about him, and no wonder they looked so much alike. They were related after all.

They all turned expectantly to me, their eyes grazing over my face as if trying to decide where I stand. I smiled as warmly as I could, though I wanted to squirm out of their guarded eyes. Finally, Eragon stepped forwards and pulled me to him.