Shadow of a Shade

Chapter Fifteen

"He said something about you, you know."

Addiane looked up when Murtagh spoke. "About me?"

The man sat up, staring out at the forest. "Well. Sort of."

"What does that mean?"

"He... implied that we were taking advantage of you."

She raised her eyebrows. "I... I see."

Murtagh curled his hands into fists and crossed his arms tightly.

"And that prompted you to attack him?"

"He shouldn't speak of you like that."

Addiane sighed. She knew what Will was doing, but she still wondered why he'd thought that would go well for him.

"Has it occurred to you that he was trying to upset you?"

Murtagh grunted and Addiane shook her head.

"He's too confident. It's putting me on edge."

"He probably thinks he'll get away. Let me take the night shift guarding."

Murtagh started to shake his head, but Addiane continued. "You and Eragon have been giving me shorter guard shifts than what you're doing. If I go back inside and take a nap now, I'll be more alert tonight. I can handle a proper guard shift."

"I'll talk to Eragon about it." He finally grumbled.

Addiane nodded and the two sat in silence for several minutes.

Finally, she had to break the stillness. The flames she kept seeing in her sleep were flashing in front of her eyes every time she closed them, even for a moment.

"Do Dragon Riders ever have prophecy dreams?"

"Excuse me?" Murtagh looked at her, frowning.

Addiane absentmindedly picked a stalk of straw from the roof and began to shred it. "Prophecy dreams."

"It's... rare, as far as I know. Not many Riders have them, usually they come to seers and prophets, those regularly trying to reach into the future. Why do you ask?"

"I've been seeing strange things in my dreams."

"Like?"

"The town up in flames, mostly." Addiane sighed and gathered up the bits of straw that she'd ripped apart and blew them into the wind. They spiraled away and disappeared from sight. "But once or twice they've been focused on other things."

Murtagh was quiet.

"I dreamed of a woman a few nights before we got here. The night the Ra'zac attacked."

"What kind of woman?" His tone sounded mildly suspicious, but Addiane ignored it.

"A Shade... her name was Srerrafe."

Murtagh stiffened. "Srerrafe? You're sure?"

Addiane nodded. "Do you know who she is?"

"She used to work for my father. One of his personal assassins. After my mother ran away, pregnant with Eragon, Srerrafe went after her. She never returned, but I know that Mother arrived here and had Eragon. I always hoped that she killed the witch."

"A pregnant woman, outfighting a Shade?"

Murtagh shrugged. "I never said it was believable. Just that Srerrafe deserved it. What was the dream with her about?"

Addiane thought back. "She was chasing Selena... your mother, right?"

He nodded.

"In the dream she was standing on a cliff, watching a campfire in the distance. She thought it was Selena. I never saw if she caught up to her... then I had a dream of Srerrafe fighting a man with a blue dragon."