Secrets and Rebellions.

[Emiryal ♕]

Reru sat in his office, little expense had been spared and it looked fit for a king. He was leaning back in his chair staring at the ceiling. he knew the citizens weren't happy with him being lord of this particular province. he'd had to quell multiple rebellions since being instated. One had almost succeeded. It didn't help either that the council was based here so naturally he had Nasuada, Eragon and others breathing down his neck if he so much as made a wrong move.

He wasn't popular but overall he'd actually made a pretty decent Lord. It was hard to say what he would've done had the threat of the council not been so looming over him. Between that and trying to keep up with one of the largest provinces it didn't leave him much time to actually do anything bad. Well it didn't seem bad to him what he wanted. He sighed and looked at his desk and the mountain of paperwork on it. He was sick of paperwork, he'd never liked it anyways. But instead of all the work he had to do his thoughts kept drifting to his dragon. As of two weeks ago she'd gone rogue on him and left without any warning. It had been after a fight he had with her when he wanted her help in starting a plan, of course one that the council wouldn't approve of. On the surface it seemed like she'd left only because of the fight but ever since he'd brought her back in the questionable way he had she'd been very unhappy with him. It seemed like she'd finally decided to leave him. There was no sign of her returning yet.

He wanted more than anything to leave and just go after her trying to find her. he could use the Nether to travel vast distances in the blink of an eye but he couldn't leave Uru'baen right now to go find her. the most recent rebellion had started to gain favor with the citizens and he needed to stop it before it got worse. Of course the rebellion was only in protest against him, they adored the council even that good for nothing Murtagh it seemed. Why had his father favored him so much anyways.

He quickly stood up and ignoring the papers on the desk left the room. He went down the hall until he got to one that opened onto a balcony. He went out and summoned his wings with a thought. They shimmered in rainbow hues and was delicate like a butterfly. He flew up to a closed off wing and into through a window. The only way in was to fly. He landed inside the dusty room that used to be his Father's study. he'd spent so much time outside of it worried of what his father would do to him. Now it was empty only a few signs showed he was ever here. Ignoring everything he went to the desk and very gently pulled open the bottom drawer after disarming the protective spells he'd placed on it. He pulled out an emerald dragon egg. He sighed and hugged it. "Why won't you hatch for me?" he said quietly. Granted he knew how to force it to hatch but...he didn't want to do it wrong this time. The Dragons already hated him enough for having done it once. And the dragon inside would hate him for it's lifetime if he did and forced a bond like he had Kami, before he killed her to bring back Avendel.

[Quetzal]

So many broken minds. It was a wonder they had not done the same to him yet. Ever since Alagaesia had finally been recovered from the clutches of Galbatorix, the man he had spent over a century trying to bring down, Glaedr had been fully occupied leading the healing of the Eldunari recovered from the vile man's vast stores. Every last one of them was a screaming mess. Had he any blood it would boil at the idea of this much suffering of his own kind, tortured long after bodily death until bound to serve a master and watch as he killed their own kind one by one. He thought he had it bad outliving his Rider. Other ex-Varden dragons were wary of allowing him to spend most of his time exploring the minds of such mad dragons, many of which were much older and more powerful than him, but he found it gave him a sense of purpose and besides, the dragons with physical bodies had other jobs to do and there were hardly any other Eldunari around aside from himself. The task fell to him, and he took it up gladly. It gave him something to do to take his mind off Oromis. The pain would never go away but it he could slowly get over it if he had work to do. Saving just one Eldunari from madness was reward in itself for any struggle on his part, and the few that had become at least coherent were now helping him help others recover.

From time to time his mind did wander around, exploring the world around him in a way so different to when he had been fully alive. Instead of seeing with his eyes he could only see with his mind, the world looking like spots of life on a huge radar or ultrasound scan. He could focus in on anything he wanted or look as far as he could. Most of all he focused on draconic life wherever he found it. He knew the feeling of the mind of every dragon in Uru'baen, and so most dragons currently in existence as any who didn't live here came to visit on business a lot.

The small collection of eggs was something he checked on regularly, impatient for them to hatch so he could watch how new Riders grew in this new world, how the Rider order would surge in strength, and to watch new dragons breed and slowly restore their population to numbers they had enjoyed before. For safety, they were not all kept in one place; and one he felt was on its own. Someone was holding it, probably trying to make it hatch. Humans, elves, and now dwarves and urgals, though no dwarf or urgal Riders had emerged yet, all liked to touch any egg they saw. He had learned not to get too excited as most of them were ordinary, unremarkable people. He thought nothing of this encounter until he recognised the man holding the egg.

Immediately he found the unborn dragon's mind and encouraged it not to hatch, which it had not been planning to do anyway, then he spoke to Reru's mind with the force of a person shoving him against the wall in anger. "Get away from that egg, torturer! You are not fit to be a Rider. You have no respect for our kind. You tortured and murdered Kami, and now Avendel has run off instead of trying to fix things you seek another dragon to torment? You disgust me," Glaedr roared, seething in anger.

[Emiryal ♕]

Reru yelped and fell back onto the floor partially in surprise. He kept hold of the egg though not wanting to drop it on the ground. It wasn't going to break but it seemed like a bad idea all the same to let it hit the ground. As fast as he could he threw up his mental defenses to at least not give Glaedr full access to his mind. He'd only spoken to the Eldunari a few rare times.

"Glaedr....Ebrithil," he said in his mind after only a hesitant moment choosing to address him with a formal title in the ancient language. He would've never done that originally but in part he understood the gold dragon's pain of loosing his dragon and did have some respect for him. He'd lost two dragons himself in a way now though it had been his fault. Glaedr's suddenly rage actually terrified him, partially due to the fact he was in his father's office and here countless times he had endured Galbatorix's wrath. He did his best to appear unbothered though it had shaken him.

"I'm not going to hurt this hatchling," he said in the ancient language so Glaedr would be able to believe him. The gold dragon was right though the dragons had no reason to trust him let alone respect him after what he'd done. He was a dragon slayer more or less. A bit reluctantly he gently set the egg down in front of him on the floor. "I am a rider whether you acknowledge it or not," he said. "I know and regret that every day!" He hadn't initially regretted it. After all he'd planned for years to kill Kami and restore Avendel. It wasn't until Avendel rejected him that he'd started to realize he might have been wrong. The past few months especially. It wasn't that he had given up on his vision of what he wanted to do only that he was starting to acknowledge that he'd gone about it the wrong way. "I can't go after Avendel anyways! The city is entering another rebellion and Avendel doesn't want to be here so I'm not going to force her to come back...not this time." Truth was he missed Avendel more than anything and wanted her back but she had every right to hate him. So as much as he had wanted to he hadn't gone after her. If she wanted to leave he wouldn't force her by oath to stay.

His mind wasn't completely open but with his distress over Avendel leaving it was more open than normal. Surprisingly, he really did regret harming the dragons. And to some extent parts of his mind resembled the minds of the mad eldundari though not as extreme. The most obvious was all the hurt he felt involving Avendel and Kami. He pulled his legs up and hugged them so he could bury his face in his arms. "Please leave me alone Glaedr," he said quietly.

[Quetzal]

The use of an honourific title took Glaedr by surprise. At first merely hearing it from Reru was alien, expecting no respect from the disgusting man, but then he grew suspicious that he was just trying to suck up to him. It would take far more than a respectful tone of voice to soften up the ancient dragon. Actions spoke louder than words, after all, and there was no forgiving some of the things Reru had done. Not ever.

Glaedr had to reluctantly concede that Reru really wasn't going to hurt the poor egg after speaking the words in the Ancient Language, but was still worried he might hurt the egg without hurting the hatchling or hurt a different dragon. "There is more to being a Rider than having a dragon hatch for you. A Rider must have a bond with their dragon, and must be a friend to dragons and fulfil their duty to keep peace. You have none of these," he said bluntly. It was impossible to consider this disgrace to the Rider name one of their number, dragon or no. Technically he had had two dragons, but after what happened to Kami he did not consider him the Rider of that dragon. That was not a true Ridership by any standard, as Kami had not actually hatched for him so was not really his.

At the very least he had the basic level of decency to recognise forcefully dragging Avendel back against her will was wrong. After seeing so many Eldunari broken beyond comprehension return to sanity he thought perhaps there was hope for Reru too. Reru's mind did not feel too dissimilar to some of those broken Elundari either. He could be taught to behave better. Nothing could ever attone for his mistakes, but at least acting differently may save others from him. Glaedr would force him along the right track for the sake of those around him. For a moment he considered summoning Murtagh, but he was too disturbed himself, or Eragon, but he was too quick to anger and would spare much time for Reru. "No. I do not know what you will do if left alone. I am glad at least you know not to force Avendel back now, but to have been drawn to another poor egg troubles me. Something goes wrong for you, and instead of fixing it with their feelings in mind, you immediately go to find a replacement. Another egg, another dragon, another body for Avendel. Words are what matters, and sharing feelings. Avendel will come back when you are ready to be a proper Rider. Or she may ignore the bond forever," he sort of hoped she would, not seeing how any dragon should be made to endure Reru's presence. While his words were meant to be guiding, they were quite forceful and not sympathetic in the slightest.

[Emiryal ♕]

Maybe it was the fact that with Avendel gone that had Reru shaken or something else but Glaedr's words seemed to actually hit him. Where as before he had ignored or seen it as below being bothered with. At the mention of a dragon hatching not enough but the bond as well a flash of a memory slipped out. It seemed like an accident but maybe he'd done it on purpose to share it with the other dragon. After all Reru was skilled in mental defense it wouldn't be like him to make such an amateur mistake unless he'd done it on purpose.

The memory showed him with his parents, one of the foresworn and Galbatorix. He was standing in front of Avendel who was no larger than a cat. Obviously hatched only days ago. His parents were telling him what it was to be a rider and what to do with his dragon. They told him he was in charge of the dragon they weren't equals, more similar to how one might treat a horse than a dragon.

The memory vanished only to be replaced by another. He was talking to Avendel as they fought in a battle, he deferred to her judgement which ended up badly and...the memory was cut off as if Reru had realized what was happening or deciding it was too painful to share, likely the later.

Reru had buried his head in his arms and was hiding...tears. Though through a link there wasn't really a way to hide them. "How can I fix it! After what I did to her and Kami. There is no fixing it ever! She's never coming back. I came to see the egg not to break it or anything but because I don't know if I'm even worth anything. If it had hatched for me maybe I'd get a second chance but it won't! I failed Avendel and broke the bond between us, I killed a dragon which is unforgivable, I couldn't even live up to what my father wanted me to be! I'm worthless and failed at everything. I can't even keep Uru'baen in control without them wanting me dead! I just can't take it any more!"

It was as if Reru finally had opened his heart in desperation and finally told someone how he felt. Even Avendel didn't know. He was a lost child at this point, crying for help and not being heard so long that he'd given up. His mind was tormented yes and Glaedr's words had broken what little he had left apparently and everything was coming down. If anything his mind was growing more dark out of despair. The only light in that darkness was the small scared child inside him that wanted help, that didn't want to be like this.

[Emiryal ♕]

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