You learn some really weird things traveling with others for a while.

Did you know that Dwarves have seven toes? I certainly didn’t! But now it’s one of those random bits of trivia that keep popping into my mind whenever I was least expecting it.

Arya even caught me staring suspiciously at her own feet and actually rolled her eyes in exasperation before informing me Elves had the same number of toes as humans. I would believe her…for now. But the first chance I had, I was going to verify for myself because an entire race having extra toes for no apparent reason couldn’t just be limited to Dwarves.

Anyways, after the encounter with the Fanghur, the rest of the trip was perfectly peaceful. So much so that when one night Arya moved to the center of a meadow and called out to more of her kin that our group meant no harm I was taken completely by surprise. I had no idea we were getting close to the elven lands.

Meeting other elves than Arya was…weird.

I was so used to Arya’s calm manner that suddenly seeing several more dancing, laughing, singing around her with childish abandon was jarring. But I put up with it because it meant we were close to our destination.

We ended up saying goodbye to our Dwarven guards and Orik, Arya, Eragon, and I were escorted to two canoe-like boats to finish our journey to the elven capital.

-o-

I had expected Arya to spend more time with the two elves that joined us for the last part of our trip. So I was a little surprised when Arya started spending even more time conversing with me as time went on.

It almost seemed like she was using me as an excuse to not interact with the other elves, but if it was none of them drew attention to it. I was happy to help her if that was the case though. I couldn’t stand talking to Narí and Lifaen.

Nothing against them personally, but every answer to a question was given through roundabout expressions that added little to what I actually wanted to know. Like, why would Lifaen launch into a poem about the brief blooming of a flower when I asked when we planned to stop for lunch? It made a twisted kind of sense when I finally got him to explain that the flower in question only fully bloomed for three hours, but it didn’t explain why he didn’t just say three hours in the first place!

The next day didn’t start out any better.

First there was a panic when Eragon started getting scry’d by someone. The necklace he received from Gannel prevented anyone from succeeding but it was a dark reminder that his enemies weren’t just sitting around waiting for him to finish his training.

Then there was the incident by the waterfall. The river we were following wasn’t a straight shot into the forest and it was a natural river so waterfalls were expected. That said, the two elves we were saddled with were horrified when Saphira offered to move our gear upstream. Then of course they were prepared to wail about the dishonor of letting a dragon carry something when Saphira decided to do it anyway.

At least Arya got a kick out of it. It was maybe the third time I had ever heard her genuinely laugh.

Of course then we started getting close to an elven city and it was decided that Eragon and I needed to hide our human features so the first person to see us was the Queen. Well, honestly in this context it was more important that Eragon was presented to her first. I was just required to hide to not attract attention.

-o-

We were camped close to the city of Sílthrim and far enough from the water that the ground wasn’t wet when I felt the first stirrings of magic. It started innocently enough. A single musical voice ringing through the forest, soon joined by several others. But with them came an almost tangible wave of magic that swept over our camp.

I could feel the magic trying to affect me even through my defenses. Telling me to throw away reason for passion, listen to my desires, and rush to join the celebration that no doubt was going on in the city. Thankfully, the spell wasn’t strong enough to actually force me to do anything and was somewhat easily ignored afterwards. Eragon and Orik were not as fortunate. Arya was forced to restrain Eragon before he could go sprinting into the forest and Narí and Lifaen were forced to wrestle Orik to the ground to stop him from doing the same. I could actually see the surprise in their faces when they noticed I wasn’t running off myself before they returned their focus to the struggling dwarf.

“What…?” Eragon asked, dazed, once the initial impact of the spell was broken.

Orik was also freed from the effects and growled for the elves to release him, which they did while offering their apologies.

“I miscounted the days; I didn’t want to be anywhere near a city during Dagshelgr. Our saturnalias, our celebrations, are perilous for mortals.” Arya said regretfully while she stared off in the direction of the city. “We sing in the Ancient Language, and the lyrics weave spells of passion and longing that are difficult to resist, even for us.”

“We should be at a grove.” Narí stirred restlessly.

“We should,” Arya agreed. “But we will do our duty and wait.”

Eragon asked what the point of Dagshelgr was and was told it was basically a forest-wide fertility spell. I chuckled a bit when a trio of hedgehogs bumped into his hand and Eragon pulled it back like he had been burned. Which naturally attracted his attention.

“Alexandria, how did you not get affected? Was it some kind of spell? Could you teach me?”

I glanced at Arya to see if she had any preference to how I handled this but she was still looking longingly towards the city. Guess I was on my own.

“I don’t know if you could call it a spell, but I do have passive defenses that protect me from outside magic. As for teaching you…maybe? It’s not necessarily tied to my own school of magic so it might be possible, but I doubt you could learn tonight.” I explained, as I sidestepped a pair of squirrels sprinting through our camp. This was getting a little ridiculous.

“By my beard and ax, I’ll not be controlled by magic against my will by magic.” Orik cursed over the noise of the forest. “If it happens again, Arya, I swear on Helzvog’s stone girdle that I’ll return to Farthen Dûr and you will have the wrath of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum to deal with.”

“It was not my intention for you to experience Dagshelgr,” Arya said. “I apologize for my mistake. However, though I am shielding you from this spell, you cannot escape magic in Du Weldenvarden; it permeates everything.”

“So long as it doesn’t befoul my mind.” Orik shook his head and eyed the shadowy figures moving through the forest outside the campfire light.

“Alright then,” I explained suddenly. “Now that that’s all cleared up, I’m going to put up a bounded field. I’d like to get some sleep tonight.

-o-

Apparently the elves’ magic was enough to push Saphira to sexual maturity. And that was honestly a tiny bit heartbreaking.

Spending the whole night celebrating passion only to realize she would never have a mate?

Even if I managed to get the metal I needed right now I might stick around just to make sure Murtagh and Thorn were out from under Galbatorix’s thumb so the poor dragon had a chance at a relationship.

That would have to wait though. We were now getting close to the heart of the forest. The trees were easily double the size of a redwood and bigger than any tree we had seen on the way here. Naturally, Eragon needed to comment on this.

“It means we are getting close to Ellesméra.” Arya explained to the curious farmboy. “These trees are among the oldest creatures in Alagaësia. Elves have loved them since first we saw Du Weldenvarden, and we have done everything within our power to see them flourish.”

She followed that up with a warning to Eragon about flying with Saphira until we reached the city. Apparently there were wards that protected this part of the forest we had already triggered.

I was prepared to set off again when Arya’s hand held me back even as the others started moving. Looked like Arya wanted a private conversation.

“Yes?”

Despite making sure we were out of causal earshot, Arya still hesitated. That probably meant this was going to be uncomfortable for one of us.

“Alexandria…” She started, falteringly. “I know you tend to disdain the political games of those you do not pledge loyalty to, and you have that right, but do you think you could…hold your tongue when we are presented to my mother?”

I blinked at the sudden request. “You think she will do something I’m not going to like?”

Arya nodded. “She is the queen of our people and a wise ruler. But that means certain…performances…must be done to ensure her position is respected. I ask you not to get involved.”

Shit, I barely remembered Arya’s mom’s name, let alone anything she did in the story. But Arya was specifically calling me out because she had an idea of what was going to happen and knew I wouldn’t like it. So what was more important, listening to a friend’s request or telling her mom to fuck off?

“...Alright.” I reluctantly agreed. “But I can only promise to try.”

Arya smiled wryly. “That is already more than I expected. Thank you.”

Really, just what kind of image did she have of me? I could be reasonable…

-o-

I had to admit Ellesméra was gorgeous. The magically crafted buildings grown directly from the massive trees in the forest would have been incredible by themselves. The fact that every building was unique and blended in perfectly with the surrounding trees and any buildings that those contained? It was simply…magical.

At this point it was impossible to hide Saphira as we were guided through the city. It didn’t take long for the elves to start coming out of the woodwork, literally, and gathering around us as we moved. One of them started singing after Eragon greeted them all. I watched in mild amusement as they danced literal circles around us, laughed, joined in on the song, and made sure to compliment just about everything about Saphira. They really seemed excited at our appearance.

Eventually our path ended at a building that looked to be made from saplings simply growing so closely together that they formed a solid wall and opened up into a ceiling of hundreds of interconnected branches. Inside twenty four elves in much richer looking clothes and jewelry than the ones outside lined the walls of the hall. I took a moment to notice the decorated swords on the hips of each of them, the first visibly armed people that we had seen in the city so far.

At the end of the hall, a white pavilion stood with a wooden throne sheltered underneath. It would be hard to mistake the Elf sitting there as anyone other than Queen Islanzadí. Given the finery she was wearing and the similarities she shared with Arya, it was fairly obvious.

Islanzadí wasn’t wearing a sword. The only other item she had was an odd curved rod that served as a perch for a pure white raven. The bird stared at Eragon long and hard enough before giving a long croak and shrieked, “Wyrda!” Fate. How fitting.

The doors closed and our little party approached the queen. Arya knelt on the moss covered ground and bowed first, soon followed by Eragon, Orik, Lifaen, and Narí. Even Saphira lowered her head.

I was the only one that remained standing, looking on in amusement at the reactions of the various elf lords and ladies. Some of them were amused right back at me, while some looked to be fuming with rage.

All that was put aside when Islanzadí stood and descended down the throne to stand trembling in front of Arya.

“Rise.”

As Arya did so, the queen studied her with increasing intensity until she finally cried out and embraced Arya. “O my daughter, I have wronged you!”

In the common language.

Instantly my amusement vanished and I scowled at the queen. It seemed like my promise to keep quiet was going to get a hell of a test. We barely got here and the queen was playing stupid fucking games.