For Alagaesia: 16. A fight for survival

Free time was so difficult to come by these days. But Nasuada had one of those rare free days. The city had been completely reorganised to accommodate the newly arrived dwarves and elves. It had taken about a week to finish the preparations. She was happy with the results they had achieved though. She was sure that the Varden could hold any attack from the empire if it did not involve dragons. She had now made peace with the fact that Eragon wasn't a part of their army anymore. It pained her but she had accepted it if it was what fate offered them. She had never before accepted something as fate's play but this matter was out of her hands and she had no other go than to accept that Eragon's fate now lay in god's hands.

In the two weeks since Eragon's capture, a lot had happened to the Varden. The thwarting of a mass assassination attempt, the arrival and assimilation of dwarves and elves and fortification of the city of Belatona were no simple things to have occurred in a span of just two weeks. She felt proud of herself and her subordinates who had achieved all those things with considerable success. This was the first day since the fateful news of Eragon's capture that she had for herself. She wanted to spend it meaningfully. But she didn't have that many friends with whom she could spend her time just for the sake of spending time.

After a lot of thought, she decided to visit Katrina. She left her quarters with her night-hawks close behind. She felt the air around her get a little denser as soon as she left her room. The elves had said that it felt so because of the various wards, they had put on her. What wards were, she didn't know exactly. But she knew that this was related to the extra magical protective measures taken by the elves. As she walked through the buildings many people stood to bow to her. She nodded to each of them. It slightly disconcerted her because most of those people were older than her and she had grown up looking at many of them with admiration.

When she reached Katrina and Roran's house, the front door was open. She thought of calling Katrina from outside. But decided against it thinking she may be resting. So she stepped in asking her guards to wait outside. She skipped the first room that was unoccupied and entered the next. She blushed seeing the scene there and cleared her throat to announce her presence to the occupants. Roran who had his arms on Katrina's back patting her gently as they were kissing extricated his hands from there swiftly and pulling Katrina behind him, he reached for a dagger belted on his sides and turned to look at the door.

When he saw that it was Nasuada who was at the door, he let a breath of relief but turned red in the face.

"I came to visit Katrina", Nasuada said hurriedly not wanting to extent the period of discomfort for all of them.

"Oh..Yes..ah...my lady, then I will go. I was already leaving", Roran said his discomfort obvious.

"It is fine, Stronghammer. I believe you are returning to the Urgal camp"

"Yes, My lady"

"Go then. We will be fine", Nasuada said a little teasingly. She felt immensely relieved to be able to spend some time without fearing about the Varden's fate in Eragon's absence. Roran looked like a caged animal and his eyes moved around the room finally coming to rest on Katrina. Something was said between them, eyes doing the talk and Roran left the room. Nasuada was left to feel jealous. She would never get a chance for such intimacy. Atleast not anytime soon.

"You are in good health, I suppose", Nasuada asked. "Yes, my lady. I am fine", Katrina replied.

"You don't have to call me titles, Katrina", Nasuada wanted a friend not a subordinate for company.

"But, my lady...", Katrina was cut off by Nasuada, "I just said you shouldn't call me that"

"And you are ordering me to not call you that, Nasuada", Katrina said in a flourish. Nasuada laughed heartily at that. The first one she had had ever since news of Eragon's capture had reached her and she guessed it was true for the other woman too.

"Ah. At last. You people have laughed", Angela's voice reached them both. "Angela? What are you doing here?", Nasuada asked puzzled. "Why? I am eavesdropping on you.", Angela replied in her own peculiar way.

"She is visiting me regularly, my la..Nasuada", Katrina said.

"Oh? It is good. Angela is a very good healer"

"That I am. And Nasuada, I have some news for you", Angela said. "What may it be?", Nasuada asked genuinely interested.

"Perhaps, Let us keep it a secret. I will tell you if we succeed.", Angela said.

"It was you who wanted to tell something to me in the first place. Now you have got me hooked. Where are you going to succeed?", Nasuada was slightly irritated at the herbalist.

"A success for all of us, it will be if I could succeed. But on second thoughts, I would rather keep it a secret for my endeavour is bound to get risky when more people get involved", Angela confused in her own way. Nasuada lost her interest halfway through Angela's quirky reply and so didn't press on.

Angela came to sit by Katrina and felt her pulse. She gave her some soup to drink and said, "You are in fairly good health except that there is some worry gnawing in your mind putting you restless. I know what it is about. But don't let it distort your peace. It is important for your child. Fate will help Eragon, I can tell no more."

"Hmmm...fate? The same fate that killed Roran's father and my father. The same fate that destroyed our village. The same fate that has captured Eragon.", Katrina said with a rueful smile.

"Don't get all flustered. All is not lost. There is still hope.", Angela said as if to herself.

A human night-hawk came running in, "My lady, the elves are asking for you" He was looking panicky and Nasuada assumed that it was because he was awestruck by the elves as was common for people. "Tell them, I will be there shortly"

"My lady, if I may. The elf, she tells it is very important that she sees you now." Nasuada became alert and poised. She turned to Katrina and said, "I have to go. The time spent with you was refreshing."

"Likewise, Nasuada. May it be some good news."

"I hope so", Nasuada smiled a little. 'Katrina would be a very good friend indeed', she thought as she walked out of the house.

Outside the house an elf stood who closely resembled Blodhgarm the only difference being her fur coloured brown and she was surely more feminine. "Nasuada svit-kona.", the elf bowed to her. "I am Loitha, daughter of Ildria"

"Greetings Loitha. What did you seek me out for?"

"I have news from Lord Dathedr, the queen's first advisor. He says that a large force of the empire is moving towards Belatona from Dras leona"

"What?", Nasuada asked sharply. "How far from the city?", she managed to say after a few moments.

"Two days march from here. He also warned that it is a very large army probably consisting of quite a few elites-the painless ones. He also suspects that Murtagh and Thorn may be with the army", the elf said as if it wasn't news that needed panicking. Nasuada was too shocked to reply. She stood there considering the implications of this but recovered a while later and said, "I thank you, Loitha for bringing this news to me." The elf bowed and left.

Nasuada called one of her night-hawks and asked him to summon King Orrin, King Orik, Jormundur, Blodhgarm and Garzhvog to the meeting hall in the Castle with all possible haste. Then she went ignoring every passer-by to the castle's meeting hall. When she reached there, Orik was waiting for her already. "What has happened Lady Nasuada?", he asked.

"The empire is approaching" Orik uttered a sharp curse: "Barzul"

"How do you know?", he asked.

"The elves found out" Orik put his head down and looked to be in serious thought. "How far and how many?", he asked at last. "Larger than the force at Burning plains with the suspicion of Murtagh's arrival too. They are about two day's march from here", she said gloomily. Before he could react, though the doors to the room were opened and in came Orrin and Jormundur.

The news was relayed to them and all of them were in a stupor not knowing what to do. "We shall fight. We have a large enough army now", Orrin said breaking the silence.

"But what about Murtagh?", Jormundur asked hopelessly.

"We will have to leave it to fate. If we are doomed to die in this fighting, then we will die", Nasuada said boldly.

"Call Saphira to aid us. She may be able to thwart that accursed rider", Orik said banging his hand on the table in frustration.

"Yes, Nasuada I too believe that is our best chance.", Jormundur said. "Well, she knows of this by now, I guess. She is with the elves after all.", Nasuada answered.

"Even so. A formal request for help could be made", Orik said symbolically implying the fact that Saphira would be in no condition to fight by her own will when Eragon was in trouble. Nasuada understood his reasoning and said, "Then I will do it first thing I leave this meeting."

"What about the preparations for battle? Who is to take overall command? I would suggest Nasuada can do it for she is the most experienced of us in war, excluding Jormundur that is", Orrin said.

"I am ready to take over overall command if you all support me to do so"

"I support you wholeheartedly, Nasuada for I have seen you grow to be the leader you are. And I think Jormundur accepts this: We can trust Nasuada with our lives", Orik said.

"That I do, King Orik", Jormundur replied shortly but his compliment was heartfelt as seen from his facial expression.

"Then it is settled. Nasuada will coordinate the efforts", Orrin said. Nasuada wasn't sure she could manage such a huge army by herself and felt that a division of command would be the best way to follow with an army of such monstrous size as that of the combination of Surda, Varden and the dwarves. So she said, "I would need your help in this though. We will operate as separate units and each could take command of a unit."

"Yes. Dwarves wouldn't like to be commanded by a human just as a human wouldn't like to be done so by a dwarf.", Jormundur said almost summarising the problem of a unified leader.

After a slight pause, Nasuada made up her mind to approach the matter in the simplest way which struck her as the most efficient one too. "The Surdan cavalry will be led by King Orrin himself", Nasuada said and Orrin nodded his head in approval. "The dwarf army by King Orik and the Varden will fight under you, Jormundur" Both of them signalled their approval.

"I shall coordinate each of you", she said but thought it to be too presumptuous and quickly added, "if you accept, that is."

"It is completely reasonable, Lady Nasuada", Orrin said echoing the looks Orik and Jormundur had on their faces.

"What of the Urgals and the elves?", Jormundur asked.

Nasuada only then remembered summoning Garzhvog to the meeting. "Nar Garzhvog hasn't reached here yet. They live quite far away from the city anyway.", she said reasoning with the lateness of the Kull leader. "We shall inform Captain Roran about the developments. He will see to the affairs of the Urgals", Nasuada said.

"Is Stronghammer reliable, Lady? He has joined the Varden just months ago", Orrin had his doubts about Roran.

"Much more so than even us, Sir. You can rest assured. He is more than capable of handling these things. In fact I have been considering making him a part of my war advisory council which has till now consisted of only Jormundur", Nasuada wanted to make it clear that Roran was as much an asset as his cousin.

"If that is the case, then I trust your judgement Nasuada", Orrin said.

"And as for the elves, I think we could ask them to form wards around our army and perhaps fight Murtagh and Thorn, in case Saphira is unable to help us" Nasuada was a trifle uneasy in having people as strong as the elves in her army for it raised serious problems about commanding the elves. 'I wish Arya or Eragon were here. They could have used the elves more efficiently', she thought ruefully.

Nasuada resolutely pushed the disturbing thoughts of not having the two most accomplished warriors of her army: Eragon and Arya, who had been the reason for their victory in each of the earlier wars they had fought in and concentrated on the matters at hand. She called one of her night-hawk guards in and asked, "Could you fetch Blodhgarm or Trianna, Captain Garven?" The captain indicated his understanding and went to do his bidding. The meeting hall became eerily silent then as each of the leaders chose to ponder the upcoming war in their minds.

Nasuada though started getting restless as the time went on. She wanted to know if she could secure Saphira's help in this war. As much as Eragon and Arya were her best warriors, she knew Saphira was equally or more deadly than both of them. Having Saphira in their side will, by default, lift the spirits of the soldiers too. For such and a slew of other reasons, she hoped with all her heart that Saphira would fight for them in this war.

The door to the meeting hall opened and Blodhgarm came through it. He bowed to the people in the hall in general and said, "Nasuada Svit-kona, You needed me?"

"Yes, Blodhgarm. I would like you to contact queen Islanzadi."

Blodhgarm scanned the room swiftly and said, "If you could provide me with some water filled container or a mirror" Nasuada didn't understand why he was asking for water and mirror at first but soon realised that it was in some reflective surface that the spell for contacting worked. She cursed herself for forgetting what Arya had explained her time and again. Collecting herself, she said, "Oh!.. Yes, I will arrange it now..... CAPTAIN GARVEN!!" After a few moments he came into the room, "Yes, my lady"

"Sorry that I have to ask this of you. But could you find us some mirror or water filled container?"

"It is fine, my lady. In a minute...", he said and went outside the room. About three minutes later-during which time Nasuada had gone back to praying to god asking him to help secure Saphira's aid-he returned with a mirror. Blodhgarm ran to the door to get the mirror from Captain Garven and thanked him. Nasuada felt thankful for Blodhgarm's actions for she had been loath to use Garven an elderly captain in her army as a page.

Blodhgarm said some incomprehensible words and ripples started forming on the mirror. Everybody in the room had their attention fixed on the mirror which slowly cleared to show a beautifully decorated room. Within seconds a regal face entered the view in the mirror. It was the first time Nasuada had laid her eyes upon the elven queen. The queen's appearance intimidated her. Eragon had told her that Arya was the queen daughter and so she had imagined the queen somewhat like Arya. But a striking difference between them both was apparent when she looked upon the queen: the mother was much more regal than the daughter; although there were similarities in their appearances. "Greetings, Your majesty.", she bowed a little despite her position as Varden leader. The queen's appearance simply demanded the respect.

"Greetings, Lady Nasuada. We meet finally. But I wish the times were not this dark during such a historic meeting.", the queen's voice too had something in it that made Nasuada think that the queen was higher in rank than her. The queen then shared her greetings with Orik, Orrin and Jormundur. "May I know now, why have you called me? I am aware of the attack on Belatona if that is what you want to discuss and the elven nation is ready to lend its support to you wholeheartedly. But it is a bit too late for us to send physical help now."

"I wanted to ask Saphira's help in this war, your majesty, as we fear that the empire is sending its rider along with its army" The queen's face looked even more fierce if it was possible as she ached a fine eyebrow.

"We won't be able to contact her in time, I fear, Lady Nasuada. She and Arya have gone to Ellesmera."

"Ellesmera? Oh..hmm... I understand. Thank you, your majesty", Nasuada said although she wanted to know why Saphira and Arya were at Ellesmera. "I am sorry that you have to face such a huge army alone, Lady Nasuada. But we are in no position to help you. If it is any comfort, you have my blessings to succeed in this war"

The queen then turned her attention to Orik and said, "Orik Konungr. I extent my formal congratulations on your crowning as King of the dwarven realms."

"Thank you, your majesty"

"I suppose you have with you the whole dwarven army at Belatona"

"Yes, your majesty"

"Then, it won't be wrong of me to predict a victory for you in this war. But if Murtagh shows up, do everything to stay alive. That is important", the queen said. "I shall take your advice to heart, your majesty", Orik said.

The queen had words for Orrin as well and from his tone it was evident that Orrin was excited about speaking to the Elven queen. 'If only he knew Arya was royalty', Nasuada mused. Soon the queen bade good luck to them and Blodhgarm ended the spell. The meeting ended on a low note because of the unavailability of Saphira's services in the war.

Nasuada returned to her quarters in the castle, with a slight head-ache that she suspected had come over her because of fear for failure. Without Saphira's help, winning against Murtagh and Thorn seemed a impossible proposition. What had started as a 'free' day had become a nightmarish day. She felt that she needed some rest before she would have to dive back into war preparations. She fell on her bed and closed her eyes. But within two minutes, a night-hawk announced from outside, "Katrina, wife of Captain Roran has come to visit you, my lady" She was irritated that she couldn't get even minutes of rest; but she didn't want to send Katrina back and so admitted her in.

"I came to know what it was that the elf told you, Nasuada. Is it something about Eragon?", she heard the eager voice of Katrina.

"Oh, No Katrina, It is.... We are going to be attacked by the empire"

"What? When?", Katrina sounded terrified.

"In two days the approaching army of the empire is expected to reach our city. And guess what? Murtagh is believed to be with the army. We don't have Eragon to fight and I couldn't even contact Saphira.", Nasuada let all her frustration, anger and hopelessness show in her voice.

"Why couldn't you contact Saphira?", Katrina asked in a pitying voice. "She is in Ellesmera. The only way to contact somebody in Ellesmera is to go meet them in person", Nasuada explained in a hopeless tone. Katrina nodded her head as if contemplating something. She didn't say anything for a long time when she just stood there like in a trance, the only movement being her fingers that were squeezing her lips. Then in a bright voice she said, "I can try to contact Saphira." Before Nasuada could ask what she was talking about, Katrina lifted her hand and twisted the neatly shaped ring in it once and said, "Help me, Shadeslayer; Help me, Brightscales". Then she turned towards Nasuada and said, "It is done"

Author's Note:

So another war and preparations. But how did you like Katrina and Nasuada's friendship. I figured they would make great friends being of the same age and being strong women.