The sun was low in the western sky. The meeting was going on so well that Nasuada thought that at the end of the meeting even the most hateful man of the Varden would have got one friend from the Urgals. It was a master stroke by Roran who had arranged this meeting. It was held under the pretense of reiterating their opposition to Galbatorix in difficult times. Roran had planned this meeting earlier when he had taken over the affairs of Urgals to create awareness about the Urgal customs among the Varden. But there had been no time to conduct it till now. Roran was not so keen to conduct the meeting when Saphira and Eragon both were in danger. But Nasuada, being the leader she was had found it to be the best time to conduct it. It served two purposes now: lifting the failing moral strength of the men and getting the men friendly with the Varden. Personally she too was not interested in having this meeting at this time. But she had been taught by her father, Ajihad that whatever difficulty a leader faces, he or she should try to give their best to their followers. This meeting was just one of many things Nasuada had done keeping in mind her father's advise.
Two members of the council of Elders Umérth and Elessari were opposed to conducting the meeting. According to them the meeting should have been conducted without inviting the Urgals for Urgals were animals who didn't need the respect due for humans. Whatever advise she and Roran had tried to give them, they weren't ready to accept. They even complained that Nasuada was being mislead. Mislead? She had found that comment, the most amusing of all. She was the one leading the Varden. Who could mislead her?
She was also very well aware that the council of elders with the exception of Jormundur were very upset because of the independence that she took in making decisions. It was another of her father's teachings. He had said that hearing the wishes of the subordinates was important. But even more important was making decisions on your own, because when the leader allows the subordinates to control them, the subordinates become too secure that they start making decisions for their own personal benefits. This was because they would have the leader as a scapegoat for their mistakes.
Nasuada was keen on not allowing the Varden to suffer such a fate not just because she wanted the Varden to win the war against Galbatorix, but also because she saw the Varden as her inheritance from her father. For her, her father lived on in the Varden and as long as it was in good shape, her father too would be.
"My lady, My lady!!", a boy's voice reached her. It sounded urgent and so she became alert. She turned to see that the messenger boy, Jarsha was running towards her.
"What is it, Jarsha?", she asked.
"You need to come with me now", the boy sounded terrified.
"What has happened?", she asked again wanting to know the reason for the boy's fear.
"The council of elders, my lady, they have gotten into an argument with the elves"
Nasuada felt her head spinning. This surely wasn't good news. "What? who sent you?", she asked.
"Jormundur, my lady"
"Fine. Could you take me there, Jarsha?"
"Yes, my lady", the boy said and turned to guide her. Her guards flanked her on either side as she started following the messenger boy.
Nasuada saw Roran and Orik speaking with Garzhvog as she followed the messenger boy. They stopped their talking on noticing her and looked at her questioningly. She guessed that they knew something was wrong from her tense bearing. So she signalled for them to accompany her.
"What is it, my lady?", Roran asked when he joined her.
"The Elders and the elves", she said shortly.
Roran's face clouded and he asked, "They have a problem?" She nodded. "Barzul", Orik cursed.
"You elves have been hiding these hundred years. Why didn't you fight with us when we struggled against Galbatorix?", Umérth's voice reached them from a distance. He was drunk. It was quite apparent from his speaking style. She knew very well that Umérth was taking up the most delicate subject that could be taken with the elves. It made her afraid. Umérth was a respected man in the Varden. If the elves attack him then there may be infighting between the elves and men of the Varden. Her fear became a chilling feeling when she was close enough to see the expression of the elves.
Umérth had his hands on Blodhgarm's tunic as if he was interrogating him. Behind him Sabrae stood with a mocking smirk on her face. Falbred and Elessari weren't drunk as seen from their composed bearing. Yet they looked like enjoying the show before them. 'Fools!', Nasuada thought. The wrath of the elves would kill them in an instant. She knew it very well. She knew what the elves were capable of, having fought wars alongside them. Jormundur was trying to pull Umérth away from Blodhgarm, but in vain.
"You were cowards. Why have you come now? To claim the rider that the Varden created...huh? And you have done it. He is now your puppet. Isn't he? And his dragon too", Umérth's unsteady words stung even Nasuada and she knew the elves were bound to lose their temper soon. She was right for she saw an elf racing from behind Blodhgarm towards Umérth his sword drawn.
"Neinn, Vanir-vodhr, neinn. Letta", said Blodhgarm and the elf stopped just behind Blodhgarm. She was now close enough to speak and so she said to Blodhgarm, "I beg your pardon for his actions, Blodhgarm"
"Umérth, you are a respected member of the Varden. Please do not tarnish your image. What you spoke was evil. I want you to apologise to the elves for your words...", She said to Umerth and added, "perhaps...after you are clear of the alcoholic influence" Umerth sneered at her and left. The other members of the council of elders except Jormundur followed him.
"Please do not keep his words in mind, Blodhgarm. He was drunk he knew not of what he spoke.", Nasuada said to Blodhgarm. Blodhgarm nodded but didn't give anymore reply.
"Aye. You have to forgive him because our situation now stands on a knife's edge. If we sway even a little, we will all be killed", Orik said.
"We know that Orik konungr. That is why I let him speak. Else I would have cut his throat as soon as he spoke his first words. You know well that we lost our king in the fight against Galbatorix. We lost Éwayëna and Luthivira, whole cities that were as glorious as fair Tronjheim. We are not like humans who can forget their wounds when generations pass on in seventy years. You of all, know this Orik konungr for you have a long life too. We needed time to recover from those wounds. But we didn't silently watch the Varden grow up into the force it is. We had our own crown princess, Arya with the Varden through these years", Blodhgarm said in a smooth voice.
Roran gasped. Nasuada wasn't sure why, but it was much pronounced that even she could hear him. But she had more pressing matters to contend with and so let it lay and turned her attention towards Blodhgarm. "I thank you, Blodhgarm, for your kind gesture", she said.
"It is of no consequence, Nasuada svit-kona. We know what has to be done and won't do anything that will deteriorate the state of the Varden from where it is now", Blodhgarm said with a slight bow and departed from there.
Nasuada felt tired all of a sudden. All problems that she had pushed to the back of her mind came to the forefront as she saw the elves move away from where she stood. She saw the same hopelessness reflected on the faces of Roran and Orik. They went back to the meeting dispirited by the encounter with the council of elders. Jormundur came forward and said, "I apologise on behalf of them, Nasuada. They are frustrated by their dwindling importance in the Varden's setup."
Nasuada felt anger coursing through her at those words. She knew it was the reason for such behaviour by the council of elders already but hearing them from another's mouth made her angry. She wanted to reply hotly to Jormundur but Roran spoke before her, "Personal importance shouldn't come in the way of our cause, Jormundur"
"I didn't say I accept their view, Stronghammer.", Jormundur said mildly.
They all fell silent then. Nasuada thought of what Umerth said. 'Eragon was a puppet of the elves. Hmm? He is ready to give his life for the Varden. How dare he speak as such about Eragon, the son of Brom, founder of the Varden', she thought. Thoughts of Eragon brought her back to the most disturbing affair she had at hand now. She had felt strange three nights ago about Eragon and when she woke the next morning, she had found that Saphira and Arya had gone to rescue Eragon. As the leader of the Varden, she felt Saphira and Arya's action to be the height of folly. But as a friend, she approved of it wholeheartedly.
When they came back to the meeting, all she wanted was to wrap it up and get some much needed rest. So she sat in her seat not listening to anything happening around her. When it was time for the meeting to end, she was asked to address the people. She stood and with effort pushed all her discomforts behind. But as soon as she faced the people, she felt rejuvenated. She wanted to pour in all the passion she had in the success of the Varden into her speech.
"My people", she said, "I am glad that every race of Alagaesia is here today pledging its allegiance to the most noble cause of all: the downfall of the evil king. Galbatorix has spread his evil all through the land, these past hundred years. He has captured the human kingdom, massacred a whole clan of the dwarves, burnt many elf cities and deceived the Urgals. If we don't stop him now, he will grow much more powerful and will stop only after enslaving each one of us. He thinks that by capturing our rider, he can dissuade us from opposing him. But we will show him that his trickery can't defeat us by reiterating our opposition to him. Even now, Rider Eragon's dragon, Saphira has gone to bring him back to us. I give you this sweet news: in two days, Rider Eragon shall be with us." Nasuada finished in a flourish. The people around her cheered but her thoughts were elsewhere: will Saphira and Arya be able to succeed? Everything depended on their success. If they were to fail and die then the Varden's cause would fail. She felt a wave of coldness pass through her spine and she shuddered.
Soon the meeting was over and the people were scampering back to their homes. Nasuada was walking to her quarters too. She was too worried in her mind about Eragon, Saphira and Arya that she didn't care to notice what was around her. She let her safety to the nighthawks.
She heard somebody croak in pain in front of her and she lifted her head to see what it was. A human stood there with an elegant but blood-bathed sword protruding from his chest. She was mortified. There was a clanking sound of metal from the ground which brought her out of her reverie. She looked down for the source of the sound and found a sharp dagger on the ground. Blodhgarm came from behind the man glaring at the nighthawks who too had their blades drawn as if they had missed to do their duty.
"Perhaps, you should include elf-guards to your nighthawks, Nasuada svit-kona", he said. Only now did Nasuada realise what had happened. It was an attempt on her life. She was not yet out of the shock and so didn't reply to Blodhgarm. But after a few seconds, Blodhgarm himself said, "I don't hold the existing nighthawks responsible for this. Far from that. It is only that this assassin had the speed of an elf and however capable the nighthawks are, they wouldn't be able to stop such assassin." He continued after a pause, "Galbatorix grows desperate everyday. His actions show it. But this time, he has gotten too close to you. So I suggest Nasuada svit-kona to take in elves too into the ranks of the nighthawks."
Nasuada nodded her head and said, "Thank you, Blodhgarm for your watchfulness. I shall surely do as you say"
"Might I suggest you take two elves with you now? It is not safe particularly not after seeing such magically enhanced assassin", Blodhgarm said in a kind voice. Nasuada didn't feel like refusing his wish. Further it seemed to make much sense. She started to give her approval when Blodhgarm's face contorted a little.
She didn't know why and so waited patiently. After a while, Blodhgarm said, "Arya Drottningu, has asked twenty of us to go for her aid" Nasuada was stunned. So Arya and Saphira were ready to do the impossible. She was so overwhelmed that she couldn't find anything appropriate to say for a time. Finally she said, "Good. If she has asked for you, you may go as soon as possible"
"Thank you, Nasuada svit-kona. We shall move out in a hour's time. By the way, I will send two elves with you for your safety", Blodhgarm said and went away. She stood there processing all that had happened in the last five minutes as the night air brushed her face.
Author's Note:
This was a filler. I wrote this only to show Nasuada's reaction to Saphira and Arya's departure and to explain her state on the night when Saphira and Arya left for rescuing Eragon.
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