The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

"We should go to the Varden," Eragon declared as we sat around the fire. "It'll be safer for Saphira and me than anywhere else in Alagaesia." I glanced over quickly at Murtagh and noticed that his face looked slightly troubled.

"I will travel with you, as I said," Murtagh began slowly, "but I won't go with you to the Varden."

"Why not?" Eragon asked in confusion. Murtagh sighed heavily.

"Just trust me." I snorted a bit at that. "It would be best for everyone here if I didn't go with you," he said. I couldn't help the unshakable feeling that something was amiss here. It was like he was...

"But the Varden is the safest place to go," Eragon argued, cutting through my thoughts.

"Not for me it isn't," he growled back.

Eragon opened his mouth to say something else, but I quickly silenced him. "Eragon," I snapped, shooting him my most menacing glare. Jerking my head to indicate he should follow me, I rose from the fire and walked a little ways into the wooded area that surrounded our camp. I just hoped Murtagh couldn't hear us.

"What is it?" Eragon asked, his face clouded in confusion. I crossed my arms over my chest and peeked around him to where Murtagh still sat.

"Something isn't right," I replied softly. He furrowed his brow in annoyance.

"What do you mean? With what?"

"With Murtagh," I said impatiently, slightly gritting my teeth. "He's hiding something; something important. Whatever it is, he doesn't want the forces of good in this world to know about it."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

I wanted to reply, 'Because he's acting the way I would act if someone in the Varden were asking me about my father.' But instead, I said, "I can just tell, Eragon. You need to trust me. He's acting very strange." Eragon rolled his eyes slightly, which caught me off guard.

"Why do you have such a personal vendetta against him?" he snapped accusingly. "What has he ever done to you?"

My mouth hung open for a moment in shock. I'd never heard Eragon speak like this before, especially to me. "I don't have a vendetta against him," I whispered angrily, trying not to gain Murtagh's attention. "I'm trying to tell you what I have observed in our travels thus far. There's no reason for you to jump down my throat like that. Why do you trust him-someone you've only known for a couple of days-over me? I've been your best friend for almost sixteen years, Eragon!" I couldn't contain my anger any longer.

"I don't know!" he yelled, clearly just as frustrated as I was. "There's just... something about him. I know I can trust him, but I don't know how. I wish you could feel it too, that way you'd stop hating each other." I watched as he paced back and forth, eyes narrowed at the ground and brow furrowed in anger. He turned back to me, a desperate look on his face. "All I'm asking is that you get to know him a little better. Please?"

I searched his face for a moment before sighing heavily and hanging my head. "I'll try," I lied, giving him my most sincere look. He nodded firmly before turning and going back to the campsite.

I couldn't think what was the matter with him. He was acting completely insane. With the way he was acting, I didn't think I'd ever be able to get through his thick skull and show him that there was something wrong with Murtagh. Eragon wanted me to get to know him, so we'd all get along, but this only heightened my distrust of him.

~*~

When I returned to camp, the two of them were standing a little ways away from the fire, circling each other with their swords drawn. They were going to spar, and I had to feel sorry for Eragon. From what I could tell of Murtagh, he was very skilled with a blade, and although Eragon was proficient with a sword, I had my doubts about how this fight was going to go. With a heavy sigh, I plopped down in the dirt in front of the fire and watched them continue to circle each other, their eyes narrowed in concentration. Eragon looked extremely non-threatening compared to Murtagh; what with his boyish, rounded face and lesser height. Murtagh was tall, and broad of shoulder, and his movements held a particular animalistic grace, like a predator stalking their prey. He also had about three years on Eragon, so it wasn't surprising to me that he had more experience with a blade.