The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

Isabelle was showing me around the city on a warm day. It wasn't as though it was ever cold in Surda, and I was highly enjoying it. Summer was well on its way by now, and the days were getting longer and hotter. We had been here for a fortnight, and I loved it so far. The weather was beautiful, I got to see my friends regularly, and no one was hunting me down. Gregorio was acting very moody lately, and he'd been given a regular guard station, so we didn't see him much. But Isabelle and I spent nearly every day together. The thought of Eragon was slowly but surely slipping from my mind, as I'd resolved myself to forget him, but Murtagh was ever prevalent in my mind. I'd been dreaming about him lately, and every time it ended with his death at the bottom of the black pit. I'd awake in a sweating terror, and Isabelle would help calm me down, but nothing I did ever got rid of the nightmares. They had become part of my routine now.

As we made our way through the sprawling and lively city, Isabelle brought me to a giant coliseum that towered over every building near it. There were massive throngs of people moving in and out of the huge structure, all of them going on their merry way with smiles upon their faces.

"What is this place?" I asked Isabelle as we walked under the giant archway that served as the main entrance. Before us was a huge marble statue of a horse on its hind legs, pawing at the air.

"This is Surda's famous Horse Market," she explained. "I thought perhaps that you could find a horse."

"Oh," I breathed in surprise, looking over at her. "Thank you, Isabelle. That's so kind of you." She smiled in response as we continued into the stands, finding a seat on the front row. I leaned against the low wall separating us from the sand-filled arena and craned my neck to look around. The bowl of the coliseum was low and wide, stretching out far behind us. And there was a man with a booming voice standing in the very middle of the arena, shouting names of different types of horses and their prices. Looking beyond him, I saw a group of indifferent-looking people loitering beneath a midnight blue canopy stretched above them. "Who are they?" I asked her, pointing over to the group that was mostly made up of men.

"Oh, them," Isabelle replied with a hint of disgust. "Those are the Surdan nobles. The horse traders also sit there." I nodded absent-mindedly, gazing around at the various horses prancing around the arena. They came in from an opening at the far end and then trotted around the outer edges of the arena, their master's groomsmen showing them off to the gaping crowds. I watched as the magnificent creatures went by right in front of us, noting the grace and elegance with which many of them moved. But that wasn't what I was looking for in a horse. If I was to get a horse-and it would have to be relatively inexpensive-it would have to be a war horse, of the same lot as Tornac. I would be riding this horse into the battles that were invariably to come; it would have to be quick, strong, agile, but also have a sort of beauty about it. And none of these horses seemed to match the criteria.

"Do you see anything you like?" Isabelle asked. I shook my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the arena.

"Not yet. But I'm sure I'll know it when I do," I reassured her.

The hours wore on, and the sun slowly sank in the Surdan sky. The deep purples and oranges of twilight were creeping overhead when a particular horse caught my eye-caught everyone's eye really. He was a beautiful, jet black stallion, and he was causing quite the commotion near the nobles' canopy. The stallion reared onto his back legs, neighing wildly and pawing the air with massive, powerful hooves. The handlers ran around frantically to try and control the horse, but they were doing a poor job of it. Then the horse pulled at his restraint, dragging the handlers to the middle of the arena.

"Get that beast out of here!" a man cried, standing up from his seat beneath the canopy. I didn't know what came over me, but for some inexplicable reason I jumped up out of my own seat. Before I realized what I was saying, the words were coming out of my mouth and I was powerless to stop them.