The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

Inevitably, I was unable to stay away from Evander. The rational portion of my brain was telling me that I shouldn't get involved with someone here when my intentions were to leave, but the other part of my brain... well, it was telling me something completely different. We met in secret, to avoid the prying eyes of my father's spies, but the time never seemed to be enough. He hadn't kissed me again since that night on the balcony, but I seemed to always feel Murtagh's eyes on me whenever I was near him. My father made the four of us—Murtagh, Léod, himself and me—dine together every night, and he spoke of all his grand plans to reestablish the order of the Riders and unite Alagaesia under a banner of peace. It didn't take me long to grow tired of his lies. Murtagh always just sat there in silence, staring at me. I wondered if he was constantly remembering seeing me kiss another man.

It was one morning, as I was studiously trying to avoid Murtagh for the thousandth time, that I stole away into the library. It had been a month since I'd been brought to Uru'baen, but in that short time Master Tobias and I had become well acquainted with each other. He waved to me amiably from behind his desk as I walked in, heading straight up the stairs to the gallery. By now, I knew my way well enough around the library to not require his help anymore. I headed for the reading corner behind the history section. When I rounded the corner of the shelves, I saw him there, sitting with his legs crossed and flipping lazily through the pages of a blue-bound book. Evander lifted his eyes at my arrival and I had to laugh.

"How do you always know when and where I'll be someplace?" I asked, stopping in front of him with my hands placed firmly upon my hips.

"Call it intuition," he responded with a smirk, rising from the chair and coming over to me.

"Others would call it stalking."

"I prefer to call it 'being attentive'." I had to laugh at that, but he just continued to smirk down at me. And before I knew what was happening, he was leaning forward and our lips were touching. He wrapped his arm about my waist and pulled me closer as my arms snaked around his neck. The room seemed to be spinning around me, but right now I didn't really care. When we finally pulled away, I could feel a wide smile upon my face.

"You didn't miss me, did you?" I teased. He laughed and led me over to the two plush chairs, sitting in the one across from me.

"It feels as though it's been ages since we were alone together, when I know it's only been a week. Why must we be so secretive?"

"You should know better than I," I chided softly. "It might raise suspicions if we are seen together. The king keeps a watchful eye on me, and I wouldn't want you to fall under suspicion that you're helping me to escape. It's better this way."

"It may be better, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." I just gave him a sad smile to let him know I agreed, but there was nothing to be done for it.

"Have you learned anything that may be useful in my escape?" I asked, trying to shift the subject.

"The tunnel that was used by Helfring to steal Saphira's egg has long since been sealed, but I'm sure there are others that even the king doesn't know about. This citadel was added onto the castle that was already here. The original one was built by the elves, and they're renowned for their secrets. We'll find a way." Evander placed his hand on top of mine in a reassuring gesture, but I felt a cold pit forming in my stomach. The situation was looking bleaker. I was on constant watch when I was outside of my room, and the two soldiers that guarded the doors were cycled out regularly, with no breaks between the shifts. After dinner, I wasn't allowed outside of my room, or else Galion was there to escort me wherever I went. If I was to get out of here alive, we would need a very good plan.