Sja Fram [Inheritance Cycle | Eragon Fanfiction]

Chapter XIII: Secrets

Brom shook his head and I licked my lips in apprehension, thinking that I was about to learn something more about Brom. "No, it's not that simple. It was stolen a while ago - at least that's what I presume, for I haven't received word from our friends, and I suspect their messengers were waylaid - so I decided to find out what I could. Eragon happened to be traveling in the same direction. We have stayed together for a while now. Umaroth stumbled upon his early within our travels and needed a bit of a hand so he joined us."

Jeod looked puzzled. "But if they haven't sent any messages, how could you know that it was-"

Brom overrode him quickly, saying, "Eragon's uncle was brutally killed by the Ra'zac. They burned his home and nearly caught him in the process. He deserves revenge, but they left us without a trail to follow, and we need help finding them."

Jeod's face cleared. "I see... Nevertheless, why have you come here? I don't know where the Ra'zac might be hiding, and anyone who does won't tell you."

Broom stood and reached into his robe, pulling out the Ra'zac's flask. He tossed it over to Jeod. "There's Seithr oil in there - the dangerous kind. The Ra'zac had been carrying it. They lost it by the trial, and we happened to find it. We need to see Teirm's shipping records so we can trace the Empire's purchases of the oil. That should tell us where the Ra'zac's lair is."

Lines crossed Jeod's face as he thought, he pointed at the books on the selves. "Do you all those? They're all records from my business, one business. You've gotten yourself into a project that could take months. There's another, greater problem too. The records that you seek are held in this castle, but only Brand, Risthart's administrator of trade, sees them on a regular basis. Traders such as myself aren't allowed to handle them. They fear that we will falsify the results, thus cheating the Empire of its precious taxes."

"I can deal with that when the time comes," Brom said. "But we need a few days of rest before we can think about proceeding."

Jeod smiled, "It seems like it's my turn to help you. My house is yours, of course. Do you have another name while you're here?"

"Yes," Brom said, "I'm Neal, Eragon is Evan, and Umaroth is Curt."

"Eragon," Jeod said thoughtfully. "You have a unique name. Few have ever been named after the first rider. In my life I've read about only three people who were called such." Eragon had a startled expression on his face when Jeod said this. "And Umaroth, I have only heard of one other who went by such a name. It is also a unique name, but it may make certain people despise you for it. Be wary."

I tilted my head back in answer. Brom suddenly gazed at Eragon and me. "Could you go check on the horses and make sure they're alright? Snowfire looked loose when we left. I'm worried someone will steal him as well. He's a fine horse." Eragon and I looked at each other, knowing wha Brom was doing.

Eragon reacted to this angrily, shoving himself out of the chair and leaving the room, slamming the door shut. I stood and gazed at Brom. Brom's words from days ago echoed around my mind. "You told me that the answer to who you are 'cannot be found from dragon back yet it could be found from dragon back.' I've been thinking over those quite often, cannot be and could be are different tenses. In that sense could be refers to the past and cannot be refers to now. You were a Dragon Rider at one point, weren't you?"

Brom let out a frustrated sigh, "You seem to have caught onto my riddle. I'm sure you didn't respond to my command for that one question though."

"Why can I not stay?" I demanded, getting straight to the point.

"There are forces out there fighting over Eragon, the battles surround him. If I told you such things, is it fair to Eragon to not know these things? If you are caught as well, you can't give too much information away." I stood and deliberated leaving or staying, Brom was giving me somewhat of a choice. I let out a frustrated groan and stalked out of the room.