The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

A Rider's Duty

She hesitated, staring down at the table. Her hands were folded in her lap, but I saw her beginning to twiddle her fingers nervously. "I..."

"Take your time," Braeden said soothingly.

"I believe it was a small village... i-in the mountains. Was it... Carvahall?"

"Yes, that's exactly right." I saw the hope spring forth in Braeden's eyes, and I couldn't help but feel it too. "And you know who I am?"

"You're Braeden; you're my best friend." Braeden nodded approvingly. "And my brother is here too, though he looks... different. Why does he look like our father?"

"We'll get to that soon, I promise. Now, do you remember how you came to the capital?"

My mother's eyes suddenly went wide, and I saw her hands trembling where she held them in her lap. "My husband..." she whispered, her voice quivering slightly. "He brought me here... nearly five years ago."

"And do you know how you came to be in the dungeons?"

"I tried to run away," she said. She looked down at the table, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to remember. "I... I had a son, didn't I? And a daughter... a baby girl." Braeden reached a hand across the table, and, very slowly, my mother brought her hand up to place it in his. She looked at him and he affirmed what she'd said. I felt my heartbeat quickening in my chest and my hands beginning to shake. Would she go into another of her episodes? "Where are they?" she suddenly said forcefully. "I want to see them."

"Later, Adelaide. I have a few more questions for you." She looked torn, but finally assented. "Do you remember why you tried to run away?"

"It was my husband," she began slowly. "He... was not who he claimed to be. He told me he was a minor lord with small holdings, and that his presence was required at court. But... I found out he was really... the king of Alagaësia." Suddenly, she seemed to be stricken with fear, and I worried that her panic was coming on. "Where is he, Braeden? Did he find her? Did he find my daughter?"

Braeden gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "No, Adelaide, he did not." Then Lord Braeden looked over at me, his eyes questioning. With the slightest of nods, I let him know it would be alright. "Adelaide," he began softly, "if you think you are ready, I would like to explain to you what has happened. Do you think you are prepared?" My mother pondered this for a long time, and I saw every feeling and question flash across her face. Then she glanced in my direction, looking at me skeptically out of the corner of her eye.

"Why is she here?" she asked.

"I'll explain everything. Now, you know that you came from Carvahall, and that your husband was the king. You also know you had a son and a daughter... Do you know how old they are?"

"Léod is four, and Tabatha is just an infant; only a few months old." I felt my heart breaking for my mother.

Braeden heaved a sigh, steeling himself for what was to come. "Adelaide, I'm going to tell you something, and it may be difficult for you to process."

"Tell me what?" She looked like a frightened doe that had spotted the hunter that had her in his sights. I wanted so badly to say something, but I knew this would be better coming from Braeden himself.

"You are under the impression that very little time has passed since you were put into captivity," he started slowly, trying to discern the best way to say this. "But that is an after-effect of the torture that you endured at Galbatorix's hand. In reality, it has been many years."

I saw the breath hitch in my mother's chest. "How long?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

Braeden gripped her hand tighter, and I saw the sympathy locked in his eyes. "It has been over seventeen years, Adelaide." My heart broke when I saw how her shoulders began to shake, and the tears that sprang to her eyes. Her chin began to tremble as the tears escaped, and a tortured sob burst from her throat.