He wished Saphira had remained, as he had no idea what to do now. It had never been his intention to upset Nia, but he didn't see what he could have said differently. On the other hand, it was easy to understand her frustration: from what he had seen in the reminiscences and what she had told him, her visions had allowed her to glean an understanding of him that made them less of strangers than they may have been otherwise. But nothing could change the fact that they'd only met the day before, and Eragon could not understand the reason for her pain at his words.

Or maybe you do not wish to understand, was no doubt what Saphira would tell him if she was here. Dismissing the errant thought (and more importantly, the errant feelings that came with it), he strode forward to join the others in the tent.

"Took you long enough to join us," Nathan's voice greeted him, though he was too preoccupied with the impossibly large depth of the space within the canvas.

The floor was covered with a soft pelt carpeting, and it stretched onwards for several more yards than the tent was long. Several Erisdar lanterns hung from a ceiling that was too tall for an entrance in which he'd had to stoop to walk in. Three beds stood in the back, while the area into which he'd entered seemed to be decorated as a sitting room of sorts. His jaw twitched at the thought of tents having areas. "How is this...what sort...I don't...?"

"His reaction was even better than expected," Rose murmured to her sister with a mischievous smile.

Her twin merely nodded, wearing her own grin as her fiancé explained, "It's a spell that shifts dimensions, allowing pockets of space to be extended beyond their conceivable parameters while controversially equivalating the mass."

"...I still don't...?"

Nick's enthusiastic expression dimmed as his brother roared with laughter and clapped him on the heartily back. "To actually answer your question, Eragon, my silver-tongued triplet here cast a spell invented by our father that makes objects bigger on the inside without changing how much they weigh. Now," Nate said, directing his next question towards his younger, "was that so hard?"

"No. Indeed, it was exceedingly simple."

Ren snorted at that while brown eyes bored into green as the Rider adjusted his clasp into a chokehold. The brothers started wrestling on the small settee they'd been sitting on while their sister rolled her eyes and gestured - with barely restrained reluctance - for Eragon to take the empty spot next to her.

He did so - with much more noticeable reluctance - and addressed the blondes, "I didn't even know such a thing was possible."

"It helped that Faðiras had unlimited access to the most vast library in the world," the gray-eyed one replied with a wistful sigh. "That's one of the things I miss most about Alalëa."

"I miss the forests," her twin put in.

"The fairy garden," grunted her fiancé as he struggled to free himself from Nicholas's grip.

The mage kept the other pinned down, shaking away the hair that had tumbled into his green eyes as he softly said, "The inlet where Mor first arrived."

"Mor." The single word brought a halt to the impromptu wrestling match. Eragon looked towards the Rider at his side, but her violet gaze was directed past them all. "And Far."

A solemn quiet settled above the group, as the two male triplets sat back on the settee properly, allowing their fiancées to grip their hands. He watched them before glancing back at Niaomi, whose empty fingers were curling into fists. His own caught the ones of her left hand before it finish doing so, and she looked at him in surprise. He stared back and squeezed her hand, hoping that he could convey all he meant to say with this gesture. That he was sorry: sorry for being an arse, for telling if not a lie then not exactly telling the truth, for being too scared to accept her overture of friendship when it came with other feelings between them as well, but - most of all - for making her cry.

Silver shimmered within purple orbs, and Nia hesitantly tightened her fingers around his, as if worried the moment between them would suddenly end if she did so. Her mouth trembled open, only for her to exhale as he leaned in, unsure of what he was doing but wanting to erase the fear from her beautifully carved features.

"There's a lot of things to miss about Alalëa." Realization dawned that the others were still very much present, and the two quickly withdrew from each other. Eragon saw that it was Renata who had spoken, and the blonde's sharp look pierced through him like a dagger. Cheeks growing ever redder, he scooted even further away and thought it best not to even take a peek at the young woman beside him. "But I'm very glad that you all are not one of them."

At least, not when he was still so clearly under the line of fire.

Saphira would be laughing and calling him a besotted fool if she'd been here to witness what had just transpired. But what exactly had occurred? One moment, he'd felt guilt-ridden and determined to cheer Niaomi up, and the next, he had been overcome with emotion similar to that which he'd felt when he had first glimpsed Arya. Thinking of the elf's name brought back the guilt, though he was not sure why. There was no reason to feel as though he'd betrayed her when there was nothing to betray. His feelings were his own to decide...not that he was having much luck figuring them out.

As his heart slowed and his face cooled, Eragon finally realized the conversation had moved on to the topic of breaking fast and took this opportunity to sneak that peek. The seer's raven mane hid most of her face from view, and he could only see the edge of her nose and the curve of her lips. The last glimpse reversed the calm that was just returning to him, and of course that was the moment she glanced his way. One glimpse of those irises had him swiftly turning to face forward once more, franticly trying to fight from flushing.

His right ear twitched as a low chuckle reached it, and that was all it took for the blush to win out as baskets of food were placed onto the low table between the Riders. He hurriedly grabbed a roll and stuffed it into his mouth, cursing himself for allowing the peek to turn into a gaze.

Besotted indeed, he imagined Saphira to say as he chomped on the bread, nearly choking when Nia spoke directly to him.

"So, Eragon, what are you planning to say during the ceremony?"

Coughing, he managed to gasp, "I'm expected to speak?"

"Well, duh," Nathan teased. "You're our leader now, aren't you?"

Frowning, Eragon shrugged his shoulders. "I hadn't thought to prepare anything. I'm sure Nasuada will do most of the explaining."

"But she'll probably want you to reaffirm that we can be trusted," Rosaminda added, not unkindly.

"Explaining she's the triplets' aunt should do that well enough," her twin argued, still pointedly peering at him.

He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, and Niaomi seemed to understand. Of course, her way of solving the problem was unsettling itself: she placed her hand on his knee and smiled up at him from underneath her long lashes. How had he never noticed how long they were before? It made sense since her eyes themselves usually captured most people's attention, but the way the irises shone through the curled black hair was mystifying in and of itself. They widened slightly as he stared, and that was when he realized she'd just finished talking...and that he had no idea what she had said.

"So, will you?"

"Ah...um..." Eragon was at a loss of words, partially because she was still looking at him, and partially because he had no clue what she was talking about.

"I don't see why it would be a problem," Ren said, her tone frank and not nearly as kind as her twin's had been. "You did choose her to be your second, and I see no reason to hide that decision from the Varden when it should strengthen our precarious position."

"Of course," he immediately agreed, straining to hide the relief in his voice. "Yes, I shall tell them that Nia is my second-in-command. It shows that I trust her - that I trust all of you. We're comrades, after all. And, as Nasuada pointed out, your arrival couldn't have come at a better time."

"Don't thank us for that timely intervention," Nick said. "Thank Nia. It was her gift that got her here in time to save our aunt."

"And got us here in time to take out the Black Hand," his brother added abruptly, a semi-fixed smile in place. "Don't give our sis all the credit."

"Credit's given where credit is due, Nate. No need to be jealous."

Nate's sputtering protest of his sister's insinuation was cut short as Eragon thanked them all. Rose petted her fiancé's shoulder and shot him a look of gratitude as the brown-eyed Rider settled for sticking his tongue out at Nia. She refused to acknowledge him, which prompted a blueberry to be thrown at her head. Spinning to catch it in her mouth, she stuck her tongue and the fruit out at Nathan, grinning widely at the disbelief on his face. He pointed at her and said in a voice full of accusation, "You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! You knew I was gonna throw that blueberry at you!"

"I didn't have to 'cheat' to know that."

"How else could you have possible known?"

"Because you're you?"

"Will you two knock it off?" Rosaminda said wearily, as if this was something that had to be dealt with everyday. "We have a guest present."

The champion just waved away her concerns and stated, "He better get used to it since he's one of us now."

One of us now. Eragon glanced toward the other man, shocked, but he'd already resumed bickering with his sister as if his comment was nothing special. He looked towards the others. Nicholas was grinning as he watched his siblings argue, Rose was trying desperately to keep it from escalating into a food fight, and Renata was now gazing at him with understanding rather than suspicion. She too had recognized the impact of her godbrother's words, and gave him a wink before telling the duo how pointless their argument was as Nick tried to shush her.

Feeling giddy, he slyly voiced how obvious Nate's "attack" was, causing the man to start ranting about how everyone was now against him. The twins tried to convince him there was nothing to be against, which gave a perfect opening for an insult that both of his triplets took in synchronicity. Of course Nathan threw more food, which Eragon pointed out again was obvious, making him a target as well. Niaomi accidentally roped in Rosaminda when she missed Nate, and Ren charged her leader and her fiancé with instigating and began throwing rolls at them.

Soon, Eragon found himself in a full-on food fight, he and Nia having made an alliance as they ducked underneath the settee they'd been sitting on with the basket of grapes he'd managed to snag as ammo. Her oldest brother kept yelling about how she was cheating each time she pegged him, and he called back that it was all the yelling that allowed her to know where she was. That insight was his own doom as Renata clipped his head with a muffin and mocked that he should take his own advice, leaving him to try and hit her.

And it was long after the food fight, when they'd collapsed in a pile of food and laughter, that Eragon knew there was no need to carve himself a place among them when the five had already made room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Such a sweet ending! Hope it makes up for not updating in a month (cannot believe it's been that long!), as well as the fact that this part is twice as long as usual. I love how skeptical Ren is of Eragon's motives towards her beloved godsister. Do you guys think she has a right to be, considering how confused our protagonist is? The explanation for all that is coming soon, though Nia's hinted at it before in volume one. Anyhow, hope you guys liked part ninety-two! I wanted to show how our seer isn't the only one who's ready to welcome Eragon; the other four Riders are, too, having heard so much about him - and maybe also because the fifth is totally in love with him? Yeah, that's probably a factor. So...anyone still rooting for Team Aragon? ;D