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When he raised the mirror to his face Morzan stared back, eyes full of drunken anger
Murtagh startled awake on the floor of their makeshift camp in cold sweat. The last impression from his nightmare still lingered just behind his eyelids. I did so well not to think about that ass in a long time… what brought it up now?
Wide awake with adrenaline and a vague disquiet, he realized he would not find sleep again anytime soon. Careful not to wake up Thorn on the other side of the clearing, he sluggishly walked over to the small stream that bisected it.
After throwing cold water into his face, Murtagh gathered his courage and looked. You only have the creeps because of your nightmare. He hadn´t paid his own reflection any attention for a long time, but now he relentlessly studied it in a dim magical glow, trying to pick up on what might have given this impression.
Everybody had always told how he just looked like his father, but he took it for mistargeted attempts at flattery or mockery from the spoiled sons of minor courtiers.
Just because he inherited his sire´s coloring over his mother´s, that doesn´t mean he shared any of his most notable features
Or used to share none of them. Of course, his eye-color remained staunchly his own, so different from the infamous heterochromasia of Morzan. But when he pushed his hair back, his ears were not perfectly round anymore, their form unfamiliar to his inquiring fingers. At a passing glance, there was also something subtle about his features that was harder to place, but familiar in an uncomfortable way. And now some chatty stranger had commented how much he looked like an elf already.
Will I someday be unable to look into a mirror without seeing my father stare back?
He shivered again internally
On some level, Murtagh had known that a dragon bond would change him. But he also told himself he´d have years or decades before any obvious changes settled. I´m not Eragon, who was transformed so drastically that he can hardly pass for human anymore
But nobody could confuse his half-brother with a infamous monster
Maybe it is my fault for assuming instead of actually asking. But to be honest, Galbatorix would have laughed in my face and exploited my unease as another weakness.
He felt his mood spiral and was hyperaware of the scar on his back, although it hadn´t bothered him for years. Thankfully, by now Thorn woke and picked up on his disquiet.
What is bothering you? When he tried to convey his tangled mess of feelings, his partner didn´t immediately get it.
You start to look like a rider
That´s exactly the problem. Since it happens to be my late father´s most defining characteristic too
Thorn suddenly understood. He knew how much the first and last of the forsworn had hurt his rider. Murtagh had to be truly upset to approach that topic at all. He sent some comforting warmth through their bond.
When I was searching for the scale, someone I didn´t even know commented how much I looked like an elf already. Guess it muss have messed with my head more than I thought….I´m sorry for waking you.
…And being reminded of what we did…what we were forced to do to Oromis and Glaedr certainly did not help either
After some moments, Thorn inquired hesitantly
Do you regret that we ever met each other? Not like we chose each other freely in the way it´s supposed to go.
Murtagh was quick to reassure him: NOO, only what happened after. I wouldn´t exchange you for anything in the world. Even if that means I have to deal with the full package
After breathing deeply for a few times Murtagh added:
I know I´m noone different, no matter how I look. I´m just unsettled because of a stupid nightmare, like a stupid child
Now it´s apparently my turn to remind you that none of what you went through is truly your fault
Murtagh got the impression that the dragons mental voice seemed nearly sardonical
He finally managed to fall back asleep against Thorn´s warm body.