"I don't understand," Eth said, pursing her lips.

"It was in the dog's collar," Luné said gently. She touched Eth's shoulder. "Whoever wrote it has Freoh, or knows where he is."

Eth stood up, ran into Leon, and fell back on the bed again. "Sorry," she apologized, searching this time for a place to stand before she got up. She found Luné's hand and took the paper again. She stroked it thoughtfully for a long time.

"The man in the garden was with someone," Eth said. "There were two pairs of eyes that I felt. He has Freoh. I know it."

"Maybe," Leon admitted. "But I'm worried about just tramping off to the tavern without knowing what we're getting ourselves into."

Luné sat down on the bed, and Leon followed suit. Eth tried to pace, ran into the desk, stubbed her toe on a bedpost, and finally just sat down on the floor. She ran her fingers through her hair.

"There aren't very many options," Leon said. "Either we go, or we don't. If we don't, no Freoh. If we do…"

"Anything could happen," Eth and Luné finished for him at the same time. They giggled a little at saying the same thing, then sobered when they realized what it could mean for them.

Eth wrinkled her little nose to push the blindfold up higher. She rubbed a cheek with the back of her hand. "I don't think we have an option," she said quietly.

"Freoh is…" Luné paused. "Our friend." She twisted a strand of hair around one slender finger. "We'll go to the tavern. But not all of us – Eth and I will go. Leon, you'll follow, and if anything happens, run back as fast as you can and tell Eragon and Saphira. Alright?"

Leon nodded, then amended with a firm "Alright."

Eth shivered a bit. "I am not quite sure…" she bit her lip and glanced at the ground. "Can I go out?"

"I shall help you," Luné said. She stood up and took the girl's hand, helping her to her feet. "Hold onto my arm, alright?"

Eth nodded. It was settled. All that was left was to wait for midnight.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Moons rise slowly when watched. It took ages, it seemed, before eleven struck, and it was time to leave. Luné and Eth were dressed darkly – Luné in a green dress and black cape that shrouded her shoulders, Eth in a black tunic and cloak that pulled up around her face. Eth clasped her half-sister's arm tightly.

The tavern was a dimly lit, dank place from the outside, with drips from the corners and rats that scattered when you drew near. Eth – who could not see the rats – could still feel that something was not quite right in this place.

It had taken nearly three quarters of an hour to reach this place, and now Eth felt like turning back. She squeezed Luné's arm in distress.

"I'm frightened," she whispered, so softly Luné had to strain to make out the words. "I want Freoh."

"That's what we're here for," Luné said gently. "Hush, it'll be alright."

But Eth got the distinct feeling that it would not.

Leon was following, out of sight, but neither of the girls were aware of his presence. They hoped that he could remain out of sight – if he didn't, something had gone wrong.

Luné squeezed Eth's hand, and the two stepped into the tavern. Instantly, Eth was hit with a wall of noise. She felt disoriented because of it all. She couldn't tell which way it was coming from, how to make one voice stop and another start. Everything merged and blended, making it impossible to judge her surroundings.

Luné led her to a table, and Eth groped for the chair. When she found it, she pulled it out for herself, and sat down. Her hands found the table in front of her, and she let them explore it. The grain was hard and coarse, well worn.

"You're early."

She gave a little gasp, and so did Luné beside her.

Luné looked up at a man in a heavy black cloak. She couldn't see his face, nor anything else distinguishing about him. She gripped Eth's hand under the table.

The figure – man – in the cloak sat down, sliding into the table next to them as if they had been old friends.

"You said to come at midnight," Luné explained. "We didn't want to be late."

Eth felt his gaze turn to her, even though she could not see him turn his cloaked head. He took in her blindness, and said nothing for a moment. Then he cleared his throat, raising his hand to the bar tender. "I'll have three!" he said.

The bartender nodded, and before long, three over-full mugs of brew were set in front of them. Eth touched hers tentatively, afraid of knocking it over, then pushed it away. The man laughed.

"It would seem the little…girl has no taste for strong ale."

Eth bristled. It annoyed her that her gender was hard to guess, and it infuriated her to be called little. She was small, fine boned, like her father. She was not little.

She heard the man take a sip, then sigh with contentment. "This is the finest ale the world over," he told her seriously. "You can't get anything like this where I come from."

"And where is that?" Luné asked him.

He glanced at her. "In time," he said. "First, we have the matter of your friend."

"Freoh."

Eth felt her heart beat a little faster. Freoh! He did know where he was.

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "If you won't drink your ale, then come upstairs with me. What we have to talk about it a bit too strong for rowdy company."

Luné glanced around at the toasting, cheering, rowdy men. Until now she hadn't considered the idea that they may be being watched. She figured that the real danger came, not from around them, but from the man sitting with them at the table itself.

He stood, and they followed. Eth shuffled her feet and kept right behind Luné, trying to detect anything before she ran into it.

They walked up a pair of rickety stairs, and through an old squeaking door in an older, squeaker frame and hinges.

Eth sniffed. "Freoh?" she questioned in a whisper. The room smelled like him.

Luné's eyes were wide, but Eth couldn't see them. Curled in a corner, Freoh sat. He looked up at them with eyes like coals. His wrists were still bound, his mouth still gagged, but at the sight of the two girls we wiggled to be free.

The man who had lead them upstairs had not entered the room with them. He looked from one to the next, smiled beneath his cloak, and shut the door.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Leon tried to wriggle from the stone grip that clasped the back of his tunic. He kicked and squirmed, but nothing could free him.

"Stop moving," said the owner of the grip. "Or I will kill you."

Leon stopped. He wasn't sure if the being who gripped him would go through with this promise, but he wasn't about to test it. He wasn't short, but he found himself looking up at the being – a man, he assumed, with stupid, animalish blue eyes and close-cut sand colored hair. He had a band around his neck, like a slave might.

But slavery was outlawed. Leon didn't know what to think. And, at this point in time, he couldn't really think about it anyways. The man dragged him into the tavern.

Soon enough, he found himself with his sisters, and Freoh.

"Nice rescue."

Author's Note: Sorry for SUCH a short chapter. :( it's awful of me, I know. I'll try to get another one up soon, but you know, school. Homework… D: