Thank you all for checking out my story! It was previously titled "The Truth Doesn't Lie, Or Does It?" but I have changed the title to "The Truth About Lies" to reflect the more serious tone the story has taken on. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to leave a review, if you wish; I still read and reply to them. Thanks!

Chapter 1: Home

It was a beautiful fall day in Carvahall. The sun was shining and there was a slight, crisp breeze blowing across the meadow where I lay. The wind rustled the tall grass, making it sway all around me. I could hear the sounds of the village not too far off. Horses whinnied and oxen lowed as they lumbered by with a heavy cart. Above it all, I could hear the sounds of my uncle's forge, his heavy hammer falling upon the anvil with a metallic clink as he worked on his latest creation. The breeze tickled my skin and ruffled my hair, drawing it across my forehead and into my eyes. I wiped it away and closed the book I'd just finished for about the hundredth time: A History of Alagaësia. No matter how many times I'd asked him to borrow it, Brom always laughed and handed it over.

"You don't have it memorized yet?" he asked playfully the last time I'd come knocking on his door to dig through the mountains of books. I only smiled and took it gladly.

I came to this meadow every day, to wait for my best friend, Eragon. It had been a few days since he'd met me, though. He was out hunting in the mountains surrounding our village, the Spine. I didn't like it when he went out there; a woman from our village had died in those woods a while back, and ever since then we'd believed the mountains to be cursed.

I sat up in the grass and looked around me, my eyes barely clearing the top of the grass. A farmer moved slowly along the road with his wagon, pulled by two black oxen, their hides gleaming with sweat from their heavy load. He raised a hand in greeting when he caught a glimpse of me in the meadow. I recognized him in passing; it was a small village, so no one was a stranger. I raised my hand in response. We lived a simple life here in the Spine, but it was the only life I'd ever known, and I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. The only problem was the Imperial soldiers. They'd arrived not too long ago, just to keep an eye on things here in our remote village. The soldiers hadn't caused any trouble... yet, but their presence was still unsettling to me.

After another minute or so, I decided that I probably wouldn't be seeing Eragon today, so I stood to go, stretching my arms above me. A bird flew overhead, and I paused to look at it, watching as it flew on black wings towards the looming mountains. As I followed its path I saw a figure moving in between the trees. When it finally emerged from the tree line, I cried out in joy.

"Eragon!" I called, waving my arm in a wide arc.

"Hello!" he replied, picking up his pace as he came towards me. When he drew nearer, I saw he was smiling, but his eyes held a note of sadness.

"You didn't get anything?" I asked when he stopped in front of me.

He shook his head sadly. "No, I didn't. Bit of a waste of three days." He shrugged and twisted his mouth, but his smile returned. "How are you, Tabatha?" he asked kindly.

"As well as ever," I replied, turning to walk with him towards the village. "Aunt Elain is trying to teach me housework, as usual, but it's so terribly boring! I don't know how she's done it for so long, sitting and sewing and cooking and cleaning all day long!" Eragon laughed at me and pushed slightly on my arm, throwing me off balance a bit.

"Don't be so hard on her, Tabby." I smiled at his use of my nickname. "She's made a good life for you all. And she and Horst took you in, besides, after your mother..."

"And I'm forever grateful that they gave me a home," I said quickly, cutting him off before he could bring up any unpleasant feelings. "I just feel like I don't belong with them, Eragon. Like I was... I don't know, like I was meant for something else... something greater." He laughed at that too.

"Don't we all?" he said ruefully. I smirked over at him as his dark eyes lit up in amusement. I punched him playfully on the arm as we drew nearer to the town.

"What are you going to do since you didn't get a kill?" I asked him, changing the subject quickly. He suddenly stopped and looked over at me, and then over his shoulder to check that we were alone on the single dirt road that led in and out of town. "Eragon? What's wrong?"

"Come here, Tabby," he whispered, beckoning me over to the shelter of a few trees near the road. I didn't know what he was up to, but I went over to him anyways. Reaching around to his pack, he unstrapped the top flap and pulled something out. When I saw what it was, I couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped my mouth.

"Eragon! It's beautiful! What is it?" I said. He shushed me quietly, looking around again to make sure we were still alone.

"I'm not sure, Tabby. I found it deep in the forest, just lying there. I don't know where it came from, and I've never seen anything quite like it before," he explained, examining the shining, perfectly round, sapphire blue stone. I ran my hand over the surface and found that it was completely smooth, without any kind of blemish at all. I had never seen anything like it either, and for a moment, I thought that I saw a light pulsing around it. As soon as I saw it though, it disappeared.

"What are you going to do with it?" The light off the stone reflected in Eragon's dark brown eyes. He stared at it another moment before placing it back in his pack.

"I'm going to take it to Sloan," he said, his face somber and serious. "I think I can get him to trade me meat for it."

"You could buy enough meat to last you the whole winter with that!" I exclaimed.

"That's the plan," he smirked. "I'd best be going though. I'll see you later?" I nodded in response and he jogged off, giving me a final wave over his shoulder before disappearing into the town.

I continued down the road until I got to my aunt and uncle's house on the hill near the middle of town. It was one of the larger houses in town, with the forge behind it, the fires blazing away as my uncle worked. It was growing darker as the afternoon had worn on, and Uncle Horst would be coming in soon. Aunt Elain would be making dinner right now, preparing for the boys to come in, hungry as always. I stood outside of the house for another moment, just looking at it. This was my home, and it always had been, ever since I was a baby, but I'd never truly felt at home here. There was always something that made me feel as though I didn't belong, though I couldn't put a finger on just what that thing was.

Suddenly, I saw my aunt's blonde hair sticking out the kitchen window, quickly followed by her bright, round face. "Tabatha! Come inside, dear!" I smiled and waved to her before making my way into the house. "There you are!" she cooed, bustling over to me and wrapping her arms around me. She had been a good aunt to me, more of a mother really, but she was always so overprotective.

"Yes, Aunt Elain. Here I am," I replied, patting her lightly on the back. Albriech and Baldor, my cousins, suddenly burst in through the back door that led to the forge, arguing loudly about something or another. "Boys!" Aunt Elain snapped impatiently, turning back to them. "You get back outside this instant and wash up for dinner." They shied away from her waving spoon as it danced dangerously close to their arms and backsides. They may have been men grown, but they knew better than to get on Aunt Elain's bad side.

"All right, all right!" Albriech cried indignantly. They disappeared back through the door and I couldn't help but laugh. This was becoming a nightly occurrence, but it never once lost its amusement.

Aunt Elain hurried back over to the heavy iron pot that hung over the fire, stirred it slightly with her spoon and dipped out a little bit. She tasted it tentatively, smacked her lips together and declared it the best stew she'd ever made. This statement was also becoming a regular occurrence, but I smiled at her nonetheless. "Was Eragon there today?" she asked kindly, wiping her hands on a towel that hung on the back of one of the chairs. There was a glint in her eyes that had started appearing as of late whenever we discussed Eragon, but I ignored any underlying meaning she might have been trying to imply.

"Yes, he was," I replied, as though nothing was amiss. "He'd been hunting in the Spine for the past few days, that's why I hadn't seen him until today."

"The Spine?" Her voice had suddenly changed, full of concern. "Isn't that awfully dangerous? He's just a boy of fifteen, I'm surprised Garrow lets him go into the mountains by himself." I made to protest, but my uncle's voice cut me off.

"Eragon has been to the Spine?" he asked, ducking through the narrow doorway with his broad frame.

"Yes," I sighed, exasperated. "He found a strange stone there that looks like it could be worth something. He's gone to Sloan's to trade it for meat." My uncle's face suddenly changed, a shadow coming over it. Aunt Elain looked up at him, her face fraught with worry as well.

"Horst," she said softly, laying a hand on his thick, muscled arm.

"Aye," he replied, understanding her meaning.

"What is it?" I asked heatedly, looking between the two of them.

"Sloan hates the Spine with a passion," Aunt Elain explained slowly as Uncle Horst made his way towards the front door. "If Eragon lets slip where that stone is from, there could be trouble." My uncle was already out the door before she had finished speaking, hurrying across the town's common pasture to the butcher's shop situated directly across from the house. I watched out the window as he disappeared inside the shop.

"I hope everything's all right," I whispered quietly.

"Tabatha, get washed up for dinner," Aunt Elain said distractedly, running between the counter and the pot over the fire. "Your uncle will tell us about it when he returns. I don't want you going over there." My aunt knew me too well. I hurried out the back as Albriech and Baldor pushed past each other into the house, knocking me aside in the process. My cousins were more like my brothers, and equally as vexing.

"Watch it!" I cried, pushing Albriech off of me.

"I heard Father's going over to Sloan's to rescue Eragon for you," Baldor crooned mockingly. "We all knew you've been in love with him this whole time."

"I am not in love with Eragon!" I screamed, hands balled into fists at my side. They just laughed and pushed on past me towards the table as I continued to seethe. Aunt Elain smiled at me in that understanding way and then gestured for me to move along. I went out to the back and plunged my arms into the ice cold water in the trough, scrubbing vigorously with the bar of soap that rested on the edge. How could they think that! Eragon was my best friend! I didn't feel anything for him other than friendship. Sometimes those two could be completely ridiculous.

When I went back inside, Uncle Horst was sitting at the head of the table, Albriech and Baldor to his left, and Aunt Elain sitting directly across. "Is he alright?" I asked, sitting across from Albriech. I noticed the two of them smirking but ignored it.

"Your aunt was right," he sighed, shaking his head subtly, "there was trouble, but I took care of it. I paid for Eragon's meat and calmed Sloan down. Eragon will repay me." I sighed in relief that everything had turned out all right, but I couldn't help but think that stone of his was only going to bring Eragon trouble.

I snuck out later that night, as I usually did, to meet Brom over at Morn's tavern. Aunt Elain hated the idea that I went there, but she'd come to realize that she could do nothing to stop me. I still didn't like her lectures though, so I continued to sneak away after she'd gone to bed. Brom sat at his usual corner, far back in the corner near the blazing fire. As autumn slipped further and further away, making way for the winter, the nights were getting colder and colder. I had wrapped my winter cloak tightly around me outside, but the heat in here was stifling. I threw it into an adjacent seat and plopped down in the chair across from Brom. He looked up from his pint and smiled at me.

"Good evening, Tabatha. How have you been? Practicing those moves I taught you?" he said, lifting his pint to his mouth and taking a long drink. I laughed when I saw the foam that had stuck to his moustache and he wiped it away quickly. Brom was like another father to me, and he'd been looking out for me ever since I was a child, teaching me how to read and how to use a sword: much more practical activities than anything my aunt had tried to teach me.

"My aunt caught me practicing once before, Brom. I'm not going to let her do it again. It's hard to find the time to get away from her, but I practice when I can. When are you going to give me a real sword? Instead of that paltry wooden one I've had since I was a child?"

"When you're older," he replied with a wide grin. Every time I asked him that, I got the same answer.

"And when will that be? You've been saying that for years," I complained, picking at a spot on the table that was coming up.

He sighed in mock exasperation. "You'll be ready soon, Tabatha, I promise. Just be patient." I decided to let the subject drop

"Very well," I muttered. Raucous laughter came from the counter where Morn stood behind it, preparing drinks for the soldiers that sat there. I followed Brom's gaze, looking over my shoulder, and found one of the soldiers staring at me over his pint, his icy blue eyes glinting sharply in the firelight.

"I wait in anticipation for the day that these thrice-damned soldiers leave here," Brom growled into his cup, taking another swig of the potent ale. Although I met Brom here almost every night to converse, he never allowed me a pint. "Too young," he had said.

"Why did they have to come at all?" I asked quietly, returning my eyes to him to escape the piercing gaze of the Imperial soldier.

"They are keeping an eye on things here, making sure the farmers are giving their due to the Empire. Galbatorix is a greedy fool. He takes and kills without thinking," Brom said angrily. "That, and he's looking for something." This last part he said more to himself, but I caught it with my keen sense of hearing. I stared at him hard to see if he'd continue.

"And what's that?" I asked slowly. I searched Brom's face as he hesitated to answer me. He glanced back at the bar to the soldiers. I dared not look for fear that the man's eyes were still upon me. I could feel them there, and my skin began to crawl, as though he was undressing me with his eyes. Brom could sense my discomfort.

"You must be very careful, Tabatha," he whispered. "These soldiers have been secluded from civilization—and in particular, women—for large amounts of time. They are not afraid to do unspeakable things to women." A pang of fear went through my chest. "You are a very beautiful girl, Tabatha. Do not, under any circumstances, let down your guard. Even if you are with your cousins, or Eragon, they will say and do anything in the name of the king."

"You think that they would do something in public?" I asked nervously, feeling my palms begin to sweat.

"I know they would," he replied darkly. "I've dealt with their type before." I gulped down the lump in my throat. "Do you remember that dagger I gave you for your last birthday?" I nodded slightly. "Keep it on you from now on." I nodded again, not daring to say a word lest I draw any unwanted attention to myself. "Good. Now go home, and be careful." I rose to leave, but then stopped.

"Brom?" I asked hesitantly. He looked up at me, the fire casting shadows on his already lined face. "What is Galbatorix looking for?" I didn't expect an answer, as he'd ignored me the first time, but I had to chance it.

He sighed heavily, a sadness creeping in his dark blue eyes. "I must save that for another time when there aren't so many eager ears around." I nodded in understanding and turned to leave. As I hurried out of the tavern, I saw that same young soldier smirking at me, his hungry eyes following my every movement. I shivered involuntarily and left the tavern as quickly as possible. As I walked back across the village green to my house, I couldn't help but have the unshakeable feeling that I was being watched.