Title: The Right choice

Summary: Nasuada struggles with her new position and some complications of some of her actions while in Uru'Baen. PostInheritance. Spoilers. Murtagh/Nasuada Preg

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I'm going to meet Paolini soon, because he's about to do a book signing 5 blocks from my apartment. Yay! It's on my 18th b-day, even!

Authour's Note: I read Inheritance yesterday. I was so happy with the blatant Murtagh/Nasuada that I had to write this. The problem is, my memory is really bad, so I have to go reread the last 4 or so chapters, including the part where Nasuada gets crowned. Once I do that, I'm going to rewrite this chapter as well as make the next one. I just had to add something more than what was there, so hopefully this is the first but likely not last Murtagh/Nasuada where Nasuada got preggers while captured in Uru'Baen. Come on, she hung out with him s much, I was surprised this wasn't in the book. Unless it was... XD Like I said, bad memory. Gotta go reread those chapters.

Nasuada sighed, wondering how things might have worked out differently. Sitting on the throne, she slowly put her hand to her stomach, and felt happy and heartbroken at the same time. This child... Well, she had to get married soon, that was for certain. Either that, to make some false claim about Galbatorix's servants raping her. She didn't see the former happening any time soon though, so...

She really wanted to acknowledge whose child it was, but she couldn't. Despite everything, despite the fact that Murtagh had saved all of them, the whole of Alagaesia, it didn't matter. What the masses remembered was the terrors he was forced to put upon them, and only a select few even now knew what had occurred in Uru'baen that day. The word was spreading, but most didn't believe that Murtagh had been forced into anything he had done, and didn't believe he had helped overthrow Galbatorix at all.

She tried to think how far along she probably was, but couldn't do the math at the moment. She was still trying to decide what to do with her realization- well, Farrica's, if she was going to be honest with herself- that she was pregnant. She had been alone in her room all evening when she heard a knock on the door. The guards knew not to disturb her in the evening, so she put down the paper she had been rereading for the past hour without processing any of it.

"Enter."

In came Elva, still growing like a weed. Nasuada looked at her in surprise, trying to figure out why the girl had come, and gave a nervous glance to her food tray. Was someone trying to assassinate her? She felt her panic rise as Elva glanced at it momentarily as well.

"Peace, Nasuada. No one's trying to poison you right now. I usually catch that before it gets to your room in any case. No, I'm here because of that." She looked pointedly at Nasuada's stomach.

Nasuada felt a different type of panic rise in her now. "What about it? I haven't decided what to say about it yet."

"No, you have. I'm here to warn you that admitting the real father of your child will cause you far more grief than I think you can handle." Nasuada's surprise spoke volumes to Elva, who smiled her too-adult smile and chuckled.

"Oh, some would take it well enough, but mostly it would just lead to even more revilement of Murtagh and of the child itself. The fact that you only recently came to the decision means that it really would cause far too many problems to tell the truth."

"So what am I to do? Say that I was raped while captured?" she said, defeat in her voice. She hadn't even realized she'd come to that decision until Elva had said so.

"No, that's too simple. You have to specify that it was one of the guards or some such. Otherwise everyone would think the father to be either Galbatorix himself or Murtagh. It'd do you well to mention it soon as well." she said, before slipping out.

Farrica came in as soon as Elva left, to help Nasuada out of her day dress, a serious look on her face. "Milady, if I may say something?"

Nasuada sighed, defeated. "Go ahead."

"I agree with the girl. Admitting that the child belongs to that man would cause a lot of trouble. I know you know how unpopular Murtagh is, but I wonder if you appreciate how bad it is. Most everyone in the high ranks knows exactly what he did, but... the common people mostly don't believe a word, marm." she shook her head. "They'll be mad if you claim you were raped, but it is probably better than just admitting you had a child out of wedlock. Very few people here see that as something that's permissible, they might try to take you off the throne just for that."

Nasuada nodded as she stepped out of her day dress. She knew all of these things, but Farrica's reminder brought them a bit more into perspective for her. For some reason, her emotions regarding Murtagh were clouding her judgement. She cursed inwardly at the fact that being with child was going to do things to her mind that she couldn't control. She had only just gotten onto the throne, so she knew bad judgements this early on would make people probably think badly of her. She pulled on her sleeping shift as Farrica left quietly, knowing she'd have to do many things in the morning to set the right gears into motion. She was several months along, at least, and she would probably start showing sooner than she'd have liked to admit.

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After getting dressed for the day but before she left her quarters for the makeshift throne room that they were using until the castle could be properly rebuilt, she called for Jormundur. She wanted his help first and foremost for announcing this soon, and he needed to know as soon as possible to help with the arrangements. She was still battling in her mind with whether to tell him the truth about the father when she heard three short raps on the door. He walked in without waiting for a response, because Nasuada had gotten tired of having to bid him in every time.

"I'm pregnant." She decided the simple straightforward approch was best with this man. Dancing around it would only aggravate him. She didn't expect the man's blood to drain from his face quite so quickly though. "While I was captured." She quickly answered before he could ask any variation on why, how or who. He seemed to relax slightly at that, but still was very tense.

She smiled lightly as his concern. "I plan on making an official announcement that I was raped while captured but one of the security guards who is now dead." she stated plainly.

He caught the qualification. "If that is what you will tell them, what is the truth, your Majesty?" he caught on quickly.

"Murtagh."

A/N: Love? Hate? Riot? Review, and the next chapter will likely come sooner. Or don't review. I'll post again eventually. Sorry it's so short. I'm running on an empty tank right now. Sleep will make it better and longer, promise. Well, once it's rewritten.

Posted: 11/16/2011 15:05 PM MST