The hall was silent, so silent that I could hear my own heart thudding loudly against my chest. The music had died down, the wine had stopped flowing and everyone had turned to watch them. In the eye of the storm were Eragon and Draco, each one staring down the other.
"Is that a threat, little brother?" Draco asked between gritted teeth, cool as a cucumber but deadly as a snake. He was standing stock-still, every fiber of his being poised for attack. If I were on the receiving end of his malignant gaze, I would have collapsed on my knees and begged for forgiveness.
But Eragon stared right back at him, unmovable as a mountain with his fingers flexing slowly, no doubt ready to pull out a surreptitiously hidden blade. I didn’t believe for a second that he would go anywhere unarmed. It sim
