Belgarath the Sorcerer (72 page)

‘You're a barbarian, father.'

‘You've noticed. What's he doing in Nyissa?'

‘As far as I can tell, he's turned into a vagabond. He's sort of wandering around the world desperately looking for something - or somebody.'

‘Let's all hope that he doesn't find whatever or whomever it is.'

‘On the contrary, he absolutely has to. If
he
doesn't find it, you're going to have to find it yourself, and you wouldn't even know where to begin looking.'

‘Does he?'

‘No. What he's looking for is going to find him.'

 

And that was the first hint we had that Eriond was coming. Beldin and I talked about it once, and we sort of agreed that Eriond and Torak were mirror images of each other - Torak on one side, and Eriond on the other. Each of them was the exact opposite of his counterpart.

Sometimes I wonder if Torak knew that he was a mistake.

That in itself would justify my entire existence.

 

‘Why did you have to talk to Salmissra?' I asked.

‘To warn her,' my daughter replied. ‘She'll do something in a few years, and I'll have to do something to her in return. She won't like it much - and neither will I.' Polgara sighed. ‘It's going to be fairly dreadful, I'm afraid, but I won't have any choice.' She suddenly threw her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder. ‘Oh, father,'
she wept, ‘why do
I
have to be the one who has to do it?'

‘Because you're the only one who can, Pol.' Then I patted her shoulder. ‘There, there,' I said. ‘There, there.'

The next couple of years were quiet, and that made me
very
edgy. The most momentous event in the history of the world was right on the verge of happening, and I wanted to get
on
with it. I'm not really very good at waiting.

Then, in 5340, Ran Borune XXIII was crowned Emperor of Tolnedra, and not long thereafter he was married to one of his cousins, a red-haired Dryad named Ce'Vanne. The twins found that highly significant, and they assured me that the marriage would result in the birth of ‘the Queen of the World.' If they were right, and they almost always were, this meant that when Geran reached adulthood and married, he'd become the father of the one we'd all been waiting for.

Not long after that, Beldin came back to the Vale. ‘I see that you finally got tired of watching that cave,' I said to him after he'd come up the stairs to my tower.

‘Not really,' he replied. ‘Some things have been happening, haven't they?'

‘A few. We're getting closer to the birth of the Godslayer.'

‘I thought it might be something like that. A few months back, I suddenly got a powerful urge to go out and have a look around. The Murgos have a new king, Taur Urgas, and he's as crazy as a loon. There's nothing new or startling about that; all the Urgas are crazy. Taur Urgas carries it to extremes, though. I saw him once in Rak Goska, and I think he's going to figure in events.'

‘Is there any sign of his Mallorean counterpart yet?'

He nodded. ‘His name's Zakath. He hasn't been crowned emperor yet, but I don't think it's going to be much longer. His father's in failing health. For an Angarak, Zakath's a remarkably civilized man. From what I gather, he's extremely intelligent, and his tutors were able to persuade his father to let him attend the University in Melcene. An educated Mallorean emperor's going to be a novelty. How
many of the companions have showed up so far?'

‘Six that I know of. The “Guide” and the “Blind Man” were born in 5335, the “Dreadful Bear” in '36, and the “Horse Lord” and the “Knight Protector” in '37.'

‘That's only five.'

‘I thought you already knew about the “Man with Two Lives”. He was born earlier - 5330, I think. He's apprenticed to a blacksmith in Erat in central Sendaria.'

‘Any hints about the others?'

‘The twins think that the present Tolnedran emperor's going to produce the Godslayer's wife.'

‘That sort of nails things down, doesn't it? How's Pol?'

‘Difficult, the same as always. She went to Nyissa a couple of years ago, and she met Zedar down there.'

‘And you
let
her?'

‘
Let
is a term that doesn't apply when you're talking about Pol. You should know that by now, Beldin. Actually, she didn't bother to tell me where she was going. She told me afterward that she and Zedar
have
to know each other. She's getting instructions from someplace other than the Mrin.'

‘I'm sure she is. Oh, I almost forgot. There's a new king in Gar og Nadrak, too. His name's Drosta lek Thun, and he was only twelve when they put him on the throne.'

‘Did you see him?'

‘No. I heard about it when I was in Rak Goska. Are the Algars going to do anything about their Crown Prince?'

‘What do you mean, “do anything about him”?'

‘He's a cripple, isn't he? I don't think the Algars are very likely to accept a defective as king.'

‘He'll probably be all right. Once he's on a horse, he's as good as any Algar alive.' I scratched at my beard. ‘I'm a little concerned about it, though. The Mrin says that the “Horse Lord” is going to be his son, and the “Horse Lord” has already been born - into another clan. The twins are working on it. The Mrin's being very stubborn right now. Are you going to be around for a while?'

‘No. I think I'd better go back to southern Cthol Murgos and keep an eye on Burnt-face. We're getting close to the birth of the Godslayer, and that might be the thing that wakes Torak up.'

‘I'm not so sure about that. If it
does
, we're going to be in trouble. An infant wouldn't pose all that much threat to Torak One-eye.'

‘I still think we should be ready - just in case. If it
does
wake Torak, you might have to take the baby out into the woods someplace and hide him. Is Chamdar still poking around?'

‘He's in Tolnedra right now. Drasnian intelligence is keeping an eye on him.'

‘I thought
you
were supposed to do that.'

‘It's better this way. Chamdar knows me a little too well. He can feel it when I'm in his general vicinity.'

‘It's up to you, I guess. I'm going to go talk with the twins for a bit, and then I'd better get back to Cthol Murgos.' Then he turned around and clumped back on down my stairs. It was only after he'd left that I realized that he hadn't once asked me for something to drink. Our growing sense of anticipation was making us all behave a little strangely.

The following year, the lame Cho-Hag was elevated to the position of Chief of clan-chiefs of Algaria, and that gave me a lot of trouble. I knew that Hettar would one day take that position, and I couldn't for the life of me see how that could happen - short of another clan war. Considering what lay ahead, a clan war in Algaria was the
last
thing we needed.

Everything was happening very fast now, with events piling on top of each other everywhere I turned, and yet in a very real sense I was just marking time, waiting for Geran to grow up and get married. I tend at times to get impatient, and just sitting around waiting drives me right up the wall, so, though there wasn't really any need for it, I dusted off my story-teller costume and went out to have a look around.

My first stop was Annath, naturally. Geran was twelve or so now, and he was growing like a weed. His hair had grown even darker, and his voice was changing, sometimes coming out as a rich baritone and at other times cracking and squeaking. Quite often he sounded like a young rooster trying to crow.

‘Has he started to notice girls yet?' I asked Pol when I'd gotten her off to one side.

‘Give him time, father,' she replied. ‘Ildera's only nine. Let's not rush things.'

‘Ildera?'

‘The girl he's going to marry.'

‘That doesn't sound like a Sendarian name.'

‘It's not. Ildera's the daughter of a clan-chief of Algaria. Their pastures are just over on the other side of the border.'

I frowned. ‘Are you sure, Pol? I'd always assumed that the Godslayer's mother was going to be a Sendar.'

‘Whatever gave you that idea?'

‘I'm not sure. He's supposed to be born here in Sendaria, so I guess I just jumped to the conclusion that his mother'd be a Sendar.'

‘All you had to do was ask me, father. I could have told you she'd be an Algar about six generations ago.'

‘You're sure she's the right one?'

‘Of course I'm sure.'

‘Have you told Geran yet?'

‘I don't do that, father. You should know that by now. If you start telling young people whom they're supposed to marry, they tend to get mule-headed about it.'

‘The Godslayer's going to know.'

‘Not until I'm ready for him to know, he won't.'

‘Pol, it's written down in the Accords of Vo Mimbre. It's right there in black and white that he'll marry a Tolnedran Princess.'

‘It won't mean a thing to him, father.'

‘How do you plan to keep it from him?'

‘I'm not going to teach him how to read, that's how.'

‘You can't do that! He
has
to know how to read! How's he going to know what he's supposed to do if he can't read the Mrin?'

‘There'll be time enough for him to learn to read later, old man.
I
didn't start learning until after Beldaran got married, remember? If he's the kind of person we think he's going to be, he won't have any trouble picking it up.'

I had my doubts about that, but I kept them to myself. ‘How much have you told Geran?' I asked her.

‘Not very much. Young people have a tendency to blurt things out when they get excited. I'd rather that the people here in Annath didn't know that they have royalty in their midst. Darral knows, of course, but he knows how to keep his mouth shut.'

‘Where
is
the boy this morning?'

‘He's at the stone-quarry with his father - learning the trade.'

‘Working in a quarry can be dangerous, Pol,' I objected.

‘He'll be fine, father. Darral's keeping an eye on him.'

‘I think I'll go on over there.'

‘Why?'

‘I want to see if Darral might give his apprentice the rest of the day off.'

‘What for?'

‘So the boy and I can go fishing.'

‘Don't you be getting him off alone and telling him things he doesn't need to know yet.'

‘That wasn't what I had in mind.'

‘Why
do
you want to take him fishing then?'

‘To catch fish, Pol. Isn't that why people usually go fishing?'

She rolled her eyes upward. ‘
Men
!' she said.

Geran and I spent a pleasurable afternoon working a mountain stream that tumbled down out of that little lake I mentioned before. We didn't have much time to talk, because the fish were biting, and that kept us quite busy.

The next morning, I told them all good-bye and left for
Erat. I wanted to look in on Durnik. I knew that he was the ‘Man with Two Lives', but I didn't realize at the time exactly what that was going to mean, nor just how important Durnik was going to be in all our lives. Now, of course, he's my son-in-law and the most recent disciple of my Master.

Isn't it strange how these things turn out?

Durnik was about a year younger than Geran, but he was already very strong. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith named Barl, and working around a forge is one of the fastest ways I know of to develop muscles.

Durnik was already a very serious young fellow, and he was growing up to be a typical Sendar, sober, industrious, and steadfastly moral. I seriously doubt that Durnik's had an unclean or salacious thought in his entire life.

I broke a buckle on my pack - quite deliberately - and I stopped by Barl's shop to get it fixed. Barl was busy shoeing a horse, so Durnik repaired my buckle. We talked for a little bit, and then I moved on.

I frankly doubt that my son-in-law even remembers that meeting.
I
do, though, because that brief conversation told me all I really needed to know about him.

After I left Barl's smithy, I turned south and proceeded into Arendia to look in on the Wildantors. The most typical of the family was a young count, Reldegen, who seemed fully intent on going through his life with his rapier half-drawn. Reldegen was sort of what they had in mind when they came up with the term ‘hot-head'. He wasn't
quite
as prone to disaster as his nephew, Lelldorin, would become, but he ran him a close second. I liked him, though.

When I left Arendia, I hurried on back to the Vale. Winter was coming anyway, and I wanted to find out if the twins had discovered anything new. Events were plunging ahead now, and scarcely a day went by that they didn't crack open another passage in the Mrin.

It wasn't until 5344 that the problem in Algaria was resolved. Young Hettar and his parents had been traveling alone near the Eastern Escarpment, and they were attacked
by Murgos. The Murgos killed the boy's parents and then dragged him behind a horse for several miles and left him for dead. Cho-Hag found him a couple of days later, and in time, adopted him. Hettar
would
be the next Chief of the clan-chiefs, and it wouldn't take a clan war to get him there.
That
was a relief.

In the spring of the following year, the twins strongly suggested that I take Polgara to meet those young Alorns who would become so important to us later. ‘They really ought to get to know her, Belgarath,' Belkira told me. ‘The time's going to come when you'll all be doing important things together, so they should be able to recognize her on sight. Alorns have some peculiar prejudices where women are concerned, so you'd better get them used to the idea that Pol's no ordinary woman while they're still young. We'll go up to Annath with you and keep an eye on things while the two of you are gone.'