“1 knew he was going to do that,” Zakath grated.
“I am honor bound, therefore,” Naradas added, “to advise his Majesty and the members of his court to consider long and well rather than make hasty decision concerning the disposition of these knights. We have seen that they are perhaps the only two on life who can face this monster with any hope of success. Of what other knights in all this land are there any of whom we can make the same statement with any degree of certainty?”
“What thou sayest may well be true, Master Erezel,” the king said with surprising coolness, “but it would be churlish of me to hold them here against their will in view of the sacred nature of the quest in which they are engaged. We have delayed them here too long already. They have rendered us amply sufficient service. To insist on more would be ungrateful of us in the extreme. I thereby decree that tomorrow will be a day of celebration and of gratitude throughout the realm and shall culminate with a royal banquet at which we will honor these mighty champions and bid them a regretful farewell. I do perceive that the sun hath risen, and our champions are doubtless greatly fatigued by the rigors of the tourney of yesterday and by their encounter last night with the loathsome dragon. This day, therefore, will be a day of preparation, and tomorrow will be a day of joy and thanksgiving. Let us then to our beds for a time to refresh ourselves that we may more assiduously turn to our several tasks.”
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“I thought he’d never get around to that,” Zakath said as the three of them moved through the packed throne room. “Right now I could sleep standing up.”
“Please don’t,” Garion said. “You’re wearing armor, and you’d make an awful clatter when you toppled over. I don’t want to be startled out of sleep. I’m as tired as you are.”
“At least you have someone to sleep with.”
“Two someones, actually, counting the puppy. Puppies take an unwholesome interest in toes, I’ve noticed.”
Zakath laughed.
“Grandfather,” Garion said, “up until now, the king has blithely gone along with anything Naradas suggested. Did you tamper with him at all?”
“I made a couple of suggestions,” Belgarath admitted. “I don’t usually like to do that, but the situation was a bit unusual.”
It was in the corridor outside that Naradas caught up with them. “You haven’t won yet, Belgarath,” he hissed.
“No, probably not,” Belgarath admitted with aplomb, “but then, neither have you, Naradas, and I imagine Zandramas— youVe heard the name before, I trust—will be a bit cross with you when she finds out how miserably you’ve failed here. Maybe, if you start running right now, you can get away from her—for a while, at least.”
“This isn’t the end of this, Belgarath.”
“Never thought it was, old boy.” Belgarath reached out and insultingly patted Naradas on the cheek. “Run along now, Gro-lim,” he advised, “while you still have your health.” He paused. “Unless, of course, you’d like to challenge me. Considering your limited talents, I don’t advise it, but that’s entirely up to you.”
After one startled look at the Eternal Man, Naradas fled.
“I enjoy doing that to his kind,” Belgarath gloated.
“You are a dreadful old man, aren’t you?” Zakath said.
“Never pretended not to be, Zakath.” Belgarath grinned. “Let’s go talk with Sadi. Naradas is starting to become an inconvenience. I think it’s high time he left us.”
“You’ll do anything, won’t you?” Zakath asked as they continued down the corridor.
“To get the job done? Of course.”
“And when I interfered with you back in Rak Hagga, you could have blown me into nothingness, couldn’t you?”
“Probably, yes.”
“But you didn’t. Why not?”
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“Because I thought I might need you, and I saw more in you than others did.”
“More than Emperor of half the world?”
“That’s trash, Zakath,” Belgarath said scornfuHy. “Your friend here is Overlord of the West, and he still has trouble getting his boots on the right feet.”
“I do not\” Garion objected vehemently.
“That’s probably because youVe got Ce’Nedra to help you figure it out. That’s what you really need, Zakath—a wife, someone to keep you looking reasonably presentable.”
“I’m afraid that’s quite out of the question, Belgarath.” Zakath sighed.
“We’ll see,” the Eternal Man said.
The greetings they received in their quarters in the royal palace at Dal Perivor were not cordial.
“You old fool!” Polgara began, speaking to her father. Things deteriorated quite rapidly from there.
“You idiot!” Ce’Nedra shrieked at Garion.
“Please, Ce’Nedra,” Polgara said patiently, “let me finish first.”
“Oh, of course, Lady Polgara,” the Rjvan Queen agreed politely. “Sorry. You have many more years of aggravation than I do. Besides, I can get this one alone in bed and give him a piece of my mind.”
“And you wanted me to get married?” Zakath asked Belgarath.
“It has its drawbacks,” Belgarath replied calmly. He looked around. “The walls are still standing, I see, and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of explosions. Maybe, eventually, you’ll grow up after all, Pol.”
“Another note?” she half shrieked. “A miserable note?”
“We were pressed for time,”
“The three of you went up against the dragon alone?”
“More or less—yes. The she-wolf was with us, however.”
“An animal! That’s your idea of protection?”
“She was very helpful.”
At that point, Polgara began to swear—in several different languages.
“Why, Pol,” he objected mildly, “you don’t even know what those words mean—at least I hope you don’t.”
“Don’t underestimate me, old man. This isn’t over yet. All right, Ce’Nedra, it’s your turn.”
“I think I’d prefer to conduct my discussions with his Majesty
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in private—where I can be much more direct,” the tiny queen said in an icy tone.
Garion winced.
Then, surprisingly, Cyradis spoke. “It was discourteous of thee, Emperor of Mallorea, to hurl thyself into mortal danger without first consulting me.” Belgarath, it appeared, had been characteristically obscure in his discussion with her before they had gone forth to face the dragon, conveniently forgetting to mention what they proposed to do.
“I beg thy forgiveness, Holy Seeress,” Zakath apologized, lapsing, perhaps unconsciously, into archaic language. “The urgency of the matter was such that there was no time for consultation.”
“Nicely spoken,” Velvet murmured. “We’ll make a gentleman out of him yet.”
Zakath raised his visor and grinned at her—a surprisingly
boyish grin.
“As it may be, Kal Zakath,” Cyradis continued sternly, “know that I am wroth with thee for thy hasty and unthinking rashness.”
“I am covered with confusion, Holy Seeress, that I have offended thee, and I hope that thou canst find it in thy heart to forgive mine error.”
“Oh,” Velvet sighed, “he’ll be just fine. Kheldar, were you taking notes?”
“Me?” Silk sounded surprised.
“Yes. You.”
There were jar too many things going on, and Garion was hovering on the verge of exhaustion. “Durnik,” he said a bit plaintively, “can you help me out of this?” He rapped his knuckles on the breastplate of his armor.
“If you wish.” Even Durnik’s voice sounded cold.
“Does he really have to sleep with us?” Garion complained about midmorning.
“He’s warm,” Ce’Nedra replied in a snippy tone, “which is more than I can say for some others. Besides, he sort of fills the vacancy I have in my heart—in a small way, of course.”
The wolf puppy under the covers was enthusiastically licking Garion’s toes, then, inevitably, fell to nibbling.
They slept for a goodly part of the day, rising about midaf-
ternoon. They sent a servant to the king, asking to be excused from this night’s festivities, pleading extreme fatigue.
“Wouldn’t this be a good time to ask to see that map?” Beldin asked.
“I don’t think so,” Belgarath replied. “Naradas is getting desperate now. He knows how unforgiving Zandramas can be, so he’ll do just about anything to keep us away from that chart. He still has the king’s ear, and he’l! come up with all kinds of excuses to stop us. Why don’t we just let him wonder about what we’re up to? It might help to keep him off balance until Sadi has the chance to put him to sleep.”
The eunuch bowed a bit mockingly.
“There’s an alternative, Belgarath,” Silk volunteered. “I could slip around a bit and fish for information. If I can pinpoint the location of the map, a bit of burglary could solve our problem.” , “What if you got caught?” Durnik asked.
“Please, Durnik,” Silk said in a pained voice, “don’t be insulting.”
“It’s got some possibilities,” Velvet said. “Kheldar could steal a man’s teeth even if the man had his mouth closed.”
“Better not chance it,” Polgara told her. “Naradas is a Gro-lim, and he may very well have laid a few traps around that chart. He knows all of us, by reputation at least, and I’m sure he’s fully aware of Silk’s specialized talents.”